Dealing with DCA

stevo31

Hi, I had a credit card balance of 4800 and a chargecard balance of 1800 with American Express. Both accounts have just been passed to Newman DCA because I missed a couple of months payments on the chargecard alone and they couldnt contact me when I was abroad. My own daft fault for ignoring the problem. The accounts were passed to NEWMAN DCA on thurs and they called me yesterday and it was the most aggressive phone call ever and left me very shaken up. I made an immediate debit card payment of 160 and 120pounds on the respective accounts. They told me that they wanted the remaining 6500 by 30 April or I will have to pay an additional 1000pounds in referral fees.
They just told me to get a quick bank loan or borrow off parents etc. Its impossible to raise that money in 9 days.
I can just about afford to make payments of 850 in each of the next two months and clear the remaining amount on the chargecard but I could not sustain anywhere near 850 pounds a month in future. Maximum 300 per month.
Is there any chance the DCA would speak to American Express re this and waive the refferal fees and reinstate the credit card account?
Any advise would be great.

crawley_girl

They are naughty trying to encourage you to borrow more money to pay them off!

DCA often use scsre tactics to get people to part with their money but if the truth be known, you can't give what you haven't got.

If I were in your situation, then maybe speak to CAB or make them an offer of £300 per month or what you can afford to give and see what they say.

Good luck, don't stress too much

:heartpuls CG :heartpuls

stevo31

Thanks Crawley Girl,
One of their other scare tactics was "we dont do long term arrangements" and "we'll be calling again on Monday to see what you're doing to raise the money".
I've never dealt with one of these agencies before. Does this now mean that I have no chance with settling the debt with American express? I can handle knuckling down and paying the debt but I wish I could avoid these extra referral charges of £1000 making it even more of a moutain to climb!

smashedbooboo

My guess is as these debts have been passed onto a DCA because you missed some payments then extra charges will have been applied before hand. These can be claimed back. What you need to do is fire off a letter to the dca requesting a true copy of your credit agreement, Then fire another letter of to American express. The letter to AE should be the SAR. You will need to send a postal order for 10 pounds to them. And 1 pound with letter to DCA. This will put the account into dispute giving you some time to sort it all out. And finding out what you actually owe. You will find the SAR letter in the reclaim bank charges forum. This will ask for all the info they hold you. including all charges applied to your account. The letter you need to send to dca is in my thread. Letter to debt collection agencies. Its the first letter in my thread. Tomterm has also put another letter on there which i suggest you send off to DCA. This is saying you will only deal with them in writing and you will no longer accept phone calls from them. They use bully boy tactics. Dont be scared anymore. You are in thge right place. Once you have the correct amount from them you can then make a reasonable offer to pay them off. DO NOT PAY ANYMORE THAN YOU CAN AFFORD>

postingalwaysposting

stevo, push the dca to set up a repayment plan, they can they just wont, they would rather see you in bigger debt so they can have your money. And no way should they tell you to get the other money in the form of a loan, that is awful. It will take a long hard slog, with constant phonecalls but they will back down sooner or later. You cant give what you havent got. I have only dealt with one dca on behalf of my mum and it took about 3/4 months till they decided a repayment plan would be best, dont give up hope

stevo31

Thanks for your input. Much appreciated.
I'll do everything in writing now, there's no point in talking to them as the people I have spoken to are quite clearly unscrupulous.
As AMEX transferred the debt just a couple of days ago, do you think there is any point in trying to make a fairly big payment to them and get transferred back to them or would I be wasting my time?
Thanks.

smashedbooboo

You could speak to Amex and see if they will take the debt back. But have you checked your statements. I am pretty sure you will have charges on there you could claim back, thus reducing the debt. Amex will not though re open your account.

skylight

DCA are not allowed to suggest you borrow (from anyone) to repay your debts).

The are being spiteful bullies and I hate bullies. They assume that you do not know your rights, so threaten you very early on in the process. They have no powers at all (like most bullies!) but are nasty to get money.

The problem you have, is that they won the first round with you and you paid up. Thats what they want. They do not care about you in any shape or form, so please do not be fooled. Be firm, consistant and offer what you can AFFORD to pay. No more. Not by a penny - or they will be all over you like a rash.

Assuming you are in England or Wales (Scottish law is different) - start here http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/index.php

There are loads of fact sheets and advice on how to deal with your debts and the harrasment (etc) of people like these.

I cannot help with "referal fees". On the first thoughts, I would think they are unlawful (along the same lines as bank chages etc) but you would have to investigate this a bit more.

rog2

Hi Stevo, In my opinion this DCA is acting in contravention of the guidelines, as laid down by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to which Debt Collecting Agencies are supposed to adhere.
Have a look at the following:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/ManagingDebt/DebtsAndArrears/DG_10034289

Hope it helps.:beer:

stevo31

Thanks everyone. I feel much better now.
I'll contact AMEX tomorrow and ask if I can pay the debt back to them without them reinstating my cards. It's only been two working days since the debt was transferred.
The OFT info link was a great help and it was interesting reading. I work out that they've contravened 4 or 5 guidelines during the telephone conversation on Fri. I've got some ammo to stand up to myself when I speak to the shower of faceless bullies again.
Thanks!

spud30

If they ring again, warn them at the start of the call that you are recording the conversation (do it if you can).

You will more than likely find their attitude to be a bit different