HSBC - how serious is this?

yellowpinky

I've had it up to here with HSBC. I've been on a DMP with Payplan for almost a year and have two HSBC accounts in the plan - my credit card acount has been accepted by them though they still make threatening noises, while my overdraft has been "pending" since I started the plan and in recent months they've woken up and started sending the usual letters, to which I reply firmly that I'm with Payplan, etc etc. The account was passed to Metropolitan about two weeks ago and Payplan sent out my statement and repayment offer. Now I've had this letter today - I'm trying to read in between the lines but it's very difficult. Also HSBC were phoning me repeatedly and then stopped about the date this letter was produced. It includes the paragraph -

If you do not contact us we intend to instruct DG solicitors to issue legal proceedings and apply for an attachment of earnings.

We should explain that an attachment of earnings order may be sent to your empolyer by the court. It tells the employer to take an amount from your wages each pay day and send the money to court as payment towards your debt.

Additional fees and costs will be added to your balance should this course of action prove necessary.

I know there's a "may" in there but "intend" sounds pretty serious. Had anyone had dealings with these DG Solicitors?


I'm so sick of them!

Jinx

Hi There

I have had this exact letter and numerous others like it from Metropolitan and DG Solicitors. I think actually that DG are the in-house solicitors, actually part of HSBC but looks like an external company. I only had 2 letters (just checked my debt folder!) from Metro before they passed it to DG.

Anyway the upshot is I got lots of letters from them, I manage my own DMP. If it was me I would respond to them in writing advising them that you are with your DMP provider and providing the relevant details. I would also (if it were me) tell them that I am committed to paying my debts and that I am paying all that I can and that they are receiving a proportionate amount of available cash.

My thinking is that should it ever go to court, I have said I WANT to pay but CANNOT do the amount they wish. Since 2004 no one has taken me to court and I have upped and lowered my payments to match circumstances. Obviously incurred defaults and crappy credit record but hohum, cant have it all ways! Good luck

BorassicLint

Hi yellowpinky,

Sorry I can't really offer any advice but I didn't want to just read and run. Perhaps if you talk to Payplan they might be able to suggest what you should do and I'm sure there will be people coming on here who will have some advice for you.

amiehall

Okay, you should forward a copy of this letter to Payplan. You should also write to Metropolitan telling them you're with Payplan, you pay as much as you can afford and can they get in touch with Payplan if they have further questions.

I know these letters are horrible but tbh, they're not going to achieve anything by taking you to court. As long as you've been honest when completing your statement of affairs then a court is not going to award them any more than you're paying them now. If you're reliable with making the payments to Payplan, then there's no reason an attachment of earnings would be granted. They're just trying to scare you into offering to pay more than you can afford.

SEZY

Hi

I am having the same trouble with HSBC. I am on a dmp and they constantly ringing up to 5 times a day even at weekends. They keep sending me letters and I write to them saying I am with CCCS.
They just don't listen..

yellowpinky

Hi everyone, thank you so much for your replies My plan was to write to them and make it clear that I'm already on a DMP and making payments to them, and referring them to Payplan with my reference number, so that has gone in the post this morning. I did a good trawl through the search facility on here and saw that quite a few people have had exactly the same letter! It looks like DG solicitors seem to crop up more in relation to overdrafts. It's frustrating as I've just been through all this with my HSBC card account (although I haven't come across DG Solicitors or this particular letter/threat before) and I wrote them back the same letter as the one I've just done and it seems to have gone quiet there for now.

I'll send a copy to Payplan but when this happened with the other account they were a bit ineffectual and just said they couldn't stop HSBC taking me to court if they wanted to, as it's only an informal arrangement. Also Payplan were only in contact with Metropolitan last week after this account got passed over so they may just say it's early days.

I'll just have to wait and see what happens anyway. SEZY, they were calling me three, four, five times a day since November, even AFTER they accepted my DMP on the card account. They are my worst creditor! :mad:

YP

Hannah_10

They can take you to court yes, but they know as well as I know that since you are already giving them everything you possibly can the judge isn't going to award them anything else and they're wasting thier money to do so. You're in a DMP after all which means you've done your SOA and this is what moeny you have and so on- it's all got a paper trail. However if by frightening the living daylights out of you they can extract the money you should have been buying young Timothy his winter shoes with and robbing the poor wee boy of everything but bread and water for his tea for the next five years then hey-ho, they'll be very happy bunnies. Sick isn't it. It's what DCA's do though- even when you don't have a son called Timothy!

If you're going to reply I would keep it short and sweet and point out they've already seen your SOA, you're already on a DMP and nothing has changed.

yellowpinky

Thanks Hannah_10. I know, I keep telling myself what you and everyone else are saying but it never gets any better when those horrible letters come! They have the desired effect, to frighten you, you just have to learn to take step back and see things rationally. Anyway, I've done everything I possibly can for now, and the letter I sent yesterday made it clear that Payplan had already been in touch the week before with my SOA, so I'll see what that does.

YP

yellowpinky

Just an update - I don't know if me writing to them had anything to do with it, or if it was on the cards anyway, but Metropolitan accepted my DMP about a week after I got that letter. I hope they stay quiet now!

Hannah_10

Good! Told you they were full of cattle droppings... Next time you get a scary one, from any creditor, re-read this thread and repeat after me...

DCA's are full of ***, they're just trying to scare me, it only works if I let it. I'm not gonna let it, I'm gonna be "disgustingly reasonable" and they wont have a leg to stand on.