Athena Collections – Do You Have To Pay Them?

Are you puzzled about a debt letter from Athena Collections? Unsure if you need to pay or if it’s even your debt? If so, this is the right place for you. 

Every month, more than 170,000 people visit our website for guidance on debt issues. You’re not alone in dealing with this.

In this guide, we’ll cover:

•  How to check if the debt is yours. If it isn’t, you don’t need to pay!
•  If you can object to or even ignore Athena Collections.
•  Steps to stop Athena Collections from chasing you too hard.
•  Ways you can set up payment plans or even write off your debt. 

We know how you feel. Our team includes people who have dealt with debt collectors like Athena Collections.

With our expertise, we’ll help you better understand the situation.

Have you received an Athena Collections debt letter?

Athena Collections will trace and contact the supposed debtor asking them to pay. They may call, send text messages, and email, but they will send a letter when they have your address, which should be easy for them to track down. 

The letter – also known as a Letter Before Action (LBA) –  will ask you to pay the money. 

Do you have to pay Athena Collections?

If you shouldn’t ignore an Athena Collections debt letter, does that mean you have to pay them? Not necessarily! 

You don’t have to pay Athena Collections just because they’ve stated you owe their client money. There is something else you can do that is beneficial if:

1. You think they have the wrong person
2. You need to buy yourself some time before paying
3. You want to try and avoid paying

So, what is it?

Ask Athena Collections for proof first!

You’re allowed to ask Athena Collections to prove you’re the person who owes the money before paying. Until they supply proof, which should be a copy of an agreement you signed, you’re not obligated to pay the debt. 

So you should reply to the Letter Before Action by asking for evidence you owe the debt. We’ve made this quicker and easier with our prove the debt letter template. Download it for free by clicking here and start preparing your own prove the debt letter to Athena Collections.

After sending the letter

If Athena Collections doesn’t acknowledge the request but keeps asking for money, you can ignore them. If you get taken to court as a result, you should provide the judge with a copy of your prove the debt letter and state that you weren’t handed the proof as they were supposed to. 

On the other hand, if they supply you with proof of the debt, it’s time to consider paying it off. You may want to pay in full if possible, make a debt settlement offer or agree on a payment plan to make repaying more affordable. 

» TAKE ACTION NOW: Fill out the short debt form

Is your Athena Collections debt enforceable?

Before you send your prove-it letter, you should check that the Athena Collections debt is still enforceable. If five or six years have passed there is a chance you cannot be taken to court over the debt. Learn more by clicking here. 

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What Happens If I Don’t Pay My Debts?

We’ve all wondered – what exactly will happen if you stop paying off your debts? Well, the answer is a whole lot of bother.

1. Your creditor will send you reminders and then demand to get you to pay any missed payments
2. If you don’t pay, your account will default
3. If you still don’t pay your debts, your creditor can choose to sell your debt to a debt collection agency or employ an agency to chase you for the missed payments. This is where Athena Collections will come in.
4. If you don’t pay the collectors, your creditor or the collection agency might be able to take legal action against you to get their money back. Legal action usually starts with a CCJ.

Can Athena Collections take me to court?

Athena Collections may advise their client to take you to court if you don’t pay, but Athena Collections themselves will not take you to court. The client may or may not want to take you to court, but it’s certainly a possibility.

Even when the client doesn’t plan on taking court action, Athena Collections might still make legal threats. This is because legal threats are known to scare debtors into paying. So it’s an effective tactic to always make these threats.  

Can I negotiate with Athena Collections?

From my experience, you might be able to negotiate with Athena Debt Collectors and get an alternative payment plan sorted.

Negotiation often works in these circumstances for two reasons:

1. Athena didn’t pay 100% of the value of the debt when they bought it – debts are bought for much less than they are worth. This means that Athena Collections don’t need to recover all of your debt to make a profit.
2. Legal action is expensive and can quickly eat into any potential profit that Athena Collections would have made on your case. Getting some money off you is arguably better for them than spending lots of money to compel you to pay.

This all means that you can negotiate a reduced-cost repayment plan, or even lower your outstanding debt balance. I have a free final settlement letter template that you can use if you need some guidance – offering a one-off lump sum could appease Athena Collections so they stop chasing you.

Keep in mind that your credit score might be affected if your settlement offer is accepted. This is because your account will be marked as ‘unsatisfied’ on your credit file which will most likely make you look like a potentially high-risk customer.

Athena Collections reviews

Athena Collections is well-regarded by its clients with a large number of five-star reviews and positive comments. Here’s what they’ve been saying:

“A good, honest, decent debt collection company focused on professionalism and always keeping us up to date with communications. We got a great result in the end which was completely down to the tenacity of the guys at Athena.”

• Daniel H (Google review)

“Very happy with the service received from the staff at Athena Collections. They acted professionally and provided me with detailed information and options when it came down to the legal stuff. We didn’t get the full debt back from our debtor but without Athena, we would have received nothing, as this was a long-overdue debt […]”

• Georgia C (Google review)

How do I complain about Athena Collections?

If you think that Athena Collections has been unreasonable or behaved inappropriately, you can make a complaint. You can also make a complaint if you feel that they have broken any of the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) guidelines.

Make your first complaint to Athena Collections so that they have the chance to sort out the issue themselves. If you feel that they have not taken your complaint seriously enough or have not addressed your issue properly, you can escalate matters.

You can make any secondary complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). They will investigate and, if your complaint is upheld, Athena Collections may be fined. You could even be owed compensation.

Athena Collections Contact Details