Lucas Credit Services Ltd Debt Collectors – Must You Pay?

If a letter from Lucas Credit Services Ltd Debt Collectors has landed on your mat, don’t panic. You are not alone. Each month, over 170,000 people come to our website for information about similar debt matters.

In this clear guide, we will help you understand:

• Who Lucas Credit Services Ltd Debt Collectors are.
• Why they are contacting you.
• How to check if the debt they claim is yours.
• Ways to handle the debt, even if you can’t pay it right now.

Our team includes people who have faced debt collectors in the past. We know it’s a tough situation to be in. We want to use our experience to offer you the best tips and advice to deal with Lucas Credit Services Ltd Debt Collectors.

Stay with us to learn more about dealing with debt collectors and how to secure your financial future.

Why are Lucas Credit Services Ltd Debt Collectors contacting you?

Chances are, to chase you up for debts you owe. Debt is rife, and as such, the debt collection business is massive. You can find debt collectors like Lucas Credit Services Ltd Debt Collectors in several different forms.

There are lots of debt collection agencies who operate like independent businesses; and there are others who may act as a business arm of a creditor (the original company you owe the money to, such as a credit card company or bank.) Believe it or not, there are even individual sole trader debt collectors.

These debt collectors generally all have the same business model, which involves purchasing the debt at a fraction of the face value, sometimes for as little as 20% of the face value, and they make a profit from collecting the debt at (or close to) its full value.

There are not many morals involved in this process.

They just have the opinion that as you ran up the debt, you are responsible for repaying it. They do not want to hear about your tough life or personal circumstances. Simply put, they are not very nice people. The Office for Fair Trading (OFT, 2010) acknowledged that such poor practices “appear to be widespread”.

» TAKE ACTION NOW: Fill out the short debt form

Find out if the debt is yours

Are you 100% sure of this debt and whether or not it is yours? If not, the first thing to do is to get more information on where the debt originated and how much you actually owe.

It is very likely that the original debt has accumulated some interest and other charges, so you may not even recognise the value of it. It is probably higher than you thought.

The best thing to do is to write to Lucas Credit Services Ltd Debt Collectors and request that they send you a copy of your original credit agreement.

If they advise that they cannot provide this for you, you do not have any obligation to pay them back. In some cases, you might be entitled to receive a refund.

See my most popular post for the guide on how to get a refund. 

Can pay but won’t pay?

If you really do owe the money, then the road of least resistance is to repay the debt if you are able to do so.

If you can’t afford to repay it, or if doing so would prevent you from servicing more important credit such as your rent or mortgage, then try to make some arrangement with Lucas Credit Services Ltd Debt Collectors, perhaps offer them a temporary repayment plan.

How to write off your debt

Many people don’t realise this, but you can actually write off your debt through an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA).

As a formal agreement, you would pay the debt collectors a specific amount you can afford, either as a one-off sum or via a repayment plan and in monthly payments.

The rest of the debt would then be written off after a defined period, which is usually five years. The IVA process must always be carried out by an insolvency practitioner.

Thousands have already tackled their debt

Every day our partners, The Debt Advice Service, help people find out whether they can lower their repayments and finally tackle or write off some of their debt.

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To conclude

Although there has been warnings from professional bodies, government guidelines, and other measures, the behaviour of some debt collecting agencies has led to major stress for some individuals.

You don’t need to just take it though, you can fight back against their detrimental behaviour, especially by getting some help from the agencies spoken about in this article.

You cannot just refuse to pay your debt, but you may be able to reduce the amount you need to repay and spread your repayments over a specific period that suits your circumstances.

It is entirely possible to stop their bullying and by reporting them to the Financial Ombudsman they may even lose their licence.

Other Debt Collectors 

You should check for more outstanding debts that you may have with other companies or debt collectors. Here are four steps you could take: 

1. Check your credit report for other defaults 
2. Check your email and post for reminders or overdue notices
3. Check the court records for CCJs against you
4. Check your bank statements for the names of other debt collectors 

There are hundreds of debt collectors in the UK and each works with different companies to collect debts.

For example, Cabot Financial have been known to collect for the DVLA while Lowell Financial and PRA Group buy debts from various credit card companies like Barclaycard.

If you see a name on your bank statement that you don’t recognise then you can search MoneyNerd to see if they’re a debt collector. 

FAQs

References

CONC 7.3 Treatment of customers in default or arrears (including repossessions): lenders, owners and debt collectors

CONC 7.9 Contact with customers