Mercers; advice wanted please

[Stephzorba]

Hi there

Still quite new to this forum and have spent hours reading different threads and although really interesting its all a bit mind blowing.

My partner has an a/c with Barclaycard and has acrued a balance of just over £3,000. This is partly due to being out of work because a of a stress related skin disorder. Some of the balance is due to late payment and over the limit charges then interest on top.

He has been paying £3.95 pm for something called credit protection insurance - but have heard different version of exactly what this is. He was also also paying £20 pm which covers your payments in the event of unemployment. I was advised by Barclaycard Insurance in Dublin this is what he should be claiming for. After going through this lengthy process of making the claim I was advised at the begining of this week that he was not covered because the policy was cancelled aparantley in Jan 05. I have tried to locate a copy of this Credit Protection Insurance on B/Card website but without success - does any one know what this is?

On Sunday evening I received a telephone call from 'Mercers' who are part of B/Card saying the a/c had been referred to them and they were demand a payment. I managed to buy some time explaining that I was waiting for B/Card to send me his statements back to 2003 which I have requested (sent by Recorded Delivery on 14/2). - Still not received.

They said they are calling me tomorrow (Friday) to request a mimimum payment of £40 which will then enable them to send the a/c back to B/Card otherwise they are going to proceedings to send the baliffs.

With only one wage coming into the house, I just don't have the money at the moment - don't know what to say to 'Mercers' tomorrow.

I am the third party acting on his behalf - can I do the claim charges on his behalf but from me or does the claim have to be in his name - thats if I ever get the statements!!

Sorry this is a bit long winded but appreciate any advice as this whole saga is getting me down.

Thanks

Steph

[Advoc8]

The claim needs to be in your partners name, but no reason why you can't do the work and get him to sign on the dotted line.

No idea what the credit protection interest is but that or the payment protection insurance premiums should show on the statements - can you access the account details online via Barclaycard's website? That at least will show if the premiums are still being charged or not and help you decide if you can press with an insurance claim or not.

Not sure the best tack to take with Mercers - have a look in the DCA section of the site.

[MARTIN3030]

Yes the partner needs to sign an authority for you to act this is more for data release than anything else.I will re-title your thread and move to debt section.
Mercers is not unknown there !!

You are entitled to have action suspended whilst the account is in dispute....make sure you remind them of this ..its a legal requirement for them.If they say otherwise inform them you will be filing a complaint to the FOS and your local trading standards.