CCA Request sent - When should I stop payments?

Autumnia

Hello all, 

I hope everyone is well. 

I am on a DMP  for 3 creditors since January 2020, the details are as followed according to my credit check and my DMP: 

1) Current company Intrum UK:
Account start date: 05/05/2019 
Opening balance: £15359
Date of default: 20/07/2021
Default balance: £15359
According to my DMP, estimated debt amount: £10518.91 and total paid so far: £9424.97

I had sent a CCA request on the 10th of October, signed for, but it was never signed, I contacted Royal Mail and they said it was lost in post so I sent a second letter yesterday (with  copies of my original letter + postal order) but still sent a letter as a reminder (just in case they had never received it, giving the benefit of the doubt as maybe they have received it but the postman forgot to make it sign. They received the second letter this morning (05/11/2024).

2) Current company: Link Financial 
Account start date: 13/07/2018
Opening Balance: £9881
Date of default: 24/06/2021
Default balance: £9881
According to my DMP, estimated debt amount: £8128.13, and total paid so far: £7039.80

I have received a reply from Link Financial as below: 
"We write further to your request for account documentation under section 77/78 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. Unfortunately, the original creditor has confirmed that they are currently unable to comply with your request within the 12-day initial timeframe.
Although the account is currently unenforceable the outstanding balance remains collectable and it is acceptable for creditors to register and continue the reporting of a default. 
We will contact you further upon receipt of an update from the original creditor"

3) Current company: Lowell Financial (not on credit file but on my DMP):
Start date: Around October 2019
According to my DMP, estimated debt amount: £456.5 and total paid so far: £410.99

I have received a reply from Lowell as below: 
"You have requested documentation under sections 77/78 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 for this former Novuna Personal Finance account. 
We have asked Novuna Personal Finance to provide us with the requested documentation and will send this to you as soon as possible. We aim to provide this to you within 12 working days. 
In the meantime, this account is on hold and we will not contact you to request payment. If we have not heard anything from Novuna Personal Finance after 40 days we will send you an update."

I have contacted my DMP about these 2 letters received from Lowell and Link Financial and they replied back to me saying: 

"Please do not stop payments unless you have letters from creditors saying they will not chase payments. As far as we know all of them are in debt and we will keep payments on a regular basis. Putting the acc on hold means that they will not go for further action until paperwork is received within their time frame."

I am really confused about all this. Could you please advise? Should I keep paying even though Lowell says my account is on hold? What about Link, they say it is currently unenforceable but don't say the account is on hold. Should I wait a few months to see if I receive the paperwork and if still not received stop the payments? Would I need to let them know the reason why I stop the payments? Would it make it less likely for them to take me to court if they end up finding the CCA after a few months? 
My accounts on my credit score will be in default for about 2 and half more years so should I be more careful?
I am worried about Link taking me to court as according to my DMP, I owe them a little over £8k and well if Intrum can't find the CCA it is over £10K. As they are big sums, I am feeling like they will be more likely to take actions. 
My DMP also advising me to keep paying regardless is going against everything I have read so far. 

Could you please advise on my options? I have seen a lot of things on forums but not many for 2024, so would like to make sure there hasn't been any rules that could put me in very big trouble. I find it very strange how one company says they put your account on hold, and not the other. Plus what does it exactly mean putting the account on hold? If my DMP keeps sending the money anyway?
Also, is it favourable to stop the payments now or should I wait longer? 

Sorry for all the questions. 

Many thanks for your help. 

sourcrates

Well according to your figures you have almost repaid the debts in full, so why send a CCA now?

To answer your question, "on hold" means you make no payments, and they take no recovery action, whilst the requests remain outstanding.

Who is your DMP with?

RAS

So two out of three creditors can't find the paperwork and have said that they'll not enforce at present, the third don't know where your letter is?

What were you hoping to achieve by sending the CCA letters? Not being funny, just you obviously think there was a purpose and yet are unsure how to handle the results.

And you don't seem to have discussed this with your DMP provider or to have taken control of your DMP?

Agree with Sourcrates, who is managing your DMP? And can you confirm what the creditors are reporting on your credit record? Is it a default or AP marker? The latter damage your credit record for longer.

You also need to understand the difference between unenforceable and the weasel word collectable.

You may be aware that if you haven't made a payment or written acknowledgement for 6 years, the debt is statute barred? In England and Wales the debt still exists and if you want to replay it, then you can but if you don't want to, any legal action will fail, but you need to defend it. That debt is unenforceable but it is still collectable and there are companies that specialise in buying these old debts and trying to get people to pay them.

In you case, if you were managing your own DMP, you could take a payment break and see if the they came up with the paperwork later. They might never come up with the paperwork.

Autumnia

Hello both, 

I am about half way through paying all my credits I believe as the total left to pay is around £19K (the 3 creditors added together so still quite a big sum of money). 
I have looked online to try to find solutions as my husband has been made redundant on how to try to finish paying my debts quicker.
I used to pay almost £500 a month to my DMP (payplan), but this month I had reduced it down to £100. 

I discussed it with Payplan afterwards and sent them the copy of the letters from Lowell and LInk and they told me to keep paying, I asked about the company saying my account was on hold for the time being but the payplan advisorntold me to keep paying anyway.

To me, it was clear from Lowell that they said my account was on hold but I felt link was telling me that I still needed to pay though so I asked advice to Payplan about it.

Yes it seems like the 3rd one was lost in post (as I got it signed for but it looks like it never arrived so I sent another letter but as a reminder with a copy of my first letter enclosed). 

I stqrted the DMP with payplan in january 2020 but then got made redundant end 2020 so on my credit score, Intrum and LInk say account defaulted, dated in may and june 2021, as I only paid £1 to each creditor for 3 or 4 months (until I got a new job), it doesnt look like my account were in default from when i started my DMP, which was a year before my redundancy. 

I don't think it can be barred as i've been paying with my DMP, and it is my DMP that have been in touch with them directly since beginning of 2020. The only time I have been in touch with the creditors since january 2020 is for the cca request last month but yes, i've never missed a payment, even if it went down to £1 when i really couldnt afford paying them. 

I hope this helps 

Autumnia

Also, the reason I got in touch with Payplan was because I,knew I,ws going to start struggling paying back as I've been suffering with anxiety and depression and was soedning extra costs because of this, as my day to day life was more difficult to handle and it was easier for me to have Payplan dealing with creditors directly as i was receiving a lot of letters and phonecalls when I started the DMP.