Got a letter from NCI regarding Halifax fine

roofio86

Hi guys,

I need advice. I got a letter from nciuk.com and they called to my house the other day.

I told them I didn't have time to talk to them but they called last night and I arranged a meeting tomorrow.

Have I done the right thing or should I cancel? I literally have no idea about these people. He keeps telling me he cannot discuss the details of the account and that they are just a 3rd party hired by banks to do a report about why my debt hasn't been paid rather than there to collect the debt.

When I asked if it was to discuss payment options for paying it back he again said no, he could not discuss this and was only there to feedback to the bank as to why I had missed payments.

Thanks in advance!

antonic

Found this link for you which I hope you find useful

http://www.nciuk.com/

For us to help you, we need more info from you about why they have contacted you.

roofio86

I have an OD with Halifax and recently contacted stepchange a few months ago, who have been great. Though since going on my DMP, all my lenders have been pretty helpful besides Halifax.

They continued to charge me interest on my account which put me over the arranged OD then I incurred addtional charges, which come to about £350 for the past 3 months.

This is what the NCI agent was contacting me about, these fines which had been incurred.

antonic

What you need to remember that an OD can be removed/amended at any time by your bank.

What I would suggest you do is to open another account with another bank NOT linked to HBOS and get your wages paid into the new account.

Did you include the OD in your DMP ? - if you did then the OD should have been included.

In my case, I had an OD with Abbey National which I included in my DMP, and then opened an account with Lloyds.

Please post back if you have any more questions.

fatbelly

You should cancel. Point them to OFT Debt Collection Guidance, which says that it is an unfair business practice:

3.9c. refusing to engage, appropriately or at all, with a third party representative, such as a debt adviser at a free advice centre or a debt management business, or with a debtor developing his own repayment plan unless there is an objectively justifiable reason for doing so

d. contacting debtors directly and bypassing their appointed representatives, without permission from the debtor or his representative, unless there is an objectively justifiable reason for doing so

[Deleted User]

What is this "fine" you are referring to :huh:

roofio86

When I went onto the DMP I actually setup a basic account with Danske Bank and that is where my wages are paid into currently.

Yes the OD was part of my DMP and the main reason I went onto DMP.

Thank you very much fatbelly for the OFT guidance. I just called him the cancel the meeting but he said about rearranging it and will call me on Saturday. At least this gives me time to sort out everything.

So I can just tell him that I will not see him due to these infringements of the OFT Collection Guidance? He seems pretty friendly over the phone and not aggressive at all. I am currently off work with a broken hand and just receiving SSP till I can use my right hand again and I explained this to him while he was at my door the other day and he seemed pretty understanding.

I am not sure if its just a rouse to get invited in though. He does make it clear he is not here to discuss details of the account due to the data protection act and is just there to get a report to feedback to Halifax about my current situation.

Not to go off topic but I have just received a massive stack of papers with all my banking history from Halifax that I requested last month...this seems like a good omen!

And also a letter from MBNA PPI services, which is quite odd as I haven't initiated any PPI claims as of yet. MBNA have seemingly sent out a PPI questionnaire off their own back to me, is this normal?

roofio86

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

What is this "fine" you are referring to :huh:

Additonal fees inccured for going over the arranged OD. Which seems ridiculous to me especially with me working with StepChange. I am doing all I can to pay my debts but Halifax seem to want to make my situation worse.

[Deleted User]

roofio86 wrote: »

I am not sure if its just a rouse to get invited in though.

Not that I'd advise inviting a DCA in (I would strongly advise the contrary), but he/she cannot legally do anything, that they can't do on the doorstep.

[Deleted User]

roofio86 wrote: »

Additional fees incurred for going over the arranged OD.

That's not a fine.

Those are charges.

Only criminal offences can attract fines.

roofio86

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

That's not a fine.

Those are charges.

Only criminal offences can attract fines.

Apologies, I am not used to the technical aspect of this. I should have directly quoted what was in my letters.

After all this advice I think I shall just inform him that I will not be speaking to him in that case.