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New to the forum although have been reading for a while, but now looking for a little guidance. So first of all Hello to everyone.
The brief background is I am in a bit of a financial pickle, to the point in the last couple of months I have been unable to keep up with my credit card payments. I wrote to my credit card companies explaining this and have made token offers, letters have been exchanging within deadlines but yesterday I received a default notice from both.
I have attached a copy of the one I received from Mercers on behalf of Barclaycard. From what I have read this doesn't confirm for a valid DN due to the date timing (doesn't account for postage or bank holidays) and Barclays address details.
Now I am aware there are charges on this account, also PPI(Cancelled) which in my situation would not apply. I was going to attempt to reclaim these charges once I was in a position to settle the account. I probably have all the statements required somewhere to start this but didn't want to risk them turning nasty due to me doing this. I have held this account for about 10 years.
I am currently not in a position to comply with the default notices as I don't have the cash to do it, but may have sometime in January and pay all the arrears.
I am not sure how I should proceed due to the situation I am in, from reading here my options appear to be:
* Requested a CCA from Mercers/BC
* Start a claim against the charges and attempt to put the account into dispute.
I am not sure which direction to take as my previous negotiations with them seem to have failed. Any advice ?
I had 2 Barclaycard accounts taken out 10+ years ago and neither credit agreement showed up after CCA plus reminder. Heard nothing since, so I've just parked those for now.
Firstly, read the Reclaiming Guide at Link No1 in my signature below. As you are dealing with unlawful penalty charges on a credit card a/c, you are unaffected by the OFT Test Case about bank charges.
Go through all your BC statements noting all penalty charges made to the a/c since it was opened. They can all be claimed back (plus interest if you fancy a fight).
Same with PPI but you should start another thread for this in the PPI forum as the 2 matters are dealt with separately.
If you are able (and willing) to bring the a/c back in order shortly and keep using the a/c, don't send off a CCA request yet.
Instead, write to Mercers saying their DN is not compliant with the requirements of the CCA1974. Tell them also that the a/c will very shortly be put In Dispute because of unlawful penalty which BC will have to repay. This will also mean the a/c balance in the DN is wrong as it includes the unlawful penalties.
Confirm that you anticipate bringing the a/c up to date by xxdate so would they refrain from taking any further action.
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.
Trying to figure out how Mercers can issue a compliant DN?
For them to act on behalf of a n other creditor surely an equitable assignment has been effected indicating that the account has already been terminated.
Mercers are part of Barclaycard. They pretend to be another collector but because they are wholly owned (it's not a real company, just the name) it hasn't left BC's hands. A default notice issued by Mercers is unlikely to be a real one, but likely to be an invalid one on grounds of wrong layout etc.
After Mercers it may be Calder Financial, who are owned by Mercers in their turn. I would suspect unlawful transfer occurs when it goes to an outside collector company who insist you no longer deal with Barclaycard. The general style there is 'threatograms' and bluster and a pretense that they are agents of BC. An example would be Debt Managers in Scotland.
Cheers!
LL
"Do just once what others say you cannot do, and you will never pay attention to their limitations again." - Arthur C. Clarke. "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." - Psalms 119:105
Failed Negotiations and now a DN
) and Barclays
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