aDesperately seeking advice about debt collector - Allied International Credit

[nativestranger]

If I have entered this wrongly I'm sorry - it's my first time.........

But I am desperate for some advice as the community legal advice have closed my file because I send the information in 2mths too late. I will have to pay and as I am currently unemployed can not afford to.

Here goes!

In 2003 I bought a laptop from computer world and was given credit from Cetelem. Included with this was PPI. I paid regularly without fail, by dd, until 2005 when I became unemployed.

I asked Cetelem for a reduced payment which they granted at first, from £35 per mth to £15 per mth. But things were quite dfficult financially as Jobseekers allowance is the only income I had and I had other debts to pay for. So I asked if I could reduce this payment further from £15 to £10 monthly. They refused -and passed or as they put it 'assigned my contract' my debt on to a company called "Fairmile Limited Partnership (FLP) acting by its general partner Triumph GP (UK) Ltd". This was done in july 2006. At this time the balance was £563.10. Again I have paid by dd regularly.

In Dec 2006, Triumph offered me a deal to settle the balance which they quoted as £496.04. Of course, I was not able to pay it as I am unemployed, so I declined. I was told, when the debt was initially passed to Triumph, that they would not add interest. However, since that last offer, the debt has mounted to £700. When I rang to request the rate of interest in writing they have declined saying they do not provide written notice of interest charged.

I do not receive any regular statement. In fact I was totally unaware that the debt had amounted to that much until 3 mths ago when their system failed and they rang asking me to resupply my bank details. When I refused to do this over the phone - for initially i didn't know that the person on the line was their rep.they then wrote threatened to make me settle the balance. I rang them and gave them my details and asked for the balance at the same time. It was then that I realised that the debt had increased so much, this inspite of regular payment of £10 per mth since1996. The money I pay each month doesn't seem to have made much difference to the original balance.
Please help!!!!!!!!!! What can I do? Is there anywhere else I can go for help.

[dx100uk]

if you were paying PPI, and lost your job, why can you not claim on the PPI?

i'd fire off a cca request too.

and stay off the phone!

do everything in writing only

dx

[Dipply75]

Hi Nativestranger

Just spotted your post - Allied International are a favourite bugbear of mine - they are real cowboys.

Are they chasing the debt now? DX100 is bang on, I would send a letter, recorded delivery but NOT SIGNED, requesting a copy of your original credit agreement. They have to supply this or they cannot enforce the debt. This will also tell you if you had PPI etc.

It already sounds like they are telling fibs by refusing to (or unable to?) give you basic info. If you need help, letters or about Allied etc, just shout.

Let us know how you are getting on

[nativestranger]

Thank you dx & dipplly75 for your replies, I was beginning to give up hope of any help/advice.I've spent sleepless nights worrying about this and other debts.

I have never been sent any agreement by allied. I only received a letter from them saying that my debt has been passed onto them by Cetelem with whom I first took out the initial agreement when I bought the laptop.

Re. PPI - I have ppi and when i tried to claim on this 2 yrs ago it was rejected on the basis that I 'accepted voluntary unemployment' - though really i became unemployed when my contract came to an end. I then tried to cancelled the ppi by sending a letter in 2006, to allied requesting cancellation, i received no answer. When i rang to inquire Iwas told that my letter had been passed on to the company involved ie. Cardif Pinnacle. i have never received a reply.

I have now downloaded a letter from this site to send off. Will let u know the outcome. And any further advice/help U can give will be most welcome.

many thanks

nativestranger

[Dipply75]

Sorry for the delay!

I think there are two things you can do really. The first depends on your a couple of things when you took out the PPI:

Did you choose to have PPI?
What was your working situation at the time - if your contract just came to an end - were you self employed working a contract or full time etc? Reason I ask is that if they sold you a policy that was already useless because of your type of employment then you can claim that money back.

The second is to send the letter below to Allied requesting a copy of your credit agreement. Send this recorded but DO NOT SIGN - print your name and include a £1 postal order. They have 12 days to supply this - until they do they cannot enforce the agreement and you do not have to pay them a penny. Without this agreement all the charges that have obviously been whacked on cannot be justified either.

Just to check also, has their contact only been in writing or have they been calling also? Let us know what you get back - if anything

Dear Sir/Madam

I DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE ANY DEBT TO YOUR COMPANY

With reference to the above accounts, I request that you send me a true copy of this credit agreement before I will correspond further on this matter.

This is my right under the legislation contained within section 77 (1) and section 78 (1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, and I am entitled to receive a copy of my credit agreement on request. Your obligation also extends to providing me with a statement of account. I enclose a £1 postal order for each account, which represents payment of the statutory fee payable under the Consumer Credit Act.

I understand that a copy of my credit agreement should be supplied within 12 working days from the date of this letter.

I understand that under the Consumer Credit Act, creditors are unable to enforce an agreement if they fail to comply with a request for a copy of the agreement under these sections of the Act.

Also, since you are a Debt Collection Agency, I would also ask that you supply a signed true copy of the executed deed of assignment for the above referenced agreement. This is an obligation, whether you are the original creditor or not, under section 189 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

Non-compliance with my request and continued collection activity will result in a report being submitted to the relevant statutory authorities..

In summary, I DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THIS DEBT AND THEREFORE REQUIRE YOU TO SUBSTANTIATE THIS BY PROVIDING THE FOLLOWING DOCUMENTATION BEFORE I WILL CORRESPOND FURTHER:

1. True copy of original credit agreement
2. Copy of the executed deed of assignment from (Original Creditor) and (DCA)
3. A Fair Processing Notice.

As you are aware, a credit agreement that is not properly documented and signed by the customer is totally unenforceable under the CCA and therefore is a complete defence to any court claim that is issued.

Take note at this stage, that any legal action you may contemplate will be both vigorously defended and contested.

Further to the above, please ensure that any contact by yourselves is made in writing only to the above address. Telephone calls and personal visits will not be accepted and viewed as harassment.

I look forward to hearing from you within the statutory time limit.


Yours sincerely

[hilaryfrances]

sound like you are being bullied to me, cant offer you any advice, just sympathy. Its companies like these who make the situation worse. I feel for you having gone through it myself. What do you do for a living? Are there no jobs in your area? As for ppi I am trying to get mine stopped from one company and reclaim it back. See if you can claim yours back as well

[nativestranger]

Thank U all for UR support. Greatly appreciated and much welcome.

I have been offered a full time permanent job, went for the interview last week. I am looking forward to getting control of my life back after almost 4yrs of unemployment.

To those of you out there looking for work, hold tight, U will get the job U want.It seems like it will never come and the stress seem to last forever but don't give up when it does come it's a most wonderful feeling.

It's going to take me a while to clear my debts but i 'm prepare to work hard on that.

Anyway, today i sent off a letter, recorded delivery and unsigned, - similar to the one posted by dipply,- thanks dipply greatly appreciated- though not as detailed- to allied. I shall await their reply.

Re ppi - i'm ashamed to say that when i was offered it as part of the credit I thought it was a good idea as it was, i thought then, a reasonable amount and mthly payment was affordable. And i thought if after my contract i don't get a job immediately it would be handy. I was wrong, wrong wrong.

Anyway, i'll wait for their reply before taking things further.

keep U posted
many thanks.

[nativestranger]

By the wy, I am still paying £10 mthly by dd to allied. Should i stop that for now until i hear from them?

[Wingus]

Personally, as unemployed myself, due to other reasons, i know where your coming from with stress and the stigma attached to unemployment.

I can't change the way i turned out, i can't change the past, and boy i wish i could, things would be happier for me at least, instead i live now cuase i don't have a choice, not for happiness.

Anyway, enough of my self pitty, i wouldn't pay them a penny more, cancel the direct debit immediately untill you get a responce.

It's now up to whoever you sent to to respond and prove beyond all reasonable doubt that you owe that sum, which i have a suspicion it contains illegal bank charges too.

It's a fair stress on it's own to have to go through all this, just to ask them to agree to something you can reasonably pay, but what can these companies expect? Do they honestly expect you to pay what you can't afford and get into more debt? hmmm silly question, of course they do, it's what keeps them in bussiness.

On a good note, well done for that new job and fair play

I really hope you get our of debt soon, as i wish everyone can. And don't let the buggers win, you deserve something good in life, rather than having to worry about the next phone call.

[Dipply75]

Well done on the new job, thats great news Have found myself unemployed too and trying to find something but yeah, it is damn hard.

Well they have 12 days from to supply your agreement or you do not have to - unless your DD is due before those 12 days are up then I would cancel it as soon as their time is up. Definetely something fishy going on if they refuse to give basic details like the interest rate etc. There have been loads of charges and interest whacked on this.

You should Subject Access Request Truimph and Cetelem to see just how much you have paid them over the years! You should kick their backsides over this - especially as you now have an income, you don't want another pondscum DCA appearing later on and attacking your credit file etc.

Let us know how you get on with them - good luck on that first day

[nativestranger]

HI all

Its been a while. Thanks again for ur interests in my case.

I have today, heard from Alied International. Instead of sending me cca they have sent me a 'notice of arrears'. The amount owing has also increased. They still have not stated the amount of interest i'm being charged.

Do I send another letter requesting the cca again? They have cashed the £1 cheque I sent but no cca. Or is the notice of arrears acceptable instead of cca?

All advise welcome.

Also I requested a cca from Littlewoods catalogue in order to claim the money they owe me they sent me a blank one claiming that they can not find the one i signed back in Jan 2006. Is this acceptable. I do not owe them any money but i believe they owe me but they do not want to pay.

Pls advice