Advice needed urgently...

jopwo_87

Hi there.

I have a big debt with Lloyds TSB, who have passed it on to solicitors, who couldnt get anything from me, then a DCA who couldnt either, then finally another DCA, who are days away from registering a CCJ with me.

Its £3500 apprpx.

I have just spoke to them and tried to organise a payment plan but have told me no, the only thing they can offer is a full and final settlement. They offered me £2500 initially, to which i said i couldnt do. I said £2000, and they said they could do £2100.

I have agreed to pay it by saturday to get them off by back, but i can't get the money anywhere. I have tried family and friends and everything (i cant get credit cos of my bad history) but had no luck.

I am now at a complete loss as to what to do. I have other debts amounting to £4000 that i have organised payment plans with and im now paying them all off succesfully.

I don't know what to do. Any advice?

rayday2

Was it grey paper Schiari something?

stapeley

Did you ever request a CCA ? have you received a court summons ? We need more details pleasse .

louietudor

if you have not asked for CCA do so and then tell DCA you are in dispute - this may buy you time

GeorgeUK

I take it the debt isn't statute barred?

As the others have said, send in a request for the Customer credit agreement. Details and templates are in this thread.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=578486

jopwo_87

Hiya sorry i shall add all the info

It started off as a student account with £1500 overdraft back in September 2006.
I went over it and by December 2006 it was around £2000. I have not touched the account since then, in terms of spending on the card or withdrawing money.

I set up a repayment plan a couple of times, but always defaulted as i was in and out of work. This caused loads of charges etc to be added on. They passed it to a DCA around September 2007, (although i didnt know) and havent made a payment since around August 2007.

The sent me regualr statements once a month telling me i was overdrawn and it went up each time. Then come February this year i got a letter from their solictiors (the company you mentioned above) saying pay up or were taking you to court. I ignored it, as most of the debt was charges and i am in the process of claiming them back (or another way of saying it, is i stuck my head in the sand even more.)

I have not received anything since then, but now i have all my other debts sorted, i wanted to do something about it. So i rung them up and found out the account was closed on the 25th April, and passed onto a DCA called 1st financial.

I spoke to the, and they spun me loads of lines about if i didnt pay it they would speak to my employers, id be blacklisted forever etc.

I asked to get a payment plan, she refused saying it had gone too far, and the only thing to avoid court, (out of court settlement she said) was to do a full and final settlement.She offered me £2500, i said no, how about £2000, and she agreed £2100.

Theres the history of it.

PS whats a CCA?

GeorgeUK

If it's an overdraft then there will not be a credit agreement, so no CCA. You could try using one of the templates and sending it off to the DCA - you may get lucky. I'd request a copy of the CCA and Notice of Assignment.

As long as you're claiming the charges back, hopefully you'll get most of the money back. The debt is not statute barred and you will probably need to pay this. I'd send a letter with the requests and hope - otherwise you will need to contact them about setting up a repayment plan.

jopwo_87

But thats the thing.. they wont give me a playment plan.. theyve told me they want all the money or i go to court.

GeorgeUK

Send the letter then.

Dear Sir/Madam

Re:− Account/Reference Number 4563210025897412

With reference to the above agreement, we would be grateful if you would send us a copy of this credit agreement, notice of assignment and statement of accounts.

We understand that under the Consumer Credit Act 1974, we are entitled to receive a copy of our credit agreement on request. We enclose a payment of £1.00 which represents the fee payable under the Consumer Credit Act.

We understand a copy of our agreement should be supplied within 12 working days.

We understand that under the Consumer Credit Act creditors are unable to enforce an agreement if they fail to comply with a request for a copy of the agreement under these sections of the Act.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully


If they will still not play ball and threaten you (after they have dealt with the letter and requested information above - allow 12+2 working days for this. There is a 2nd letter to send after if they just ignore you), you can try this letter.

Dear Sir/Madam

Re: Account/Reference Number

Thank you for your letter/telephone call of ________________________. I am/we are very disappointed that we seem unable to reach a satisfactory compromise in this case. As I/we have already explained, I/we can only afford £__________ per month at the present time. This is the only realistic payment proposal bearing in mind the enclosed personal budget sheet.

You have stated in correspondence your intention to commence proceedings in the county court against me/us. The commencement of legal proceedings under such circumstances could be counter to the 'Overriding Objectives' of the Civil Procedure Rules. You will be aware that the 'Overriding Objectives' underpin everything the court does. Moreover, paragraph 4 of the Protocols Practice Direction states that in the cases not covered by an approved pre-action protocols, the court will expect the parties to "to act reasonably... in trying to avoid the necessity for the start of proceedings".

I/we would suggest that your refusal to accept my/our offer could be viewed as unreasonable and I/we would ask the court to consider this matter with reference to the 'Overriding Objectives'.

The offer of £_______________ is of course still open to you to accept.

Yours faithfully

You will need to send them a SOA showing what you can afford to pay them, but hopefully they will at least stop threatening you. If you have made a reasonable offer then that is what the court would decide anyway.

jopwo_87

Ok, thats great thanks.

Is it safe to email them that? I have the email adress of a manager there?

I have as of five minutes ago, just emailed them explaining, that i cannot borrow the money as originally planned, and there is no way to pay. Is there no way at all of paying the money back monthly and im waiting to hear.

Reading your letter above, (the 2nd one) does that mean, that the court wont take too kindly to the DCA starting court proceedings if I've offered them a monthly proposal and they have refused?

Thanks

jopwo_87

Oh my god!!

Im so pleased, have just spoken to them, and they are now willing to accept a £160 payment per month on the ful balance £3500 approx!!!

It just shows you to ignore what DCA's say at first, and keep pleading with them and they do budge!!!

Thanks everyone for your great advice and help.. Its wonderful feeling that your not alone

xx