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MBNA - Urgent Help Needed

Hi,

This is my first post on this message board so plase be friendly!

Basically, i moved into my first house at the beginning of 2008 with my Girlfriend.

With all new bills and a mortgage to pay, i have slipped behind on my 2 MBNA cards. I continue to pay my mortgage and all household bills and also keep up payments on my other 3 cards.

I have made an odd payment to MBNA where i can, but now they are really pestering me (obviously!). I owe them about £15k.

I started getting calls from the usual suspects like Aegis and whoever else they use to pressure you. I had read plenty of advice on here so just ignored the calls. They still continue.

I have sent a couple of letters to MBNA asking for them to freeze interest and to reduce my minimum payments which are about £170 on each card. I haven't received anything back.

This has been going on for about 4 months.

I received a letter about a month ago stating that they were about to begin 'Default and Termination Proceedings'. I ignored it.

I came home yesterday to receive a letter from MBNA stating the following:

Dear Sir,

Potential Commencement Of Legal Proceedings.

If you do not contact our office within 7 working days of this letter so we can set a reduced repayment plan, we may recommend that our solicitors commence legal action. This would result in a CCJ being registered against you.

And then one of the following actions:

1. Your employer being ordered by the court to make deductions from your salary through an attachment of earnings.

2. A baliff being instructed following the issue of a warrant of execution to place a levy and recover goods that you own to the value of the ammount you owe.

3. A charge being placed on your property which could result in any available funds being distributed to MBNA following the sale of your property.

Do not ignore this letter. Contact us immediately.

Yours Sincerley,

XXXXXXX

Now, this letter was sent 2nd class, so the 7 days have already passed which is a bit ridiculous. I haven't received any calls from MBNA as far as i am aware, and at no time have any letters been sent recorded delivery.

Now, i know this can't continue and i want to come to a solution. I can probably afford to pay them £50 a month. That is obvioulsy about £300 under what they are demanding. Because of interest i am now about £500 over my credit limit on one card, and £200 on the other.

I will leave it there for now and see what you guys have to say.

Feel free to ask any questions.

Your help is much appreciated.
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Comments

  • Hi
    Have you tried contacting payplan or cccs? MBNA so far (fingers crossed) have accepted reduced payments and frozen my interest since i've been with payplan. They're not horrid but I think they will probably need an I&E.

    Pip
    Looking for solutions and hoping for a miracle!
  • fatbelly
    fatbelly Posts: 21,642 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Cashback Cashier
    Hi

    I notice you posted on the credit card board and got a mixture of replies. The guys over there know a lot about credit cards but not necessarily about debt. There were a couple of useful posts however: the one that suggested you post a statement of affairs using the calculator and the one that directed you over here!

    You (and we) need to look at the whole picture. You have been paying the contractual amounts on three cards but not on these two. We should be able to come up with a better strategy.

    Contrary to what you were told on the other thread, MBNA do not petition for bankruptcy. Their usual tactic is to sell the debt on to a debt collection agency, and to give you the opportunity to settle at a reduced figure before that. Obviously, termination and default come first. They are open to reduced payments but IIRC these have to be at least 0.8% of balance per month. If you can't afford that, then it gets sold.
  • Your views are much appreciated.

    Thankyou.
  • fiveyearplan
    fiveyearplan Posts: 10,143 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    My OH has had the same letter about a year ago and we are still trying to deal with the problem. We have actually been in the court process since April 2008.

    :j :j


  • fiveyearplan
    fiveyearplan Posts: 10,143 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    They are taking OH to court.

    :j :j


  • I have two MBNA cards, one with £6k and the other with £12. I missed four monthly payments I think and they told me that if I missed the fifth my account would have to have to go "upstairs". Not sure what that meant but I think it meant sold on to another debt collector. I then agreed to pay £87 a month on the £6k card and £165 on the £12k card, making £252 total. They froze interest and charges. I did this for a year and paid off the arrears but I'm now going on a DMP with CCCS because my income has gone down. I've found the Collections Dept OK to deal with and there don't seem to be any problems so far with me doing the DMP which is much lower payments (£100 a month for all my credit card debts £33k total).

    You do need to deal with them to sort this out, either directly or via one of the debt charities as it is not going away.
  • Thanx for all the advice.

    Does anyone else have any more ideas or advice for me? It's all much appreciated.

    I was wondering what sort of figure MBNA would be looking at if i enquired about a full and final settlement?

    Would they prefer that or would they prefer me just to pay £25-£50 every month for the next 100 odd years?!
  • UPDATE:

    Spoke to MBNA this morning who were not very helpful tbh.

    Basically denied receiving any letters from me.

    They said that my account is 4 months behind and if it goes to 6 months then they sell the debt on. I explained i didn't want this to happen and wanted to sort it out with them.

    She told me that i have to phone back with my income and expenditure each month. I said i have been informed to do this by post but she said by time i send it to them and they go thru it, it may be too close to the 6 month deadline period.

    She asked me to consider an MBNA loan (yeah great, let me just move my debt rather than solve it) which i refused to do.

    She said they may be able to put me on a reduced repayment plan but they need a full detailed explanation of all my other creditors, how much i owe and why i have been paying all others apart from MBNA.

    She said i need to phone my mortgage company and all other lenders to ask if they can reduce my payments so i can pay MBNA.

    I am paying all other bills and creditors, just not MBNA. Mainly due to the fact that all my hosusehold bills are essential and all other credit card bills are minor compared to MBNA.

    She also said that if i go on a reduced repaymet plan, i have to do this with all other credit companies and i am unable to use any other credit available to me.

    Is she telling the truth?

    I am coping fine with my other bills and debts, so why should i have to inform them that i am strugling with MBNA. Seems wrong.

    Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
  • pepe2008
    pepe2008 Posts: 5,158 Forumite
    I found MBNA very easy to deal with. I manage to pay 1% of balance each month and for this they have agreed to guarantee no interest or charges whilst I meet the payments.
    They DO need to Default and then Terminate the Agreement to allow for the Account to move to their Collections Department.

    I do have the support of a Debt Management Plan in place though. My monthly payment via the dmp falls £7 short of the 1% required, this is paid with a DD from wifes a/c. There are ways and means.

    I think that you need to contact one of the FEE FREE dmp providers asap.
    :D:D stay wonky :D:D

    ....one-way ticket to Portugal booked !
  • SouthCoast
    SouthCoast Posts: 1,985 Forumite
    She said they may be able to put me on a reduced repayment plan but they need a full detailed explanation of all my other creditors, how much i owe and why i have been paying all others apart from MBNA.

    Post your SOA here and you will be able to send it to MBNA with the benefit of the comments of the very experienced posters on this Board.
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