Help...Should I CCA...did owe £90k??

[WelshMam2009]

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!!

 

Any advice gratefully received.

[blueda]

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.

[WelshMam2009]

Thanks Blueda....much appreciated!

 

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!!

 

Many thanks again...

[Goldlady]

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.

[blueda]

Well done for banning them from phoning you, and as Goldlady has said, if they sell the debt you can still CCA them.

Edited February 10, 2009 by blueda
typo

[WelshMam2009]

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:D

 

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!!

 

Fab forum and even fabbier (???) members!!

[WelshMam2009]

Well done for banning them from phoning you

 

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

[fedup74]

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!!

[WelshMam2009]

Thanks for your contribution FedUp...your names sums up exactly how I feel at the moment!!

 

There has been a new development as I have received a letter from MBNA threatening to default my account. (Am now gonna CCA them!)

 

Intriguingly, this was also stated at the top of the letter;

 

YOU COULD REDUCE YOUR DEBT BY UP TO 40%, A SAVING OF £XXX

 

CALL US ON 0800 xxxxx

 

IT'S YOUR CALL. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS VERY SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY!

 

Anyone know what this is all about??

 

EDIT: May also start a thread in MBNA about this as I'm in the wrong place!!

[WelshMam2009]

I posted in the wrong place so am trying to revive my thread here!

 

Basically having been paying my creditors £1 for 6 or so months (without their agreement). No interest or charges to date though.

 

There has been a new development as I have now received a letter from MBNA threatening to default my account. (Am now gonna CCA them!)

 

Intriguingly, this was also stated at the top of the letter;

 

YOU COULD REDUCE YOUR DEBT BY UP TO 40%, A SAVING OF £XXX

 

CALL US ON 0800 xxxxx

 

IT'S YOUR CALL. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS VERY SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY!

Anyone know what this is all about??

 

EDIT: My original thread is here: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...uld-i-cca.html

[fedup74]

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:rolleyes: 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.

[MrShed]

Just as an aside - well done on reducing the debt by so much in a short space of time!!

[WelshMam2009]

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.

 

So, will be inspecting MY signature with interest!!

[WelshMam2009]

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.

[Guest Gordons Barking]

They have forked tongue and probably do not have an agreement so try anything to get some money be prepared for more of the same.

[WelshMam2009]

They have forked tongue and probably do not have an agreement so try anything to get some money be prepared for more of the same.

 

Thanks Gordon...I hope they don't have an agreement! CCA has gone off recorded delivery today so will see what comes back!!

[diddydicky]

as a matter of interest can i ask two things:-

 

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)

 

thanks

 

diddydicky

[almond]

hi welshmam i have cca mbna yesterday letter went off , shall we keep each other informed of what we receive next from them

[WelshMam2009]

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!!)

 

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.

 

Hope this helps Diddy!!

[WelshMam2009]

hi welshmam i have cca mbna yesterday letter went off , shall we keep each other informed of what we receive next from them

 

Defo Almond....let's see what comes back!!

 

Fingers crossed!

[diddydicky]

thanks i guessed that is what it was- personally i would get a friend to sign my signature so that if it turns up by return on a so called agreement id have them well and truly by the short and curlies- cant imagine anyone wanting to be reported for conspiracy to defraud.

[Goldlady]

I used my normal signature but added an extra letter - have done the same on any cheques I have sent as well. So if that signature turns up on anything I will know and be able to prove it:D

[angel_1]

hiya WelshMam2009 and everyone else with mbna problems

 

have you seen underdog thread yet?

 

maybe useful as speaking with solicitor on monday take a peek

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/mbna/172769-mbna-agreement-now-threat.html

 

 

laters angel x

[WelshMam2009]

hiya WelshMam2009 and everyone else with mbna problems

 

have you seen underdog thread yet?

 

maybe useful as speaking with solicitor on monday take a peek

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/mbna/172769-mbna-agreement-now-threat.html

 

 

laters angel x

 

Thanks for the link Angel...will subscribe and watch with interest!

 

What I love about this forum is that for the first time in years, I don't feel on my own in dealing with these matters. It's such a relief to know that there are other members going through (or have gone through) exactly the same problems as myself. Also, everyone's willingness to share information and help out is absolutely fantastic!

 

Fingers crossed for UnderDog!!!

[angel_1]

hello Welshmam2009

 

you are absolutely welcome:D

 

was a pleasure to tell as many people as poss for underdog, and it is about supporting each other in all this madness

 

keep positive okay

 

laters angel x