MKRR Rapid Recovery Final Notice letter

fatbelly

MKRR may have a valid enforceable debt.

On the face of it, it looks like the account was closed in March 2011 and so the cause of action is then.

As the defendant lives in England, action would be taken under that jurisdiction and so a six-year period would be needed to show statute barred status.

There may be an argument that the account should have been closed earlier but you would need the earlier history of the account, which would risk acknowledging the debt.

I suppose your options are to ignore this and see what they do next, or have some negotiation (on a without prejudice basis) and see what they would accept to settle.

chanz4

what was the last address on the account, the statements would also count as proof of the debt

Gavin_Average

The last address on the account was in Scotland, although she was living in England in 2011, so if they wanted to go digging and found that out, they could presumably use that as grounds to say the statute of limitations is 6 years? Either way, sitting tight until March seems like a very long time. We've dealt with CCJs and bailiffs on the doorstep for another, unrelated debt, and it's not pretty.

Where can we go for advice on the best way to try to enter a without prejudice negotiation just to make this go away? She has no savings, very few possessions and no job (she's a full-time mum for our toddler, with another baby on the way). I don't know whether they'd feel entitled to try to forcibly take money from me as her partner, but if it's going to come to it I'd like to see if negotiation is possible to just make this go away.

fatbelly

fatbelly wrote: »

I suppose your options are to ignore this and see what they do next, or have some negotiation (on a without prejudice basis) and see what they would accept to settle.

I wouldn't go for option 2 unless she has at least £500 to throw at this.

It's a stronger argument if the money is coming from a third party (you) but your income/assets cannot be enforced against if this is a debt solely in her name.

Gavin_Average

She has basically nothing with which to pay the debt, so any money to pay it would be coming from me. It's 100% her debt, we're not married, and don't have a joint account. Naturally, not being liable for the debt (but being keen to see the matter resolved), I'd be looking to do that for the lowest amount possible. £500 for the sake of a quiet life is... Less than ideal, but y'know, doable. If they want to push it lots higher than that, I'd be pretty unhappy.

I'm looking for advice about how to go about opening those kinds of negotiations. Are there template letters, or any kind of "standard procedure" for that?

Of course, what I REALLY want to do is call out the bank for spurious charges, for fiddling payment dates to allow them to pile on more charges than they should have been able to, and for waiting so long to close the account. But I can't imagine any outcome where the bank will suddenly capitulate, admit naughtiness, and see the error of its ways.

patman99

She could sign-up to one of the debt charities such as Stepchange, then entering a DRO. If MKRR agree, then the debt is gone. If not, then as your partner has no money or assets it might be worth trying the bankruptcy route. Costs are £750, but she should be discharged after 1 year, with the debt coming off her credit file after 6 years.

fatbelly

It's easier to have an argument with the bank if they still own the account. I've been assuming that MK now own it.

However, if Bank X have sold it, then any discussions with them would not count as acknowledgement and so there would be no downside. Martin has some guidance here

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/bank-charges

You could complain to the bank, refer the result to FOS, but I still wouldn't be confident about getting anything out of it.

If you want to negotiate a settlement deal National Debtline has a template letter here

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/sampleletters/sole-letters/Pages/Full-and-final-settlement-offers-(sole-name).aspx

Insolvency seems a bit extreme for one 2k dodgy debt.

Gavin_Average

Thanks for pointing us to all this information. DRO/bankruptcy does indeed seem a bit extreme under the circumstances. Trying to get a refund on the bank charges sounds like a possibility, albeit a lot of time and paperwork with a not-particularly-great chance of success.

Two questions:

1 - Is it possible to pursue the refund route with the bank and the settlement offer with the debt collectors independently and simultaneously? In practise it sounds like that would probably involve a relatively quick settlement with MK and a potentially more drawn-out process against the bank. Does it even make sense to do that? It doesn't seem particularly sensible to keep MK waiting around given that they're presumably able to start getting into CCJs if they want to.

2 - Does anyone know what happens if a creditor refuses a settlement offer?

sourcrates

You could go down the complaint route, and take to FOS if nessessary, you may get something out of it.

If a creditor refuses an offer of payment, they will still attempt to get the full balance, but may also make a counter offer to you.

Gavin_Average

So, we sent MKRR an offer of £550. Got a letter back today (30th of May). It was dated the 28th of May, said the offer had been declined, but that they'd accept an offer of exactly half the money they say is owed, "providing payment is received no later than close of business on the 28th May 2015. If payment is not received by this date the settlement offer will have expired, and the full amount may be payable."

Sigh. Can anyone see what's wrong with this picture? So, two questions:

1 - Any suggestions as to an appropriate response to sending a settlement offer that will quite obviously have expired by the time the letter arrives? My instinct is to tell them they're all morons and ask them to send another letter with a sensible timescale attached. I presume what they're trying to do is get their 50% and then say "AHA! But the offer expired, and now you've paid us some money you still owe us the other half". Seems really fishy to me, given that for our part we've been trying to follow the rules and made the offer in good faith. Have they broken any rules/laws by making a stupid offer like this?

2 - Assuming the date issue gets settled, do you think there's any room for negotiation with regards to their 50% figure? Or does it tend to be a choice between paying what they ask or going to court?