Regal Credit

jules2000

Hi I am hoping someone can help please,

i am new to this forum and just wanted some advice.

Firstly, I used to have insurance with Swinton which i cancelled in Feb 2010as i had bought a new car and they wanted to charge me ex amount for my new car which i was not about to pay, there fore i cancelled my insurance with them and started a new policy from scratch with another company, since cancelling my insurance i had a letter from swinton with a breakdown of what i owed and this amounted to 85.29. I advised swinton that i could pay this however wouldn't be able to pay in full, nothing else was heard then,

Tues 6th April i received a letter from Regal Credit, saying that basically i now owe £110.29 and that "the above liability has been calculated by our client on the basis of your ACTUAL period of cover on a TIME ON RISK basis, blah blah blah!!.

I contacted Regal on Tues to see why it is now £110.29 for them to say ring swinton as they are the onles who have passed that particular debt, so after to.ing and fro.ing, regal have now told me that there is a £25 charge in which no where on the letter states they will charge and as this is the 1st time of hearing anything since i cancelled my insurance, they tried telling me this had already been passed to another collection agency which i hadnt responded to (heard nothing from anyone since swinton)?? i was under no impression that i would be charged more.

I left it wed and called them back today (thurs 8th)only to speak to a male who in my opinion was totally rude and obnoxious, ignorant and not bothered in what i had to say, i tried explaining the fact that £25 is a lot and had no impression that this was going to happen.

I then spoke to a "supervisor" who was 10 times more ignorant and rude:mad:, everytime i tried to speak he wouldn't let me, he kept saying to me "I'm not interested in what you've got say"and that your not speaking to customer service now, we want our money and we want it NOW"!!.. I called them initially so that i could negotiate paying this off in installments, i cannot afford to pay this full and the obnoxious supervisor kept saying that they would not accept less then £50pm and that if i was on benefits then this is the lowest amount they would except, (i am working however on a low income) i am stuggleing to pay my bills anyway.

I kept asking this male to let me speak and he refused to so how was i meant to sort this out like an adult. He asked me for my income and expenditure and said he needed this NOW over the phone (i didnt give him this) i told him that was fine and i would put it in writing he then began to tell me this needed to be in by the end of the week (it's thurs today)??????.and needed this by tomorrow!

The male i spoke to was talking to me as if i was something he had bought in on his shoe!! i was not impressed by his attitude and told him i would be writing and complaining about that for starters and wouldn't get a penny from me until they could allow me to speak. :mad:

he then said "well if you don't do what we say then expect our agents to be knocking at your door"..

I am now absolutely terrified, i cannot pay this in full and want to make an arrangement to pay this but cannot as i cannot get any sense out of anyone and they are all ignorant and damn right rude!.

Please can anyone advise me what to do next,

1) can they charge £25,
2) can they speak to me like that and get away with this,
3) can they refuse to accept any kind of payment
4) can they send "agents" to my door?.
Are there any letter templates that i can use to write to them now as i cannot speak to them as he made that pretty clear.

I know i definately owe £85.29 and am prepared to pay this but would like to pay in installments and as little as possible.

I suffer from stress and anxiety and this conversation today has now bought on an anxiety attack. I feel ill now and have never in my life been so verbally abused by someone like that before.

thanks for listening.

Any advice appreciated.

DarkConvict

Check your swinton terms, it maybe a cancellation charge. Alot of contracts have them in for early termination. Usually remaining balence + termination charge. It will be in your original paperwork.
It is very unlikely a debt collector can charge, usually absent from contract, as such its likely to be a swinton charge.

They can speak how they like, however you can submit complaints to OFT, but also to the government bodies that regulates insurance. FOS does insurance - http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumer/complaints.htm

They can refuse payment, but keep proof you offered it and they declined, do not ring only send letters now.

Yes they can send agents, but they have no rights. under OFT guidelines they must make an appointment, so tell them you do not wish to make one and you withdraw there common law to access your property. This makes it so they can't visit, and any visits would be considered tresspassing..

jules2000

The cancellation charge was £50 which was already included in the £85.29, so the £25 is what regal have charged me to collect the debt.

DarkConvict

If a debt collection charge is not in your terms and conditions then they cannot charge £25 to collect the debt. http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumer/complaints.htm
Charging for debt collection
2.9 Charges should not be levied unfairly.
2.10 Examples of unfair practices are as follows:
a. claiming collection costs from a debtor in the absence of express
contractual or other legal provision

If cancellation was £50, would it not have been much cheaper to have just paid the remaining £35.29 on the insurance?

jules2000

If i had kept paying the insurance this was due to end in Aug,my payments were £31pmwhich would have left 6 months to pay = £186.00 so the amount they have calculated was less than what i would have paid if i had carried on with the insurance as i only had this for a few months. the 35.29 was what was left after all the deductions and refunds from their end, plus the £50. I have just called the Ombudsman to complain about the way i have been spoken to and they are sending me out a form.

DarkConvict

Oh, i get it now Im thinking to much about phone contracts where they charge a fee + remainder of the contract in full, my mistake.

Hope FOS can help, they do actually do stuff unlike some government bodies.

OFT would be next on the list over the charge, could also try consumer direct but i assume they wont help.

jules2000

are there any letter templates that i can use to send to these people offering to pay such an amount? I don't want to deal with them over the phone anymore as i don't want my head bitten off everytime i call them. What options do i have regarding the debt? How long can it take it they wanted to take me to court and with the amount being so little would they do this?

RAS

You need to send a prove it letter not an offer.

jules2000

RAS wrote: »

You need to send a prove it letter not an offer.

How do i do that? what do i need to put in the letter?

DarkConvict

Prove it letter template http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=11570893&postcount=2

jules2000

thanks i'l use this. Does this mean that although i owe £85.29 i know i am liable for i am disputing the total £110.29?

sorry if i sound a bit think after speaking to them today my brain is mashed! lol