Letter to Credit Card companies

Homegrown_Idiot

petrafyde wrote: »

Payment protection can be claimed back if it has been mis-sold, yes.

CCA is something totally different. It is basically asking them to provide a copy of the original credit agreement, usually done when a DCA (debt collection agency) has bought the debt and is hounding the debtor. Your question was about the former though so I reckon the place you need to go on the forum is in here:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=862067&highlight=payment+protection

Good luck.

Thank you for that, yes my original question was about claiming payment protection back (even though I worded it terribly) and that link is exactly what I wanted:T

However, the other question has now got me intrigued - why do people go through that palaver (sp?) with the CCA if it seems to make no difference whether they have a CCA or not? Surely if they do not have a CCA then they have no claim against you?

Thanks again for answering my original question - hopefully someone can also answer the CCA one too?

GeorgeUK

If you are currently meeting your minimum payments and the debt has not been passed to a debt collection agency, there is little point in requesting a copy of the CCA.

If however you are struggling with payments and are not meeting the minimum required, requesting a copy of the CCA will allow you to see if the debt is enforcable or not. It the debt is not enforcable, then there is less of a chance that you will be taken to court over the debt and if 6 years pass where the debt has had no payments made to it then it will become statute barred.

After 12+2 working days, the debt becomes unenforcable and you should then advise the company that you are refusing them authorisation to pass you details to 3rd parties (such as the credit reference agencies) which should mean you will not get a default on the account.

petrafyde

In all honesty I'm foggy about the 'not having a claim against' sort of thing.

Morally of course it's totally wrong, but this is money we're talking about and not many people have morals when it comes down to it these days But also, after being hounded by creditors or DCA's who've purchased the debt at 5% of the cost and then make your life a living hell until you pay oft makes people a wee bit more keen to get one over back

I honestly don't know if it means you can deny you own the debt. I know that once you've requested a copy of the credit agreement and they've failed to produce, they're very unlikely to proceed with court (as George already said).

Personally, I would use that procedure to stop it going to court, or being recorded on my credit file. If it can be used after a long period of time, I've no idea.

Incidentally, just because they can't prove you had the debt, doesn't mean you can't then acknowledge you have it and pay it off as a gesture of goodwill per se. I'm thinking strongly about taking this route to ensure they are prepared to accept more or less anything I offer (theoretically speaking) but need to investigate further as to whether it would help me cleanse my credit file, or whether it would be a viable option in the first place? My credit file isn't important to me really, but I'd like a clean sheet so to speak at the end!

Toffee_Penny

I don't think asking for a CCA can wipe your debt completely otherwise this site would be ever so quiet if that was the case :rotfl:

Also how would you explain why you have been paying towards a debt for x amount of months/years that you suddenly claim you don't acknowledge? Catalogues will defend that you have signed for goods and I'm sure credit cards have your signature somewhere. It really isn't that simple and requesting a CCA isn't a way out for clearing your outstanding balances.

I have asked a similiar question on the DMP support thread, I wanted to know if asking for a CCA would help me claim ppi back as I'm sure the boxes were not ticked when it came to asking for protection. My OH is self employed and by reading up on PPI it seems the whole thing is virtually worthless and the biggest con going. :mad: I think claiming a mis-sold policy is worth a go, there are plenty of templates on here, the National debtline has some good letters too.

Good luck

Deep_In_Debt

As far as I'm aware, it's very rare for debts to be "written off".

I requested a couple of CCA's just to see if the debt was enforceable or not as I was worried about a couple of creditors taking court action against me. Both sent back complete "shockers" of CCA's!

However, as a moral thing, I am still paying them as much as I can afford but if the said creditors try and take court action then I will try and fight it on the basis of an "unenforcable CCA".

Deep_In_Debt

rosemahairy wrote: »

I am confused now too seems like its a bit pointless. If the creditor does not reply with the deed of assignment and copy of the contract as requested whats the next step? who do you go to next about getting rid of the debt? I want rid of the debt and the phone calls thats why i was pursuing this avenue........ help anyone? Has anyone done this before and got a good result?

Sorry, my crusty old PC has 2 speeds - slow and stop (bit like me!)

Unfortunately, you may never "get rid" of the debt. As said before, it just becomes unenforceable and you can stop paying them if they are unable to supply valid paperwork.

However, I personally don't want to be looking over my shoulder or worried that the debt gets passed on to DCA to DCA over the next few years and come back and bite me on the bum when I least expect it or have hassle in years to come.

If you want rid of the phone calls then either don't answer the phone to them or change your number - there is also a harrassment letter you can send to them asking them to stop calling you.

Sorry if this sounds a bit harsh (not meant to be) but I don't think there is any definite way of wiping debts off.

Homegrown_Idiot

Thanks folks, I'm still not convinced about the benefits (or lack thereof) of it so I think I'll give it a miss.
However... my letters for getting the PPI's back are on their way now so hopefully I'll hear something good there:T