Hi All,

I've been paying Arden Credit Management for a few months now (after Moorcroft passed the debt on to them).

This was in relation to a Lombard Direct loan.

I've not been missing payments, but I get a letter every month, stating:

"We wrote to you recently to advise that payments are not being received in line with our request for you to commence repayment of the remaining balance. We now require payment from you."

I've paid by the due date and every time, I've requested the authorisation number for the payment.

I've seen in another thread that Lombard have ceased giving out loans. They do, however, send me a statement once a year and notified me in writing that Arden were taking over the administration of my account.

I am currently paying them £15 per month, although I'm on JSA. I'm going to phone them - I know everyone says don't, but I'm confident enough to do so - and inform them that the account is up-to-date and they should stop wasting their time, as I have proof of all payments.

I will then offer them a new repayment plan of £5 a month. If they refuse, this will be reduced to £2 a month and then put in writing. If they don't want to accept it, that's their tough luck.

My question, however, is this:

If Lombard have ceased trading (as stated by Cerberusalert in another thread) then presumably the debt has been bought by Arden.

Is it worthwhile me sending a CCA request if they refuse my payment offers?

I'm not trying to avoid paying, just trying to fight incompetent bullies, using their own tactics - I want to legitimately clear any debt owed, but I cannot afford to do it on their terms.

If the worst comes to the worst, I own no property, have no appreciable assets, no savings and my only income is JSA, so if they wanted to take me to court, my response would be, "Go on, then."

I have nothing to lose, but would a CCA request be a waste of time and what little money I do have?

Any advice gratefully received.

Thanks

Just phoned them and offered £5 per month, quoting their advice in their letter(s) saying to seek financial advice if my circumstances mean I'm unable to meet payment levels...

ME: "Why have I been getting these letters?"

MUPPET: "I really don't know sir, it seems to be automated."

ME: "I've read your notice on your letter and have sought advice regarding repayments. I can set up a standing order for £5 per month."

MUPPET: "That wouldn't be acceptable sir."

ME: "I'm on JSA, have taken advice and been told that's the most I should be offering."

MUPPET: "You MUST send an I & E sheet or we'll be unable to proceed."

ME: "I'm not obliged to do that."

MUPPET: "It's a requirement sir, without that, we cannot process your account."

ME: "Yes you can, and I'm not obliged to send one."

MUPPET: "I'm sorry, we can't."

ME: "In that case, I'll put an offer to you in writing then."

MUPPET: "That would make no difference, you need to send an I & E sheet."

ME: "In that case, I'll start by sending you a CCA request."

MUPPET: "Okay sir, goodbye."

Hmmm... Very helpful....

CCA request tomorrow morning then!

Just phoned them and offered £5 per month, quoting their advice in their letter(s) saying to seek financial advice if my circumstances mean I'm unable to meet payment levels...

 

ME: "Why have I been getting these letters?"

MUPPET: "I really don't know sir, it seems to be automated."

ME: "I've read your notice on your letter and have sought advice regarding repayments. I can set up a standing order for £5 per month."

MUPPET: "That wouldn't be acceptable sir."

ME: "I'm on JSA, have taken advice and been told that's the most I should be offering."

MUPPET: "You MUST send an I & E sheet or we'll be unable to proceed."

ME: "I'm not obliged to do that."

MUPPET: "It's a requirement sir, without that, we cannot process your account."

ME: "Yes you can, and I'm not obliged to send one."

MUPPET: "I'm sorry, we can't."

ME: "In that case, I'll put an offer to you in writing then."

MUPPET: "That would make no difference, you need to send an I & E sheet."

ME: "In that case, I'll start by sending you a CCA request."

MUPPET: "Okay sir, goodbye."

 

Hmmm... Very helpful....

 

CCA request tomorrow morning then!

Sounds like you had a very interesting conversation with their coffee machine.

I doubt they'd even be able to make a decent cup of coffee mate!

The trouble is that with these DCAs, if they actually listened to their "clients" instead of reading from a looped script, then they'd get much further. I want to pay off the debt, but they need to realise that I can't afford what they're asking if I simply haven't got it! Surely even the dimmest of DCAs must realise that £5 a month is better than nothing???

Maybe one day, there'll be a reasonable DCA - if that happens, then all others would go out of business.

Maybe one day, there'll be a reasonable DCA - if that happens, then all others would go out of business.

Sounds like you had a very interesting conversation with their coffee machine.

If you know any Douglas Adams books, you'll appreciate my comment more ref 'coffee machines'. They were just as annoying, just as automatic.

Hi All,

Arden Credit Management have been demanding unrealistic repayment amounts. I don't dispute that I owe the amount that they're claiming on behalf of Lombard Direct, but I do dispute the amount they say I should be paying.

Their staff have been obtuse and unhelpful, so I've adapted a letter by Harassed Senior and come up with the following:

Arden Credit Management

PO Box 15276

Solihull

B91 9PN

Dear Sir/Madam,

Account Ref: xxxxxxxxxx

With regards to my current “repayment arrangement” with you, I am in a position to be able to offer you no more than £5 per calendar month.

I own no property, have no savings or appreciable assets and rely on Job Seekers’ Allowance as my sole source of income.

I quote the Department of Work & Pensions, who state:

“You will be paid the sum of £65 per week, which is the legal minimum on which the Government believes you need to live on.”

During telephone calls, your staff have asserted that I am obliged to provide you with a personal statement of income/expenditure in order to put a repayment plan into place. This is, of course, incorrect.

I have been advised that this 'personal' information is just that - personal.

However, following the insistence of your staff and their claims that an income/expenditure statement is a requirement regarding this matter, I have obtained a Court orientated Income and Expenditure Form, to which, I understand, only a Court and/or Judge can legally have access, and filled in the details required therein.

Following the revelations about my financial status that completing this form brought to light, I would like to thank you and your staff for pointing me in the right direction regarding my legal rights.

From this information it is obvious that I currently have no disposable income.

It has been suggested that, following discovery of this situation, a County Court Judge would, in all probability, order that I can afford no more that £1 per month to each and all creditors, which of course includes you.

Therefore, I would formally request that you supply me with the relevant information/documents necessary for me to set up a standing order to continue paying instalments towards the amount owing on the above account.

Please note that I have no intention of avoiding any legally claimed repayments on the above account, but I firmly believe that my offer of repayment is just and fair, considering my current circumstances. Should these circumstances change, I will, of course, notify you as soon as possible to arrange repayment at a higher monthly amount.

Yours faithfully,

Halibutt

Many thanks to Harassed Senior. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I should take out of the above or maybe add? Is this a good template for the unemployed to use when bullied by DCAs?

Thanks in advance for any input.

H. x

you say you dont dispute the debt, but have you checked that this lot have the right to collect? ALSO in your circumstances i would offer them £1 a week, cause good chance that is all a judge would make you pay

Thanks PGH, but it's clear that Arden are acting on behalf of Lombard. Lombard have also kept to the letter of the law in as much as they've sent regular statements and notified in writing of who would be administering the account.

I'm thinking that if they refuse the £5 a month (which I'm sure they will) then I'll offer them £1.

I really don't care if they want to take me to court - I can't lose what I honestly don't have. In fact, in some ways, a CCJ would be doing me a favour... my credit rating will never be properly repaired, I'm never going to apply for credit again and have no way of getting a mortgage.

your call, but I would make them prove they have the right to collect especially as they are being arsy with you

Thanks for the suggestion PGH, but I'm absolutely sure that Lombard have all the correct paperwork and they've been very careful to supply a default notice (worded and dated correctly) an annual statement of account, including all payments made, etc. I'm pretty sure they have a valid CCA as well.

But, on to the good news... Arden have sent a very amicable letter, complying with all my requests and agreeing to a token payment of £1 per calendar month.

My impression of them from the awful attitudes and ignorance of their call centre staff was that they were appalling, but at least in their written communications, they have actually proven to be quite considerate so far (maybe the way the letter was worded had something to do with it - thanks Harassed Senior!)

They've also kept to my request for no further telephone contact - which is more than other DCAs have done!

The ongoing saga...

I received the following from Arden, agreeing to accept £1 pcm. My offer was ongoing - not for just three months.

I completed the standing order form and sent it to my bank, though with reservations as the info fields weren't completely clear. As a "belt and braces" precaution, I phoned Arden and explained that I wanted to pay £1 that day just in case there was anything wrong with the Standing order request. That was 17th November 2010. They happily took my £1 and said they'd be expecting regular payments on the 28th of each month as I'd stated.

This was their letter:

As I'd feared, the bank returned my standing order form, saying that parts were not completely clear and could I clarify. I did this and sent the Standing Order back to the bank, who have now accepted it and said they'd commence payments from December. Glad I paid Arden in November by phone, or they might whinge that I hadn't kept to my agreement...

Received this from Arden:

Muppets. They're wrong - payment plan was adherred to - paid 11 days early... You'd think they'd have the professionalism to correctly record all transactions. I've got the authorisation number for the payment too. They say they record calls, so come on Arden, have a listen back to what was said - full explanation there!

Today I received the following threat-o-gram:

My reaction is simply to leave the standing order going and file the above under "ignore". I just wanted to check if anyone had any other thoughts on this please.

I'm posting everything in this whole story, in the hope that it may benefit others in the future.

My thanks as always.

H. x

Definitely ignore, 'could' be a 'cross-over' letter, but so long as you can prove regular payments they would have a tough time in front of a Judge.

Best Wishes for Christmas HS

Ps have sent a PM

Thanks HS. Pretty much as I thought. Not received PM yet, but I'll check later. Have a great Christmas!

H. x

Definitely file it. It will either be a cross over in the post, or a computer generated threatogram in which case you may get more of them. File them away. You have proof they have accepted your offer so nothing to worry about.

Thanks Tingy.

I think it was just computer generated as they had a good ten days between the last two letters.

It was a nice feeling this morning when I opened the envelope and just thought, "Is that it?" Previously I'd have been really worried and assumed that I'd done something wrong. Since finding CAG, my attitude and knowledge have changed and I haven't had a bad night's sleep since.

Thanks to all

Halibutt - I've been in serious debt for a good few years. I used to be physically sick (literally) before the post came I was so terrified of the post. I can honestly say that nowadays I look forward to it.

Hi Halibutt

I think it's computer generated. I have numerous telephone calls (even letters) where they say 'you will receive threatogram xyz but please ignore it'.

They don't like £1 p.m. so just press the nearest button.

Thanks for your support at the start of my fight-back.

love

vic

Thanks Vic. Your support is, in turn, also much appreciated. I know they don't like £1 a month, but they have no option. Might they take me to court? Go on then... see what happens. I have nothing for them to take!

I'll update this thread as and when there's anything to report.

Thanks Vic. Your support is, in turn, also much appreciated. I know they don't like £1 a month, but they have no option. Might they take me to court? Go on then... see what happens. I have nothing for them to take!

 

I'll update this thread as and when there's anything to report.

I learnt a long time ago not to worry about what they might do, as more often than not they don't so you've been having sleepless nights over nothing. If they take further action, post it up and we'll deal with it. Until then don't worry about what might happen as it probably won't!

As people often say that they'd like to know what's happened with various cases, here's the current situation with mine. It looks like they are either incompetent, trying to harass me into phoning them or both!

Letter from Arden to say I don't have an agreed repayment plan:

And my polite but slightly withering reply (including pointing out their typo and their apparent ignorance...) stating that I do have an agreed repayment plan:

Latest episode in this incompetent fiasco...

My proposed reply:

Sarah Powell

Arden Credit Management

PO Box 15276

Solihull

B91 9PN

Dear Ms Powell,

Account Ref:

I refer to your letter of xx January 2011, the contents of which have been duly noted.

I am very concerned at your apparent reluctance to acknowledge my correspondence with you, regarding the above account. All letters have been sent via Royal Mail Recorded Delivery at my own expense and accordingly, signed for by your staff as having been received.

To date, I have kept to the repayment plan, to which you agreed in writing in your letter of xx November 2010.

I hereby give you notice that should you continue to write, erroneously asserting that no payment plan has been agreed, I will have no alternative but to invoice your company for my time and expenses incurred when formulating and sending replies to such letters.

I am sure you will agree that the continuation of your current policy of harassment would not be advantageous to either party whilst I am adhering to the current agreed repayment plan.

Future invoices will be broken down as follows:

Time taken to formulate response:

£25.00

Postage costs per item by Royal Mail Recorded Delivery:

£01.15

Printing costs per A4 sheet:

£00.15

Photocopying costs per A4 sheet:

£00.10

Total minimum charge per response:

£26.40

Please note that I have retained copies of all correspondence, both sent and received, including Post Office receipts, proofs of delivery and statements of receipt of amounts by the Original Creditor – RBS/Lombard Direct, which, to date, includes acknowledgement of the first instalment submitted in my repayment plan.

I therefore expect no further correspondence from your company, unless it is:

• Your written acknowledgement and acceptance of the content of this letter
  
• Correspondence regarding information that you are legally obliged to supply whilst dealing with the above account
  
• Periodic review of the existing repayment plan
  

Please treat this letter as urgent.

Yours sincerely,

Halibutt

Any thoughts please, fellow CAGers?Anything I should add or omit?

Thanks for your continuing support.

H. x

Hi Halibutt

This is highly reasoned, restrained and nicely phrased; I wish I'd written it (but I will, I will...)

x

vic

Thanks Vic x

I couldn't help but reiterate the sentences with which they started and ended their latest missive. Cheeky, but appropriate!