I wonder if I could ask for a bit of information, please?

A friend of mine has five debts, each of which are being paid off at £1-00 per month; at the present rates, one of them will be completely paid off just after her 112th birthday!

Two are to High St Banks, and the others are to the likes of the standard DCA companies such as Robinson Way, &c.

She is 67, with mobility problems, deaf, and diabetic.

Because of a very low State pension, she receives pension credit, which entitles her to be exempt from Council rent and community charge.

The existing financial arrangements were arranged for her by professional advisors, who are contracted by her local Council, [stoke-on-Trent], to help tenants.

Each year, the various creditors want to review the payments, and the advisor sorts it out for her – presumably, they tell the creditors that her pension has risen by a few pennies, and so has her electricity/gas/water, and the arrangement continue.

The cash strapped Council haven’t renewed the advisors’ contract this year.

Because of my friends disabilities, and mental state, I’m the chap that writes five cheques for her each month, and sends them out on her behalf.

Can I deal with these creditors this time, and if so, how do I do it, please?

I’m not a financial “whizz kid”, but a reasonably articulate, retired engineer.

Sam

Hi.Sameagle.....

.as you are "the chap" who writes the cheques and sends the payments,

just continue to do the same,

the day will arrive when the Banks and DCAs will ask for income & expenditure details,

this is something that only a court can demand,

however because of your friends circumstances do not fill the form in just send a note with the next payment ( after receiving the I&E form

)stating there has been no change in circumstances.....................

.I have worked out the debt re the payment 112 years old,we are not talking about large amounts,have you considered writing to the creditors on behalf of your friend and suggest as the payments will never increase above £1 per month and explain the circumstances you have indicated in your thread regarding health etc

and suggest it must be costing large amounts in admin charges to administer the account and suggest they consider writing off the balance,

you never know even if just one creditor agrees its a step in the right direction,...good luck...FS

Thanks for the advice Firstship,

You are definitely correct about costing more in admin.

One of the companies, sends her a reminder every month, telling her that they haven't yet received the present months' payment, and reminding her to send it.

It's always dated three days after the cheque has shown up on my online statement!

If the "sending out reminders" department would get off their backsides and walk to the next desk, [the "Cashing the cheques" department], they could save Robinson Way a great deal of money!

Of course, that would put them back on the dole, I expect.....

I'll take your advice, and I'll try and come back to this thread and let you know how I get on, it's usually about this time of year when they start to agitate - just as the dark nights are upon us.

Thanks once again

You are welcome and I wish you luck,as you have probably no doubt found already Robinsonway are a pain.good luck,,,,FS

Hello, I'm back again.

There's nothing wrong, it's simply to report the latest position, and to enquire if the excellent advice that I received from here previously, still stands?

During this summer, my friend moved to a warden controlled apartment.

The area she lived in, has a lot of roughs, and ex-cons, [read repeat offenders], and the place that she moved to, is much safer, with an entry system.

None of her accounts are in arrears, and, when she moved, she also wrote to her creditors, and gave them my details, and told them that they should deal via me, in future.

Non of them now know where she lives - I think, because they all acknowledged her letter, to my address.

Last month, Barclays sold her debt to Cabot, about £1100; I gather from reading here, that they have sold a lot of them.

Barclays wrote to her, at my address, and told her about the change to Cabot, and Cabot sent their reference number for the account to my address.

This months payments have gone off, including the "new" one, and Cabot have stated that her pound per month will stay in place, as long as payments are made on time, [which they will be]

My friends feels less vulnerable following her move, and of course, I act as a "buffer" against her creditors.

I can be a bit of a b*gg*r at times.

I once had a TV licence man pinned against the wall, with one hand around his throat, holding him up off the floor - he eventually went a funny colour, and a bit sleepy, so I dropped him onto the floor, and closed my door - he never came back.

My question is, is there anything else I need to do, regarding these payments, or just carry on?

have you ever done a cra check to see if these debts DO exist?

and considered reclaiming all the unlawful fees and mis-sold PPI?

dx

No, she did borrow the money, she admits that, it was before I met her six years ago.

She lived in South Africa for many years, and when her husband died in 2002, she returned home, but the authorities over there had taken all their money in back taxes etc.

I'll organise one this week, and have a look, I sent for mine the other day, [out of curiosity, as I've never seen one]

Thanks DX

If any debt is via a DCA I would CCA the DCA, as they are claiming they own the debt, you could also go onto

http://www.entitledto.com

and check that she is receiving the correct benefits, mistakes have been made as sometimes committed outgoings 'aren't counted' by so-called 'professional advisors' who, as you correctly state, are there to get people off benefits by hook or croook.

As she is disabled you could ask that they write the debt off due to her inability to improve her finances, and to consider it a severe hardship case.

I notice you said 'standard DCAs', well the are all sharks so maybe consider stop paying these people, especially if it is a heavily disputed debt or a very old debt.

OK sg1, thanks.

I've been reading the post that was below mine, from somebody who wrote that, when reading this forum, there is so much information, and that you need a "minimum level of understanding", in order to understand it.

I'm in the same position as that subscriber, so I've got quite a bit to "mug up" on.

Incidentally, is there a legal requirement for an OC or a DCA to provide a regular statement of payments, such as annually, for instance?

Incidentally, is there a legal requirement for an OC or a DCA to provide a regular statement of payments, such as annually, for instance?

Yes, they are obliged to send a statement of account at least once a year.

Have you tried writing to the companies, explaining the situation.. no assets, benefits, elderly, disabled. Might be in their interest to write off the debts as an act of charity, if nothing else?

Since Barclays sold the debt to Cabot, her creditors are one bank, and four DCA's.

I wrote to that bank about three months ago, suggesting just that, and the reply was "What have her other creditors agreed to?" - I didn't realise that each knew about the others, but I don't know what's been said to them by the professional advisor, of course, [mentioned in my first post]

And the amount owed to that bank is the smallest amount, presently £300, or 25 years worth, to put it another way.

The paperwork for these payments isn't within reach, just at the moment, but from memory, at least two of the DCA's have never sent a statement, which, in the light of information I'm gaining from here, makes me wonder why.

Perhaps they don't want to be too open about it.

They wouldn't be dishonest would they - after all, they want people to pay things off asap, otherwise they would have to add interest and things, and then payments would never stop..............ah! thinks, as Eccles would have said!

i still think you should get her cra file too

dx

I'll get her permission tomorrow, and organise it, dx, thanks!

They wouldn't be dishonest would they - after all, they want people to pay things off asap

Oh yes, indeed they would.... and yes, they want people to pay "things" off. A lot of the time however, they have no legal right to collect those payments at all and certainly no authority to add interest, which is probably why they're not adding any.

The debt collection industry is as seedy as it gets.....

ahem to that!

dx

Tell that it is not in their interest to have this sensitive knowledge.... after all they would do the same to you should you ask how many balances under xxx have been written off!

I've read various bit's of advice given to people on here; for some it's get a CCA, for others, it's get your CR file, I'm not sure what should be done, under what circumstances.

Is there a step by step "idiots guide" to what the various creditors can, and cannot do?

Not really because it depends at what stage you are and what has happened before....

If you haven't made a payment in ages and somebody comes chasing then check the credit file and CCA the DCA if they claim to have purchased the file, if not SAR the original creditor.

If it is in relation to court papers recieved then you must invoke CPR rules and ask for specific documentation - too late to SAR now and too long a timeframe, CPR gives them a fixed period, and they should have the original agreement if they are going to court.

OK thanks, since I took the job of over sending the cheques, because she used to get confused, and forget to send them off, all five payments have been made every month without fail - and that's 49 consecutive months.

Then earlier this year, I got her to type each one of them a note, stating that they should deal with me "until further notice".

Each note was stapled to the next cheque that I sent out, and each recipient either sent me a letter of acknowledgment, or simply addressed stuff to me, except Barclays card services, who sent a demand for the full amount, or else, blah, blah, and failed to cash the cheque!

I ignored that, and carried on sending cheques out, the "or else" didn't seem to materialise, for some strange reason!

I presume that as there is a payment missing, [it must have been received, because they sent their threatening letter to me], any statement that they subsequently send, will be totally wrong, by one pound - trouble is, they've never sent one.

It's "wrinkles" like this that I would like to know about - for instance, could we ask for a statement, and because it's not a true statement, put the account in dispute, without telling them why, and stop paying?

My first move is to get the ladies' credit file, as suggested by dx100uk, and when I get her permission, I will, she is visiting her brother at the moment.

A CCA request should go off to any DCA attempting to collect any debt (with certain exceptions; ie, utility bills, mobile phone accounts, etc).

Requesting a copy of your credit file will not protect you from anything. Some people favour this route but in my personal opinion, it won't help help you because it won't protect you. All it does is provide an "oh, ok then" type of information and then your battles continue anyway. In many cases, it can also alert others DCAs to your whereabouts because there are incestuous links between CRAs and DCAs....

If you want to fight these people, you must go down the CCA route. Cabot bought one of my own accounts nearly 5 years ago now and following a CCA request, produced no paperwork at all. I already knew this would happen but that's another story..... I couldn't give a rat's a*se what was on my CF at the time and still don't. The only time it came in handy was when a different creditor tried to enter a double default on there.... but again, that's another story.

Horses for courses, as they say....

Right, "incestuous" eh?

I think it was John Betjemen who said that you should try everything in this life, "Except folk dancing and incest"!

Your advice is noted - thanks.

Hi Sameagle,

I also have concerns about checking the credit file, as it could bring more critters out from under stones, and will pinpoint this poor lady's current address. I don't see any benefit in doing this.

If they've already blanked you on a writeoff, I believe the best way to get these people off her back is to send CCA requests first, as P1 says, and put the accounts in dispute for those which don't comply. Call me cynical, but they are far more likely to write them off if there are paperwork errors. I know this from personal experience, even after recent court cases etc.

Alternatively if you are keen on the writeoff route, you need to send a letter to all the creditors at the same time. Even if only one comes back positive then you can tell the others that "x" has already agreed... It also helps if you have a letter from the GP or other confirmation of illness, copied to each.

Just a thought...Have you also checked whether there has been any period of more than 6 years when payment wasn't made?

kind regards,

Elsa x

Thank you, Elsa,

Taking you last point first, I doubt whether there has been more than 6 years when no payment was made, she came back to Britain in 2002, and she was working for a short time, until she had a stroke.

That was before I knew her, and the stroke put her in hospital for six months, she was fed at each meal, and carried to the bathroom for most of that time, she's lucky to be talking and walking.

I'm unable to discuss it with her at the moment, except by Email, not the easiest way to discuss such an important matter, she's away until the end of January.

I Emailed her yesterday, and she has difficulty understanding what I've told her, and she has asked to wait until she is home, and can talk it over with me, face to face.

I at least need to let her read this site, and this thread, before taking any further action.