Catalogue debt and DCA

maria100 · 16th October 2006, 19:36

Hi all,

having been reading lots of other threads on catalogue debt have decided to give it a go and help out my mum with hers that has now been passed onto a DCA (GCC via Marshall Ward).

I am shocked at how GCC have dealt with her account and they have used nothing more than bullying to get her to pay far more than she can afford on a monthly basis, especially as she only has a pension coming in now. She has always maintained payments but not quite on time and sometimes for less than their min payment, which resulted in charges and interest at an alarming rate.

I have printed of the CCA request and advised that the account is in dispute and will send by recorded delivery tomorrow but I have a couple of questions. As she has been making regular monthly payments to DCA does this mean that she has in effect acknowledged the debt (I would have thought so) and should she continue to make these payments while the amount is disputed???

If anyone can help, it would be much appreciated.

Many thanks
Maria

buzby · 21st October 2006, 16:11

Depends if the debt has been purchased by GCC, the act of 'acknowledging' the debt isn't really an issue, although you can bet the catalogue co will be helpfully destroying her credit record as the payments are applied....

maria100 · 25th October 2006, 10:59

Not sure if the debt has been purchased, I don't think so looking at the paperwork she has, but I would like to know when she can suspend payments - would this be after 12 days are up or should this be after the following 30 days when they are considered to be in default????

maria100 · 25th October 2006, 11:00

Sorry the above should have been after the following 30 days when they are comitting an offence following default!

buzby · 25th October 2006, 12:26

Irrespective of their actions, the problem is there is still a debt owned to Marshall Ward (unless the payments made to date have covered this?). You need to go to the source - MW - and get the current picture from them. As she's paying to GCC, they will eaither be keeing their processing fees before passing the rest on to MW, or they've bught the debt and want to extract every penny from your mum. You'll need to find out what the state of play is before we can suggest the correct action to take.

maria100 · 15th January 2007, 13:54

Well well, update after being away for quite a while!
Mum recd a blank credit agreement and MW stated this was what she asked for, so I sent them a lovely letter on her behalf stating this was not a 'true signed copy of the agreement' and reminding them that they were in default. Also requested that they send either the true signed agreement or confirm that this debt will no longer be pursued (as I believe that she has covered any original o/s amount and the balance they were chasing was made up of charges and interest).

Low and behold 8 weeks later we have in writing they have made a 'commercial decision' not to pursue the remaining debt - victory!!!!!!!!

StoneLaughter · 15th January 2007, 15:58

Might be worth now writing to them and demanding every penny they took back from them as they had no right to it - the agreement was not there and so they were illegally extorting money from her. I would suggest going straight in with an LBA - as they have committed an offence already, they are hardly likely to allow this to go to court; and as long as all the evidence of payments exists you SHOULD be able to retrieve every single bit from them.

maria100 · 18th January 2007, 10:14

This is great but I was under the impression that even though there is no agreement, mum did actually owe money to them in the first place and this still has to be paid (just not their charges and interest)??????

Am I wrong here cos it would be great to get money back, has anyone been successful in doing so where they cannot produce an agreement????

StoneLaughter · 18th January 2007, 10:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by maria100

This is great but I was under the impression that even though there is no agreement, mum did actually owe money to them in the first place and this still has to be paid (just not their charges and interest)??????

Am I wrong here cos it would be great to get money back, has anyone been successful in doing so where they cannot produce an agreement????

The whole reason for the Consumer Credit Act request you made was to establish the veracity of the statement that she owed them money. This statement can only, in Law, be accurate if your Mother signed an Agreement Regulated Under The Consumer Credit Act 1974. If she signed no such agreement and they lent her money anyway, or if they cannot PROVE that she signed the agreement, but lent her money anyway, then they are utterly without a legal leg to stand on, to get that money back from her.

I understand that morally she may feel that she borrowed some money and therefore MUST pay it back to be an honest citizen; so what she needs to do is to give her best estimate of how much she owed in actual services or goods purchased, and subtract that figure from what she actually paid, and demand the result back. If she has not covered the original debt, then she should keep quiet as they have agreed not to enforce the debt and cannot anyway in Law; but if she has paid MORE than she owed, she has an obligation to HERSELF to get it back.

Personally, I would take the line that no agreement=no debt and therefore I would claim every penny back; but I can see how people would see that as morally wrong. Entirely up to you; both ways are completely lawful but some would see one way as more correct than the other.

version302003 · 19th January 2007, 00:27

This is very similar to my mums debt and i sent a cca request 2 months ago and got a reply saying they have asked there client for it. Not heard nothing since and I am unsure what to do next. I know what the law says but mum is getting on now (77)and pays it out of her pension ( well i pay it for her really out of her pension)so i am wary of causing upset for her. As most people on here can recognise it's difficult to try and explain when they send letters to her because she has paid a few days late and they say she will have to appear in court, it isn't true. The debt is years old and have no idea what is was. My mum seems to think it was a catalog when i was a young lad but doesnt really know. Im now 33

Things are difficult but dont want to upset things or make them worse.

StoneLaughter · 19th January 2007, 00:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by version302003

This is very similar to my mums debt and i sent a cca request 2 months ago and got a reply saying they have asked there client for it. Not heard nothing since

That's all you need to know. This debt is (was) unenforceable and they know it. They just keep tapping her for money and she keeps paying it because they're "The Authorities". Well, I have news for her - they're not. They are basically embezzling money out of her and won't stop unless you stop them; now you've waited 2 months for a CCA request which MUST be fulfilled within 42 days. Report them to Trading Standards immediately. Don't **REPEAT - DO NOT** under any circumstances send them ANY MORE MONEY! You may even be able to get this back - all of it.

Quote:

and I am unsure what to do next. I know what the law says but mum is getting on now (77)and pays it out of her pension ( well i pay it for her really out of her pension)so i am wary of causing upset for her. As most people on here can recognise it's difficult to try and explain when they send letters to her because she has paid a few days late and they say she will have to appear in court, it isn't true. The debt is years old and have no idea what is was. My mum seems to think it was a catalog when i was a young lad but doesnt really know. Im now 33. Things are difficult but dont want to upset things or make them worse.

Could it GET any worse? They've probably had dozens of times what she owes them. These people should be in jail.

maria100 · 19th January 2007, 09:29

I agree with StoneLaughter, these companies are a disgrace especially when it comes to threatening older people - my mum is 64 but she has no idea about these things and just kept paying what they TOLD her to pay and to top it all most of their letters telling her what payments they would or wouldn't accept were "without prejudice", shouldn't be surprised really!!!

Don't be concerned that they haven't complied, it took Marshall Ward 2 months to reply and thats because they couldn't provide what had been requested. I will be talking to mum later to see how she feels about trying to extract every last penny back from them - she may want to leave it as it is now that she doesn't have to pay £75/month from her pension!

chezt · 11th February 2007, 15:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by maria100

I agree with StoneLaughter, these companies are a disgrace especially when it comes to threatening older people - my mum is 64 but she has no idea about these things and just kept paying what they TOLD her to pay and to top it all most of their letters telling her what payments they would or wouldn't accept were "without prejudice", shouldn't be surprised really!!!

Don't be concerned that they haven't complied, it took Marshall Ward 2 months to reply and thats because they couldn't provide what had been requested. I will be talking to mum later to see how she feels about trying to extract every last penny back from them - she may want to leave it as it is now that she doesn't have to pay £75/month from her pension!

What did your mum decide to do re claiming back Money? Well done sorting this for her BTW

maria100 · 12th February 2007, 09:35

Hi chezt, my mum decided to leave things as they are with the debt being written off as she did owe them approx what she had paid to date and was happy not to have to pay the rest which would have been the catalogue co's charges and interest. We discussed it and both felt it was morally right not to ask for the payments made prior back.

StoneLaughter · 12th February 2007, 11:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by maria100

Hi chezt, my mum decided to leave things as they are with the debt being written off as she did owe them approx what she had paid to date and was happy not to have to pay the rest which would have been the catalogue co's charges and interest. We discussed it and both felt it was morally right not to ask for the payments made prior back.

Excellent; as long as the issue has been considered and decided upon, rather than swept under the carpet...

Well done and congratulations on getting it sorted.

chezt · 12th February 2007, 21:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by maria100

Hi chezt, my mum decided to leave things as they are with the debt being written off as she did owe them approx what she had paid to date and was happy not to have to pay the rest which would have been the catalogue co's charges and interest. We discussed it and both felt it was morally right not to ask for the payments made prior back.

That's an excellent result ...well done for sorting this for her ... I agree with the bit of asking for it all back ... doesn't quite 'lay right' with me either

CAG Products - We think that these will help you to make your claim or Reclaim your Right These sales also help us to keep helping YOU and keeps this site free of third party adverts!

Small Claims Kit	Small Claims Court Guide New Edition	CallBurner - Skype CallRecorder Review	Last Will & Testament Kit	Fight a Motoring Ticket

Alternatively you could purchase a CAG email address here, or maybe you'd prefer our address labels here
UPDATE: Consumer Forums ConsumerWiki is now LIVE - click here: ConsumerWiki N.B. Please note - due to postage costs these products are only available in the U.K.