irresponsible lending R.E.VANQUIS

GDG

HAS ANYONE ANY ADVISE . My partner was offered a card by letter which she never asked for. She filled in the form, sent it back occupation as housewife. Vanquis gave her credit of £250. She started having problems and with charges now owes £500. She got letters and phone calls and repeatedly told them she is now disabled and is on benefits and could only afford £5 per fortnight.After nearly 12 months They have sent the debt to 1st credit debt collection agency.Finally interest has stopped.She offered to pay £5 per fortnight again setting out about being on benifits,also asking to be sent an income and expediture form.Both were refused ,she was told they wanted payment in full or they would take her to court and get seizure order for goods plus court and baillif costs.Should there not be laws against irresponsible lending like this.What can she do ,the worry is making her health even worse.

izools

OK for starters, no irresponsible lending has taken place.

A £250 credit limit is easy to handle when on benefits, I know this because I held a Vanquis card AND an Aqua card when on Benefits and had no trouble keeping them under control.

The charges were incurred because your partner used the card irresponsibly.

HOWEVER... it DOES sound like the Debt Collection Agency ARE acting irresponsibly.

Write to them (DON'T speak to them on the phone - next time they call, say you are rescinding permission under the telecommunications act for them to call again and any further telephone calls will result in legal action for breach of the act).

In the letter, advise again you are rescinding permission for them to call you (or action may be taken under the Telecommunications Act) or to sent a representative around (or action may be taken for Trespassing).

State that under the Social Security Act 1992 no court in the land will approve a charge against a person on benefits and enclose the income and expenditure sheet. Make an offer of £5 a month and enclose a cheque / PO for £5 stating it is to be cashed on condition the agreement is accepted.

Good luck!

ElkyElky

I think your partner needs a good kick up the bottom, preferably a hard and painful one.

How on earth did she manage to loose control on £250 debt? Seriously... the minimum payments would have only been like £13.

Financial education is what your partner needs.

carlislelass

if she hadn`t asked for it why did she fill in the form and send it back? I too have managed a card when on benefits

mippy

ElkyElky wrote: »

I think your partner needs a good kick up the bottom, preferably a hard and painful one.

How on earth did she manage to loose control on £250 debt? Seriously... the minimum payments would have only been like £13.

Financial education is what your partner needs.

We don't know what their household income is, or whether it's recently been cut. When I was unemployed a while ago, credit card companies didn't cut my minimum payments to match my income, and £13 might be a lot for someone on the dole or benefits. While it might have been a bad idea to take the card out, the moral high ground isn't going to help anyone.

ElkyElky

mippy wrote: »

We don't know what their household income is, or whether it's recently been cut. When I was unemployed a while ago, credit card companies didn't cut my minimum payments to match my income, and £13 might be a lot for someone on the dole or benefits. While it might have been a bad idea to take the card out, the moral high ground isn't going to help anyone.

I personally don't think anyone should be taking debt on if they can't afford it. Vanquis was obviously happy to give her a card based on her income, I don't think they would have done that if her income was incredibly low.

Because she is disabled, I assume she is receiving disability allowance which will be slightly more than the bog standard JSA.

izools

ElkyElky wrote: »

I personally don't think anyone should be taking debt on if they can't afford it. Vanquis was obviously happy to give her a card based on her income, I don't think they would have done that if her income was incredibly low.

Because she is disabled, I assume she is receiving disability allowance which will be slightly more than the bog standard JSA.

When in receipt of DLA you ALSO recieve an enhanced rate of JSA / ESA, I handled my Vanquis (£250) and Aqua (£350) flawlessly whilst on lower-rate DLA and JSA for several months without an issue... I don't see what the problem is here, other than an irresponsible borrower who is trying to fight every step of the way with Vanquis and the DCA...

But they know how to handle the situation now and hopefully no one else will give them a credit card!

Jemma-T

GDG wrote: »

HAS ANYONE ANY ADVISE . My partner was offered a card by letter which she never asked for. She filled in the form, sent it back occupation as housewife. Vanquis gave her credit of £250. She started having problems and with charges now owes £500. She got letters and phone calls and repeatedly told them she is now disabled and is on benefits and could only afford £5 per fortnight.After nearly 12 months They have sent the debt to 1st credit debt collection agency.Finally interest has stopped.She offered to pay £5 per fortnight again setting out about being on benifits,also asking to be sent an income and expediture form.Both were refused ,she was told they wanted payment in full or they would take her to court and get seizure order for goods plus court and baillif costs.Should there not be laws against irresponsible lending like this.What can she do ,the worry is making her health even worse.

I always like a bit of Arial Narrow in the mornings.

If you can't afford the debt you'll have to tell them. Blaming everyone else isn't going to sort the problem.

chattychappy

GDG wrote: »

My partner was offered a card by letter which she never asked for.
...
She filled in the form, sent it back occupation as housewife. Vanquis gave her credit of £250.
...
Should there not be laws against irresponsible lending like this.What can she do ,the worry is making her health even worse.

izools wrote: »

I handled my Vanquis (£250) and Aqua (£350) flawlessly whilst on lower-rate DLA and JSA for several months

Well no problem sending a letter that she never asked for - that's how advertising works. Then she asked for a card by filling in the form. Even then she didn't have to use it....

No doubt if enough people think the way you do and characterise this as "irresponsible", one day there could indeed be laws to stop this - and people like izools will be deprived of a useful facility.

~Brock~

chattychappy wrote: »

No doubt if enough people think the way you do and characterise this as "irresponsible", one day there could indeed be laws to stop this - and people like izools will be deprived of a useful facility.

Always remember......NANNY KNOWS BEST

RobertoMoir

Sorry but it sounds like irresponsible borrowing as much as irresponsible lending.

If I purchased a month's worth of biscuits and cream cakes and alcohol from tescos then consumed them all in a day would you say that tescos be guilty of "irresponsible grocery selling" or would you suggest that maybe I ought to reign in my appetite and that perhaps it's my fault that I'm now gravely ill after polishing off that little lot?

Anyway, on to the debt collectors:
Debt collectors have very little power to compel you to pay a debt off in full and rely on peoples lack of knowledge to bully them into it.

They could go to court, but they are unlikely to because its not often worth it. If they do take it to court then in order for bailiffs to be sent in you'd need to have a CCJ granted against you for the debt (not difficult to be honest, it's a technical point.. "Is the money owed, or not".) and you'd need to fail in the repayment terms set by the judge and they would then need to apply for the bailiffs to enforce the debt, at which point you can ask for (and get) another chance to pay it back via the court's arrangement. If you read my sig you'll see I have some experience in this.

Hopefully this will re-assure her. You don't have to worry about bailiffs just popping up out of the blue.

There's also a template letter around here you can use to insist that they only contact you by letter, which you should definitely use; it would be real interesting to see if they respond to a written statement of "I'm disabled, my benefits are my only source of income and £x is all I can afford" with written threats of sending in the bailiffs. They know they're BSing you so they'll be reluctant to write it down. (If you're about to reply "but they have written it down" then I bet the letter is full of weasel words like "may", "possibly" and "could", in which case don't over-react to letters like that. Technically speaking they could say "If you don't pay up then aliens could land in your garden and may vaporise your house" and be correct too and I bet you're not overly worried about that.)