Ignore debt collectors

The first method people try is to never acknowledge the debt, but still communicate about the debt. They write to the creditor, informing them that they refuse to contract with them, or make any payments until they are provided with an original signed agreement.

In this method, the focus is placed on the borrowing agreement. The method states the borrowing agreement should be signed by a representative of the bank and must be the original version, not a copy. It also states that you should request that the creditor also provide proof they loaned you the money

The creditor is likely to treat this as a complaint.

They will follow the FCA complaints procedure and provide you with a copy of your signed agreement (not an original). If it is a bank for example, they may also send you statements detailing all your transactions as proof you have spent the money. They will handle the "complaint" until they reach the final stage, which will result in them sending you a "Final Response Letter". This will include details of how to contact the Financial Ombudsman. They will see this as their job is done, it’s now time for you to pay your debts.

However, if you continue to refuse to make payments - not even token payments - you will put yourself at risk of legal action. If your case did end up in court, you should expect to lose the case. The creditor’s solicitor will turn up with a copy of your signed agreement and statements with every single transaction you have made. Here’s what you could expect to happen in court...

You might talk about how the creditor has not been able to provide an original copy of the agreement, or proof the money was loaned.

However, the creditor's solicitor will then make the judge aware that under the Consumer Credit Act, a copy of the agreement is acceptable if the agreement has been properly executed.

To prove that money was loaned and the creditor has suffered a loss, the solicitor may ask the judge if they have ever had a credit card or a loan. The likelihood is they will say yes. Next, the solicitor will ask the judge if they made payments towards their credit card or loan. Again, they are likely to say yes. The solicitor has planted the seed with the judge of, "you pay your credit card or your loan off every single month so why does this person think its ok not to?".

The solicitor will go on to show all the transactions that have been made using the credit card, explaining how you have benefitted from the money. The final nail in the coffin will be when the solicitor asks you if you made those transactions. If you say no, you may be committing perjury, by lying in court, if you are under oath.  

Now do you see why this method made the list?

The second method people try is, to ask the debt collector to produce a Deed of Assignment of the debt, to prove the debt.  

The Deed of Assignment is expected to detail how much the debt collector has paid for your debt, the date they bought the debt, along with other additional information.

Let’s be clear, a debt collector will never give this information to you. Why? When debt collectors buy bank debt, they very rarely buy a singular debt. They will buy a portfolio of debts.

Your £1,000 credit card debt with Barclaycard for example, will be one of thousands of other debts, all rolled together to make a combined value that could be in the millions. When Barclaycard sell this portfolio of debt to a debt collector, it is all lumped into one transaction. The debt collector may not necessarily have a specific deed for your debt, think of the admin! It will not be worth Barclaycard’s time.

Another key reason you will never see the deed of assignment is because it will show how little the debt collector paid for your debt.

If you follow this method, you will likely end up in court. This is when you would see that the judge will accept a Notice of Assignment and 99% of the time, will deny the demand to see the deed of assignment.

Is it really a risk worth taking?

The third method some people try is to tell the debt collector to mind their own business and that they are acting as a third-party interloper interfering in a private agreement. Also, they have not been stipulated in the original credit agreement. Trust us, if this worked, we would be the first to detail this as an option on this site.

Again, informing the debt collector that they are interfering in a private agreement between you and the original creditor, simply will not hold up in court.

If you are not making any payments towards your debt and challenging the debt collector that they have no legal right to the debt, there is only one result. The debt collector will follow their internal procedures, until the case eventually ends up in court, and you will lose.

This will not end well and will likely backfire on you.

The fourth method people try is to inform the debt collector that it is illegal to buy and sell debts. The method also suggests that you state that they are committing fraud by contacting you and that once a debt is sold it no longer exists.

Now this method isn’t even theoretically correct. The police will not accept this as fraud.

Creditors and debt collectors are trained to handle methods like these and it will not get you anywhere.

This one is not just risky, it’s completely wrong. The creditor or debt collector will simply treat this as a complaint and take you down the standard complaints' procedure route.

The information in this article is considered to be true and correct at the date of publication.