Slanging match with AIC

[kay123]

I posted a thread on here a few weeks ago regarding Allied International Credit. They are chasing me for full outstanding payments for Tesco and Mint credit cards. They said that I would have to pay it all by 30th April, it was impossible for me to find £3300 within a month, so I begged and pleaded for advice. It was unanimous that I shouldn't attempt to ge6t another loan, so I wrote to them recorded delivery asking for my CCA with two cheques, one for each credit card. I since got a letter asking why I had failed to pay up, I ignored this letter as I thought the letters had crossed in the post. Yesterday I arrived home to find two identical letters - Notification of Intended Visit. I rang up and finally got through to somebody this afternoon, asking why I had not yet received my CCA. He started shouting at me asking why I wanted it - I said because I was entitled to it etc, and he just continued to shout why, why why??? He refused to send it to me, saying that they wouldn't give it to me and that I should try and get it from the credit card companies. Surely I was right to ask AIC for it?? Why wont they send it to me? He accused me of biding time and ended the conversation with "see you in court" before putting the phone down on me.

Help! What do I do now? I am in a situation where I will be able to pay £300 a month if they send me my CCA, but cannot sit at home in fear of people banging on my door! Will they come round? What will they do? What should my next move be? And how do I go about reporting their bullying behaviour???

[rory32]

First of all the DCA have no powers. If they come round your door tell them they are trespassing and if they don't leave you will call the police - do not discuss the debt with them. If they do not leave then phone the police and tell them he is making a breach of the peace.

Secondly they can not take you to court unless they own the debt. This is highly unlikely. They would also need to show the CCA at court - there is an issue over disclosure as they have not supplied you with a copy of it after you requested it.

Thirdly DO NOT PHONE THEM. You must get everything in writing and insist on this. They can later deny anything they have said to you.

Fourthly you can report them to Trading Standards and if they harass you you can report them to the police.

They are probably getting so upset about you CCA request because they don't have a copy of the agreement and know that without this the debt is unenforceable i.e. they can not pursue it. I assume they are now in default of your CCA request (12 working days from receipt) so as it currently stands you do not have to pay them anything per month until they produce the copy of the credit agreement.

Also you may wish to read The Administration of Justice Act 1970 section 40 Debt Help UK : Administration of Justice Act 1970 | UK debt consolidation service with free help and advice | UK debt consolidation service with free help and advice

[storm]

I have had plenty of dealings with these idiots

Shouting and threatening seems to be their only way of dealing with things. Going on my experience you are better off ignoring them, they will send you letters, soon get bored and harass someone else.

Very little chance of them taking you to court (they first threatened me with this years ago)

As far as you are concerned you have asked them for a copy if the agreement, until they provide it you need not do anything

[kay123]

Thanks, great advice as usual, and much needed as I've been able to calm down now! One cheque was cashed on the 3rd of May, I sent the request ojn 25th April, so how long should I wait?
I know it was foolish of me to phone them, they only antagonise me, so I want to send them a pi**take of the threatening letter they sent me, is that only going to add fuel to the fire though? Should I remain diplomatically silent until I get a CCA or can I give them a piece of my mind?

[storm]

I would do nothing

I am in exactly the same boat as you, I sent off a cca request 3 months ago, they tried texting me on my mobile a couple of times soon after (they traced my business mobile from my website), but I haven't heard from them for a couple of months and don't expect to

The only time to start concerning yourself again, is if they produce the agreement, which I think is nil chance

[surprise]

Beware of AIC. After the 12+2+30 days, and they hadn't produced the agreement for me, I sent the letter in the templates advising them that they had committed an offence, etc. For the first time they wrote to me and said quote "We have been unable to come to an acceptable arrangement with your repayment, etc,etc, They go on to ask me to contact their offices to discuss the matter further. last paragraph "No further warning will be provided to you and should therefore be aware that this is the final opportunity to resolve the matter with AIC."

This week I had an automated phone message asking me to ring Miss Milligan urgently on 0141 2283039. Didn't know the name, so I rang the number with 141 before, the message was this number is not taking calls ring 0870, got that far and hung up. It was only looking through correspondence that I found out it was AIC. I have written again advising them to remove my number from their system and that a complaint to the Information Commissioners Office and TS has now been made.

2nd complaint now on its way to TS.

Good luck, but watch out for their tricks.

[Jeff2000]

Hi all,


I had these clowns chasing me for a while.

I just ignored them. Didn't phone them or answer their calls.

Eventually they passed the account back. They are just bullies with no clout!


Jeff.

[Laiste]

Hi Kay,

What I am about to suggest is an option if you want to bite-back at AIC. Before I begin, let me make it abundantly clear that I am not in any way advocating threatening the DCA in question or any other. You could write a letter to them marked Without Prejudice at the top, so it can't be used against you a later date. Why not mimic the bold lettering and capital letters they use and state they had 12w/days to comply with the CCA request after which date THE ACCOUNT WAS IN DEFAULT. By deliberately REFUSING to furnish said documents in the requisite time A CRIMINAL OFFENCE has been committed. You get the idea, write what you feel is relevant to your circumstances, it takes the p*** out of what they do and puts them on the receiving end. You could also include what you intend to do about their conduct report them to the OFT etc. It's a way of demonstrating that you won't be cowed by them and of course that you will be advising them what course of action you intend to take, which is lawful, unlike the rubbish they print, "Your head will be cut of unless you pay by 4pm a week last Tues"!

Such letters wind them up, but it also tells them that you know they are a joke, which AIC most definitely are! This is the kind of thing I would do without a moment's hesitation, but that's me, I don't respond at all well to threats and I believe in hitting back. That's just my view, please feel free to completely ignore it, I'm just saying what I would do. It does have to be said however, when you stand up to bullies, they back off sharpish!

Do what's best for you, ignoring them is also absolutely fine! Speaking to them is not to be recommended unless you have a sadistic streak and go in for torturing DCA's! Seriously avoid telephone calls, but keep a log of all calls you receive, answered or not, date, time etc.

Regards,

Laiste.

[Jeff2000]

Hi,


Yes, poking them with a big stick is fine by me!


Jeff.

[kay123]

Laiste - love it!!!! Think I might just go for it, i wouldn't want them thinking they can just bully me into submission, would I?

Their letter started "AIC are surprised you have ignored our attemts to communicate with you, as we have no knowledge of a valid reason for you to be withholding payment" so I was thinking about maybe....

"Kay123 is surprised you have ignored my attempts to communicate, as I have no knowledge of a valid reason for you to be withholding my CCA!"....

[Laiste]

Hi Kay,

Yes, you have totally got the idea! Mimicking what they write drives them mad! I didn't want to say this until I had gauged your reaction to my suggestion. I helped a friend last year who was being pursued mercilessly by DCA's. I sent various letters of the type I've decsribed to you to numerous DCA's. As soon as they were received all further contact from them ceased! I remember one particular letter my friend received that had the heading, "Warning Intended Litigation" in big bold black lettering. So I copied their style and titled the letter in capitals (just to show I could go one step further, childish, possibly, effective, ooh yes!) "WARNING UNENFORCEABLE DEBT!" Oh, I underlined it as well to make my point!

The letter was littered with bold statements like that and I had such fun writing it! My friend was all for it and delighted with the results, she wanted revenge for the harassment she had endured, and I was only to happy to oblige. As long as you stay within the law and stick to threats that you're entitled to make, there will be no problems. You could also quote sections of Acts they have breached if you wish. Not a lot beats taunting a DCA!

If you play them at their own game, they soon run away! With about three of the DCA's, we sent letters before the ones I have described stating (whatever reasons we came up with at the time) that I would be taking calls on friend's behalf, my friend having given written consent. They were soooo sorry they rang me, I had an absolute field day with them! I didn't get angry with them, I was just about as rational and logical as it's possible to be, but I pulled apart their whole operation from a legal perspective, if memory serves, I think every single one of the companies hung up on me! I laughed down the phone frequently at the things they were saying and often said things like, "You're going to have to do much better than that Mr Smith, if you want me to stop laughing and take you and what you're saying seriously"! I said all sorts to be honest, and they didn't know how to respond. When they quoted the law, 9 times out of 10 it was wrong, so I asked if they had attended law school for the terminally stupid? As you can see I had a lot of fun and my friend couldn't stop laughing when I told her about my exchanges.

My view is, if you're going to bully people for a living then you have to be prepared for the consequences of your actions, whatever that might be! So have a bit of fun at their expense, they so deserve it! Send your letters by r/d or g/d so you know when it's arrived and that it's most definitely being read!

Have fun and regards,

Laiste.

[kay123]

You have truly inspired me Laiste!

This is what they wrote:

NOTIFICATION OF INTENDED VISIT

AIC are surprised you have ignored our attempts to communicate with you, as we have no knowledge of a valid reason for you to be withholding payment. AIC is left with no alternative but to have our agents visit your premises.

To prevent this action, please contact our office immediately, or return a copy of this letter with your payment.

So, I thought i'd send them this:

NOTIFICATION OF OFT CONTACT

Kay123 is surprised you have ignored my attempts to communicate with you, as I have no knowledge of a valid reason for you to be withholding my CCA. Kay123 is left with no alternative but to inform the OFT that you have committed a criminal offence by failing to provide me with the information I requested. AIC had 12 working days to comply with the CCA request after which date the account was in default. By deliberately refusing to furnish said documents in the requisite time a criminal offence has been committed.

To prevent this action, please contact me by post, or return a copy of this letter with my CCA.

If they wanna be snooty and threaten me in the third person, then so shall I!!! Hope you dont mind me copying and pasting Laiste, its what i do best!!!!

[Laiste]

Hi Kay,

I am sat here laughing having just read your letter! I think it's excellent and will certainly send the right message to them! These companies try to strip people of their dignity and engage in practices to belittle and humiliate a person. They are beneath contempt. I don't care what other people say, doing things to even up score if you will, to put these low life parasites in their place can be very cathartic indeed. You will get a lot of satisfaction when you know the letter has been received. I wonder what their response will be....well it can only be one of two, silence, or more inane drivel! I'll keep an eye on your post!

Best wishes and well done for writing the letter!

Regards,

Laiste.

[rory32]

Yes, I belong to the tit for tat school of thought too. Petty it may be - but most enjoyable!!

[Robdblynd]

Very true Rory, I did very much the same thing with a DCA we all know and love regarding a CapOne card and lo and behold on Saturday I got a letter saying they'd asked their 'client' for my agreement, account on hold etc. All this after threats etc and telling me the 'debt' had been assigned and then that they'd purchased the 'debt'.

Think I'll wait a few more days then give them another poke, it's always good for a chuckle.

[Fred Bassett]

Originally Posted by Laiste

Hi Kay,

I am sat here laughing having just read your letter! I think it's excellent and will certainly send the right message to them! These companies try to strip people of their dignity and engage in practices to belittle and humiliate a person. They are beneath contempt. I don't care what other people say, doing things to even up score if you will, to put these low life parasites in their place can be very cathartic indeed. You will get a lot of satisfaction when you know the letter has been received. I wonder what their response will be....well it can only be one of two, silence, or more inane drivel! I'll keep an eye on your post!

Best wishes and well done for writing the letter!

Regards,

Laiste.

Laiste,

I just love the idea of winding these people right up and your posts got me thinking.

I will soon be in a battle with Credit Solutions Ltd. - don't know if you've come across them but they are a very nasty bunch. So for the hell o