Constantly being harrassed by one creditor - help please

indebt123

I am on a debt programme, have been for a long time, and pay my creditors by pro-rata payments. Bankcruptcy is not an option.

I have a creditor whom I owe £1200 and I am not exactly sure why, but between 2009-2012, I didn't make any payments. I think it was because I asked for some information re the debt, they sold it on, etc,etc and everything went lapse. Last year, they starting chasing again through a solicitor and have been very heavy in their demands. I have very little income at the moment and my pro-rata payments are very small. I am however, now maintaining regular payments and I pay double to this creditor than what I really should. I received a letter last week stating they will start court proceedings to recover the debt as my repayments are not enough and they cannot wait forever for the debt to be repaid. I have sent them uptodate I&E forms and cannot afford to repay more, even though they are getting more than they should, if that makes sense.

Please advise, how I shold handle this now. I am scared and really don't want it to go to court and risk losing our house, can a court make me bankcrupt?

Bettingmad

Require a little more information here. First of all who is the debt with? Is the debt with the original creditor or has it been asigned i.e the debt company have actually bough the debt or are just acting as recovery agents?
When was the debt taken out ? Is it a loan or credit card?
Have you requested a CCA?

Bettingmad

Did they say that they 'are' commencing court procedures or is it worded 'Could' or 'May' ?

indebt123

Hi bettingmad, the original loan was with HFC bank for initially £500.00 taken out in approximately 1992. I think I defaulted on it about 1994. It took the debt up to near £2000 with interest, late repayment fees, etc,etc.

It was then eventually sold on to TBI around 2007 whom I continued with token payments and in 2009 they did provide me with a cop of my cca. In November 2012, a solicitors letter landed on my door mat, on behalf of TBI demanding that the debt be cleared within 3 years or they would put a charging order against my property for the debt. Finally at the beginning January 2013 they agreed to a minimum repayment of £10.00 per month, with the view that in April 2013, I would increase repayments. The letter arrived on Friday asking for that review and that court proceedings "will" commence due to the age of the debt, the fact I didn't pay anything for 2 years, and also that I still owe £1300 against it. They want it cleared within 3 years max.

All my debts are very old and whilst perhaps bankruptcy would be the best option, I don't want to be made bankcrupt and I also realise it will take me forever and ever to clear all my debts.

Please do not judge me, I do pay very little and what I can afford to my debts on a regular basis in my defence.

fatbelly

If £10 is your pro-rata payment, then that is what you pay.

And if they do make a claim, that is what you offer on the claim form.

Factsheet | Replying to a county court claim form

They have probably picked up that you are worried by this and are playing on it. It may never happen.

But even if it did, a ccj followed by a charging order is not the end of the world. They would not be able to force an order for sale so the charge would just stay there until the debt was paid off.

indebt123

I am actually paying them more than what my pro-rata payment should be. I should be paying them £6.50. I kind of got sucked into offering them more cos it sounded better. They just keep adding to the fact of the age of the debt and that court will see that I can pay more (I certainly cannot pay more, I wish I could pay all my creditors more.)

Bettingmad

indebt123 wrote: »

Hi bettingmad, the original loan was with HFC bank for initially £500.00 taken out in approximately 1992. I think I defaulted on it about 1994. It took the debt up to near £2000 with interest, late repayment fees, etc,etc.

It was then eventually sold on to TBI around 2007 whom I continued with token payments and in 2009 they did provide me with a cop of my cca. In November 2012, a solicitors letter landed on my door mat, on behalf of TBI demanding that the debt be cleared within 3 years or they would put a charging order against my property for the debt. Finally at the beginning January 2013 they agreed to a minimum repayment of £10.00 per month, with the view that in April 2013, I would increase repayments. The letter arrived on Friday asking for that review and that court proceedings "will" commence due to the age of the debt, the fact I didn't pay anything for 2 years, and also that I still owe £1300 against it. They want it cleared within 3 years max.

All my debts are very old and whilst perhaps bankruptcy would be the best option, I don't want to be made bankcrupt and I also realise it will take me forever and ever to clear all my debts.

Please do not judge me, I do pay very little and what I can afford to my debts on a regular basis in my defence.

Was the CCA valid? Do you still possess the CCA?
As you mention a lot of the debt was taken up with fees I would also send of Subject Access Request (SAR). There is a statutory £10 fee, they have 40 days to provided all the information that is held regarding the account, statements, letters etc. There could be a fair bit of penalties and fees that you could claim back.
You need to request these ASAP

Data Protection Act 1998

Subject access request

Dear Sir/Madam

ACCOUNT NUMBER: xxxxxxxxx (or multiple numbers if more than one account)

Please supply me with all data that you hold on me. This includes in particular, but is not limited to, the following:-

1. The original signed, executed credit agreement and any terms and conditions that applied to the account at the time of default and at the time the account was opened.
2. Transcriptions of all telephone conversations recorded and any notes made in relation to telephone conversations by your company, or by any previous creditor
3. Where there has been any event in my account history over this period which has required manual intervention by any person, I require disclosure of any indication or notes which have either caused or resulted in that manual intervention, or other evidence of that manual intervention in relation to my account formerly held with ORIGINAL CREDITOR.
4. True copies of any notice of assignment and/or default notice or enforcement notice that you or the original creditor sent me, with a copy of any proof of postage that you hold.
5. Documents relating to any insurance added to the account, including the insurance contract and terms and conditions, date it was added and deleted (if applicable).
6. Details of any collection charges added to the account; specifically, the date it was levied, the amount of the charge, a detailed financial breakdown of how the charge was calculated, and what the charge covers.
7. Specific details of the fees/charges levied by any other agency in respect of this account and a detailed breakdown of said fees/charges and what each charge relates to and on what date said fees/charges were levied.
8. A genuine copy of any notice of fair use of my data as required by the Data Protection Act 1998
9. A list of third party agencies to whom you have disclosed my personal data and a summary of the nature of the information you have disclosed.
10. Copies of statements for the entire duration of the credit agreement.

I enclose the statutory maximum fee of £10. You have 40 days in which to comply.
If there is specific information which you require in order to satisfy yourself as to my identity, please let me know by return. However, please note that the above address is the one which you normally use to communicate my private business to me and which you have hitherto found to be acceptable.

Yours faithfully,

indebt123

Thank you for the advice. However, what about any impending action they want to take?

Where would this stand if I sent this letter? What happens if they cannot provide all information within 40 days? Won't they just see this as stalling tactics on my part?

indebt123

any advice - please?

fermi

A SAR does not prevent them doing anything.

May best to also use letter here: Getting information about your credit agreement

They are the ones putting the pressure on, so you are entitled to see what documents they have to back up their threats.

You say that this was from 1994 and sold on in 2007. Did you make payments through that period without a gap of 6 years? I presume so, but have to check.

indebt123

Thank you for your reply. I did not pay for 2 years 2009-2011.

That link for the letter does not work!!