mbna payment plan & settlement HELP??

edsjad

I am seriously in debt and have been trying to agree a payment plan with mbna credit card since january - when I phone they tell me to write, then i write and they say phone - they have been dragging it on for ages, meanwhile continuing adding charges and fees. I wanted to get something sorted before applying to reclaim my fees; i haven't actually used an mbna credit card for about three years so all expenditure has been in fees/charges and it is £700 over its original limit as i haven't managed to pay the full amount since january but have paid £50 which i discussed with them several times. I have the following letter today and don't know what is the best thing to do:
What i may be able to offer you subject to terms and conditions:
1 £76.21 per month reduced payment plan. I can stop all interest and fees, on the understanding that payments made will clear the outstanding balance within a 100 month period. I am more than willing to review the fees and charges that have already been applied to the account.
2 £3429.42 settlement. If you are able to make an offer of £3429.42 against this full debt of £7620.94 then i may consider writing off the remainder, this will be reflectd on your credit file. Even if you cannot get the funds immediately, there are alternative options. Obviously this offer is subject to status.
...These offers are too good not to consider. Please call ....to discuss this further.

They have suggested an settlement offer in writing, telling me to phone them; I did and told them i couldnt do it even after declining their offer of a consolidation loan. Then they wanted me to write with other debts i owed. (I had already sent a letter with income and outgoings). The letter above follows their receipt of that i think.
What do you think? What are the implications of the final settlement as it is part a settlement in a way? I wanted to claim my bank charges - would accepting either of these mean I couldn't do that? When I talk to them on the phone, they keep trying to get me to borrow a consolidation loan from them which I don't want to do. Any advice please - i don't know what to do. I don't know if I could get hold of £3400, but I couldl try if i were given a few months eg sell car, sell on ebay, etc I suppose i would rather do that than be paying them back for 8 years..If i did, could i still claim the fees and charges? If that were possible, then it might be worth it? HELP....!! (I am a dfw but not received number yet) Jaquie.

*zippy*

Jaquie sorry I can't help, but i'll bump it to the top for you.

grey_lady

Being on an arrangement with mbna doesnt mean you cant claim back the
charges - i did :-) but after i'd paid them back. How much exactly do the
fees come to? as in - how much of the 7260.94 would they wipe out?

flaura

I reclaimed my charges with MBNA and I still owed them money it amounted to half of the amount I owed them ! I then used the money to pay off the debt i had with them but at least then you still end up owing them less.

Play them at their own game... they as good as rolled over on their backs and paid up almost immediately with me...!

Do everything in writing they will always try and phone you and harrass you for extra.. continue to pay what you can and start recaiming your fees and then discuss a settlement - they only want to see what you owe others to see if they are getting a fair cut -

Perhaps suggest that they freeze interest for a couple of months (this will give you chance to get somewhere with the claiming fees)

Whatever you do don't borrow to pay it off you'll just end up owing someone else...

rog2

Be just a little wary of the 'settlement' offer. They say that they 'may consider writing off the remainder'. This is NOT a Full and Final Settlement and, given MBNA's attrocious track record, they could be chasing you for the remainder as well.
IF you go for this offer you need to have it, in writing, that this is in FULL and FINAL SETTLEMENT.

olibear18

i am going through the same thing with MBNA. i spoke to them yesterday and they were really helpful for a change. Call them on the 01244 number and give them your SOA and tell them what you owe others (sorry if this sounds like teaching to suck eggs!) and they should come to an arrangement with you stopping interest and charges for the time being, this is what they did with me. Now i've read what flaura said, they are definately next on my charges claim list!!! lets go for it! Good luck

smudgemanc26

Hi

Well ive just agreed a repayment plan with MBNA for what i owe them and im in the process of claiming back my bank charges with them in fact they owe me more in charges than i do on my card so hopefully they will close the card and give me the remainder back!

You still have the right to claim your charges back and if they agree they can just knock it off the balance you owe them saving you money on your full and final settlement.

Im in abit of pickle as i want to pay off my balance when i have the money to do so soon but am worried if i do that they wont give me my charges back - anyone else been in a similar situation and if so would they just refund them back to me in a cheque if the account is paid up and closed?

edsjad

thank you that's really useful - i must admit that i am/was very tempted to borrow the £3000 to pay off the debt as mbna have been such a pain in trying to sort out a payment plan and I know from last time they did similar the offer was only for one month i think. They are so stalling so they can continue to get their b*** fees AND interest! It looks like you are saying do the monthly payments. As I haven't actually had a card for three years, my guess would be that over half of the 7,000 is in fees, if not , well with the interest, nearly all of it. I need to write a letter to ask for the breakdown - I will do that this evening as i guess it will take a while. I'm a bit worried that they will reduce the whole sum (as they obviously can) on the payment plan and say that this is the fees. anyway - any further advice gratefully received. thank you for getting back to me. jaquie.

edsjad

flaura wrote: »

I reclaimed my charges with MBNA and I still owed them money it amounted to half of the amount I owed them ! I then used the money to pay off the debt i had with them but at least then you still end up owing them less.

Play them at their own game... they as good as rolled over on their backs and paid up almost immediately with me...!

Do everything in writing they will always try and phone you and harrass you for extra.. continue to pay what you can and start recaiming your fees and then discuss a settlement - they only want to see what you owe others to see if they are getting a fair cut -

Perhaps suggest that they freeze interest for a couple of months (this will give you chance to get somewhere with the claiming fees)

Whatever you do don't borrow to pay it off you'll just end up owing someone else...

thanks - see my response below. also, each time i have written i have asked for interest freeze and they said they would do this in the letter. It's hard not to be tempted to borrow the money to pay them off!! jaquie

edsjad

olibear18 wrote: »

i am going through the same thing with MBNA. i spoke to them yesterday and they were really helpful for a change. Call them on the 01244 number and give them your SOA and tell them what you owe others (sorry if this sounds like teaching to suck eggs!) and they should come to an arrangement with you stopping interest and charges for the time being, this is what they did with me. Now i've read what flaura said, they are definately next on my charges claim list!!! lets go for it! Good luck

thank you - good to hear of someone in the same position! I wrote to them in april with the SOA - as i said they have been stalling like mad- and then a couple of weeks ago, e mailed the debts to other providers. so they have all info from me. Looks like the best thing to do is to go for the monthly thing and claim fees. I am desperate to get something settled so they stop charging me interest and because i am so angry with them with their stalling. please keep in touch - pm me - let me know how you get on. yes, last time i talked to someone it was on the 01244 number, will phone soon once i have heard what everyone says.

edsjad

smudgemanc26 wrote: »

Hi

Well ive just agreed a repayment plan with MBNA for what i owe them and im in the process of claiming back my bank charges with them in fact they owe me more in charges than i do on my card so hopefully they will close the card and give me the remainder back!

You still have the right to claim your charges back and if they agree they can just knock it off the balance you owe them saving you money on your full and final settlement.

Im in abit of pickle as i want to pay off my balance when i have the money to do so soon but am worried if i do that they wont give me my charges back - anyone else been in a similar situation and if so would they just refund them back to me in a cheque if the account is paid up and closed?

thank you - really great to hear from people in similar position. sounds brilliant re charges. I don't understand your quesiton! Please keep in touch - pm or otherwise, it would be great to hear how your're getting on. jaquie