Bank account transferred to debt collectors

loewebb

My wife used to bank with Barclays and found it very difficult to fathom their never ending list of 'balances' so ended up in trouble with their reserve. Her account ended up £370 overdrawn, just through reserve charges!!
The account has now been handed over to a debt collector.
Before they will agree an amount that we can pay them they are demanding we tell them about all income and outgoings. We have nothing to hide and I work P/t with means tested benefits, but are they entitled to ask for this information?

MME_2

Yes it's called an income and expenditure and is essential to work out what you can afford.

bpm_2

By law the bank is not allowed to pass any of your information to a third party debt collector. (though they do) Against the Data Protection Act 1995.

You have no contract and therefore no obligation to give any information to a third party debt collector. No need to be rude to them but I would make it clear you do not want to deal with them and have no contract with them. (you can find web templates if you look)

You may find though that this "debt collector" is actually a subsidiary of or branch of your bank, I would attempt to insist that your bank dealt with this though and come to an agreement with them to pay off any lawful debt owed. If it charges for being overdrawn and you only went overdrawn because of charges I would definitely make it clear to them and negotiate a suitable settlement.

loewebb

We tried countless times to come to an arrangement with Barclays but they were never interested in helping us out. They were only interested in getting the whole amount in one lump sum, even though we haven't had a penny out of the account!!
This is probably why they are the only bank which is still posting a substantial profit!!

notafan

loewebb wrote: »

We tried countless times to come to an arrangement with Barclays but they were never interested in helping us out. They were only interested in getting the whole amount in one lump sum, even though we haven't had a penny out of the account!!
This is probably why they are the only bank which is still posting a substantial profit!!

Firstly who its with is very much depends how long its being going on. The longer you leave it without doing anything even if you cant afford to pay it the worse the problem will be.

Barclays usually keep it all in house during the first 6 months so if it is with someone else they'll be upset with how the account was managed and its gone on for a while.

They generally will ask for income and expenditure details for two reasons. These being because they have to satisfy themselves into knowing you can afford what you've agreed to pay back and they'll be making sure your not offering them a tiny amount when you could afford more.

If your income and expenditure demonstrates you can't afford to repay they will suggest you speak to someone like cccs/cab and will usually cancel cards, chequebooks, direct debits etc and the account will continue through the process until they they either receive the amount owed, receive word from someone like cccs/cab or until you make an agreement (again which you'd need to demonstrate from income/expenditure is affordable).

They will sometimes allow you to make a token payment on a very temporary basis if you know you have something in the works to fix the issue, ie starting a new job, getting a bonus in a few weeks, waiting for payment after selling a car etc.


If you break an arrangement you've made with them (and if you miss payments, go overdrawn or manage the account badly for up to a couple of months after its back in balance) then they'll get sterner every time they have to deal with you.

As a very rough guide there are 3 stages with barclays, collections, pre charge off and charge off. Depending how they asses the situation depends how quickly it goes through those stages (there are ways to accelerate through it and slow down the process).

Collections will be pretty fair and if you tell them what you can afford they'll work with you. You'll know if you reach the pre charge off stage because they'll cancel all standing orders, direct debits, cards, chequebooks etc and they'll normally issue a default notice and will look at moving money from other accounts you have with barclays to resolve it. They will then usually write to you or call you under the names of a solicitor although at this point barclays will still be dealing with it. If they get no joy they sell the debt on to recover some of their costs and you'll then be chased for it by whoever bought it.


My advice would be that you sit down with your wife and work out a realistic budget of what you can afford. Call Barclays and have the information of you income/expenditure ready to back you up and tell them what you can afford.

I'm not having ago but they wont be interested that she couldn't fathom the balance and the person you speak to doesn't set the charges (remember the person you speak to will have heard it all things under the sun and its their job to get you to pay back money you owe)- simply their job is to get your account back in order and whilst it is in the early stages if your fair with them and stick to your end they'll do the same with you.

Keep it simple and factual and be clear about what you can afford before you speak with them and then you'll end up with an agreement you can stick to and then they'll be happy that its in an arrangement and its getting paid. Plus once it is they'll stop chasing you for it.