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

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	Are you letting your bank keep your money Are you giving away thousands of pounds?? Many people aren't claiming all of the money they are entitled to when they make their bank charges claims. You have been forced to pay unfair bank charges. Have you forgotten that your bank has charged you inteest on those charges? If you are overdrawn and the bank owes you charges - then your overdraft is made up of charges - money which you bank owes you. Yet you are paying interest to the bank - on your own money!!! Follow this link to see the discussions on this. You might even double th size of your claim.

[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.

	Are you letting your bank keep your money Are you giving away thousands of pounds?? Many people aren't claiming all of the money they are entitled to when they make their bank charges claims. You have been forced to pay unfair bank charges. Have you forgotten that your bank has charged you inteest on those charges? If you are overdrawn and the bank owes you charges - then your overdraft is made up of charges - money which you bank owes you. Yet you are paying interest to the bank - on your own money!!! Follow this link to see the discussions on this. You might even double th size of your claim.

	Debt collection library Follow this link to our debt collection library. This library contains templates and advice for dealing with debt collectors who act oppressively or unfairly. This library is work in progress and will be built up over the next few weeks. 17.03.09

[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.

	The Financial Ombudsman Service For the most part, don't bother. The Ombudsman is an industry arranged service which is under-resourced, takes too long, lacks clear transparency. You have no idea what evidence the FOS has received from the bank or how your complain has really been handled. The FOS is the preferred complaints route for the banking industry. The county court is to be preferred by consumers for its speed, openness, the quality of its awards and also because it will award 8% interest on top of any damages won by you. The Ombudsman should normally be used to solving little technical difficulties or customer service problems which you have expereinced with your bank.

	Disputed account materials Follow this link to our library of materials to help you try to deal with the problems of defaults on disputed accounts. It is contrary to Information Commissioner guidelines and also contrary to the banking code to default disputed accounts. However, it happens all the time.