1st Credit Threats / Baines an Ernst

justkeith

Ok so i've been with Baines and Ernst for the past several months, Paying them £150 each month to cover i think a total of around £2500 debts.

Credit cards, catalogues etc....

One of those credit cards being Vanquis, only a small debt of about £250 to them.

Well since being with B & E and paying my £150 a month to them, thinking that everythings been going fine.

I got a letter from a 1st credit DCA, stating that my Vanquis debt had been passed to them and they want the money!

This has happened, after getting letters from Vanquis saying the £16 payments had been recieved (the £16 being the amount B & E has given them from my £150 payments)..

So i told B & E that Vanquis had passed over the debt to 1st credit EVEN tho they'd been recieving payments from my payment plan..

and they told me to send any letters to them and they'll sort it ....so i did....about 3 weeks ago. then it went quiet so i thought cool, it's all sorted!

Then on Saturday i recieve another letter from 1st credit, demanding the money, stating that they will start legal proceedings against me, and could take me to court!

and they will give me one last chance to pay the amount.....

how can this be, if i've been paying B & E and they shoulda contacted 1st credit to tell them this and resolve it..

does this mean i'll be gettin ballif's on my door an stuff soon!??

any help would be much appreciated..

thanks very much

i

pamril1

I would contact B and E again and ask them to contact 1st Credit as you are still being harassed.
From personal experience with 1st they are just a bunch of bullies.
It looks like they are just trying to get you to pay more than you can and as for taking you to court I very much doubt they will bother, they are trying to intimidate you and use this tactic quite a lot.
Don't let them get to you its what they are betting on.

skylight

They are trying to scare you into paying more. They are unlikely to take you to court as it costs them money upfront - okay they add the fees to your account but it takes ages to get back. Even if they did go to court, then a judge is going to take one look at you with your managed DMP and best attempts to sort things out and he will laugh or get cross with them - he will not make you pay more than you can afford, which is what you are doing now.

Send the letter to B&E, make them work for their money and send a letter to 1st credit reminding them that all correspondence needs to be made to B&E.


Bailiffs can ONLY turn up if you have been taken to court for a CCJ and you have defaulted on said CCJ etc. Even then, they have no rights to enter your home etc. This is a very empty threat and rely on you not knowing your rights.

GeorgeUK

Short term - I would contact B&E, informing them of the letter and asking them to inform you of what they can do about it.

Long term - i would stop using B&E. There are free debt charities that are regularly talked about on this board that do not charge a fee for setting up a DMP. Are B&E keeping you appraised of how much money is being sent to each creditor and what debt you have that remains outstanding?

An alternative, if the debt was for a loan or creditcard, is to ask for a copy of the credit agreement. If 1st Credit are unable to produce this, then the debt may be unenforcable. Agreements signed after 5th April 2007 have slightly different legislation applied to them, but they are still required to have a copy of the CCA.

justkeith

thanks for your help!

Obviously when you see these letters you go into a Panic!"!

And i've read a few 'horror' stories about B & E which led me here for some advice.

I'd just like to think that my £150 to B & E isnt actually being p'd down the drain each month and is going to help towards my debts being paid off...

justkeith

GeorgeUK wrote: »

Are B&E keeping you appraised of how much money is being sent to each creditor and what debt you have that remains outstanding?

I think i best phone them and ask these questions for sure!

stapeley

As 1st credit are now trying to pressurize you I would send off a CCA request. You can carry on paying until you are sure that can not provide a CCA . That way if it ever went to court , which is very doubtful,you can show you are making every effort to pay . There are several threads showing the process . good luck AND NEVER TALK TO DCA,S .