A&L cc help please

Poppops

Hi. I've never posted before so apologies if I've posted in the wrong place but would really appreciate some help.
At the end of 2009 I lost my job and my marriage broke down. At the time I owed £11,000 to Alliance and Leicester on a credit card I had had for some time. I wrote to them and asked them if I could go on a payment plan as I didn't want to fall behind with the payments and the interest was killing me now I wasn't working. They replied to say that they couldn't find my credit agreement and so couldn't send me to court and that a payment plan would affect my credit rating. I never ever heard from them again.
So I carried on making payments and between 2011 and December 2013 I have paid off £10,560. However I have never received a statement in all this time so am unsure what I now owe.
I know it seems naive of me to have just kept paying but I had a lot to deal with at the time and was admittedly frightened.
I now want to know what my balance is, if interest has been being applied all this time, and would also like to enquire if I ever paid PPI on the account.
Should I write to Santander, or MBNA, or just wait until they tell me the debt is now repaid? I think I am frightened of stirring up a hornet's nest in terms of interest. I haven't changed my address or phone number in this time so assume the payments I have been making have been sufficient to them.
Any advice on what the correct move now is would be greatly appreciated. Many many thanks

grumbler

Why MBNA if it was A&L?
It doesn't seem that they stopped the interest, so IMO you achieve nothing by keeping paying and burying your head in the sand. Either stop paying or contact them.

I think it's better to phone Santander rather then write to them.

planteria

Alliance & Leicester bank accounts moved to Santander.

but i think some Alliance & Leicester credit cards moved to MBNA, at some stage.

planteria

if i were you, Poppops, i would want to know where i stood with it all, and would be contacting them to find out.

two thoughts though: You can find out some of the info via your credit file. i use noddle. and Secondly, if they don't have the credit agreement, perhaps you didn't need to be making all of the payments that you have been. i am sure someone else will have more to say re. this.

planteria

planteria wrote: »

Alliance & Leicester bank accounts moved to Santander.

but i think some Alliance & Leicester credit cards moved to MBNA, at some stage.

Sorry, i got that the wrong way round, grumbler, but there was a link:

from wiki: "Credit cards were also provided through a partnership with MBNA until the acquisition by Santander. Cards were subsequently reissued with MBNA branding, while Alliance & Leicester began solely providing Santander branded credit cards, provided by Santander Cards Limited."

grumbler

I struggle to understand Wiki wording, but my A&L CC was reissued as Santander CC.

bondy01

My A & L cc became an MBNA card.

SammenForLivet2

It may be an idea to have a check of you're credit record, to see what the balance remains and who is servicing your card.

You can get a (completely!) free monthly report from Noddle (other CRA's available).

Poppops

Thanks very much for your responses. I've now registerd with Noddle and it shows the account was transferred to MBNA and from the balance of £11,506 there is now only £456 outstanding so I am delighted. Wish I'd thought of this myself ages ago. Thanks again for the advice. :j

planteria

good.
but...you are receiving nothing at all from MBNA?
do you think that it has been set up as an online only account?
and, as i mentioned above, i wonder whether you might have been able to get out of this debt altogether...:think:

Poppops

No. I have never had one letter or phonecall. I have always thought it was odd, but as they told me they didn't have the original credit agreement without me even mentioning it, and going on to say that they wouldn't take me to court, I assumed it was something to do with that.
I also know that there may have been something to look at from that point of view, but to be honest I was in massive, massive debt and am almost clear of it all now and it feels so good. By the end of the 2014 I will be clear with no help from anyone and whilst still kicking myself for being where I was, I am feeling a little bit better about myself today!
I'm glad I paid and they will get every penny.