Santander and their stubbiness re bank charges

zola10

Hopefully I have done this right as I am a newbie on here.
My problem is I let the bank charges accumulate with Santander. To cut a long story short after the Court hearing, they contacted me and I stupidly ignored their letter. Next think I know they have passed this to a debit agency. I contacted Santander and asked if I could deal with them direct. They refused. After speaking to a nice helpfull individual she suggested that I could send 80% of the amont (Total amount is #3,435.83) and Santander may accept it. I managed to raise #2,748 from the family as I do not want my credit rating touched. My husband is also out of work which means we are facing financial hardship. I sent the cheques off to Santander and this morning they have replied saying they have refused the cheques (they did not even return them and suggested that I put a stop on the cheques (more bank charges)!! They said that I have to deal with the debit agency. Unbelievable or what. I dont know what their problem is.

I have looked on the forum and I cannot see any success stories or failure stores re Santander. Can anyone help.

I am going to contact the FSA next week but am worried re this debit agency they are already harrassing me despite telling them that I had contacted Santander.

natweststaffmember

zola10 wrote: »

Hopefully I have done this right as I am a newbie on here.
My problem is I let the bank charges accumulate with Santander. To cut a long story short after the Court hearing, they contacted me and I stupidly ignored their letter.
What exactly did the letter say?
Do you no longer use the account?
Next think I know they have passed this to a debit agency. I contacted Santander and asked if I could deal with them direct. They refused.
Why?
After speaking to a nice helpfull individual she suggested that I could send 80% of the amont (Total amount is #3,435.83) and Santander may accept it.
Who said to send it to Santander?
I managed to raise #2,748 from the family as I do not want my credit rating touched. My husband is also out of work which means we are facing financial hardship. I sent the cheques off to Santander and this morning they have replied saying they have refused the cheques (they did not even return them and suggested that I put a stop on the cheques (more bank charges)!! They said that I have to deal with the debit agency. Unbelievable or what. I dont know what their problem is.
Was the money paid into your account or were they cheques from the family?
I have looked on the forum and I cannot see any success stories or failure stores re Santander. Can anyone help.

I am going to contact the FSA next week but am worried re this debit agency they are already harrassing me despite telling them that I had contacted Santander.

Ask the debt collection agency if they have bought the debt from Santander or if Santander still own the debt. If Santander do own the debt then state to them that you will not deal with the Debt Collection agency. Was ALL the amount owed bank charges?

zola10

No not all is bank charges - 1,000 was an overdraft

I no longer use the account. None of the letters said anything about selling the amont to a debt collecting agency. I did write to the debt collecting agency and told them that I was in contact with them and they acknowledged this letter. I will call them and ask if they have bought this loan.

It was my decision to send the money to Santander. Money paid into my account.

natweststaffmember

zola10 wrote: »

No not all is bank charges - 1,000 was an overdraft

I no longer use the account. None of the letters said anything about selling the amont to a debt collecting agency. I did write to the debt collecting agency and told them that I was in contact with them and they acknowledged this letter. I will call them and ask if they have bought this loan.

It was my decision to send the money to Santander. Money paid into my account.

If you leave any amount owing that is legitimately an overdraft then you DO owe it because that is not defendable in court(worst case scenario). Have you ignored letters that they sent as well?

zola10

I answered all letters since the court case was lost. The only exception is the January one that Santander sent which I over looked.

Thanks for the advice. If the debit collecting agency owns the debt will I have to settle in full or can I make them an offer? If I pay only say 10 per month will they accept this?

If they dont own it - where do I go from here.

natweststaffmember

zola10 wrote: »

I answered all letters since the court case was lost. The only exception is the January one that Santander sent which I over looked.

Thanks for the advice. If the debit collecting agency owns the debt will I have to settle in full or can I make them an offer? If I pay only say 10 per month will they accept this?

If they dont own it - where do I go from here.

If the DCA own the debt then they are the ones who you try and settle with. Did the bank confirm that they had destroyed the cheques? might as well offer the DCA a full and final settlement.

zola10

Santander told me to cancel the cheques - they did not return them or confirm they were destroyed!!! I think this is unusual or just sheer laziness.

Also, they have at no time stated that they have sold their debit on - if they had why dont they just tell me?

Will contact the DCA and ask them though I suspect the call centre operative that I speak to wont be able to answer this question (coz it is not on their answer sheet:rotfl:)

zola10

For me this is a success. Contacted the DCA and asked them if they had bought the debit they said no. I did ask would they take an offer instead of the #3,435.83 and they said yes. They said they would take #2,580 which is some #850 odd less that Santander was chasing me for originally.

This is 25% off the bank charges. So paid it today.

Like I said this is a success for me.

Thanks to Natweststaffmember for their help.