There can be light at the end of the tunnel

garry_s

Just to say that I was being chased by a bank for £13000. I had being paying it off at £400 per month but they kept adding charges and interest - the result being that the debt was hardly going down. Then I decided I had enough of this. Phoned the bank's Debt collection dept - asked for the interest to be frozen - they refused! I then told them to take me to court and I would produce the many letters I had sent them requesting the interest to be frozen or reduced which they had ignored over 3 years despite the fact I kept paying £400 per month. They told me to hang on ---What could I afford to pay off the debt? I told them £5000 - THEY ACCEPTED - i then took a loan from NR for £5000 - paying it off at £102 per month. Sometimes we have to get tough with banks when they get tough with us!!! :j

msmicawber

Well done, Garry, it's good to hear that your persistence paid off.

cattie1

well done-could you reclaim some of those charges?

ladysparklexx

sorry silly question would this go on your credit file in a bad way?

A_Nice_Englishman

garry_s wrote:

Just to say that I was being chased by a bank for £13000. I had being paying it off at £400 per month but they kept adding charges and interest - the result being that the debt was hardly going down. Then I decided I had enough of this. Phoned the bank's Debt collection dept - asked for the interest to be frozen - they refused! I then told them to take me to court and I would produce the many letters I had sent them requesting the interest to be frozen or reduced which they had ignored over 3 years despite the fact I kept paying £400 per month. They told me to hang on ---What could I afford to pay off the debt? I told them £5000 - THEY ACCEPTED - i then took a loan from NR for £5000 - paying it off at £102 per month. Sometimes we have to get tough with banks when they get tough with us!!! :j

They agreed to write off 62% of your debt? Just like that? Without any further information about your circumstances? And then having defaulted on one loan you were able to get another without apparent difficulty?

I'm gobsmacked, having read so many other stories on here from people who are struggling to repay their debts and having friends who have had to sell their houses to do so.

It must feel like winning the lottery!

moozie_2

A_Nice_Englishman wrote:

They agreed to write off 62% of your debt? Just like that? Without any further information about your circumstances? And then having defaulted on one loan you were able to get another without apparent difficulty?

I'm gobsmacked, having read so many other stories on here from people who are struggling to repay their debts and having friends who have had to sell their houses to do so.

It must feel like winning the lottery!

Ditto! I am really surprised too, this amost seems too good to be true. Perhaps the OP can provide some more info. The defaulting on the £13,000 would have had an adverse effect on the credit record and although I know Northern Rock can be flexible, this is quite impressive. Just out of interest, what is the interest rate on the £5,000 loan and term?

Despite all this though, well done for dealing with your issue and persevering.

garry_s

Yes I was really surprised too! Bearing in mind that the debt was about £12000 and that I had paying £400 per month for 3 years and the debt was not going down - they kept lumping on charges and interest. I was so angry that they did not answer my letters. This was the debt dept of the bank (it was through this site that I realised that they weren't solicitors nor a debt collection agency). I told them that I had enough of them messing me about - I WANTED to go to court and let the court decide how THEY were treating me. There are always two sides to a story. The settlement figure by me came out of the blue - it was the first figure that popped into my head -I made them put it in writing and when I did get the letter confirming this it felt like winning the lottery although I did have to borrow the £5000 from NR -THANKS AGAIN TO THIS SITE FOR THE BEST RATE. What i was trying to say was that anything is possible and that we should all persist - all I originally wanted was a level playing field and no I didn't get any charges back -I thought I did well and I am glad I got tough. Don't always accept what the banks dictate!

garry_s

By the way I did not default on the debt. I always paid the amount agreed and there is no mention of this on my credit file!