12 month old Barclays Partner finance account & CRS

fatmcgav

Evening all,

I'm posting on behalf of my partner, who's having an issue with Barclays Partner Finance (BPF) and Credit Resource Solutions (CRS).

TLDR; BPF claim we've missed a payment, have quadrupled the amount owing and referred the account to CRS, recording a default on my partners credit file.

Longer one:
Basically, we bought a bed from Dreams in August 2012, which we financed using Barclays Partner Finance on a 12 months interest free plan with a 6 month payment break.
This came to 12 payments of ~£93, with the first payment due Feb 2013.

The first payment was made around the 23rd Fed, and the remaining payments were being made monthly after that, so we thought nothing more of it.

We then moved out of our flat in August 2013, and forgot to update the address details on this credit account. However we did regularly check the post at our old address as did our ex-landlord.
One payment did get bounced on the 24th December 2013 due to insufficent funds in the account, however the DD was represented on the 2nd Jan 2014 without issues. No further payments were attempted in Jan 2014, so the total number of payments made was 11 of 12.
I've confirmed this by going through all the statements on the bills account between the periods in question, and confirm that only 11 payments were taken.

Fast-forward to yesterday, and we got a text from our ex-landlord stating that a letter had been delivered from BPF regarding an outstanding balance, and to contact them.
My partner phoned up yesterday evening to be informed that the balance now owing on the account was nearly £500, and the account had been referred to CRS.

She raised a complaint with BPF due to the fact that we never received the previous letters, and therefore never had the chance to correct the situation before the account balance quadrupled, got referred to CRS.
However they were adamant that we needed to speak to CRS to try and get the mess cleaned up.

So, should we speak to CRS? And what options have we got to get this cleaned up.

To make things worse, having checked my partners credit file today, the account has been recorded as in default, thereby seriously affecting here credit status.

Any other pointers? And thanks in advance for any replies.

Cheers
Gavin

sourcrates

Yes raise a complaint, ask for a statement of account, demand a breakdown of how these charges were accrued, and ask them to justify them.
It will probebley come down to the wording in your contract, but £500 in charges seems excessive.

fatmcgav

sourcrates wrote: »

Yes raise a complaint, ask for a statement of account, demand a breakdown of how these charges were accrued, and ask them to justify them.
It will probebley come down to the wording in your contract, but £500 in charges seems excessive.

Cheers for the reply, and apologies for the slow follow-up.

Will get my partner to request a statement of account and breakdown of these changes from BPF today...

Should we avoid talking to CRS and only deal with BPF? As BPF were fairly adamant when we last spoke to them that we can need to talk to CRS to get more information on the account, which I feel is wrong.
And would prefer not to give CRS our contact details etc unless absolutely necessary.

Cheers
Gavin

sourcrates

fatmcgav wrote: »

Cheers for the reply, and apologies for the slow follow-up.

Will get my partner to request a statement of account and breakdown of these changes from BPF today...

Should we avoid talking to CRS and only deal with BPF? As BPF were fairly adamant when we last spoke to them that we can need to talk to CRS to get more information on the account, which I feel is wrong.
And would prefer not to give CRS our contact details etc unless absolutely necessary.

Cheers
Gavin

So basically, you had the one outstanding payment, and BPF has either sold the debt, or passed it to a DCA for collection.
I would deal with the DCA, if the original creditor wont deal with you, it makes little difference as the DCA will have to refer to the OC anyhow, in order to get statements etc.

Put it in writing, ask for a complete breakdown of how these charges have accrued, say you dispute the amount they are claiming, remember charges and interest have to be fair, if they are not deemed to be fair, you do not have to pay them.

Tell them you expect a full response within 8 weeks, otherwise you will escalate the complaint to the Financial ombudsman service, they would decide if you have been charged reasonabley or not, and you can always fall back to this option if you dont get anywere with either BPF or the DCA.

fatmcgav

sourcrates wrote: »

So basically, you had the one outstanding payment, and BPF has either sold the debt, or passed it to a DCA for collection.
I would deal with the DCA, if the original creditor wont deal with you, it makes little difference as the DCA will have to refer to the OC anyhow, in order to get statements etc.

Put it in writing, ask for a complete breakdown of how these charges have accrued, say you dispute the amount they are claiming, remember charges and interest have to be fair, if they are not deemed to be fair, you do not have to pay them.

Tell them you expect a full response within 8 weeks, otherwise you will escalate the complaint to the Financial ombudsman service, they would decide if you have been charged reasonabley or not, and you can always fall back to this option if you dont get anywere with either BPF or the DCA.

Thanks again for the reply.

Yes, that sums it up.

We spoke to the DCA this evening, and to their credit they were helpful. They've requested a statement of account from BPF, which they've going to send over once they've received. Can then use that to come up with next questions for BHF.
They also confirmed that the balance they have of ~£500 was sent over from BPF, so BPF have added over £400 of interest and charges to the original £98 balance. Sounds very excessive to me.

Will post back once I've got the SOA, etc...

Cheers
Gav

chanz4

what was the apr after the 6 months?

fatmcgav

chanz4 wrote: »

what was the apr after the 6 months?

It was a 12 month interest free, with a 6 month payment break...
I'll check the Dreams paperwork when I get home though for APR... I'd imagine 20% is about par for the course though isn't it?

Gav

fatmcgav

OK, update time...

After pushing CRS and Barclays for what feels like an eternity, I've finally got a statement of accounts...

Date Description Debits Credits and Payments Made Balance
22/08/12 Loan advance 1123 ! 1123.00 DR
22/02/13 Direct debit payment ! 93.58 1029.42 DR
22/03/13 Direct debit payment ! 93.58 935.84 DR
22/04/13 Direct debit payment ! 93.58 842.26 DR
22/05/13 Direct debit payment ! 93.58 748.68 DR
22/06/13 Direct debit payment ! 93.58 655.10 DR
22/07/13 Direct debit payment ! 93.58 561.52 DR
22/08/13 Direct debit payment ! 93.58 467.94 DR
22/09/13 Direct debit payment ! 93.58 374.36 DR
22/10/13 Direct debit payment ! 93.58 280.78 DR
22/11/13 Direct debit payment ! 93.58 187.20 DR
22/12/13 Direct debit payment ! 93.58 93.62 DR
27/12/13 Unpaid Direct Debit 93.58 ! 187.20 DR
27/12/13 Unpaid DD/cheque chg 20 ! 207.20 DR
30/12/13 Direct debit payment ! 93.58 113.62 DR
22/01/14 Direct debit payment ! 93.58 20.04 DR
24/01/14 Unpaid Direct Debit 93.58 ! 113.62 DR
24/01/14 Unpaid DD/cheque chg 20 ! 133.62 DR
29/01/14 Default Sum L1 22.5 ! 156.12 DR
07/02/14 Default Sum L2 22.5 ! 178.62 DR
01/03/14 Default Sum L1 22.5 ! 201.12 DR
10/03/14 Default Sum L2 22.5 ! 223.62 DR
23/03/14 Default Sum L3 22.5 ! 246.12 DR
07/04/14 Default Sum L4 22.5 ! 268.62 DR
23/04/14 Default Sum L3 22.5 ! 291.12 DR
08/05/14 Default Sum L4 22.5 ! 313.62 DR
07/06/14 Default Sum L6 22.5 ! 336.12 DR
24/06/14 Default Sum L5 22.5 ! 358.62 DR
08/07/14 Default Sum L6 22.5 ! 381.12 DR
23/07/14 Default Sum L8 22.5 ! 403.62 DR
23/08/14 Default Sum L8 22.5 ! 426.12 DR
13/09/14 Default Sum L8 22.5 ! 448.62 DR
23/09/14 Default Sum L8 22.5 ! 471.12 DR
24/10/14 Default Sum L5111 22.5 ! 493.62 DR

16 Default Sum charges of £22.50 seems rather excessive to me...

What's the best way to go about making a formal complaint and getting this resolved once and for-all? No where have they explained why the final payment wasn't taken either...

Any help appreciated.

Regards
Gavin

sourcrates

fatmcgav wrote: »

OK, update time...

After pushing CRS and Barclays for what feels like an eternity, I've finally got a statement of accounts...



16 Default Sum charges of £22.50 seems rather excessive to me...

What's the best way to go about making a formal complaint and getting this resolved once and for-all? No where have they explained why the final payment wasn't taken either...

Any help appreciated.

Regards
Gavin

Normally I would say write to them, but, I have had personal experiance with BPF, and on this occasion I would recommend you ring customer services, and ask to be put through to complaints.

Make sure it's complaints you are put through to, explain you think there charges are excessive, and ask them to refund them for you, they do charge every time a DD has failed, we had a similar problem, in my case, they agreed to refund all charges, basically if you don't ask you don't get.

If they won't help you, then go to the FOS and raise a complaint.

fatmcgav

Sorry for bringing this one back from the depths, however I thought it would probably be easier than starting a new thread, as all the history is above...

Anyhow, an update...

I finally managed to get a complaint raised with BPF via letter on the 12th October, having previously sent letters on the 1st April and 1st July.
The letter I sent was as follows:

Dear Sir/Madam

REF: Account # 1103020087443224

N.B: 2nd resend of this letter – previously sent on 01/04/15 and 01/07/15.

I write in relation to the above account, recorded at 66A Arnold Road, Bristol, BS16 9LB, which you have recorded as a defaulted on my credit record.

I would like to make a formal complaint about how this account has been handled.
The 2 main issues I have are:
• Missing payment without a valid reason.
• Lack of communication regarding the account

Upon checking the details with my bank, I can see no valid reason why the final payment was not taken via Direct Debit in January 2014. Therefore please advise why this payment was not taken.

As per the notes on your system, we no longer reside at the registered address on the account, having moved out in August 2013, several months before the alleged missed payment in Jan 2014.

However despite checking the post at the registered address several times a month up-to and including April 2014, no correspondence was received from Barclays Partner Finance.

I therefore require you to substantiate this data at your earliest convenience.

1. You must supply me with a true copy of the alleged agreement you refer to. This is my right under your obligation to supply a copy of the agreement under the legislation contained within s.78 (1) Consumer Credit Act 1974 (s.77 (1) for fixed sum credit). Your obligation also extends to providing a statement of account. I enclose a £1 postal order in payment of the statutory fee.

2. You must supply me with a signed true and certified copy of the original default notice

3. Any deed of assignment if the debt was sold on

I would request that this data is provided to myself within the next 28 days, if you are unable to provide this data then I must insist that it is removed from my files as unsubstantiated.

Please use the correspondence address at the top of this letter, not the address on record, as we no longer reside there. However this address is purely for the purposes of correspondence with regards to this complaint.


Yours faithfully

Following several missed phone calls from BPF, we received a formal response dated the 25th November, which landed in our letterbox on the 2nd December.

A copy of the letter is here: Barclays Complaint Response.
Basically, the long and short is that they're not going to remove any of the charges or remove the default from my partners credit file as it's "our responsibility to advice of a change of address and contact number"...

However they seem to have ignored the fact that we were checking the post at the property up-to March/April 2014, and no letters were received from BPF to indicate there was an issue with the payment.
I therefore still believe that we have been unfairly treated by not being given the opportunity to rectify the issue before the account got to being in default.

They have also ignored points 2 and 3 above, wherein I was requesting a copy of the default notice and any deed of assignment.

I want to go back to BPF to try and press the above issues, however wanted to see if anyone had any specific advice on wording or legislation I should use?

Thanks in advance for any replies. And let me know if you need any further info.

EDIT: It's also worth noting that it is my intention to add a Notice Of Correction to my partners credit file indicating that we were not given the opportunity to correct the account before the default was issued, thereby hopefully alleviating some of the impact on her credit file... Any wording suggestions would be greatly received.

Regards
Gavin

sourcrates

Hi,
They have given you there final responce, so further correspondence with them won't be productive, (unless you have new information).

All you can do now is pass your complaint to the FOS, and see if they agree the charges are fair or not.
You may be able to claim there failure to contact you led to the excessive charges been added to your account.

They would decide your case on balance of fairness, I would say, as I see it, from what you have said, possibly 60/40 chance in your favour, of success.