Open and Direct

trebor69

Hi all, first post here, will try to keep it short as poss.

My wife took out an hp agreement on a cinema system in October 2001 with Open and direct. Her first direct debit came out in Dec 01. She payed 6 payments and then requested a settlement figure which i paid, roughly £588. Now, the terms of the contract are that if the cash price is paid within the 6 month period then its all well and good. But i paid off the balance of £588 within the 7th month. But dont forget that my wife did ask for a settlement figure after the 6 month cash price period had finished.

Over 5 years later, we have had a letter from a company who has taken on the debt that we thought was paid off. They are sueing us for £540.

They are saying that as we went over the 6 month cash price period then we would owe interest charges on the hp agreement. Fair enough, but. Once my cheque of £588 was cashed by them they stopped taking the direct debit payments from my wifes bank account. They never wrote to us to say we owed them more money and after 13 months my wifes bank cancelled the direct debit - standard procedure apparently.

We are sending a letter tomorrow officially requesting the signed finance agreement which was signed in October 01 by my wife. We have by the way been requesting proof of the debt since day one 2 months ago but they have ignored us and provided no proof of the debt.

I believe i am write in saying that the letter we have sent sets the clock ticking for them to provide the finance agreement within 30 days and if they dont we can report them to Trades discriptions as this breaches the CCA 1974.

My questions are; if they turn up with the finance agreement, would you still get a solicitor involved as they did not in any way try to contact us and ask for any monies owed? They stopped taking the direct debits as soon as my cheque cleared so if we owed any more money why not take it.

Why give us a settlement figure which is incorrect and then 5 years later tell us we owe them £540?

I just see this as a huge loop hole. What if it is an admin mistake and some guy/girl gave us the wrong figure and then they turn up 5 years later to collect on what was probably only £30 but has now changed to £540 because of interest. Are they doing this to a lot of people or just us?

I will see if they can produce the agreement within 30 days and then decide what to do, but any direction from anybody reading this would be really appreciated.

Thank you.

Xbigman

How much was the system originally? If the six payments she made plus £588
add up to the exact original cost then interest was not paid at the time. If it adds up to more, then interest of some amount was charged.

Do you have the letter with the settlement figure on? If you do I should think that would settle it regardless of other considerations.

Do you have the bank statement with the £588 payment on? That would not be as good as the settlement letter but it would give you good argument.

Requesting the original signed agreement is good but what you also need is a statement of account showing what payments you made and how the current debt is supposedly made up.
Regards



X

trebor69

Thank you very much for your reply.

The 588 plus the 6 payments add up to the cash price of the system and the debt company have admitted that to us in writing.

I do not have a letter with the settlement figure on it but i have a letter from my bank that proves the 588 was paid and my wife has proof that the 6 payments were made. So why did they not take the extra money from the dd in the next 13 months which is how long it stayed open for and was eventually cancelled by the bank and not my wife.

My problem is, if the settlement figure they gave us was wrong are they not obliged to contact us and request extra money to cover interest rather than wait 5 years and add a lot of interest on to what was probably a very small sum?

Thank you for your help.

Rafter

Sounds like an opportunistic fish by a company that may have been sold your details.

You requested a settlement payment and paid it therefore you complied with the contract.

I suggest you send them a formal letter to them requesting they reply to you in seven days confirming you have settled in full. If they continue to pursue you report them to the financial ombudsman and file a harrassment claim with your local police station.

R.

trebor69

Thank you for your reply. I will wait out to see if they come up with the finance agreement (30 days) and see where to go from there.

One thing i didnt mention. When the debt company wrote to us they say in the letter that it was a 12 month cash price period which ended in Apr 02. I phoned them in a rage and told them that was impossible as I was serving in the RAF in Cyprus with my wife in Apr 01. They then said it was their mistake and that the contract was actually 6 months. Can I use this letter as evidence against them at all or can they just say it was a typo. Obviously i realise that if they come up with the original finance agreement then that would be the definitive paperwork they would use against us. Sorry if this sounds confusing, hard to write clearly when feeling this angry.

Many thanks.