Requesting a default pros & cons....

rugbymum

Let me just outline the circumstances....
I'm in a DMP. I have been since March 2008. All my creditors have either stopped/reduced interest and stopped charges. Except one, Black Horse.
They were about to send the account to default when they agreed to the DMP and kept the account with them rather than send to a DCA.
My circumstances have changed drastically since July & I now make VERY small payments on the DMP.
The result is that I am now being charged £25+ in interest per month and I am repaying £6.91 under the DMP. This means that I will still owe them money long after I am dead & buried!:eek:
I really want them to default the account to stop the charges & reduce or stop interest (NOT CCJ), so that I can get this darn thing paid off!
I'm looking for advice & suggestions on how to carry this forward.
Ps I haven't requested a CCA yet as I'm 95% certain that I DID sign a correct thingy.

scotsgirl_3

It isn't clear from your post whether you have spoken with Blackhorse or whether all communication has been through the DMP. I worked for BH until recently and I know that the agents in the collections call centre can stop interest being charged, and should do so if your debt will essentially continue until infinity if its added - which is what will happen at the moment.

I know you probably don't want to call but it really is worth a shot. If the agent you speak to refuses then demand to speak to a manager - not all agents realise it can be done or is allowed, especially if you get someone who is fairly new. You've got nothing to lose and in my experience, the majority of agents and pretty much all managers would freeze interest in your circumstances.

rugbymum

scotsgirl wrote: »

It isn't clear from your post whether you have spoken with Blackhorse or whether all communication has been through the DMP. I worked for BH until recently and I know that the agents in the collections call centre can stop interest being charged, and should do so if your debt will essentially continue until infinity if its added - which is what will happen at the moment.

I know you probably don't want to call but it really is worth a shot. If the agent you speak to refuses then demand to speak to a manager - not all agents realise it can be done or is allowed, especially if you get someone who is fairly new. You've got nothing to lose and in my experience, the majority of agents and pretty much all managers would freeze interest in your circumstances.

I may sound grumpy (if I do I apologise), but IMO the first part of your post isn't realy relevant.
I know from experience that clling ANY creditors or dcs is a very BAD idea. I make sure all communication is in writing.
I have been in touch with black horse and they wrote in September to say they were freezing interest but they didn't and have continued to slap the charges on!

scotsgirl_3

To be honest you do come across a little grumpy when I was only trying to help by giving you my experience and knowledge as someone who has worked for the company so knows what can be done. I think you've misinterpreted my meaning and probably jumped to conclusions just because I worked in collections.

When I said the contact centre should freeze the interest i wasn't saying this from a general "it's what the should do if they are being fair" perspective, I was trying to advise you that this is a guideline that existed in the contact centre when I worked there and I am pretty sure it still does. The "infinity" term was one which was used in the guideline.

I know it's normally advised to only deal with creditors by mail and normally I would entirely agree with you for lots of reasons. However, letters and calls are dealt with by two separate departments at BH and the admin team sometimes seem to work in weird and wonderful ways so I cannot guarantee that their rules are the same - Plus I know how darn slooooow they are at answering letters at the best of times.

Anyway, how you proceed is entirely up to you although I would suggest that you at least write in again especially if freezing interest was agreed - it is also possible for them to remove the interest and charges they have applied since they sent this letter so I'd ask for this.

P.s. them sending the account to a DCA doesn't necessarily mean the charges will stop i'm afraid, especially as first stop is an inhouse DCA where nothing changes except the letterhead. Its normally quite a long time before they actually sell debts on.