Horwich farelly hfc debt problem

Ashloiii

Hi all, just wondering if anyone can help me with a problem i'm having with Horwich Farelly concerning my account i opened with PC world years ago. (about in the ninties)

I brought a computer via PCWorld and fell into arrears some time after, a few years later i decided to get my head out of the sand and face it, i agreed with them a £5 a month payment and have been doing it for a number of years now. I wrote to them asking for proof of the debt using the correct letter and it took them 5 months to finally get it from them, however they did keep me informed and i have still got the letters.


They have sent me a copy and asked for full payment, (the risk i was prepaired to take) but alas i cannot pay it. During the time i was awaiting a reply i continued the standing order to them for the token ammount, I now find that they have now recorded missed payments
on my credit file for August and September, can they do this? I obviously have a record of the payments via my bank statements and there is no proof that i have missed it.
i have in the past requested a settlement figure and it just comes back with what i owe and no discount what so ever. I am currently struggling to make payments for my normal bills and would like to get this sorted, i could get a small loan from friends to pay about half of it but thats all.

I would be very grateful for any advice that would help me deal with these people as i'm not trying to avoid my debt to them. The inital loan was for about £350 but has spiraled to approx £900 roughly, i don't see why i should have to even pay half of it as they seem to be grabbing figures out of thin air, the one figure i have offered is £300 but was flatly refused.

Many thanks in advance :beer:

Tixy

Hi
For any month you don't pay the contracted payment (as per the original signed agreement) a creditor can record a missed payment. Is there a default recorded for this debt on your credit file? It would be usual for there to be a default on your file back from when you first defaulted on the debt. And if there is a default then the debt should only appear on your credit file for 6years from the date of default.
Does the debt appear in the name of the original creditor or HF? If there is a default registered what date is that?

In response to their letter to request you pay the full balance you could either write back to say your circumstances haven't changed and you can still only afford £5 per month (or you can afford to increase it to £X but cannot pay in full) or you could try writing to offer a reduced full & final settlement. You need to do this in writing and use one of the template letters such as that on national debtline's website.

You say they are grabbing figures out of thin air - have they provided you with a full statement of account showing all transactions, payments, charges, interest etc? If they haven't then you could write to ask for one to explain the current balance.

Ashloiii

Hi Tixy, thank you for your reply, i have listed below what my file says and it defaulted in 2006, however it will be due to be wiped off in June by the looks of it but still a bit miffed as i've got my file to almost perfect over the last 5 years working me rats off.

Company name: HFC BANK PLC Who's this?
Account type: Credit sale fixed term
Started: 29/11/2001
Current Balance: Settled
Repayment Period: Monthly Payment: £20 over 52 months
Settled On: 06/06/2006
File Updated for the Period to: 09/07/2006
Status history:
[FONT=&quot][] brackets indicate most recent months status [ 1 ] 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

The original payment was for £20 when i was working at the time and was it appears transfered to Horwich Farelly so was settled and i've continued to make the agreed payment of £5 without missing a beat.

I will do as you suggest as i was a little annoyed when i wrote the original post because of the missed payments registered, sorry. They did send me a statement a while back so will request another one to clarify, then send them the letter from the ND's website.

Many thanks for your advice and will keep this updated as an when anythingis resolved.

[/FONT]

Tixy

Hi

The entry that you have copied does not look like it was ever defaulted. If it had it would have a default date June 2006. If it did have a default and an outstanding balance then recording missed payments would be unlikely to make it worse than the default already was doing.

However the account will still drop off in June 06 as this will be 6years from the date the account was settled.

Do you know for certain that '1' payment marker has just been added? usually on a settled account this would represent the last months payment before the debt was shown as settled - and so in this case would relate to May/June 06, not this month.

Horwich Far presumably haven't also added a credit account entry to your credit file?
When a credit file is sold usually 1 of 3 things happens,
Either the debt collector and creditor agree that the creditor will keep your credit file up to date andcontinue to record payments and the balance.
Or they mark their account as settled and then when the debt collector puts on their own identical record and the creditor removes their account entirely.
Occasionally if the debt collector doesn't report to any Credit Reference Agency or not the same CRA then the original file will stay on and show as settled when in reality you still owe the debt, which looks like has happened in this case. If this was the case then the file would not usually change from the settlement date to the 6year mark (and you'll see it says it was last updated in July 06).

Ashloiii

It seems that it has been added since the last time i viewed my report, which i think was last year, this one i have uploaded is September's and so is recent. I am going to email Credit Expert and ask the question as to if it was added recently, according to the wording, "most recent months status", as you say it has not been updated for a while.

As you also say it will be wiped off at the end of 6 years so what will happen then? Have they got a comeback on me, and can they put another account on in the name of Horwich Farelly and start again.
Should i continue the payments?

Horwich Farelly have not added anything in there name to my file, it is still under HFC as per the entry, which makes me wonder have they been slipping up and now just decided to start updating it, but i feel not as the last update is in 2006. The next thing to investigate would be to ask if Credit Expert have made a mistake which i will when i ask the question about the late payment entries.

This is a bit of a minefield i feel but again i will carry on and see where it gets me. I am very grateful for your help thank you so much and will let you know what my reply was from CE.

Ashloiii

Ok update on this. I have been in touch with the credit file company and they say it has not been up dated but was added in April, so i got it slightly wrong sorry. I can only assume they are trying to get money off me but the £5 a month payment is still ongoing.

The question is have they got a legal right to continue taking money off me now or after the record comes off my account.

Ok now here is the crunch. I have a copy of the original agreement from HF dated 30th Sept 1998, total amount of the price is £1378, erm a bit more than i thought sorry, . They are saying that the balance of £787.08 is due in 10 days but it's now a bit past that. I can request a statement if you want and can go from there, or send a full and final settlement offer letter and see where that gets me.

I received an answer to my first request for the agreement in April 2011, then the next was June then July and finally the copy was received in August.

What do i do now please???? Many thanks for your input.

Tixy

Even if a debt drops off your file after 6years then if you still owe them money they still have a legal right to that money (and could still take you to court if you stopped paying. They don't have a right to put the account back on your credit file if its dropped off due to being 6years since it was defaulted.

You could either write back to say you cannot afford the £787 and can continue to make payments of X per month. Or you could write back and say you cannot afford £787 but offer a reduced full & final settlement instead, or could write back and ask them for a statement that justifies the balance of £787 that they say is due.

Ashloiii

Hi Txiy, Thank you for that, it is what i wanted to know if they could still come back at me for the money. I am aware that it does come off your file after 6 years which is June 2012 for this. The credit reference agency said it had been added early this year so I'm OK with that as it comes off soon.

With reference to the last letter i received from HF i have now had a letter off them today saying they have not received a response from the original seller!!!! i don't understand it seems they don't know there right from there left as the last letter gave me 10 days to settle, also they apparently have still suspended my account but the payments are still going through. I'm confused it seems they do not know what is going on and i have no idea what they are playing at.

Not to sure where to go from here, i might follow your advice and make a full and final settlement offer and point out the hiccups that they are making in regard to this.

Cheers