I had a house repossessed by Bradford & Bingley in 1989. They sold it for a third of its market value. I had taken out indemnity insurance against repossession but was told this wouldn't cover what was owing to them. Since 1993, I have been paying off the debt every month and have never missed a payment. In the past month, their debt collector, Martin Humphries has requested income/expenditure sheets, bank statements etc. I am going to contact a solicitor regarding this but could you tell me if I am under any legal obligation to provide him with this information. I am currently in a very precarious situation with regards to my job. He also is requesting that I contact other creditors to reduce other debts and pay more to them.

HELP - PLEASE!!!

Thanks very much

-- Cathy Allen (cathyallen31@hotmail.com), March 12, 2001

Answers

Look up your original documentation when you agreed to a monthly payback. The chances are it says something like 'reviewable after x months'.

It sounds like they are trying to see if your circumstances have changed...if you have more disposable cash then they want more of their money, and now.

If you're not better off now, it might be worth turning the tables on them and getting them to accept either a lower payment or ideally a lump sum (if you have one).

Don't supply them with any of the information requested... I can't see them taking you to court as you are currently paying them off 'open-ended' and the best a court could do is order you to pay them more money. Lets say the court added £30 onto their payment... how long would it take them to recover what they paid out in court fees etc etc.

DO, definately, go see your solicitor. Make sure it's somebody versed in this vague area of the law.

Finally, good luck and don't panic. You're doing fine.

-- Andy Turner (andy.turner@ramesys.com), March 12, 2001.

You are under NO legal obligation to give him this information and you should not be contacting other creditors to reduce their payments in B&B's favour. This makes me SOOOOOO mad when I see this happening - it's exactly what happened to me and in the end my Lender got nothing further as a result of their constant harrassment.

As you say your job is precarious you should refuse to do anything further until the uncertainty is resolved. Have you quantified and agreed to the amount of the debt or did you take their word for it that the figure was correct? Was your property undervalued as a repo for example? I would read this site from top to bottom and see where your situation fits in, taking the appropriate action if necessary. You cannot be expected to pay them off for X number of years to the detriment of everyone else - you do have to live as well!

Best of luck.

-- Too scared to say (iwasduped@yahoo.com), March 12, 2001.