• Welcome to the LegalBeagles Consumer and Legal Forum.
    Please Register to get the most out of the forum. Registration is free and only needs a username and email address.
    REGISTER
    Please do not post your full name, reference numbers or any identifiable details on the forum.

Debt Recovery Agency help

Collapse
Loading...
X
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Debt Recovery Agency help

    Hi Everybody,

    I'm new here, converted from consumercorner so hopefully I'm posting in the right place, apologies if not.

    It's a bit of a long one, and has got a bit complicated over the last couple of months for a couple of reasons, I'll try and keep it short but bear with me. I'll post up some of the posts from the other forum as it'll save me explaining again, and then update with recent events.

    July 16th 2007
    Try and cut this down so it makes sense. I bought a new TV last year on finance, the agreement being with Clydesdale Financial Services.

    Unfortunately for most of the last three months I have been in hospital and for various reasons a couple of payments were missed at the end of the agreement (it was a 12 month finance agreement) and I also missed the letters and didn't have a chance to sort this out. They have charged me what I think are unreasonable amounts for each letter they have sent, and seem to have added lots of money to the amount I owe them. I then received a letter from their solicitors telling me to contact Clydesdale within 7 days (I was still in hospital at this point and unable to do so). By the time I got home again, the 7 days had expired and I called them anyway, where I was advised that the debt had been passed to a debt recovery agency (Credit Solutions). I phoned them straight away (last week) and they told me that they were unable to do anything yet as my account had not properly been passed over. So instead of being able to try and sort things straight away I had to wait. They finally called today to ask me if I was prepared to settle straight up. I said no, and that I would not pay a penny until I had a full breakdown of what I was paying. I was then pointed back in the direction of Clydesdale to get this breakdown. I have phoned them this afternoon and they are sending me a statement of my account so I can see.

    I'm pretty sure from memory that the debt is about £150 from two missed payments, and that Clydesdale wanted £250, then something like £400 and now it's well over £600 that they want to settle the debt. This seems insane to have gone up that much in the matter of a couple of months. I'm assuming a lot of the charges are similar to what the banks try with their 'service' charges?

    Can anyone advise me of the best way to deal with this please? I am sure that they have added a lot of extra and over the top charges, and also I am in no way in a position to pay off that amount of debt at the moment.

    Also, when I was on the phone to the debt recovery agency, the woman started asking me questions about whether I was in work at the moment, receiving benefits and whether I owned the house I was living in. I answered the questions without thinking, as you do, until I clicked and asked why it was any of her business. She said that as I wasn't going to settle outright, their client wanted to know my detailed financial details?? Sounds a bit cheeky..

    Help most greatly appreciated please!!
    July 26th 2007
    Just had a call from Credit Solutions, spoke to a very rude guy who was apparently my account manager or something (after a woman phoned me, checked who I was and then put *me* on hold to speak to him).

    He basically told me that today was the final day to pay up in full otherwise it would be passed to doorstep collectors. I explained that I was waiting for a statement of account from Clydesdale and until then as far as I was concerned the account was in dispute as I believed there were unfair charges on the account. He said he didn't care, wasn't his problem and that I couldn't tell him the account was in dispute so he was sending the doorstep collectors round, and then put the phone down!!
    August 9th 2007
    Okay, I sent the two letters off to the recovery agency saying debt in dispute and to the creditor on Friday by registered post.

    This morning, I received a letter from Power 2 Contact, albeit dated 6th (so has taken 3 days to get here?) saying they have been instructed by Credit Solutions to visit my address and collect the debt. I have 72 hours to phone Credit Solutions, I'm assuming to pay up to stop them coming. Oddly enough, they both have the same address.

    I'm assuming that they sent this before they read my letter saying the debt was in dispute, but should I do anything to make sure?
    August 28th 2007
    Just to update on this, Clydesdale have finally sent me a letter saying that they would drop half of the charges as a goodwill gesture and that they were aware of the advice from the financial ombudsman of maximum charges being £12 etc. They also said that they had enclosed a copy of the statements which they had not done.

    I phoned them up and spoke to the woman who had sent the letter out, and she admitted she had forgotten it and would send it straight out. This was early last week and still no word from them. I said I'm not doing anything until I've received the statements that they were legally required to now send me and that I wanted this cleared up as soon as possible.
    October 24th 2007
    In a bit of a tight spot with this one, half because I forgot about sorting it and time has gone on a lot and half because they're being a pain in the ****.

    Following on to my last post, I still did not receive a statement of my account as I asked. A couple of days ago I recevied a letter (dated the 12th October so I assume got lost in the postal strike and took a long while to get here) from Credit Solutions again saying that Clydesdale have once again passed the debt back to them for immediate collection as they are not prepared for it to be oustanding any longer. They gave me 7 days from the date of the letter (it wasn't even here then) and say that court proceedings may commence against me without further warning or notice. Also that charges would be added to the account of £70 Solicitors Costs and £80 Court Fee.

    I phoned up Clydesdale to complain that I hadn't received the statement. The unhelpful woman said 'Well it has been requsted'. I replied that I knew that as I had done the requesting but it hadn't arrived. She said she would order another one for me that should be here by the end of the week. I said I wasn't paying anything until I had the statement as as far as I am concerned the amount is in dispute. She said that's not my decision and that I need to make a payment towards the account as I agreed to the T+C's etc. when accepting the credit. She also said that I need to speak to Credit Solutions to stop them taking legal action, but I'm pretty sure they'll be as unhelpful as before and also say that it's not my decision that the amount is in dispute.

    Are they just trying to take the mickey or have I stuffed up? I could really do without this now, I go in to hospital on Sunday for a bone marrow transplant and don't want to be worrying about this..
    December 8th 2007
    To update this, I've just come out of hospital (5 week drag, not very nice) and just before I went in the statement of account came through in the post. Very late, but I guess as I've now got it, I can't do anything about it.

    Unfortunately whilst in hospital I was too ill to do anything about all of this and so the situation has escalated a little. Credit Solutions are now phoning a couple of times a day to urgently talk to me so I'm guessing they're going to threaten bailiffs again soon. I need to re-open the case with the original creditor and re-dispute the charges, as they will have closed the case now on not hearing from me. How do I go about this?
    Which brings us pretty much up to the present, I think everything there explains what's going on, sorry it's so long

    Basically I now have the statement of account but will have to dig it out and check what I owe them exactly. The debt collection agency are asking for in excess of £600 with all the charges added on, I'm sure my actual missed payments were no more than £200 without letter/phonecall/DCA charges.

    They don't actually owe me any money, I owe them money but I'm refusing to pay until they drop the charges.

    Please let me know if I've done this wrong or missed any information out, and I gratefully receive any advice from here on in!
    Mark.

    Claims in progress:
    Cahoot - PPI and charges, have agreed to refund PPI and interest! Have put charges on hold..
    AA Loan - Claiming unfair charges, waiting for CCA..
    AA Credit Card - Claiming unfair charges, have offered difference, waiting for CCA..
    Vanquis - Claiming unfair charges, waiting for CCA..

    The clock is ticking!

  • #2
    Re: Debt Recovery Agency help

    I think you have done the right things so far, but in your position, I would now do the following to deal with this once and for all.

    I would begin by sending them a formal request, under the Data Protection Act 1998 for all the data that they hold on you. Send this to Clydesdale Financial Services along with a cheque for £10 and send copies to Power 2 Contact and Credit Solutions, but do not send cheques to either of those companies.

    In addition, I would write to Power 2 Contact and inform them that you withdraw the implied right of access to your property and that, should they visit you without your express permission, they will then be liable to damages for a tort of trespass. You should also inform them that you will no longer communicate on the telephone and all correspondence should be in writing. If they ignore this and send anyone to your house, give them a copy of the letter and shut the door - you are under no obligation, legal or otherwise, to speak to anyone from that company on your doorstep.

    Finally, you should inform them that any legal action they may contemplate will be both vigorously defended and contested as it should be obvious this matter is in dispute.

    Clydesdale Financial Services will have to respond to your request (or you can sue them for non-compliance) but they do get 40 days in which to do so. During this time, should you recieve a claim from them you can defend it in full, but I would consider this very unlikely.

    Once you have sent the letters, you can sit back and wait and at the very least, it will give you some breathing space.

    If you are unsure about any of this, then ask.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Debt Recovery Agency help

      Hi Cetelco, thanks for the quick reply!

      Firstly, I have sent a DPA request letter to them and they've now sent the statement of account, so I know what I owe them and what they've charged me(I just need to find it).


      Secondly, are there templates for the letters I'm writing, or do I just need to sound convincing?

      Many thanks,

      Mark.
      Mark.

      Claims in progress:
      Cahoot - PPI and charges, have agreed to refund PPI and interest! Have put charges on hold..
      AA Loan - Claiming unfair charges, waiting for CCA..
      AA Credit Card - Claiming unfair charges, have offered difference, waiting for CCA..
      Vanquis - Claiming unfair charges, waiting for CCA..

      The clock is ticking!

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Debt Recovery Agency help

        Ok, you have done the SAR and have received the information. So, now you need to have the DCA's hold off until you find the statement and can make a payment with the full knowledge of how much you really do owe.

        The letters for the two DCA's can be similar and I would use the following as a basis for them both.


        Dear (Name/Sir)

        I am receipt of your letter dated (date) regarding an alleged outstanding debt of £(sum) owed by me to Clydesdale Financial Services.

        I dispute this debt and can confirm that I will not be paying you as I intend to take this matter up with Clydesdale Financial Services directly.

        As a customer of Clydesdale Financial Services I consented in my contract with them to the disclosure of certain data to third parties yet at no time did I consent to the processing by you of my data in any manner which would be unfair or inaccurate, or which in any way would breach the Data Protection Act 1998. If this alleged debt has been legally assigned to you, then any personal data relevant to the agreement allegedly entered into may only have been passed to you provided that authority was obtained in the original agreement. However, you have certainly not requested and I have not given any permission for my personal data to be passed, shared or received by you.

        Accordingly I require that you remove any reference to this alleged debt from your files along with all references to my name, address and all and any other data your company holds on me and furthermore, I demand an immediate cessation of any processing of unsubstantiated data under provision of the Data Protection Act 1998.

        Section 1 of the Malicious Communications Act 1988 makes it an offence to send a letter with the intent of causing “distress or anxiety to the recipient”. I consider that your firm is in flagrant breach of this legislation and as a result I shall make a complaint to Trading Standards, the Office of Fair Trading and my Member of Parliament about your conduct in this matter and your suitability for holding a Credit Trading Licence.

        Please note that I am only prepared to communicate with you in writing. Should it be your intention to arrange a "doorstep call", please remember that there is only an implied license under English Common Law for certain people to visit me on my property without express permission; the postman and people asking for directions etc (Armstrong v. Sheppard and Short Ltd [1959] 2 Q.B. per Lord Evershed M.R.). I hereby revoke license under English Common Law for you, or your representatives to visit me at my property and if you do so without my permission, you will then be liable to damages for a tort of trespass. You would also be conspiring in a trespass if you sent someone to visit me nevertheless.

        Finally, any legal action you may contemplate will be both vigorously defended and contested as it should be obvious to you that I consider this matter to be “in dispute”.

        Yours sincerely/faithfully

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Debt Recovery Agency help

          Thanks Cetelco, sorry for a slow reply I must have missed the notification e-mail on it. I'll get that sorted over the weekend and post if off on Monday.
          Mark.

          Claims in progress:
          Cahoot - PPI and charges, have agreed to refund PPI and interest! Have put charges on hold..
          AA Loan - Claiming unfair charges, waiting for CCA..
          AA Credit Card - Claiming unfair charges, have offered difference, waiting for CCA..
          Vanquis - Claiming unfair charges, waiting for CCA..

          The clock is ticking!

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Debt Recovery Agency help

            Double post, sorry..
            Mark.

            Claims in progress:
            Cahoot - PPI and charges, have agreed to refund PPI and interest! Have put charges on hold..
            AA Loan - Claiming unfair charges, waiting for CCA..
            AA Credit Card - Claiming unfair charges, have offered difference, waiting for CCA..
            Vanquis - Claiming unfair charges, waiting for CCA..

            The clock is ticking!

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Debt Recovery Agency help

              Sorry to bring this up again, need a little more help if that's ok?

              It seems Clydesdale have now sold this debt on to CapQuest Debt Recovery, part of CapQuest Investments Limited. They have sent me a letter requiring me to pay £484.00 to them in full within 14 days. This is lower than the amount that the other debt collection agency wanted, but is still more than I actually owe on the Clydesdale account.

              I have just amended the letter above that you wrote out for me and was going to send it to CapQuest to tell them that the account is in dispute.
              Do I need to work out how much I actually owe Clydesdale an then make them an offer to settle it for the amount of the payments that I actually missed minus the charges? This debt is getting on for a year old now, would be nice to get it cleared out of the way!

              Thanks in advance..
              Mark.

              Claims in progress:
              Cahoot - PPI and charges, have agreed to refund PPI and interest! Have put charges on hold..
              AA Loan - Claiming unfair charges, waiting for CCA..
              AA Credit Card - Claiming unfair charges, have offered difference, waiting for CCA..
              Vanquis - Claiming unfair charges, waiting for CCA..

              The clock is ticking!

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Debt Recovery Agency help

                I would let them tell you what is owed by having them provide you with a full breakdown of the debt. This way you can see how they have arrived at the figure they quote and you should be able to see where they have added extra costs and charges.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Debt Recovery Agency help

                  Ok. But I'm assuming they're still going to think they're entitled to the full lot including the charges? Do I get the breakdown and then go back to them and say that I will pay them £xxx to cover the amount I actually owe in the hope they'll accept and go away?
                  Mark.

                  Claims in progress:
                  Cahoot - PPI and charges, have agreed to refund PPI and interest! Have put charges on hold..
                  AA Loan - Claiming unfair charges, waiting for CCA..
                  AA Credit Card - Claiming unfair charges, have offered difference, waiting for CCA..
                  Vanquis - Claiming unfair charges, waiting for CCA..

                  The clock is ticking!

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Debt Recovery Agency help

                    In short, yes. If they wish to add sums to your debt, they need to be able to justify them and must understand that they will be open to legitimate challenge.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Debt Recovery Agency help

                      Me again

                      Despite sending the letter as outlined to the new debt recovery agency, they have passed the matter to their solicitors (H L Legal), from whom I received a friendly letter this morning.

                      Dated 15th March, so has taken nearly a week to arrive.. "TAKE NOTICE THAT unless this account is paid in full or a satisfactory proposal for settlement is received by 28th March 08 Court proceedings may be issued against you without further notice".

                      They say that if proceedings are necessary then they will add £30 Court Costs and £50 Solicitor's Costs, plus Interest where applicable will also be added, accruing on a daily basis.

                      It does however say that I should still make any communications through the debt recovery agency that they are acting for.

                      Any suggestions?
                      Mark.

                      Claims in progress:
                      Cahoot - PPI and charges, have agreed to refund PPI and interest! Have put charges on hold..
                      AA Loan - Claiming unfair charges, waiting for CCA..
                      AA Credit Card - Claiming unfair charges, have offered difference, waiting for CCA..
                      Vanquis - Claiming unfair charges, waiting for CCA..

                      The clock is ticking!

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Debt Recovery Agency help

                        You write back and inform them that the debt is in dispute because it contains an element of unlawful charges and, despite your correspondence with the DCA they have chosen to ignore you.

                        Have you managed to obtain a breakdown of this sum or calculate from the statement of account how much is the original debt and how much is made up of charges?

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Debt Recovery Agency help

                          Thanks Cetelco, I will do that.

                          Yes I've got the breakdown, but it's in my to-do pile and I need to dig it out and sort it out ASAP. The last few weeks have been very stressful and hectic. I won't go in to why, as you probably wouldn't believe how many things can go wrong in such a short space of time!
                          Mark.

                          Claims in progress:
                          Cahoot - PPI and charges, have agreed to refund PPI and interest! Have put charges on hold..
                          AA Loan - Claiming unfair charges, waiting for CCA..
                          AA Credit Card - Claiming unfair charges, have offered difference, waiting for CCA..
                          Vanquis - Claiming unfair charges, waiting for CCA..

                          The clock is ticking!

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Debt Recovery Agency help

                            HL legal are just a trading division of Capquest. (look at the small print at bottom of letter)
                            They are not solicitors regulated by the law society, they are just another tier of Capquest, one that specifically exists to intimidate people. Take no notice, stick to your guns and carry on doing all that Cetelco has advised.

                            Just because a company call themselves XXXXX Legal does not make them solicitors.

                            Good luck and I hope you're health is now improving.
                            "Although scalar fields are Lorentz scalars, they may transform nontrivially under other symmetries, such as flavour or isospin. For example, the pion is invariant under the restricted Lorentz group, but is an isospin triplet (meaning it transforms like a three component vector under the SU(2) isospin symmetry). Furthermore, it picks up a negative phase under parity inversion, so it transforms nontrivially under the full Lorentz group; such particles are called pseudoscalar rather than scalar. Most mesons are pseudoscalar particles." (finally explained to a captivated Celestine by Professor Brian Cox on Wednesday 27th June 2012 )

                            I am proud to have co-founded LegalBeagles in 2007

                            If we have helped you we'd appreciate it if you can leave a review on our Trust Pilot page

                            If you wish to book an appointment with me to discuss your credit agreement, please email kate@legalbeaglesgroup. com

                            Comment

                            View our Terms and Conditions

                            LegalBeagles Group uses cookies to enhance your browsing experience and to create a secure and effective website. By using this website, you are consenting to such use.To find out more and learn how to manage cookies please read our Cookie and Privacy Policy.

                            If you would like to opt in, or out, of receiving news and marketing from LegalBeagles Group Ltd you can amend your settings at any time here.


                            If you would like to cancel your registration please Contact Us. We will delete your user details on request, however, any previously posted user content will remain on the site with your username removed and 'Guest' inserted.
                            Working...
                            X