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Apologies if I have not posted thread in correct section but would appreciate some advice!!
In 2006 I finally began to face up to my debt problems which totalled almost circa £90k. Agreed a dmp and had all interest and charges frozen. Those charges that had been applied I managed to get refunded by constantly complaining.
Everything was going fine until I became ill and lost my job in 2007. I have been certified as unfit for work for the forseeable future and stressful situations make my illness far worse.
Having long since exhausted the compensation that I received, for the past 6 months or so have been paying the 7 CC companies (inc 1 loan) only £1 per month.
I have had a default notice from M&S although only what I believe are arrears notices from the others.
I'm not naive enough to believe that this is going to continue for much longer and am wondering if I should begin sending off CCA requests so that I know where I stand?
I currently owe circa £45k.
I was going to start with MBNA although see that they only seem to send a copy of the application form and tend to quote Judge Brown in the Rankine case when challenged.
My only equity is in the house (mortgage up to date with grateful thanks to my pensioner parents) and naturally, I want to protect this for my childrens welfare (both school age). I am a single parent and not eligible for Income Support as I receive the higher level Incapacity Benefiit.
Need to face up to this and become pro-active but don't particularly want to open too many cans of worms all at once!!
Hi WelshMam, as stressful situations make your illness, it might be better for you if you can afford it to continue for now to pay the creditors the £1.00, so long as they dont hassle you, as they may due to your circumstances continue to accept the token payments. If they were to give you hassle, then you can send out the CCA requests.
What I am wondering is that if they were to terminate the agreement and sell on to a DCA then I would no longer be able to CCA them and claim the agreement as being unenforceable ??
I am not getting any hassle at the moment...have 'banned' them from contacting me by phone but just have this feeling that something is going to happen sooner rather than later and that I should be prepared!!
Hi welshmam, and welcome to CAG. You can send CCA requests at any time and it doesn't matter if the debts have been passed onto DCA's. In some ways the dca is less likely to be able to produce an agreement and in any event they will refer the request back to the original creditor.
I had a similar debt mountain to yours. I set up payment arrangements with some of my creditors with the assistance of the CAB and they froze interest and were very nice. The ones who were unhelpful mostly passed on my debts to dcas - they then got CCA requests after I had discovered CAG a couple of years ago - and not one of them has been able to find an agreement.
I am still paying three of them £1. I did send them CCA requests last year, purely out of interest, and found that they too do not have enforceable agreements. But I have kept that piece of information for the day that they do turn nasty, either to negotiate or tell them to get stuffed depending on my circumstances.
So there is no harm in your sending CCA requests - you are only asking for a copy of your agreement as is your right, you are not necessarily saying they won't get another penny.
BANK CHARGES
Nat West Bus Acct £1750 reclaim - WON
LTSB Bus Acct £1650 charges w/o against o/s balance - WON
Halifax Pers Acct £1650 charges taken from benefits - WON
LTSB Pers Acct - £2K charges, £1K o/d - Rob Way latest DCA
DCAs
Lowells/Capital One - no CCA - gone away £1500
Lowells/MBNA - no CCA - gone away £10K
Abbey - no CCA - £3.5K
CL Finance - 3 court claims re GE storecards 2 withdrawn, 1 hanging by a thread
Hillesden/DLC re Barclaycard - ongoing battle re validity of CCA - £3.5K
Clydesdale - charges more than balance - valid CCA:o - onto 4th DCA so far
LTSB card - £7K - no CCA - destroyed after 6 years! - latest DCA - AIC
Others
GE Money sec loan - £1900 in charges - settlement agreed
GE Money sec loan - ERC of £2.5K valid for 15 years - on standby
FirstPlus - missold PPI of £20K for friends - WON
I did send them CCA requests last year, purely out of interest, and found that they too do not have enforceable agreements. But I have kept that piece of information for the day that they do turn nasty, either to negotiate or tell them to get stuffed depending on my circumstances.
So there is no harm in your sending CCA requests - you are only asking for a copy of your agreement as is your right, you are not necessarily saying they won't get another penny.
Many thanks for your warm welcome and advice GoldLady
What you have done is what I am inclined to do. I don't want to 'rock' the proverbial boat but would have some peace of mind knowing if the agreements were enforceable or not.
Also, as you have said, at least I would have that information if and when they turned nasty!!
Yep, I did that all by my lonesome Blueda!! Although I note on here that the Harrassment Act (??) or similar is quoted.
I refered them to the Banking Code of Practice (if a member of course) which states something along the lines of them respecting your wishes to communicate in writing so long as you maintain contact with them.
Egg did 'accidently' ring once and left a message on my answerphone...so I sent off a complaint!! Now my answer message says;
'your call cannot be taken at the moment and you cannot leave a message' lol
Hi Welshmam and welcome As Goldlady says you can ask for your agreement at any time. Don't worry about MBNA quoting Rankine- this judgement was seriously flawed and is not binding anyway. MBNA say a lot of things, 99.9999% talking out of their bums! Have you spoken to National Debtline or one of the free debt management companies (payplan or CCCS)? You sound like you're doing ok by yourself for now but if they do start hassling you, you're in the right place!!
<<<If I have helped please tickle the scales;-)<<<
Standard letter spewed out by their automatic machine to get you to ring them. When you call they will tell you they are unaware of this offer but if you pay £1 million today we can close your account CCA them and see what they come up with- they are getting better with their cut and paste efforts!! Remember- don't sign the CCA request.
<<<If I have helped please tickle the scales;-)<<<
Just as an aside - well done on reducing the debt by so much in a short space of time!!
7 years in retail customer service
Expertise in letting and rental law for 6 years
By trade - I'm an IT engineer working in the housing sector.
Please note that any posts made by myself are for information only and should not and must not be taken as correct or factual. If in doubt, consult with a solicitor or other person of equal legal standing.
Thanks FedUp and Mr Shed...nice to know I'm not on my own!!
Have already picked up the postal order today so will get CCA off asap.
Will remember to print my name although interestingly I don't sign legal/financial documents in the same way as I do correspondence.
For example, if my name is Victoria Ann Summers (don't know how I came up with that name!) then I sign all correspondence as: V A Summers
but I sign legal/financial docs as: Victoria Summers.
Have you spoken to National Debtline or one of the free debt management companies (payplan or CCCS)?
Yes, FedUp, I did speak to National Debtline and whilst I found their documentation useful wasn't overly impressed with the advice to go for an IVA.
Did go through some financial info with them, with the intention of them managing my dmp, but was totally confused when they challenged my budget allowances for food etc which were based on figures quoted in their own documentation! So, negotiated my own DMP with my creditors.
Don't want to knock them though, as I know they provide an invaluable service.
a credit card taken out online - does that need a signed contract? or is the online application (which of course cannot be signed) the legally binding agreement?
secondly
what is the reason for not signing a cca request - surely a creditor could argue to a court that the unsigned request might not have been from the debtor therefore they felt obliged not to reveal information to someone else in the household (data protection)
a credit card taken out online - does that need a signed contract? or is the online application (which of course cannot be signed) the legally binding agreement?
Ok, am new here so still learning myself! I understand that the law is different in respect of online applications and don't require a signature on the agreement. You should still receive a copy of your agreement in the post though (I know I did with Egg as I have it here!!)
Originally Posted by diddydicky
what is the reason for not signing a cca request - surely a creditor could argue to a court that the unsigned request might not have been from the debtor therefore they felt obliged not to reveal information to someone else in the household (data protection)
There is a scurrilous rumour that some companies have been known to forge agreements...hence, you need to print your name. I haven't come across any posts where the CCA has not been supplied because of this although, further information/identification is requested with a Subject access request.
Help...Should I CCA...did owe £90k??
and had all interest
Reply With Quote
Re: Help...Should I CCA...did owe £90k??
Originally Posted by Goldlady
As Goldlady says you can ask for your agreement at any time. Don't worry about 
CCA them and see what they come up with- they are getting better with their cut and paste efforts!! Remember- 
