Where do I stand?

luce181

Hi I posted this in the CCCS thread but I'm not sure if I put it in the right place so I'm post here to see if anyone has any advice for me!

Hi I've got a bit of a problem,

I tried to switch my bank acc over to alliance and leicester last year.
They said they would deal with all the DD's and getting my wages transferred and they were also offering to match any overdraft.

Well, it all went through successfully or so I thought...
The month when it was all supposed to change over, they didn't actually get my wages transferred, nor did they give me an overdraft.
A&L didn't get in touch, the first I knew about this was when my I got letters from various companies saying that my DD had been returned.

So I then discovered that my wages had been paid into my old bank (Abbey) so I paid the DD's myself.
I then decided that as A&L were not going to give me an OD I would just stick to Abbey. So I transferred my DD's back to Abbey.
However, without me knowing A&L had paid one of the DD (I can't actually rem which one but it was for £30) Anyway, when I found out about this is they had already added loads of charges on, which I didn't think was fair and told them this.
It all came to head in Oct, when they were threatening further action, so I agreed to pay the initial charges which were about £75. I was due to go on hol in a couple of days, so I sent off a cheque and thought nothing more about it.

Stupidly I didn't check to see whether the money had gone out, anyway
over Xmas they sent a couple of letters but I didn't really take much notice but now I've got a letter saying that they are taking me to court over a balance of £450 :eek:

I phoned up the debt recovery and they said they will accept a payment of half now and half next month, and basically that there's nothing I can do unless I want to go to court.
I feel so stupid and just don't know what to do, I can't afford to pay that much money, is there anything I can do??

On a separate note, I do have some other debts which I'm struggling to pay, I just completed the debt remedy tool online and it looks like I could do a debt management plan, so if I can't do anything about the balance then I'm thinking I might add it in with my other debts. Your advice would be much appreciated

TIA
P.s sorry for the essay!

Tixy

Hi

Firstly just on a side note no bank could ever get your wages to be paid into a new account, you would always need to inform your employer yourself.

Right back on to the question
How much did the letter in October state that you owed? Did the £75 cheque get cashed?
I would write to them disputing the level of the debt and ask for a full breakdown of the debt (how much charges, how much interest etc). Only once you have that info can you decide if you actually owe the amount that they say you do. Hopefully once you have that they may agree to negotiate the balance.

Does the letter say they are taking you to court or that the may or could. Usually these letters are just threats to frighten you into paying something and the wording is not clear.

luce181

Tixy wrote: »

Hi

Firstly just on a side note no bank could ever get your wages to be paid into a new account, you would always need to inform your employer yourself.

Right back on to the question
How much did the letter in October state that you owed? Did the £75 cheque get cashed?
I would write to them disputing the level of the debt and ask for a full breakdown of the debt (how much charges, how much interest etc). Only once you have that info can you decide if you actually owe the amount that they say you do. Hopefully once you have that they may agree to negotiate the balance.

Does the letter say they are taking you to court or that the may or could. Usually these letters are just threats to frighten you into paying something and the wording is not clear.

Thanks for your reply,

I supplied A&L with my employer's details and they said they would arrange it. It turns out my employer didn't return the form, so I know it's not exactly A&L fault, but as they had said 'we will deal with it' I thought they would have let me know that it hadn't happened so then I could have done something about it.

In Oct it was quite a high amount, as interest and charges had been added, I think it was near the £400. When I phoned them I said that it was ridiculous and I wasn't going to pay that much, so they agreed that I could pay £75 which was the cost of the DD and two charges and that would be the end of it.

No the cheque wasn't cashed .

Oh yes, the letter from the debt recovery says
'If you do not contact us following receipt of this letter we may have no alternative other than to assume that you are avoiding repayment of this debt. In this situation instructions to our clients solicitors to issue leagal action against you may follow.'

So as you say it only says 'may', is this just a threat?

The lady I spoke to this am, was quite adamant that if I didn't pay £220 this week then I would be taken to court?!

Tixy

£450 odd quid isn't a lot of money for them to take you to court over (it probably costs that amount to take you to court). Thats not to say that they won't just that its unlikely.

You could write stating the info from the phone call you had in October and offering to pay the £75 again providing they agree that no further money is due (in fact you could use some of the full & final settlement offer letter from the nationaldebtline website).
Was it A&L you spoke to in October? Who is the debt collector now?

luce181

Tixy wrote: »

£450 odd quid isn't a lot of money for them to take you to court over (it probably costs that amount to take you to court). Thats not to say that they won't just that its unlikely.

You could write stating the info from the phone call you had in October and offering to pay the £75 again providing they agree that no further money is due (in fact you could use some of the full & final settlement offer letter from the nationaldebtline website).
Was it A&L you spoke to in October? Who is the debt collector now?

Ok thank you so much, I felt awful this am when I opened the letter and after the phone call I just sat and cried. But I feel more positive now and will definitale write to them, can I e-mail or does it have to be posted?
And should I pay them any money in between?

Yes in Oct I spoke to A&L directly, the debt recovery letter is from Moorcroft. Who should I write to, one or both of them?

Thanks

Tixy

Sounds like they've sold the debt on to Moorcroft so you'll have to deal with them unfortunately. A note of warning Moorcroft employees are a particularly nasty sub-species bred to frighten and bully you so def do call them again.

The good news is that Moorcroft won't have paid half of the total debt to buy it from A&L so there should be scope to negotiate with them.
You have a couple of options as I see it.
1) send moorcroft the prove it letter and ask for a breakdown of the debt. They have to provide this and it could buy you some time to get some money together.
2) or go straight to sending a reduced full & final settlement. They may not accept as little as £75 but should accept a lot less than the £450.

I'd do the prove it letter first, it should show them that you know what you are talking about/or are getting advice and might stop them threatening you. They certainly couldn't take you to court whilst you are disputing the debt (not sure Moorcroft have ever taken someone to court for this sort of figure - anyone?)

Here is the prove it letter template for you to amend as you need - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=11570893&postcount=2

luce181

Tixy wrote: »

Sounds like they've sold the debt on to Moorcroft so you'll have to deal with them unfortunately. A note of warning Moorcroft employees are a particularly nasty sub-species bred to frighten and bully you so def do call them again.

The good news is that Moorcroft won't have paid half of the total debt to buy it from A&L so there should be scope to negotiate with them.
You have a couple of options as I see it.
1) send moorcroft the prove it letter and ask for a breakdown of the debt. They have to provide this and it could buy you some time to get some money together.
2) or go straight to sending a reduced full & final settlement. They may not accept as little as £75 but should accept a lot less than the £450.

I'd do the prove it letter first, it should show them that you know what you are talking about/or are getting advice and might stop them threatening you. They certainly couldn't take you to court whilst you are disputing the debt (not sure Moorcroft have ever taken someone to court for this sort of figure - anyone?)

Here is the prove it letter template for you to amend as you ne ed - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=11570893&postcount=2

Thanks Tixy you're a great help,

Just one more question, the prove it letter says that I don't believe I'm the debtor, is this right?
It's just that I do accept the debt just not that it should be so much!

Tixy

Well you know you owed money to A&L, however Moorcroft should prove that you now owe that money to them, so at the moment you are disputing that you owe Moorcroft anything.

luce181

I found this letter does this sound right?

'Dear Sir/Madam
With reference to the above agreement, I would be grateful if you would send me a copy of this credit
agreement and a full breakdown of the account including any interest or charges applied. I understand that
under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 [sections 77-79], I am entitled to receive a copy of any credit
agreement and a statement of account on request. I enclose a payment of £1 which represents the fee payable
under the Consumer Credit Act 1974.
I understand a copy of any credit agreement along with a statement of account should be supplied within 12
working days.

I understand that under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 creditors are unable to enforce an agreement if they fail
to comply with the request for a copy of the agreement and statement of account under these sections of the
Act.

I look forward to hearing from you.'

Should I put in about the £75 or just leave it at that?

Tixy

Unfortunately that letter won't work for an overdraft. They only need to supply a copy of the consumer credit agreement for certain types of debts (credit cards, loans etc) but overdrafts are different and they don't have to.

GeorgeUK

I would write a letter of complain and send it to A&L's head office.

Make clear the events that have happened and how not only was your account not set up properly (not their fault, but not yours either)
They did not notify you that this had not been set up
They did not pay arrange payment of your DD's (only one)

They have added charges for errors that you were not responsible for.
Although you have sent payment of the requested monies to settle what they said was owed, this cheque was not cashed.

(check with your bank if they know what has happened with this and if no ideas, cancel it)

State that while none of the events above were your fault, you have tried to rectify the situation but have now been informed that you may face legal action. Request that before you seek legal advice you would like to remedy the situation and to find out both why the account was not set up initially and what has happened to the payment you sent in.