Hello everyone, maybe you can help me.

I'm in a bit of a sticky mess. Heres a brief background.

I have a debt going back to maybe 2002

an account I and my wife of the time (i'm now divorced, she ran off to America (true story))...

opened a Debenhams account and at the point of her leaving me she left me in June 2005 with 5,100 of debt on an Debenhams (GE Money).

At that point, not knowing what to do,

I joined Kensingtons Financial, who write to all your creditors for you negotiating payments etc.

One thing they did successfully with most of my creditors (except GE money) was to freeze the interest.

I quit Kensington and started paying the creditors what I could afford on my own after getting some sensible advice about incomings/outgoings etc.

I wrote many many times to them since 2005 letting them know I can only pay x amount and have paid them that,

but they kept adding interest, but I put my head in the sand, as you do, and its got up to 10,500 now.

I know this sounds like I'm trying to play victim here and I hold my hand up I did use the card,

so did my wife (mostly), we buried our heads in the sand, simple as that and she left debt free as everything was in my name.

Recently,

I got a letter from them asking if I was in financial difficulty. etc and if so offering to freeze interest or increase repayments etc.

I'm guessing 10k is some type of trigger limit for them. I

wrote to them saying Yes please, stop the interest. And then keep paying them what I can per month.

They've just wrote a letter unrelated to my plea as it were and said I now owe 15K including arrears.

but total owed 10k and minimum payment 10k.

I think their computer is screwed up or something because I got something like this last year, where it made me call them up and clarify it and they adjusted it.

I'm guessing its some type of fear tactic to make me call them.

Bearing in mind I am paying them every month, its not a huge amount but its all I can afford.

I'm going to assume their computer again is not right, they surely cant slap 5k on there.

The amount of interest they have charged is unbelievable. They are relentless.

Ás you can imagine, I'm feeling very nervous and harrassed.

I was hoping this year that I could maybe negotiate with them

and ask them if I could pay them 3,000 as a full and final settlement as my dad is willing to help me,

he should be getting payment around march.

And I was thinking since I owed 5100 to start with, and my financial people (kensington)

asked them to freeze interest at the time, they might accept it.

Now I feel I dont know what to do.

Can anyone offer me any advice as to what move to make next?

SHould I request a CCA or something like that?

Should I try and settle with them?

I cant afford more than what I'm paying right now.

Even if they scrapped the interest since 2005 (making it 5,100) and I paid the 3000 from my dad,

and then was able to realistically pay them and pay the 2000 off a light would be in view.

I dont want to go to court, go bankrupt (I have NO house or car or anything of real value).

Thanks for listening. Sorry if I just blurted it all out, its the nerves speaking!

Sorry for babbling there I think I've calmed down now for the minute!

I've looked again at the statement they sent. I think they've stopped the interest for now as on the statement it says against 0.00 against estimated interest next month. So I think they've frozen the interest so far. The "amount including arrears" of jumping up 5000+ I have no idea about.

My question is, do you think it might be worth me sending them a full & final settlement offer letter?

only... I'm not in a position right now, my dad should be able to help in a couple of months or so. I hope!

Or would a CCA request put me in a better advantageous position for negotiating first?

Does anyone have any suggestions?

send a cca first see what comes back - I would also send a sar to get all the statements, these people add charges like there is no tomorrow

Thanks, I'll try that and see what happens.

if they have added charges then start to claim them back, there is a helpful spreadsheet in the forum library that adds the 8% interest from whn the charge was applied

good luck

Thanks very much, very helpful.

(Just to add here.... these are the original creditors)

When you say subject access request... how do I do that? is there a letter template?

As regards charges... You mean interest? well I'm guessing they froze it, but it would be good to see all this in black and white.

I'll send the CCA request for now, and mail it tomorrow.

Thanks

Subject Access Request - Consumer Wiki

amend to suit, it costs £10 send recorded and do not sign it, they have 40 days to supply all statements and whatever else you request.

unlawful charges would be late payment fees, overlimit fees etc

Hello everyone.

I've had a debt with Debenhams (GE MONEY) for some time now.

I've paid what I can afford every month,

and have a standing order set up with them.

The interest is frozen.

The loan balance is now a whopping 10,000+ which has doubled from 5,000 since my wife left in 2005.

I pay them every month but they've put me in arrears since the amount I pay each month is less than what they expect

"you have failed to make the payments when due and your breach has resulted in arrears of 10K"

They've sent me a default notice under section 87 of the consumer credit act which is giving me 21 days to take action to resolve it or face possible court action.

I have no idea what to do as a next step. I dont want a CCJ on my record.

They say to remedy this breach I must pay the full 10K within 21 days from the receipt of notice.

Then it says you may telephone us on 0870 ... with your payment proposals.

Im scared and nervous. Is it just for them to get me to increase my payment? because I cant.

I have no property or car the debt is totally unsecured.

I've already requested a copy of the CCA agreement as advised and sure enough they provided it.

I have had the account since 2000.

my dad has offered to give me 3,000 pounds in order to pay it off and lay it to rest.

He can see the stress I am under.

Do you think if I make them a full and final settlement offer they might take it?

the Debt was originally 5K and has ballooned to 10K.

Other wise it would take forever to recover.

Is it worth a shot?

Thanks.

First send them a CCA request to see if they are entitled to collect this debt & if it's enforcable. If they fail If they fail to provide it within 12+2 days or the CCA is unenforcable you can legally withold any payment until they do. Send it recorded delivery enclosing a £1 postal order. When you get a reply, scan it & remove any identifying details and post it back here where we can have a look at it. We'll advise you from there;

The default notice is incorrect in that they're demanding the whole sum rather than the arrears to rectify the default.

You can defend a CCJ claim.

If you make an F & F offer, make sure you get it in writing.

Can you scan and post the CCA they sent for it to be checked over please.

If the CCA is enforceable you can then send a SAR to determine what unfair charges have been added which you can claim back. Those alone will probably negate the balance of the debt anyway. But let see what a CCA request throws up first, because there's no point in making any offers until your in a strong position to negotiate in your own favour.

Thanks for that. I've already tried that, on the good advice of this website, and they enclosed my original agreement (photocopy).

How would I know if its unenforcable?

I'm unsure if they would accept that amount as a settlement.

Can you scan it, remove identifying details & post it up for us to look at?

yes just doing it now

Why are you paying GE money anything at all when they have no legal powers to any monies off you?

Only a county court does.

I would demand a full refund of everything you have paid them so far - threaten them with legal action if they refuse & report them to the OFT/trading standards in the process.

Do not make a F&F offer at this stage. That is a long way off and they would not accept it anyway.

Here is a scan of my CCA they sent me. apologies for the delay, nightmare getting my scanner to work!

I'm sorry to say that all the prescribed terms are there, so the next step will be for you to send a SAR letter which will cost £10... letter #9 The Consumer Forums - Debt collectors send it to the original creditor, they have 40 days to provide the information. It should include statements of all the charges which have been added & you should be able to reclaim those which are unfair.

Thanks for checking it out. That sounds like a good idea, thank you for that. I will try it and see what happens.

The interest etc they added i'm sure i owe it as i always paid less than minumum payment when wife left, and a few months I paid nothing. but for the most part i've paid something, just what i could afford. they could be in the right.

My dilemma is that they are asking me to pay 10,000 within 21 days or call them to negotiate, I am not sure what to do. firstly I cant give them any more per month (not what they are asking) and I certainly cant afford 10,000. But my dad said to see if they would accept 3K and he could help me out.

sorry to repeat myself, just not sure what to do next.

Im in litigation with these idiots at the moment, if your DN is the same as mine then its 21 days to remedy the DN from when you receive it.

That would make it invalid no date to remedy.

GG

Pay them nothing at all as they have no legal authority to any money off you.

Thank you Mr.Ton. but wouldn't that end up in court though as im bound by the agreement and I've defaulted on it ? so although they might not legal authority now, they could later?

I'd love to stop payments to these idiots. They are stressing me out good and proper, the debt has doubled in 4 years. Thats a relief to know that they have no legal authority over me.

but I'm just a bit worried that could lead me straight into court, which i'd like to avoid if I can.

Maybe its a scare tactic to get me to call them an re-negotiate monthly repayments.

The default notice is asking for the full 10K (as arrears) which somebody earlier on said that its not valid to do that.

I'm probably barking up the wrong tree, but I'm thinking at least if maybe I keep paying them something then maybe it might put me in a better position IF it gets taken to court, because they could see that I have been making efforts to pay and intend to pay.

One chap on here states he's in litigation with them, I'd much rather it not go to that stage and them keep accepting all I can afford to pay until such time as I can increase payments (not in the near future!)

i'll follow the advice given earlier to obtain the Subject Access Request and see what happens, hopefully some of the charges GE money has placed on me can be removed. (Not sure how i'd tell) but i'll wait and see what comes back.

Maybe then I can be in a better position to bargain with them.

The other thing I was thinking is maybe writing to them showing them Income & Expenditure showing them my dire financial situation and re-affirming that the amount I'm paying is the most I can afford.

And maybe if that gets me nowhere maybe offer them the full and final amount my dad will lend me 3K (of the 10K owing). I wouldn't mind if they dropped it to 5K and I paid 3K down and owed 2K, at least an end in sight for payments.

Anybody have any thoughts on the best course of action?

They would certainly threaten you with court etc...but they are unlikely to go there as it costs them money to do so.

You are not bound by any agreement..you are bound by the laws of the land which reside within the court/county court system....not in an agreement

Can you post up your Default notice

GG

Here is a scan of the default notice.

all this because i pay them less than the minimum payment, which I have stressed I cant afford!

default notice.pdf

Hi JJ

I have got the same DN its invalid no date to remedy!

They issued court papers to me 5 days after assigning the debt. They do not care about if you can pay or not American bank they go by their own rules.

But IMO if they terminate your agreement under that DN their claim will fall at the first hurdle.

Good luck

GG