Should I cancel with Harrington B?

Kolokial

My mother has an agreement with Harrington Brooks, and unfortunately has already paid the two month registration fee to them. Now that she has made me aware of her debt issues, and now that I've looked into the matter through this awesome website (I have to say the welcome I've gotten has been second to none) and other references (National Debt Line and CAB) I think it's prudent to cancel with Harrington Brooks immediately.

However, I want to be careful and not unleash the creditors letters and phone calls until I am sure I've got everything prepared.

I've come up with a budget based on her income and am trying to lower her outgoings by finding better deals (again through this site). I've also written a letter(a) to all creditors below asking to hold action while I come up with a proposal for creditors.

I've also written a letter(b) for Harrington Brooks. I originally wrote another previously that asked for a copy of the contract or terms, but as of yet I haven't, and don't expect to receive a reply.



(A)Monthly Income After Tax £1496.5088
(C)Income - Outgoing (A-B) £122.4988

£ 1,374.01 (B)Monthly Outgoing

[B]Monthly Outgoing		£ 1,374.01[/B]
Mortgage			£ 300.00
Council Tax			£ 120.00
Anglian Water			£ 38.35
Essex and Suffolk		£ 34.86
E-On Electric			£ 40.00
E-On Gas			£ 66.00
Food Shopping			£ 400.00
Mobile Phone			£ 25.00
Second Mortgage			£ 50.00
TV license			£ 12.54
Tel/Internet/TV			£ 69.11
Life Insurance			£ 10.00
Aviva Life Insurance		£ 8.56
Car Insurance			£ 29.78
Home Insurance			£ 46.06
Washing Machine Insurance	£ 5.75
Television Insurance		£ 5.75
Tumble Dryer Insurance		£ 5.75
Microwave Insurance		£ 2.50
Travel to work			£ 64.00 
Food at work			£ 40.00

Don't worry, I'll be helping my mum try and cancel or reduce some of these payments. But should I wait until I have done that (and I mean actually implemented it instead of writing it down) before cancelling with Harrington Brooks?

Letter A - Not sent

CREDITORS ADDRESS
Dear Sir/Madam
Account No :
I am writing to you to inform you that I have cancelled my agreement with my debt management plan provider, in order to free up more funds to ensure I have more available income that can be distributed to my creditors.

Please be aware that there may be a delay in payments during the transitional period whilst I prepare a budget summary and new offers of payment to yourselves and other creditors.

I would like to kindly request that you do not add any charges or additional interest for any late or missed payments to my account. I would also like to request that you do not take any enforcement action. I feel that I am making the correct choice (in that I am able to offer more income towards my current outstanding debts) and ask you to consider my request with sympathy and compassion.

I will be in contact with you by letter soon to propose a payment arrangement.

Kind regards,

Kolokial

Letter B - not sent

Dear Sir/Madam,
I write to you in regards to my previous letter, sent on the 8th October, and received by yourselves on INSERT DATE HERE. A request was made for a copy of the agreement or contract that I have with Harrington Brooks, and to date this request has not been fulfilled within the time allowed.

As a result of this, I must inform you that I am submitting a notice for the termination of any such agreement between myself and Harrington Brooks. I hereby revoke any authority or rights that you may have to act on my behalf.

Please return any and all documentation regarding my finances, creditors, debts, and anything else pertinent that I have sent, with immediate effect.

Please provide a full breakdown of my account with you since its creation, outlining any payments made by me, all creditor distributions and to which whom they have been made. I would like to receive this information within the next 14 days also.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,

The debts in question are as follows :

Provident Personal Credit	1434.82
Greenwood Personal Credit	1216.86
Shopacheck			1014.59
Shopacheck			603.12
Ambrose & Wilson		797.17
Halifax				350.56
Three Mobile			570.57
Capital One			296.63
Three Mobile			443.31
				6727.63

happy_bunny_2

Hi there

Same advice as on here really:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/63502351#Comment_63502351

I would maybe give Step change or another charity of your choice a call. People no doubt transfer frequently, so they should be able to advise.

Did she hand over money without signing any terms and conditions? Or just that she never kept a copy.

Don't be afraid to send har brok a complaint about lack of response. See link in the linked thread above. Sometimes this is the only way to get a response as they won't fancy the FOS referral fee.

sourcrates

Good idea, never pay a company for this, its just as easy to do it yourself for free.
Letters look good too. !!!

Kolokial

I am intending to do it myself with the help of National Debt Line.

Thanks happy_bunny, though she has signed an agreement, but for some reason, unbeknown to me, doesn't have a copy of the agreement. Is it worth complaining though, as I'd like to cancel anyway? Or can I cancel and still complain?

Thanks sourcrates, I just want to be sure that I am not antagonising the situation anymore. I realise the Har Brooks and any DCAs have no power, but most of the time any calls that are made to the house are often picked up by my mum, and frankly, she's been brought to tears by some of the DCAs that contact her so I just want to minimise any possibility of that happening.

happy_bunny_2

Not sure what would be in the terms about any minimum period or fees if you leave before a minimum term.

Talk to National debtline, they may know this.

You can only really complain if misled, have received poor service etc.

You could complain about not receiving a duplicate copy of the terms. They might just send one at that point.

Can you change her number? BT will do this for free if you have been receiving calls you never asked for.

This call blocker is also good from what I've heard on here and other forums:
https://www.truecall.co.uk/home.aspx

Kolokial

No no I don't mean calls we never asked for, I mean DCA or Creditors calling her.

This call blocker is also good from what I've heard on here and other forums:
https://www.truecall.co.uk/home.aspx

I will certainly look into this ^. Thanks :-)

The terms on HB site says that I need to give 4 weeks notice period, but does not state the consequences if it's not given.

In regards to service, recently we found that Harrington Brooks had switched the electricity supply from E-On to First-Utility via uSwitch, and apparently my mother agreed to this on the phone(to HB, however my mother denies this). I asked for a transcript or to listen to the recording, however the manager flat out said no to this. I thought this was a bit rude and slightly shady. However, we've asked uSwitch if we could hear the recording or get a transcript, and now they are treating this as a complaint, which for some reason means Harrington Brooks are no longer dealing with the issue.

Based on the above, I'm not inclined to give them a 4 week notice. So far as I am concerned, they've taken two payments from my mother done nothing but cause issues, so they can keep that and leave us well alone.

happy_bunny_2

I know what you mean by the calls, just worded it in a way BT would change your number for free

I would complain to HB about the utility switch, the refusal to give you the call details and tell them you no longer need their services for this reason as well as not supplying the copy of the terms.

Doubt they will push it, it will cost them Time and money to do so.

If you want to push it, ask for the 2 payments refunding. How much was this? If you refer to FOS, they lose the £500 referral fee.

Kolokial

Ah my bad, sorry happy_bunny.

I'll add the complaint to the letter advising them we're ending the agreement then I think. Though will I be able to do both?

I'm not sure if I'll contact the FOS, as I don't want to antagonise. If I notify them they cannot act on my mothers behalf, is that enough to ensure they wont be a problem in the future? Or will I need to contact everyone(creditors/debtors <-hopefully that's all) they have been in contact with to advise them we are dealing with the debts now?

If you want to push it, ask for the 2 payments refunding. How much was this? If you refer to FOS, they lose the £500 referral fee.

What fee do you speak of? The fee was two payments of £80, which have been paid. My mum has also cancelled the direct debit with them.

happy_bunny_2

You can end the agreement and complain. Your complaint would effectively be the reason to cancel.

The fee I was referring to was the 2 £80 payments.

You can only refer to FOS if HB reject your complaint or don't give you a final response to your complaint within 8 weeks. It's supposed to be used if companies fob you off or ignore you, so you don't need to contact them right now.

You will need to contact the creditors and tell them that you are taking over the DMP from HB with the assistance of national debtline. Do national debtline give you a reference number you can give to the creditors? This may help them accept it easier.

Kolokial

happy_bunny wrote: »

Your complaint would effectively be the reason to cancel.

The fee I was referring to was the 2 £80 payments.

Perfect.

happy_bunny wrote: »

You will need to contact the creditors and tell them that you are taking over the DMP from HB with the assistance of national debtline. Do national debtline give you a reference number you can give to the creditors? This may help them accept it easier.

I'll be getting to this in the next few days. I do have a reference number, but why would the Creditors need it? The National Debtline haven't asked about the individual creditors?

happy_bunny_2

If you offer the creditors the ref number, they know you have talked to a debt charity and are more morally obligated to be nice to you, in theory

So you are not trying to pull a fast one/hide anything.