What do I do now?

Crisp_£_note

Hi

After 3 months of £1 token payments to one of my credit cards and sending them an income and expenditure form they still wont help.

This week I had one letter from Aqua card COLLECTIONS dated 24th July (received 27th July) which tells me they are not prepared to accept less than £5 a month due to their policy arrangements. They also ask me to provide confirmation of income which I have to do within 7 days.

I then get another letter from Aqua card SERVICES dated 22nd July (received 29th July) telling me that they have closed my account as I am in breech of the conditions and failed to pay the requested amount by the date requested and as a result they have terminated my credit card. I have 7 days to return the cut up or my account will be refered to a collection agency, legal action may be taken against me for recovery of the outstanding debt and a default will be reported to the credit reference agencies.

Judging by these letters I have not had a chance of 7 days before they have acted :mad: I have also received the letters in reverse order. Can I complain to them about this?

What do I do? Do I up my token payments to £5 to keep them happy (although I wont be as I cant afford more than £1 without affecting something else). My only income is Incapacity Benefit which gets paid into my bank account, although I also receive my husbands Working Tax Credits but in a separate 'household' bank account. I listed the Working Tax Credits as 'other income' on the income and expenditure sheet.

What do I do now? I need to act quick.

Thanks

Ames

It might be worth stopping paying and letting them sell it on to a debt collection agency, there's usually no interest or charges then. Or just keep paying the £1 regardless. I've been on token payments for 3 years now, and like you my only income is disability benefits.

Are you eligible for DLA?

rayday2

If they send it onto a debt collection agency you just arrange to pay them the £1 token payments. You do not need to provide any details of your income, the budget sheet on the national debtline website contains enough information for them.

It is not always a bad thing when they close accounts down and send them to debt collection agencies so long as you reply to their letters and keep sending those token payment regardless of whether they accept them or not.

misspoppy

Hi I think you should contact one of the debt charities because I don't think they are supposed to take debt repayments from disability benefits. It may be that bankcruptcy is the best option for you

Ames

That depends on which debt charity you speak to. CCCS took my DLA as income and didn't let me have anything for care needs, CAB and NDL both said that my disability benefits were for my costs connected to disability, and therefore shouldn't be counted. But they said on I&E sheets to put them down as income and just put in care needs totalling the same amount.

Not sure if it's the same for IB though, because that's not for care needs, that's for bills etc. But by definition if you're on benefits then you've only got what the government say you need to live on and therefore have nothing left for debt repayments.

Crisp_£_note

Hi

I sent them a copy of the CCCS Income & Expenditure sheets but since have moved onto NDL (I tried contacting Payplan but other than initial chat I am still waiting for an advisor to call, CAB have a long waiting list and I really need to sort this out quickly).

As they seem to have cut out the 7 day deadline I obviously now dont need to supply the evidence of income or should I send it anyhow pointing out they havent given me sufficient time to supply it? I could also include a new I & E from NDL (which wouldnt be a lot different).

As for DLA I am going to attempt another claim asap. I tried 3 years ago and was turned down, appealed and still no luck.

Thanks

rayday2

YOu do not have to show them evidence of what your income is the statement of income expenditure sheets are enough. They are just trying to squeeze more out of you. I would write back pointing out you are living on the bare minimum that the government allows (as per income sheet) and you as a good will gesture will continue to send £1 token payment and will contact them should your financial situation ever improve. If they can't accept the £1 they will have to pass it onto a debt collection agency who will be able to accept the £1.

System

Hi,

Try not to worry about this too much... you've done all the right things by sending them in an Income/Expenditure sheet and making token payments of £1 per month.

They do not need to see proof of your income, and they don't have the right to!

Stick your guns; don't give in and give them more than you can afford because this will just affect you elsewhere.

If they pass the debt on to a collector it's not the worst thing in the world! They're more likely to accept your token payment. In fact, your token offer probably wont be accepted until your account is passed through the collections stages. The very worst that they could do would be to ask for a County Court Judgment and if they did you'd probably only have to make £1 per month payments anyway.

Keep trying to get in touch with one of the free debt counselling agencies and remember that there's actually very little that Aqua can do to you at the moment other than send you letters and phone calls. You have the upper hand here at the moment!

Deep_In_Debt

As others have said, keep paying what you can afford and don't give in to them. If you don't have it, they can't have it.

Crisp_£_note

My biggest worry is ending up with several CCJ's after struggling all these years to keep my credit file as clean as possible. How far away from a CCJ am I and how will it affect me in the future?

I am also considering a DRO as this will only last 6 years on file so not exatly major long term. Is this still a good idea?

I am also paying off a debt with gas & electric company so cant switch there to save a bit more either. At least I am keeping up with it though which is one good thing!

Thanks

Fire_Fox

What or who is NDL??