Help! - BOS bad advice, not sure what to do next?

Mermaid77

Hello everyone – another newbie here (long time lurker!) hoping for some advice. Sorry it’s a bit long!

We have been in a DMP with CCCS since August 2007, our debt at the start was approx £47,000.

Bank of Scotland, our 2nd biggest creditor, have been a nightmare from the start :mad: . They initially informed DH that they could not consider accepting reduced payments or stopping interest until the account had been in arrears for 2 months (prior to the DMP we had not missed any payments, we were simply paying the minimum then having to spend on the cards again).

We continued to receive monthly computer generated letters which we responded to in writing. Finally received a written response from them in December which stated that the account would be reviewed once it was 3 months in arrears (which was in October) and that providing the offer of payment was a minimum of 1% of the balance (it was - £175 on a balance of £9537) they would suspend interest. We responded to confirm the DMP details and received a phone call a few weeks later to say the offer had been accepted and would be reviewed after 3 months.

However they continued to pile on interest and charges. DH spoke to a Collections Advisor in April and was told that our monthly payment is actually too high for the account to be considered as being in arrears. It was suggested that we reduce our payment to £5 or £10 a month which would make it likely that they would transfer the account to a DCA after 6 months. DH was unhappy with this advice and asked that a supervisor call us back – unsurprisingly they didn’t! :rolleyes:

We submitted an official complaint regarding the contradictory and bad advice they had provided which had resulted in us owing them more than when the DMP started! We were particularly concerned that they were suggesting we reduce our payment when our SOA calculated by CCCS shows that we can afford more.

Their response was that they require an account to be 2 cycles down before a reduced payment arrangement can be considered, however depending on the payments being made the timescales for this can be delayed. “It is factually correct to say that the lower the payment, the quicker the cycles can be completed”.

They have now agreed to the reduced payment and have stopped interest and charges for 12 months. They have also agreed to refund £127 as a “gesture of goodwill”.

So my question is, do you think this is fair?

Since the DMP started our balance has increased by £399 and the interest and charges we have paid since August total £1614.

I am also still not convinced with their argument about reduced payments, particularly when they claim to support CCCS. They’ve made us get further in to debt before they have been willing to help - if we had just stopped paying them we would be in a better position now! :mad:

Has anyone else had a situation like this? Does anyone know if they are in breach of any legislation/guidelines?

Any advice on how we should respond would be much appreciated!

Thanks in advance x

Broken_hearted

Sounds like BOS standard behaviour, I found their DCA easier to deal with and more friendly.

Mermaid77

Thanks for your reply. They may pass it on their DCA after the 12 months as I can't see us being in a position to increase payments - unless something drastic changes

I'm just annoyed at the amount of extra interest they have added since our initial contact with them - particularly as the first time we spoke to them they said it would be reviewed after 2 months, there was no mention of paying too much then!

stapeley

Do you own your home ?

Mermaid77

Yes we do. We took a mortage out for £115,000 3 years ago, the house is worth approx £125,000 but we also have a secured loan with First Plus for £35,000 taken out 2 years ago (before I'd found MSE!).