Have been a absolute div - please help

LauraLou1982

Now I am absolutley aware what a prize div I have been. I have buried my head in the sand to an extent and now need some help and advice please.

I owe £1400 to Egg card. I fell behind and they sent it to a DCA. I sent them a few letters to set up a payment plan and they werent very helpful, saying they needed £400 up front. I obviously couldnt afford that.

Now I have recieved a letter today saying they have lodged proceedings at a county court and I will recieve paperwork within 48 hours. But they have written saying i can call them and speak to my account manager? Is there any point if they are just going to say they want all payment and wont set up a payment plan?

I really dont want a ccj as I am sure no one does, but is there anything I can do now? I have been a total div and I know I have, but has anyone got any constructive help for me? What happens if this does go to Court? I am so scared!!!

Thanks in advance,

A very scared laura

RAS

Hi

First thing, do not ring them.

Second thing, make some sort of payment ASAP.

Now the legal side.

When did you take the card out?

I assume you have a default letter amongst the stuff you received and a termination letter?

We need to see those please, BUT you will need to rack up a few more posts before you can post a link to a scan. Remove all identifying details including account numbers and bar codes first

So head over to the freebies section and other areas of the forum and make a few posts to get your count up.

LauraLou1982

Thanks very much for your reply RAS. Why do I not want to ring them? Just asking as I would think I would want them to stop proceedings so I can sort out a payment plan, and I dont want it to get that far along (as long as it would take for letters to get there and then be processed by them?) and then not be able to get them to stop proceedings? I am just asking so I understand and am very grateful for your help.

I would have recieved one from Egg I assume but I dont know where it is. Part of my buring my head in the sand has been not filing documents like this correctly :

I am assuming I can make a payment on there website or something? But is what I can afford going to make a difference? Like I can probably afford to pay £50? The card was taken out a good few years ago...I did clear the whole balance roughly in 2005 ish, think I took it out maybe around 2003 time?

Thanks for your help.

RAS

Ok, the letter is designed to get you to ring them. What often happens is that the creditor suggests all sort of dire consequences of not paying which are designed to get you to pay more than you can afford or agree to a payment plan that then gets you in a mess with other bills.

Added to that once you agree one thing on the phone, there is no evidence of the agreement and a week or two later you get more calls insisting you have broken the agreement and demanding more money you cannot afford.

So do it in writing.

Since this account was taken out so long ago, it may not be enforceable - see never in doubts thread on CCAs and enforceability.

And if you find the default letter, you may find that that is unenforceable.

Get hunting this weekend.

LauraLou1982

OK lovely I will look for those letters this weekend. Am slightly worried about getting paperwork from the court though as the letter says I will within 48 hours? Saying that the letter was printed on the 25th and we are now the 27th so it should already been with me?

Just so worried, I have visions of bailiffs and police turning up at my house!!! I wont ring them then, I will send them a letter instead. The one time I did ring them they were exactly like that, and demanded a big sum of money I couldnt afford anyway! I know its there job to get the money ASAP though, so they are gonna try everything aren't they.

RAS

AH!!!!!!

The worst that can happen is a CCJ. It is very very rare for bailiffs to be appointed for consumer debt and the police would not be involved.

You may have to fight to sort out the repayment terms, but if you keep paying they will not be allowed to go further.

MrsTinks

Ok... police will only turn up if you call them they have NO interest in a private debt whether it's being paid or not So stop worrying about that.
Bailiffs - they will only turn up for council tax and if you have a debt that you get a CCJ on and you THEN fail to pay the amount set by the judge in your CCJ.
Very often DCAs will send you these scare letters and have no intention of going through courts or at least not yet.

Calling DCAs should only be done if you REALLY REALLY know what you're doing... I had fun with them once on a debt I knew wasn't mine and bless them they tried their best to make me pay, guilt me into paying, threaten me into paying etc etc. They wouldn't accept that the debt wasn't mine and even if it had been mine it would have been statute barred... So definitely don't call them - they will lie and threaten and try to cajole...

Keep everything in writing and keep a copy and the proof of posting for recorded post (always send recorded)

Sooooooooooooo........ How much can you reasonably afford to pay them a month? Have you done an SOA yet? Sending them a letter making them a payment offer and if you want (you don't have to) include a copy of your SOA to show you have nothing more to give them.

Post up your SOA and we'll take a look at it

LauraLou1982

I will post up my SOA shortly thanks,. The annoying thing is I dont have that much debt really, but just managed it badly and buried my head in the sand, then panicked!

I think what scared me is the letter said they had already started court proceedings, not that they were going too...I am worried now that its too late and I will get a CCJ...we want to move in August as well and I am worried we wont be able to rent anywhere new with a CCJ on my file! Hopefully its just a scare tactic. I will go on their internet site and make a payment tomorrow. Roughly working out I can probably afford £50 a month payments...maybe more as I am going to look for a extra part time job to pay these off, as hopefully this is going to be the kick up the !!!! I needed to get this paid off!

Thanks for your advice, I really am very very grateful!

LauraLou1982

Sorry to bother everyone again, just wanted to ask peopke what they through this this letter from the solicitors...I am so scared to finish work and go home in case there is court papers in the letter box!

They dont mention a actual court, they just say they have lodged papers with the local county court. There is also no claim number this bit is left blank? And they say I can call a number to speak to my account manager. I am going to go on line in a minute and make a payment, not a massive one but still something. Does anyone think they have actually lodged any court papers? And if they have are they likely to retract them?

Thanks again,

a still very worried LauraLou x

LauraLou1982

Me again! I have just logged on Frederickson Internationals website, and got the below statement...
I am assuming this means they have lodged court papers as the date was the 25th and thats the date they said they would be acting? Sorry to keep asking questions!
11 Sep 2009Original Debt£1,308.7225 May 2010Claim Fee£65.0025 May 2010Claim Cost£80.00Balance£1,453.72

RAS

Ok

You need to find the default and termination letters if possible this weekend.

Yopu also need to send a Subject Access Request to Frederickson. Cost £10 and need to go registered post.



Thanks to 10past6 for the SAR below

Data Protection Act 1998 Subject Access Request


Dear Sir/Madam

Account number: xxxxxxxx

Please send me the information which I am entitled to under section 7(1) of the Data Protection Act 1998 in relation to detailed occurrences relating to the account Numbers xxxxxxxx and xxxxxxxx-x

The following is by no means an exhaustive list but in the main this is what I require.

Please supply me with a complete list of transactions and charges relating to ALL accounting history with your organisation.

Additionally, all records you hold on me relevant to the above accounts, including but not limited to:

1. A transcript of all transactions, including charges, fees, interest, repayments and payments and both the original amount of the loan and any repayments made to the account.

2. Transcriptions of all telephone conversations recorded and any notes made in relation to telephone conversations by your company

3. Where there has been any event in my account history over this period which has required manual intervention by any person, I require disclosure of any indication or notes which have either caused or resulted in that manual intervention, or other evidence of that manual intervention in relation to my account. If you are unable to supply this data because there has been no such manual intervention, then please be so kind as to confirm this in your response

4. True copies of any notice of assignment and/or default notice or enforcement notices that you may have sent to me, with a copy of any proof of postage that you hold.

5. Documents relating to any insurance added to the account, including the insurance contract and terms and conditions, date it was added and deleted.

6. Details of any collection charge added to the account; specifically, the date it was levied, the amount of the charge, a detailed financial breakdown of how the charge was calculated, and what the charge covers.

7. Specific details of the fees/charges levied by any other agency in respect of these accounts and a detailed breakdown of said fees/charges and what each charge relates to and on what date said fees/charges were levied.

8. A genuine copy of any deed of assignment, or proof that you have a legal right to this money.

9. A genuine copy of any notice of fair use of my data as required by the Data Protection Act 1998

10. A list of third party agencies to whom you have disclosed my personal data and a summary of the nature of the information you have disclosed.

11. A copy of all account statements for the duration of the agreement.

12. Please would you also advise me of the logic involved in any automated decisions taken by you about me pursuant to section 7(1) (d) of the Data Protection Act 1998.

13. A True copy of the consumer credit agreement section 77-79 of the Consumer Credit Act of 1974.

Any other information relating to the account.

I enclose the statutory maximum fee of £10. You have 40 days in which to comply. Furthermore, if I discover that you have levied disproportionate penalties against me, I shall be reclaiming them, and reclaiming the enclosed £10 Data Protection Act subject access request fee.

If there is specific information which you require in order to satisfy yourself as to my identity, please let me know by return. However, please note that the above address is the one which you normally use to communicate my private business to me and which you have found to be acceptable.