Please help

gurujis

Hi,
I need advice please, really don't know what to do,
I had a MBNA credit card balance which I couldn't pay and a debt collector company Experto Credite Limited bought it from MBNA and asked me to pay £2800 balance. This was in 2008, since 2008 I have been paying£30 a month until I have stopped it in last month Oct 2016 to see how much more I need to pay if Experto Credite send me any letter. I paid more than 6 years over £2000 and now have received the letter from RPA group saying that they are the legal owner if the account and the balance is over £4500.
Please advise as this is even more than the original value. This is my first post on the forum and I really need some solution.
Many thanks for your help.

~Beanie~

Is interes still being charged? If so, the £30 a month may not even have covered this so that could be why the debt has increased. Were you getting statements during this time?

Ask RPA group for a statement / breakdown of how they have arrived at a balance of £4500.

sourcrates

Yes, I suggest you write back and ask for a full statement of account.

Debt collection agencies are forbidden from adding interest and charges to defaulted debts unless the original credit agreement allowed them to do so, not many did.

So if it turns out they have been adding these charges, you need to ask for a copy of your original credit agreement (CCA Request) and ask them to highlight the relevant section that states they are allowed to do this.

Also it doesn't help if you make multiple posts on the same subject, just confuses people.

gurujis

I will contact PRA group but what if I don't pay, ? Should I declare myself as bankrupt? How does this help and what is the process pl?? Thanks for your helpful advice.

Mr.Generous

you were paying £30 on a £3k debt - so about 1% per month of the debt, when paying a credit card off the minimum monthly payment is 5% - and this takes for ever to clear. At the very least take it as a warning not to make minimum payments ever, costs far more in the long run.

sourcrates

gurujis wrote: »

I will contact PRA group but what if I don't pay, ? Should I declare myself as bankrupt? How does this help and what is the process pl?? Thanks for your helpful advice.

Declare bankruptcy for a 3k debt ?

Do you not think that's a little extreme ?

Nothing much will happen if you don't pay, you'll get letters and calls, there is the chance of a CCJ, but don't go thinking end of the world stuff here, it's quite a small debt and can be dealt with by monthly payments.

Don't get too carried away with overthinking this.

DCFC79

Its really doable to clear the debt if you want to do it.

fermi

Talk to nation Debtline on Monday about the interest/charges and options

https://www.nationaldebtline.org

Possible something as simple as a Time Order may be an option. https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/time-order/unsecured-credit-agreement.aspx