Written by John Kruse, one of the leading experts on Bailiff Law, this consumer friendly guide is essential reading for anyone who comes into contact with a bailiff.
The book is easy to understand and clearly explains the rights
a bailiff has, and also what they cannot do when collecting debts and repossessing goods etc.
I moved abroad back in October 2008 to be with my wife, something I never thought would ever happen! Any way my problem is that I have debt with barclaycard, currently totalling around £1400 and I am facing real difficulties in paying this off. I am currently unable to work because I am waiting for my work authorisation to come through, I have good qualifications and expect to get work soon.
I kept in touch with barclaycard, making them aware I was moving abroad and I kept up to date with payments. However, over the last two months I have run out of cash and have been unable to make the minimum payments and instead offered to pay £10 per month. They seemed happy about this at first and said they would freeze the interest as long as I called back within 14-days. So I called back after 14-days and stated that my situation had not changed, they said would I be interested in getting into a payment plan of £17 per month, I said unfortunately I can not commit myself to a plan because I may not have cash in my account at a particular time (I am currently borrowing what cash I can from my brother, he will not give more than £10 per month to barclaycard), they said okay, please keep in touch and call us after 14 days. I called after 14-days and offered to make a further payment of £10 pounds and this time they said this was not acceptable and I could not do this, they gave me another number to call, it was too late in the day to call that day. I then did some research and found they have to accept a minumum payment of £1 or something like that, so I called again and spoke to a lady and she allowed me to make the payment, she also said if I made a further payment of £20 in 4-days I would be okay for now. I replied I doubt very much I can do that because I just dont have the cash.
So another week passes and I go to get my mail the P.O box address I gave them, there is no way I am giving them my home address. I noticed I had received a letter from Mercers, they sate that I have not contacted Barclaycard for a long time, a lie!, and that if I did not pay £78 May 18th they would take further action against me, by a debt collection agency and the account will be registered with various credit reference agencies.
Well I was going to contact them today to make a payment of £10 again, but just before I called them I read an article that stated somebody had done the same thing and they had taken massive amounts from their account and not the amount put forward. This then worried me because I dont have any more than this and they would make me go overdrawn, getting me into trouble with the bank I'm with. My question is, is this true, do they go ahead and try to charge your account with more than they should? Is there any other way I can make payments to my barclaycard, some online payment system maybe? I am unfortunately unable to use my online bank account because I do not have a card reader, which was required when I tried.
Barclaycard has really made me feel like turning may back them, the way they have stated I never kept in touch and have made no effort to make payments! Oh, and I have also contacted the CCCS about my probem and they gave me a reference number but said at the moment due to my statue of not being able to work, they can not help. They said give the reference number to barclaycard and ask for a 30-day leeway, barclaycard replied "this does not mean anything, we have never heard of this!".
What should I do about all this, I certainly do not want to run away from this, and never intended on doing so. My wife is worried for me with all the stress she says I am putting myself under. I have never had any problems with debt like this before and it has been moving abroad to be with my wife that has caused this, however I dont blame her at all, no way, she means the world to me and I would sacrifice anything to be with her. She has brought a meaning to my life that I never thought existed and for that I will always be grateful. Sorry for going on, but if anyone can give me some information or idea's I will be so grateful.
It is typical of BC to show patience initially but then start a full-on pursuit of the debt.
If you have a Barclays bank account, DO NOT pay any money into it. BC will take it straight out towards their "missing" payments. They regularly do this and it's called off-setting. You should close any Barclays a/c you have and set up another ban a/c, if you can.
If you have a non-Barclays a/c, you can use that to pay BC whatever token payments you can manage. BC will not be able to take payments from a non-Barclay's a/c unless you set up a DD (which you won't !).
Have you suffered any penalty charges on the a/c in the last 6 years -if so you can reclaim these in full, to reduce the amount owing to BC.
If you're out of the UK, you have little to worry about as there's very little BC can do about the debt, apart from put negative markers on your credit records and put a Default against you.
Is it your intention to clear this debnt when you are earning money and more able to pay ?
Any help and advice is offered in good faith, based solely on my own knowledge and on experience gathered from this site. I am not qualified to offer legal or financial advice, which you should seek from an expert before making any important decisions. My opinions are therefore offered without liability.
It is typical of BC to show patience initially but then start a full-on pursuit of the debt.
If you have a Barclays bank account, DO NOT pay any money into it. BC will take it straight out towards their "missing" payments. They regularly do this and it's called off-setting. You should close any Barclays a/c you have and set up another ban a/c, if you can.
If you have a non-Barclays a/c, you can use that to pay BC whatever token payments you can manage. BC will not be able to take payments from a non-Barclay's a/c unless you set up a DD (which you won't !).
Have you suffered any penalty charges on the a/c in the last 6 years -if so you can reclaim these in full, to reduce the amount owing to BC.
If you're out of the UK, you have little to worry about as there's very little BC can do about the debt, apart from put negative markers on your credit records and put a Default against you.
Is it your intention to clear this debnt when you are earning money and more able to pay ?
Yes I do intend on paying back the debt when I am working, but that is the problem at the moment. While I understand that they are not interested in anything I have to say, I think they should understand that with my current situation anything they do is not helping them either! If they kept people on side rather than making enemies, people would be far more willing to deal with them, but I know this is wishful thinking. I have never been in a situation like this before and now fully understand what it is like, to a point any way. I now live in the USA and want to make some kind of payment but Barclaycard/Mercers wont accept anything less than the minimum they are asking for. Are there any websites that allow you to make payments into the account? This would allow me to show that I at least was making an effort, because this seems to be their objective, I mean to make it look like I have made no effort.
You are quite right - if they were more flexible, I'm sure people would do their best to pay what they can. Instead, debtors are left with little option but to see if the debt is legally enforceable.
You didn't mention if you have a Barclays bank a/c that's at risk.
Nor did you answer about any penalty chgs on the a/c.
You can continue to pay into the BC a/c when you can but BC or Mercers will not take this as a sign of goodwill. They'll continue to harass you (if they can find you !!).
If you read other threads here in the BC forum, you'll see that you can request sight of the account's credit agreement using a CCA request for £1. Use Letter N from here - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...templates.html
They'll not supply the document and then you can start using the CPR strategy - read Link No2 in my signature below.
Alternatively, if you think there have been penalties charged on the a/c but you don't have statements for the last 6 years, send a SAR with the £10 fee. Read the Reclaiming Guide at Link No1 below.
Any help and advice is offered in good faith, based solely on my own knowledge and on experience gathered from this site. I am not qualified to offer legal or financial advice, which you should seek from an expert before making any important decisions. My opinions are therefore offered without liability.
You are quite right - if they were more flexible, I'm sure people would do their best to pay what they can. Instead, debtors are left with little option but to see if the debt is legally enforceable.
You didn't mention if you have a Barclays bank a/c that's at risk.
Nor did you answer about any penalty chgs on the a/c.
You can continue to pay into the BC a/c when you can but BC or Mercers will not take this as a sign of goodwill. They'll continue to harass you (if they can find you !!).
If you read other threads here in the BC forum, you'll see that you can request sight of the account's credit agreement using a CCA request for £1. Use Letter N from here - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...templates.html
They'll not supply the document and then you can start using the CPR strategy - read Link No2 in my signature below.
Alternatively, if you think there have been penalties charged on the a/c but you don't have statements for the last 6 years, send a SAR with the £10 fee. Read the Reclaiming Guide at Link No1 below.
Reading threads here will teach you loads.
Sorry for the delay in replying, have been away for a few days. In answer to your questions, no I dont have a Barclays account and no I have never had any penalty charges, that I can think of anyway.
I am still contemplating what to do regarding this issue and feel really peeved that I have to go through this every time I go to make payment! Is there no other way I can make payments to Mercers? Yes I have a Natwest account but I do not have the stupid card reader to make payments and they refuse to send one to where I am living, then when I ask them to help they say I need the card reader!!!! Is there an online payment system that I can use to make payments? Does anybody know?
Well I have just got of the phone with the CCCS and after explaining my situation they have made an appointment for me in July! Crikey that is a long wait. I then proceeded to calll Mercers and spoke to someone who was polite for once, strange but true. Granted he tried to set me up on a payment plan, but after explaining the reasons as to why I could not agree to it, he replied I understand fully and said maybe we can try again next month. I think maybe stating that I have been contacting the CCCS made them note I have been trying to do something about this. It feels good to talk but only when the people you are talking to are reasonable. Oh and they (Mercers) accepted a payment of 10 pounds, which is all I can afford.
Any help and advice is offered in good faith, based solely on my own knowledge and on experience gathered from this site. I am not qualified to offer legal or financial advice, which you should seek from an expert before making any important decisions. My opinions are therefore offered without liability.
Help Barclaycard / Mercers
as long as I called back within 14-days. So I called back after 14-days and stated that my situation had not changed, they said would I be interested in getting into a payment plan of £17 per month, I said unfortunately I can not commit myself to a plan because I may not have cash in my account at a particular time (I am currently borrowing what cash I can from my brother, he will not give more than £10 per month to barclaycard), they said okay, please keep in touch and call us after 14 days. I called after 14-days and offered to make a further payment of £10 pounds and this time they said this was not acceptable and I could not do this, they gave me another number to call, it was too late in the day to call that day. I then did some research and found they have to accept a minumum payment of £1 or something like that, so I called again and spoke to a lady and she allowed me to make the payment, she also said if I made a further payment of £20 in 4-days I would be okay for now. I replied I doubt very much I can do that because I just dont have the cash.
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Originally Posted by slick132
