Santander Issues

zaidy88

Hi guys,

My first post, so please go easy on me

So I took a credit card out with PayPal (GE Money) now owned by Santander, a few years ago.
I racked up a debt on around £2k on this while at uni and was making monthly payments via a Debt Management Plan through a third party.
After my financial situation improved, I contacts 3 of my creditors including Santander to arrange a payment plan directly with them to save the monthly fee I was paying the 3rd party. 2 of the firms accepted the plan and set this up straight away but when I rang Santander (July 2011) I was told my balance was cleared in Dec 2010. Obviously concerned I questioned this as was paying them a monthly fee and where did it go, to which I was told that they have not received any payments for 5-6 months. I questioned the rep 3 times and asked him to check again and the reply was the same, nil balance. I just assumed that the debt management firm paid them a higher amount than the other 2 and cleared this debt. As I didn't receive statements from any firm including 3rd party, I did not know the end balances.
Then in September 2011 I receive a statement for about £2k, obviously I questioned this as I was told I did not owe anything.
Then Santander offered to give me a payment plan and I pay about £20 per month, which I accepted and rang the number provided only to be told they cannot accept my payment (I have a recorded call of this), frustrated I started questioning why and all I was told was a different department is dealing with it.
Then I wrote them a letter asking for a DD form (cert of post was obtained) to which I did not receive a reply and now they claim they never received the letter.
This has now been passed onto a debt collection agency, despite me offering to make payment on 3-4 separate occasions, in writing and over the phone (one call was recorded from my end, to no surprise, Santander did not have a recording of these calls either).
Now I don't know where I stand, this Debt collector is chasing me for money, I have tried the Ombudsman, who just said I could have made payment via phone (even though she listened to the call of me trying to make this payment) and it is affecting my credit rating.
I wanted to clear all my debts by end of 2013 so I can start saving for a mortgage, but they have obtained a CCJ against me and this means I will not find it difficult to obtain a mortgage.
Any advice from anyone on this matter on what I can do will be greatly appreciated.

Tixy

Hi

You say they obtained a CCJ against you - when was the CCJ granted?
Did you respond to the court paperwork?

Have you paid nothing since July 2011?

Did you get statements from your debt management provider to chase down the payments between Jan and July to see where they had been paid to?

If its already been to the FOS and if a CCJ has been granted then it doesn't sound like there is much you can do at this stage.

If the CCJ is recent and if you are in a position to repay in full within a month of the judgement then it won't appear on your credit file or affect your ability to get credit.

zaidy88

Thanks for the reply Tixy.
To reply to your questions:
1. I got a credit report from experian about a month ago and it showed a CCJ from Santander. I never received any court papers or anything of the sort.
After going through my file I did receive a CCJ notice (threat that they were going to get a CCJ) before the plan was put in place, this was before 2008. But CCJ was only obtained recently, end of 2011, and I did not get any papers to say this was happening.
2. July 2011 - Sep 2011 I was under the impression I did not owe anything. Oct 2011 I rang to make payment (monthly payment as offered in their letter) but this was refused. Nov 2011 I wrote the letter saying I will pay monthly but they did not respond.
3. I have never receive a statement from the debt management firm who managed this matter, and explained this to the FOS and Santander, but to no joy.
What I dont understand is why they refused to accept my payment on 3-4 seperate occassions and can leave a footprint on my credit file. My score was near perfect 993 last time I checked, but with the CCJ I can't get credit anywhere now.
Problem is, I do not have £2k right now to clear this in full, as explained in previous post I want to clear everything by end of 2013 so I can hopefully get onto the property ladder.

Tixy

1)
Did the creditor have your up to date address when the CCJ was granted? can you prove they knew your current address at that time? (e.g. because you have letters from them around this time).
If they had your current address and did not send you court papers then it is possible that you may have grounds to get the judgement set aside.

However if you do this then they may well simply apply for a new CCJ - which would obviously affect your file even longer.
Though it may be possible that you can arrange them a repayment plan with them that will mean they won't go down the court route again.

zaidy88

Yes they had the correct address, I lived away from that address for 4 years while at uni, but it was my parents address where all correspondence was sent to and this is the address I give everyone as I move about quite a lot.
FOS have said that they were right to obtain the judgement as they offered me a payment plan and I did not pay, but I tried to pay (3-4 times) and they did not accept.
Just checked my credit report again and the default was entered 4 months ago.
Causing serious grief, and don't know what to do as this is now with the debt collectors.