Newbie seeking help

preston.lady

Hi all,

I'm new here and looking for advice and support on clearing my outstanding debts. I got into problems with payday loans a couple of years ago after splitting up with my partner. It was a tough time and I stupidly ignored the repayment notices and now I have several defaults on my credit file.

Some of these are due to drop off in a couple of years however, I still want to clear the outstanding amounts as I live in constant fear that a debt collector will arrive at my door and take all of my stuff or that I will be issued with a CCJ.

I'm currently creating a spreadsheet of amounts owed and with whom so that I can start to plan realistic repayments amounts to each however, there is one which stands out as looking quite dodgy and I want to check before making any further repayments as I know how many 'rogue' payday companies have got into trouble recently.

I took out a £250 loan with a company called Mini Credit. They assigned the debt to Opos and I made several repayments of £20 every month. I stopped the repayments due to further difficulty and now the debt has been reassigned to a company called Kapama Ltd. Kapama have sent me a statement which shows -

£250 original loan amount
£300 Interest Charges
£100 Debt Collection Charge
Default Charge 1 £25
Default Charge 2 £50
Attempt Charges £705
Paid (by me) £690
Outstanding amount £740

Surely if I have already paid £690 on a £250 loan then that is legally sufficient. The fact that they want another £740 from me seems extortionate. Can anyone tell me if I am within my rights to push back to them on this?

Many thanks in advance,

Angela

sourcrates

preston.lady wrote: »

I took out a £250 loan with a company called Mini Credit. They assigned the debt to Opos and I made several repayments of £20 every month. I stopped the repayments due to further difficulty and now the debt has been reassigned to a company called Kapama Ltd. Kapama have sent me a statement which shows -

£250 original loan amount
£300 Interest Charges - for what period ?
£100 Debt Collection Charge - unenforceable charge !!
Default Charge 1 £25 - unenforceable charge !!
Default Charge 2 £50 - unenforceable charge !!
Attempt Charges £705 - what is this ?
Paid (by me) £690
Outstanding amount £740

Surely if I have already paid £690 on a £250 loan then that is legally sufficient. The fact that they want another £740 from me seems extortionate. Can anyone tell me if I am within my rights to push back to them on this?

Many thanks in advance,

Angela

Hi,

When did you take out the mini credit loan, was it before or after 2nd January 2015 ?

From 2 January 2015, the law was changed, no borrower will ever pay back more than twice what they borrowed, as fees and interest charges have been capped since that date.

Even if the loan was taken before that date, debt collectors are not permitted to add interest or charges, once a debt has been defaulted or assigned to another collector, unless the original agreement allows them to do so, the majority do not allow for this, you need to check your agreement, or if you don't have it, ask for a copy to check the small print in it.

preston.lady

I believe it was before Jan 2015 but useful to know! I will try and find the legislation and my original credit agreement.

Thank you

National_Debtline

Hi Preston Lady,


Sourcrates has given some great tips above. I would just add that if you cannot find your agreement you can request one from the creditor. You can either to a Consumer Credit Act request, for a true copy of the agreement and breakdown of the account. This will only cost £1 however, the agreement only needs to be an accurate reflection of what you would've sign, not the agreement itself.

Alternatively, you can make a Subject Access Request, this will cost £10 but you can ask for more details, such as, what work have they done to try and justify the £700 of fees? A copy of the agreement to confirm the date it was taken out and the small print etc. Once you have more information you may be able to complain about the disproportionate fees - doesn't mean they are wrong - but you could argue they are inappropriate and take the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service.


Laura
@natdebtline

sourcrates

preston.lady wrote: »

I believe it was before Jan 2015 but useful to know! I will try and find the legislation and my original credit agreement.

Thank you

Any further help you need, please don't hesitate to ask.

This is there complaints address from the FCA register :

Complaints

Contact Name Margo Kidd-Fallan
Address: 2nd Floor 15 Meadowbank Street Dumbarton Dunbartonshire G82 1JR UNITED KINGDOM
Phone: +44 01414283990
Fax: +44
Email: mkidd@oposlimited.com