Triton Credit Services

Purple-3

Hi,

I have been unable to continue paying my bank loan with the bank since being made redundant.

CAB are acting on my behalf, as I have a monthly deficit, so am unable to repay the loan. I had received letters from three different departments in the bank, so CAB responded to each of the letters providing a financial statement and token payment per month.

None of the departments have responded to the CAB letters. Then last week I received a 7 day demand letter last week from the recoveries dept, so I replied to acknowledge receipt of their letter and provided a copy of the financial statement, and explained CAB are acting on my behalf. It appears they have ignored it as today I have received a letter from Triton Credit Services demanding payment within 7 days.

I have passed this letter to CAB, but I am very worried they too will also ignore CAB. Does anyone know what action Triton will take if they don't get payment within 7 days? It's simply not possible to pay them anything towards the loan.

Do they chase me through the court or send bailiffs, or both? I live in a rented 1 bedroom house, with no assets other than a TV and an electric guitar, and loads of books.

I am in the process of starting a small business, so I assume my laptop and car can't be taken as they are essential for the business.

Any advice would be helpful, and Im interested if other people have been in a similar situation with Triton. Many thanks!

Clive_Woody

Triton are the "internal" debt collectors for RBS group I believe.

Worst they can do is take you to court for repayment. You then provide the court with evidence of how much you can afford to repay, then most likely the court will order you to repay the loan at that level (assuming that you have been honest about your income).

With no property of your own they cannot try and secure the debt against anything. Bailiffs cannot be sent without a court order but given what you have said this seems unlikely.

The debt collection company may try and send doorstep collectors but these are not bailiffs and have no power to force entry to remove goods, if they do turn up request they leave and shut the door.

I am not an expert so others may have more (accurate) advice, but don't panic, you're not going to jail because of this, you will get a few threatening letters and calls.

happy_bunny_2

As said, RBS/Natwest internal collections, who in my experience are useless.

Whats the approx balance and when did you last pay the full amount/anything?

I would personally send them a written complaint (signed for) about not dealing with an appointed debt charity and still sending out threatograms when you have responded to their financial statements several times.

Not much they can do apart from go to court, then they will only make you pay what you can afford. Much more important that rent etc is paid before unsecured credit.

I wouldn't let these idiots stress you out.

Purple-3

Hi Clive and happy_bunny,

Thank you for your responses. The amount outstanding is now £15,00 due to them adding interest. I first approached the bank in January telling them that my redundancy money would run out and the i would run out of funds by May and unable to repay the loan at its current rate of £595 p/m. The repayments were well within my means for the salary I had prior to redundancy, and the loan was to cover negative equity when relocating for my job.

I advised the bank May would be my last payment, and asked if I could look at setting up a repayment plan to reduce the payments so that I could make the money stretch out longer. The branch were completely dismissive and told me to come back when the money had run out.

I didn't give up though, and continued to phone around departments trying to get help. Eventually I got through to the financial difficulties dept in March. I completed their financial statement, which showed I had a monthly deficit of £300. Eventually they phoned and said there was nothing they could do to help me. So, once June happened, there was no money in the account to make the payment. I got a letter telling me they didnt want me as a customer anymore and gave me notice to move my direct debits etc to a new bank, which I did. It was then the letters started coming in from various depts demanding payment. CAB agreed to help, as I was able to demonstrate that I have done everything possible to reduce my monthly expenses and had been proactive in trying to work with the bank. So, they dealt with each letter on my behalf.

After several years of poor mental health and private treatment1, i was diagnosed 18 months ago with a severe mental illness. (just shortly before redundancy, which is unrelated, so they say).

My only income is disability living allowance and ESA. I have a care team that provides ongoing mental health support, including helping me stay stable in the midst of this financial crisis. I have a psychiatrist, psychologist, mental health recovery worker and a social worker. So, I am supported and I am trying to be responsible and not bury my head on this.

It seems though, that the bank are not interested in anything cAB say, and CAB did tell the bank about my illness and my only income.

I am glad to know the bailifs cannot turn up next week. I am going to sell items that are sellable to raise funds for me to survive, and I am getting food voucher help from Royal British legion as I am ex forces.

I have a car on PCP. Can the doorstep collectors help themselves and take the car without any warning?

Thanks again.

happy_bunny_2

I would complain summarising each time they have spectacularly failed to help you as well as ignoring CAB. Won't look good for them if it went to court I expect.

Why did the CAB recommend you pay each month?£1 or nothing?

What's PCP for the car? Not familiar with that term.

Have you seen this:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/mental-health-guide

fatbelly

Purple-3 wrote: »

I have a car on PCP. Can the doorstep collectors help themselves and take the car without any warning?

Certainly not. Even if it were yours, a debt collector could not take it- they have no legal rights.

As the car is owned by the finance company (this is a lease agreement with an option to purchase at the end of the term) even a bailiff would have no rights over it.

Purple-3

Thanks for the advice again. CAB offered a token payment of £1, as apparently this is the procedure when a client doesnt actually have available funds to pay a reasonable amount each month.

Glad to hear the cannot help themselves to the car, particularly as it is sometimes a neighbour or visitor parked outside my house!

I will get help to write a complaint and document everything I did to try and deal with the situation.
Thanks!

Purple-3

sorry, happy_bunny, a PCP is different to HP, it is like a lease, and I wont own the car, unless I choose to pay the balloon payment at the end of the lease to purchase it. Or, I hand it back and walk away, or take out a new PCP on a new car.

harveybobbles

No scumbag DCA will ever go near a Court room.

They have no legal powers to do anything. DLa isnlt classed as an income.

Offer £1 per month for the life of the debt.