Cahoot...Debt Managers Ltd

hopeless_with_money

Hello all,

I'm hoping for a bit of advice about a sticky situation I've got myself into. I've noticed people with similar problems on other threads but i'm a bit lost with all this talk of CCA's and DCA's..could someone translate for a clueless girl please !!

I took out a loan for approx £2k in 2005 with Cahoot. I thought it was like a bank loan and started making monthly repayments. I never gave it much thought until early 2008 when i phoned up to find out how much longer i had to pay it off and was shocked to find the balance approx £4K. It was explained to me that I had a revolving credit account (think that was the words) and the balance was this because most of my payments were taken up with paying protection payments that i supposedly took out.

To cut a long story short, I asked for proff that I had taken protection in at least 5 phone calls , was promised calls back but heard nothing. I therefore stpooed the direct debit, thinking this would move them into action but I heard nothing.. This was over a year ago and to be honest had forgotten all about it !

TRhat was until a letter from Debt managers Ltd arrived through the door this week saying "final demand" and I owe nearly £4800 !

I'm terrified about whats going to happen next. Can anyone tell me what I should do next ?

Thanks..hopeless with money ....Jane

learning_to_drive

I would expect a signed letter having to prove that you agreed upon PPI?

hopeless_with_money

thanks learning to drive - whats worrying me though is that i think i may have applied on-line ? How can that be proven ? I'm worried they maysent out an application form with a tck box for protection that I have not noticed and signed ?..would that be legal ?...there is no way i'd knowingly take protection on this sort of borrowing. ...if only i'd read the small print ..thanks again ...Jane

byebyedebt

Hi Hopeless, dont take it the wrong way, but I read it so often on these forums where people cancel a direct debit because of some sort of problem.

Never cancel a direct debit in anger.

In this case it would appear that you have not made other arrangements to pay, so when you cancelled the direct debit the interest was applied and and the debt went up because repayments were not being made.

I have this same type of Cahoot Loan. It allows you to repay without penalty, and also borrow back at any time. My advice to you would be to immediatly restore payments, whether by direct debit or by bacs. Get back below your limit. Then they will stop chasing you.

In the meantime, seek advice on how to reclaim PPI via the other boards on MSE. Also, pursue a complaint on the difficulties you had trying to cancel it. Their calls are recorded, and their computer logs will show when you argued with them. So ask for a copy of the call. You are entitled to it as it proves your case. If they demand £10 under the DPA, point out to them that they are aggrevating your complaint by not supplying you with the evidence you require. They will probably not give you a copy, but that gives you more ammunition for a complaint to the FOS.

Finally to go from £2000 to £4800, seems a bit steep. What rate of interest are they charging? Did they contact you earlier? or did they just let the debt rise. My point being that whilst I am of the opinion you are responsible for the debt, it should never have been allowed to more than double as this has got to be very irresponsible lending. After 3 months of not paying they should have addressed this. Maybe they did, let us know, did they contact you?

From memory you applied online with Cahoot, they then sent you paperwork to check and sign back.

I would also suggest that you ask them to freeze the interest.