Catalogue debt

smiles76

Hi can anyone offer me advice on catalogue debts,

I have debts with 3 companys 2 i have only just fallen behind with payments and one with Next from about 4 years ago totalling approx £1200 which is with a dca, i wrote to next offering £3 a month (which in all honesty is all i can pay). Im not sure if i signed an cca with the other two companys.. if i havent but have been paying them till recently can the debt still be written off?
I have a couple of other debts with dca's from a book club and studio catalogue, i had written offering them payments each month and have been paying them so can i still get the debt cleared if i havent signed a cca or has the letter offering instalment payments basically accepted the debt?

Any advice would be appreciated as im desperate to sort this out as its crippling me financially to the point of being unable to keep up payments on utilities!! thanks

SolicitorMidlands

Hopefully someone will come along and answer this properly but my understanding is that you can request CCAs at any time.

Merlinexcalibur

Correct. Some further tips for you:

1) Send a postal order, not a signed cheque
2) Do NOT sign your letter, print your name
3) Await the 12+2 period to see what is produced
4) Do not answer the phone, ignore letters before you have received your agreement; collection activity is meant to cease until you have but ... this is not always the case

book club

That would depend upon what sort of account it was eg credit? I am not sure if one would cover that as it's not really a catalogue.

i had written offering them payments each month and have been paying them so can i still get the debt cleared if i havent signed a cca or has the letter offering instalment payments basically accepted the debt?

An SOA (Statement of Affairs) might be best so everyone here can see where and what you can afford to offer. You should only offer what you can reasonably afford even if it's a £1. Maybe try and get advice from someone like Consumer Credit Counselling Services. They may not be able to offer you a DMP (Debt Management Plan) but they will usually offer to produce a SOA and a letter offering token payments to each of your creditors. In other words, they do all that for you. All you have to do is send the letters once given to you.

I know it all sounds easy but it's a start. If you want the template letters, too, others here will point you in that direction probably.

If you want to request your agreement this is the letter to send to whomever has your account now eg DCA:

Dear Sirs

Reference No:

With reference to the above agreement, I would be grateful if you would send me a copy of this credit agreement.

I understand that under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (Sections 77-79), I am entitled to receive a copy of my credit agreement on request. I enclose a payment of £1.00 which represents the fee payable under the Consumer Credit Act.

I understand a copy of my credit agreement should be supplied within 12 working days.

I understand that under the Consumer Credit Act creditors are unable to enforce an agreement if they fail to comply with a request for a copy of the agreement under these sections of the Act.

I look forward to hearing from you.

SolicitorMidlands

Just out of interest if they cannot produce the CCA do they cease chasing you for the debt?

10past6

smiles76 wrote: »

can the debt still be written off?

Debt's are very, very seldom "written off" unenforcable maybe, but written off, very seldom.

smiles76 wrote: »

its crippling me financially to the point of being unable to keep up payments on utilities!! thanks

You MUST pay your utility bills, these are PRIORITY bills therefore require payment BEFORE any unsecured debt.

Merlinexcalibur

Good question. Others may have more helpful advice on this. But, some do, some don't. They are supposed to close the account, return it to the OC (original creditor) if they cannot produce one. It all depends really which DCA has it. And what usually happens then is it will get sold to the next in the chain.

10past6

SolicitorMidlands wrote: »

Just out of interest if they cannot produce the CCA do they cease chasing you for the debt?

99.9% of the time, no, it requires the debtor to stand there ground and be upto date with the correct legislation.

Merlinexcalibur

Yes and that, too.

smiles76

Thanks all for your advice, I have completed a soa for the debt to next which when i sent the letter with offer of £3 monthly payment ..which i did sign(shouldve searched for this site beforehand oh well)

I will take the advice given though and write to the other companys regarding the cca.

In regards to utilities i know theyre priority debts but they dont add interest everytime i miss or am late with a payment, so tend to try and juggle them all about so each gets something.

Thanks again for the advice Its much appreciated

fatbelly

SolicitorMidlands wrote: »

Just out of interest if they cannot produce the CCA do they cease chasing you for the debt?

They can be persuaded 'not to pursue' in most cases.

Ace/Studio do take a hard line even though they agree that they cannot take court action.

op- it doesn't matter that you've recently made payments and provided signatures. For agreements started pre-April 2007, if there is not a consumer credit act agreement containing the prescribed terms and signed by you then the debt is unenforceable.

How much is the book club debt? I find they are quite good at writing off (yes, honestly) small debts, say under £50

smiles76

Thanks fatbelly,
the book club debt is now £46 although it started at £20 and went up to £86 with all their charges i had been paying this off at £5 a month but can no longer afford to keep this up. How do i go about asking them to no longer persue this debt ?