Barclay's Partner Finance HELP please!

dazzyp94

Hello everyone,

Any help will be MASSIVELY appreciated :beer:

I've returned my ASTRA GTC on Voluntary Termination basis back in April. Car was in good condition however I knew that Barclay's would try to charge me for Wear and Tear.
I've not heard back from them until around 3 days ago - 6 weeks after i returned the car.
I've received a letter from them stating that they've tried to contact me on numerous occasions and I've not replied to any of their correspondence & they've passed the matter onto Allied Debt Collection Agency and from now on they will deal with the money I owe them. :eek:

This really confused me as I have not received a single letter, phone call or e-mail from Barclay's...I was going to phone them to try to clear this up but they were already closed that day.
The next day I've received a letter from Allied stating I owe them £575 and to call them immediately to arrange the payment... I don't even know what the £575 is for, what damage etc. Nothing was stated.
I've phoned Barclay's and asked why they haven't tried to contact me before passing this onto debt collecting company. The guy from the complaints department has clearly noticed that it was a mistake on their end but tried to cover it up... He told me that the letter they sent me was badly worded (?!!) and they actually haven't tried to contact me and that ACTUALLY Barclays do not deal with payments for Wear and Tear at all and they pass everything straight onto Debt Companies. SURELY NOT? He wasnt really sure what to tell me, kept putting me on hold etc.

I've told him that I dont even know what the 575 is for and that as far as I am concerned the car was returned in a reasonable condition. He said they never usually explain to customers what damages they found BUT he can send me a report IF I WANT but it's not something they usually do. He kept saying that i need to make the payment by the end of the week and tried to close the complaint as resolved
. I asked him to keep it open for now as I wanted to speak to my partner and get advice. He kept trying to close it saying that if I don't close it then the complaint will move onto stage 2 and I might not get the same outcome...
I am lost for words. I am also in the middle of trying to get a mortgage and I am pretty sure the fact that i have debt collection company on my back will affect my credit score.:(
I am now getting harrased with phone calls from the debt collection company..

I've scheduled a phonecall with Barclay's for 5:40pm tonight to discuss this further, I feel like I've been treated unfairly and lied to.

Any advice guys?

[Deleted User]

dazzyp94 wrote: »

I am pretty sure the fact that i have debt collection company on my back will affect my credit score.:(

No, it doesn't work like that. You need to check what information is on your credit files regarding this debt (not your scores). What is the status of the account (if it appears)?

You also need to establish the validity of the debt, which you can only do by discussion with them and referring to the contract.

dazzyp94

Deleted_User wrote: »

You also need to establish the validity of the debt, which you can only do by discussion with them and referring to the contract.

Apologies, but what do you mean by 'establish the validity of the debt'?

Thank you!

[Deleted User]

Whether you owe it, and for what.

You seem uncertain as to the justification for it.

uknovaman

Hi
Was the car collected by an agency from you? If so you should have received a copy of a vehicle report form that should mark all the issues/damage on the car on the report and then you should have read it signed it before handing the car back. That should tell them of the cars condition. Also, what does your agreement say about wear & tear? If it says they allow for ' reasonable wear & tear' then you can argue that it was reasonable. if nothing is mentioned then surely they cannot charge you for it?

dazzyp94

Hi,

I've dropped it off at a mayhem auction centre in Shotts. The car was not inspected at the time. They have only got me to sign a sheet where they marked the car as returned with the service book, V5 and spare key.

My contract says to allow for reasonable wear and tear. I was the 3rd owner of the car and had it for 2,5 years

Thanks for the reply!

Clive_Woody

I would write a letter of complaint to Barclays explaining that you never received any of their earlier communications prior to the letter informing you that this account was passed to a debt collector.

Make it clear that you have never received any notification or details from Barclays or anyone else regarding the charge of £575 or what this charge is for.

Request copies of all previous communications that Barclays claim to have sent to you plus details of what the charge is for. Make it clear that this 3rd hand car was returned in good condition and any wear and tear was representative of it's age.

See what they come back with.

dazzyp94

Thanks for your advice!

What Barclays told me on the phone is that their letter about them 'previously trying to contact me on numerous occasions with no luck' was badly worded and that this is not what they meant. He said that there was no previous correspondence and the bill got passed onto Debt Collecting Agency right after the car was assesed.

This doesn't make sense and the 'letter was badly worded' excuse is very poor in my opinion. Same with the fact that he claimed Barclays never send a report of damages to their customers!

I have a scheduled phone call with them tonight but will also write a letter to make sure I have everything in writing in case this goes further...

dazzyp94

To top things off, yesterday I've received another letter from them stating that my account is in arrears and I owe them £376 for 2 missed payments for April and May..
I've returned the car in April before the payment was due.

uknovaman

dazzyp94 wrote: »

Hi,

I've dropped it off at a mayhem auction centre in Shotts. The car was not inspected at the time. They have only got me to sign a sheet where they marked the car as returned with the service book, V5 and spare key.

My contract says to allow for reasonable wear and tear. I was the 3rd owner of the car and had it for 2,5 years

Thanks for the reply!

so, was it handed back by mutual agreement, and were you over 1/2 paid on the car with no arrears? If you have paid over half then you should be able to hand the car back to them without any issues.
you could claim that the vehicle was not inspected as per the Barclays agreement terms ( unless it was) and therefore the charges are no applicable, but first, read through your agreement to see what it exactly says.it should say something like ' that an inspection is carried out and both parties have to agree and I have to sign the paperwork.' If that was not done, then they have no claim.