Once the loan is paid off, do we owe the Debt Collection Agency?

Spiritedwolf

Hello there,

A couple of years ago, after getting into some financial trouble, we agreed monthly payments to Natwest to pay off my husband's personal loan. Although we made these payments, they passed the debt to Regal Credit for collection.

With the help of CAB, we then started paying Regal Credit the same payment that we had been paying to Natwest.

A couple of odd things happened to this account. At one point (perhaps when the account was first handed over) the amount we owed mysteriously jumped up by thousands of pounds. Now, our CAB advisor managed to sort this out, reducing the figure owed by around two thousand though we were left with the feeling that it was still higher than it ought to be (but we didn't have a statement from the exact time so were unsure - and pretty relieved that it had been reduced so didn't question it further).

The other odd thing that happened was duplicate accounts were created, and we were chased for the larger figure (some £8,000-£9,000) under two other Regal Credit accounts. Whilst it was extremely scary to suddenly have our debt tripled, and Regal Credit accusing us of never having made any payments on these debts, our CAB advisor was able to sort this out again and things have been quiet for the past 18 months or so, with us paying Regal Credit the agreed monthly payment.

Anyway, now we have received a statement from Natwest directly which suggests that there is only £583.60 left on the account. It lists payments from Regal Credit equal to our monthly payments, which suggests it will be paid off in just over 3 months.

But, from memory, the balance on our Regal Credit account is much higher (of the order of £3000) and will take another 19 months to pay off at the current rate (though obviously we planned to increase this figure as we paid off other debts).

So, my question is, in three-four payments time, when the original Natwest loan is paid off, do we still owe Regal Credit £2500 and if so, why? How can they increase our debts by £2500 even though we were making payments? Is this how Regal Credit makes a profit, and if so is it legitimate, or is it part of the 'odd' things that have happened with our account that need to be challenged? (I notice that no 'mistakes' with our account have resulted in us owing less, its always about it owing more!)

This personal loan was the biggest single debt we owed. To be rid of it would be huge for us.

The only other explanation I can think of, is if the personal loan wasn't the only debt transferred to that Regal Credit account, but if that's the case, then is it right that they haven't paid anything off of it for 2 years? The full amount we pay seems to be transferred to the Natwest's personal loan account. I'll have a look through our paperwork, because I suppose there could be an overdraft transferred from NatWest too. It's just difficult to work out because of the earlier error in the figures.

Sorry if I'm over-reacting, I just don't trust Regal Credit after the 'mistakes' they have made on this account in the past.

Thanks for any insight.

sheenaread

Good Afternoon Spiritedwolf

It is now some months since you posted the above. I hope you have managed to get it sorted and get Regal Credit off your back. I have a similar problem with Nat West and Regal Credit which is ongoing at present and has been for the past 3 months.

In my case I unfortunately got into debt in 1998 which resulted in a CCJ against me from Nat West Bank. The court decreed that I pay off the debt at monthly payments of £40.73 until the debt is cleared. I have made 156 monthly payments so far, not missing a single one and have proof of every single one of these payments to hand. Everything has run smoothly until September this year when I received a letter from Regal Credit claiming I owed nearly £6000 when in fact the balance was just under £3000 at that time and date. Like you they had added on over £3000 to the existing debt. Up until September 2011 I had not heard anything at all from Nat West.

On contacting Regal Credit for an explanantion they told me Nat West had given them the excessive balance figure and that I had defaulted on 4 payments with Nat West. Up until this point Nat West had never contacted me about these supposed defaulted payments which were supposed to be 2 in 2009, 1 in 2010 and 1 in 2011. Even when I contacted Nat West in March 2011 to check everything was ok with my account after changing banks they stated then everything was fine and up to date, not a mention even then of the supposed defaulted payments.

I have now sent Nat West proof of the supposed defaulted payments 3 times now and they still will not admit they've made mistakes and not me. Regal Credit are similar. I don't know how else to get them to accept their error. Part of me wishes they would take me to court again so I could stand up and throw my 156 proofs of payment at them and let the judge point out their ERROR.

I am not proud of my debt and have not defaulted at all. I have decided to highlight Nat West and Regal Credit's errors on here so others can be aware. I am also considering going to the media, FSA and Financial Omnbudsman as well.