Focus on....Customer Interviews

Latest statistics from the financial education charity, Credit Action, show that 1,552 people a day reported that they had been made redundant between May and July 2012 and that £53,706 is the average household debt including mortgages.

The estimated average outstanding mortgage for the 11.2m households that carry mortgage debt stood at £111,793 in August.

The figures also tell us that the CAB are dealing with 8,465 new debt problems each working day, while 93 properties are repossessed each day. Staggeringly, in Q2 2012 UK banks and building societies wrote-off £1.15 billion (of which £567 million was credit card debt) amounting to a daily write-off of £12.52m. Click here for the full report into the UK Debt Statistics

Here at London House we interview many individuals on a daily basis on behalf of our clients in an effort to get their up to date financial position. Wherever possible we meet them at home and complete a detailed income/expenditure/assests/liabilities breakdown. If our client has asked us, we will also negotiate a repayment programme on their behalf within agreed parameters. 

Wherever You Go

We were asked by one of our overseas clients to visit a debtor to interview them about their finances and to get a closer feel for their asset base. The subjects owed a large amount of money to a financier abroad and our client wanted the debt transferred and registered in the UK to allow them to obtain judgment and proceed with enforcement.

When they had originally borrowed the money they provided a schedule of their assets both in New Zealand (where they resided at the time) and in the UK. When the borrowing went into default they fled back to the UK. We tracked them down and met with them. Whilst not particularly pleased to see us they saw the error of their ways and co-operated with us. We were able to establish that they did indeed have a good asset base and were also in full time, well paid, employment. The liabilities they had were comfortably manageable.

Armed with this information, our client began enforcement procedures and ultimately a repayment programme agreed via the sale of property assets.

Focus On.......Customer Interviews

There is no doubt that times are still hard for many throughout the country and we are seeing a growing trend by our customers in asking us to visit their debtors on their behalf.

We interview many individuals on a daily basis in an effort to get their up to date financial position and help our clients assessment of each file. Wherever possible we meet the debtor at home and complete a detailed interview form consisting of income/expenditure and assets/liabilities. As you may expect, meeting the subject at home allows us to report details that they may have not told our client, such as vehicles and other assets. We paint a picture to help our clients make cost effective decisions.

It's still home

We were asked by a bank client to visit one of their customers at home and try to interview him to establish his means and ability to repay his debt.

On arriving at the property we found it to be a two storey derelict cottage and completely uninhabitable. It was clear that there were serious structural problems with the building, and the site included a number of portacabins as well as a considerable amount of rubbish.

We spoke to a number of local residents and obtained information which led us to a new address for the subject where we were able to interview him. Clearly his circumstances were not good, and the condition of his property was such that a sale would not be straightforward. However, by being able to get a close understanding of his circumstances (our client was not aware of the property condition) and finding that he was helpful towards our enquiries we were able to go back to our client and help them reach a mutually acceptable agreement. This would not have happened without a visit to the address.