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A tale of post bankruptcy clean-up

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  • Lloyds TSB however - entirely different story. They've ignored my recorded letter, they sent a courtesy reply by email to say it had been passed to the relevant department but that was it. I have since registered a formal complaint with the ICO.

    why does that not surprise me:rolleyes: i have stll to get LTSB to respond to a letter fully since i started 'negotiating' 14 moths ago with them for my OH:rolleyes:

    The store cards - couple of them, these were passed onto Link Financial and Max. Here's where it gets tricky. Link then sold the debt onto CL Finance, who - two months into the bankruptcy - applied a CCJ. The forms were never received as the person had moved address. CL Finance have not responded to a recorded letter, and their solicitors have equally remained silent.Why does that not surprise me even less:confused::rolleyes::p:rotfl:
    .

    Was it howard [STRIKE]W anker[/STRIKE] cohen?

    As litgation sols go they where a joke:rolleyes:
    Thats it, i am done, Blind-as-a-Bat has left the forum, for good this time, there is no way I can recover this account, as the password was random, and not recorded, and the email used no longer exits, nor can be recovered to recover the account, goodbye all …………. :(
  • Here's an update to the situation.

    After complaining to Antonio Horta-Osorio in relation to the storecards, as Santander is now responsible for the GE Money storecard side of things, Northampton was telephoned and confirmed on the third try that yes, the CCJ had been set aside. This is legal speak for being removed - a CCJ cannot usually be removed after 30 days of being active, but setting aside is the next best thing, meaning it does not apply and cannot be enforced.

    Cabot didn't answer their initial emails, so emails went to every address that could be located under the sun. They realised we are serious about clearing up the situation at this point, and have agreed to update everything. Capital One, the group with the original contract, really didn't want to know, but being as it has been resolved eventually that is the main thing. Capital One's responses have been curt and disappointing at each step.

    Eversheds identified a benefit overpayment also and referred this onto another internal department, agreeing to send the debt back to the benefit offices after they became aware of the situation. Throughout all of this, Eversheds have been the most reassuring group and whilst I cannot say any post-bankruptcy clearup is a pleasure, Eversheds at least try to make things as painless as possible. I'd encourage people with any Eversheds/Max Recovery related debts to try entering email discussions as they are keen to make things right in my experience.

    I have left the best until last. Lloyds TSB. A complaint went into the ICO, but I noticed the ICO's response times are often shockingly bad. In fact I sent a letter to them last August on another matter, forgot all about it, and got a reply two months ago. Not great, and I had no intention waiting this long for a resolution.

    Last night an email was written to them suggesting they had been given notification by the OR, again by recorded post at the point of discharge, again by email, then their executive office had been notified and nothing was happening. Therefore, as of a specific date in a couple of weeks time, the discharged bankrupt will be going into one of their branches with a packed lunch and other provisions for their young daughter. They will arrive at a specific time, a journalist has been briefed, and a photographer will be on standby should any eviction be attempted. The discharged bankrupt will remain in branch until it is resolved.

    This note went to every possible email that could be found online for every possible division. Then several copies were printed and posted through the letterboxes of local branches to make them aware.

    Less than 24 hours later, several emails have been received and telephone calls to inform the data has all been corrected, and photocopies of corrected data will be posted to arrive tomorrow. I am very happy with this result, and it proves if you're serious, original in your approach, notify enough branches so the executive's office will be tied up by phone calls from worried branch managers all day, you can get results.

    Incidently the plan was not a bluff - the person would have gone through with it.

    One final group to clear now, Abbey. This was a current account that was in credit by pennies at the time of bankruptcy but went into debt with bank charges at the time the OR owned the account. They also froze two nil balance savings accounts at the same time. We need to unfreeze all three accounts, zero off the bank charges and get them closed. That will finish the case entirely, but they are dragging their heels.

    We could always try a packed lunch threat to their branches, and I am tempted on doing this given how much it shook up Lloyds TSB!

    Obviously in an ideal world money would be managed perfectly and no-one would go bankrupt. That's not the point here. The point is, for whatever reason, people on this forum have become bankrupt. My campaign, particularly with Lloyds TSB, isn't about the rights or wrongs of bankruptcy; it is more to treat people with respect and stop treating bankrupts as dirt.

    I hope again this post gives those in the process of clearing up their accounts some hope when times aren't going so smoothly.
  • charliedavis
    charliedavis Posts: 409 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    Well done! What a great story, have to admire your guts and tenacity with Lloyds TSB
  • marc3
    marc3 Posts: 316 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    Interesting how you get a different perspective of different companies.
    My 'clean up' has gone reasonably well, excepting where eversheds have bought the debt-and we have reached a bit of an impasse.

    Eversheds are saying that they will not 'clean up' without having a copy of my credit file.

    They have all the inforamtion- and so i see no reason why they should have my credit file sent by me.
    (i am sure they can access it via experian anyway).
    I see no reason to give them my credit file;and the exchange of letters is getting increasingly fraught.

    what doee the team think ?

    has anyone else had similar experiences with them.

    as far as i can see-there is no reason to provide them with my credit file.
  • Eversheds did at one point ask to see info relating to an error, so I took a screen print (using print screen key) and pasted it into a photo editor, cropped out everything except the one specific bit relating to them, then emailed it as a jpeg. They accepted this fine, as I was under the same view - why should they see an entire credit file?

    Once they had the jpeg in question it was no problem.
  • Latest update here. Abbey still dragged their feet, so I decided to be original again. The email to their CEO had been responded to but not actioned fully. Three different departments started passing the buck. One office tried to say they didn't have adequate paperwork.

    As you can see from post #13, the specific date suggested when a visit would be made to Lloyds TSB with high profile results, was now a free date since they sorted the problem. Being original in approaches again, we suggested this date to Abbey as a point when we could hold a picnic demonstration outside one of their branches. This would be complete with friends leafleting passers-by, placquards detailing the stranglehold an international conglomerate has on the UK retail banking market, and again media interest with possibilities of TV crew this time.

    A phone call was received to say it wasn't their fault, the required paperwork wasn't in order. They were told fine, no problem, enough of the paper trails as everything had been done by the book; we'll see them at the picnic.

    24 hours later, in an overnight game of call my bluff, and they came back today confirming all accounts had been closed, and a three figure cheque for the inconvenience was on its way.

    All that needs to happen now is an application made to the credit agencies to check the files are accurate - which I believe they should be by now - and not only have we cleaned up the records, but have made a nice little amount out of it for our hassles.

    If you are about to clean up your record, please use this as inspiration. Don't lose your cool, show them you mean business, but be original and witty. Be organised, keep files and a track of what needs doing on a particular date, be structured, and get your file cleared. That way, in a few years time, it will appear on your file as though nothing was ever amiss.
  • tigerfeet2006
    tigerfeet2006 Posts: 14,030 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Like the sound of a three figure cheque, as long as the three figures aren't 0.01p :D

    You've been an inspration.
    BSCno.87
    The only stupid question is an unasked one
    Loving life as a Kernow Hippy
  • dack_2
    dack_2 Posts: 237 Forumite
    Great post CitySlicker, will remember this for when my time comes.
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