Abbey sold debt to DCA help required.

[julielouise]

Hi there! Can anyone advise me or point me in the right direction if this has been covered before? I had a current account with Abbey which was referred to a debt collection agency when I was unable to pay the overdraft of £1200 off. (It was in excess of £3k but I managed to get it down to this figure). I began to get into financial difficulties in 1999 due to a change in personal circumstances. This resulted in having bank charges applied to the account on a monthly basis. I remember the days of having to go into branch and ask for a couple of hundred quid from my salary to pay bills etc. each month (humiliation factor 50!!!) Abbey have now sold this onto a DCA who have said they are going to take me to court for the outstanding amount. I have responded by stating that I am in the process of obtaining information i.e., what this amount is made up of, from Abbey regarding this amount outstanding (I would estimate that I was charged in excess of £3k in charges from 1999 until it was sold on), however, they have not taken any notice of my letter and have repeated that they are now taking me to court. I am frantically trying to obtain details of charges from Abbey via a Subject Access Request so I can hopefully begin to claim these charges back. Is there anything else I can do to stall the DCA or if they take me to court do I defend their claim by stating that the amount outstanding is made up of unlawful penalty charges? Could I ask the DCA for information they have re: the amount outstanding via a Subject Access Request? Another problem is I have a feeling a fair chunk of these charges were applied more than 6 years ago........ All help & advice appreciated.

[tonycee]

In response to your own situation, my experience is, if you are honest,open,but most of all FIRM with dcas and the like, they will more than likely back off. These people ? ? ? are just bullies whose threatening letters are designed specifically to intimidate us..Remember if it does go to court and you follow the correct proceedure,you can allways offer the court what you can realistically afford..£10 pcm ? again if you are open and honest with them,the courts are a lot more friendly ? ? than the dcas. Good luck. you wont need it, just self belief.

[Rooster-UK]

Hi Julielouise.

As this is now in the hands of a DCA, you would be better to post this in the General Debt Forum. There are some steps that you can take to regain control. Post in the General Debt forum and there are a lot of users there who are well versed in this problem. Click the following link.....

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk.../general-debt/

Good luck.
Regards, Rooster.

[MARTIN3030]

Hi Have moved your posts here.
Would be a good idea if you could give the name of the DCA as will assist in advising you further.

[julielouise]

Sure - they're called :

Credit Security Limited
Credsec House
Oxford Road
Stone
AYLESBURY
Bucks
HP17 8PL