One of my family has accumulated debts of £50k and had intended to use CCCS to repay them but the time taken would have been 13 years. I offered to make third party settlements (60%) to all of them a year ago but they all refused and since then have been dealing with the creditors as his authorised representative. Sadly only one of them has behaved as I would expect - thank you Capital One :-)

Towards the end of last year some of the creditors asked for a revised financial statement whilst others simply terminated the repayment agreement. MBNA were one of these and also showed that the debt had increased by 10% when they had stated in response to a previous complaint that it would be reduced to zero. This was resolved, all of the interest and charges were removed as a result of a second complaint so I suggested that the full & final offer should be repeated and was encouraged to do this.

I therefore sent an offer using the standard CCCS template (sorry it was on file) and was surprised to receive a phone call, the surprise was that it was directly to my family member. When I rang the 0800 number I was put through to Louise who informed me that the offer was acceptable, the amount owing on the card would be reduced to zero but the default would remain on the CRA for 6 years. After checking that I could afford to make the payment she was insistent that I pay immediately by authorising the amount from my debit card. I asked for the acceptance to be put in writing before payment.

Two days later, I received the letter which was for a partial settlement, there would still be 40% of the amount outstanding but MBNA agreed not to pursue the debt.

I rang and was told that full & final meant that the full amount had been paid and this was only a partial payment. Louise claimed that this was the only form accepted by their legal department despite my protests, I obtained the advice from Citizens Advice which confirmed the proper legal meaning and sent it off asking for their legal department to comment. The result was another direct call to the debtor asking for me.

The next phone call to them threw light on MBNA's practices as I went through three Louises before reaching the one I had previously spoken to. She dismissed the CitA advice as being merely a voluntary organisation with no credibility. I also discovered that they are a "telephone bank" so can't deal with letters so mine had been summarised and recorded on their system. This would certainly have explained why they did not use my phone number which was at the top of the letter. Louise was aware that Bank of America were getting out of the European credit card business - not surprising as there had already been redundancies where she worked. I was told that the only letters they responded to were complaints but that would only get back to her so it would go round and round in circles.

I have already sent Halifax a letter before action and am awaiting their considered response. I need to do the same to MBNA claiming breach of contract for failing to deal fairly with customers. However, I have discovered that MBNA are in breach of an OFT requirement dated December 2010 which prohibits them from making contact with a customer rather than the representative. I also believe that the initial phone call was a deliberately misleading inducement to make a part payment which I thought was a full & final settlement. Even their letter was misleading as it did not preclude anyone who bought their business (Virgin!) from pursuing the outstanding debt.

I am tempted to cite the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 as well as the FSA principle 6.

Comments please.

Thread moved to Legal Issues

This was posted on the MBNA heading as it is about their practices. There are legal questions that will be posted in the Legal issues but this was intended to caution others about MBNA's mode of working.

Apologies

You started the thread in the MBNA Successes forum and because you invited comments on legal aspects at the end then Legal Issues seemed to be the best place to get that feedback.

If you wish I will put it back in the correct MBNA forum but you may not get as much interest there.

ims

Good morning ims21,

I should be the one to apologise as I hadn't realised that it was posted in MBNA's Successes! I think it should be in MBNA Europe as there are similar threads whose concerns I share.

When I have worked out how to post in the proper forum I will put the legal parts on that forum. My concern is that CAG have stated that there is a statutory right for consumers to be treated fairly but that the FSA regulations do not confer the right for court action.

Thread moved to MBNA forum

Hi

So you are looking at the idea of BCOBS....have a read around about it as BCOBS does seem to give an individual a cause of action for unfair treatment

Maybe start some reading here

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/content.php

ims

Thank you yes, I have looked at both BCOBS and COBS and my understanding is that only BCOBS can be used as a basic for a legal claim but that only applies to banking and not credit. The FSA regulates the banking industry and OFT the credit side. COBS applies to both but does not give a basic right to a claim. More on the legal thread when I put it up.

I have been acting as a representative of one of my family members for a year dealing with eight accounts.

Some of the creditors have made life very difficult by failing to recognise the authorisation and charging interest so that the debt increases rather than decreases.

MBNA at on of the top three on the list for poor customer handling and I have made two complaints which have taken forever to get a response but eventually they waived the interest and removed penalty charges following the termination of the repayment plan.

As a third party I offered a lump sum in full and final settlement of their debt in a letter setting out my terms which included marking the CRF as satisfied in full.

Their response was to phone my relative asking for me claiming that they did not have my number

- they did it is an 0845 number printed at the top of my letter.

I did phone them back was was subjected to a high pressure technique to pay immediately after I had passed their "security" check. I was told that the amount on the account would be reduced to zero,

the account would be closed and MBNA would take no further action although the CRF entry would last for six years.

I then asked for the acceptance to be put in writing.

When this arrived it was only for a partial settlement and the remainder would still be on the account but MBNA would not pursue the debt.

I sought advice from a solicitor who confirmed my suspicions that this was a long way from my offer

so I phoned again to challenge their letter.

I was informed that I did not understand the meaning of full and final which could only be applied if the total amount was paid and that this was the only letter they were authorised to send out by their legal department.

I obtained the advice from Citizens Advice that clearly contradicted their view and wrote to them to ask for clarification by their legal department.

Again they phoned the wrong number and I was persuaded to ring them again because of their concerns.

Eventually when I was put through to the third person calling herself Louise I reached the original operator.

She was not interested in the content of my letter as MBNA are a telephone bank and don't deal with written communication.

For that I had to make a complaint but that would only get back to her and we would go round in circles.

At this point I gave up and drafted a letter before action but only after I discovered that Bank of America announced last August that they were pulling out of the European credit card market and that staff had already been made redundant as a result.

I also discovered an OFT requirement dated December 2010 that they must not contact the debtor when a representative is in place and that they shold also use written communications when requested.

I feel that MBNA's process to try to extract money under false pretences is illegal under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

Is this the only basis for a claim or can I use COBS and, if so, what is the statutory basis?

Can I just confirm that you DIDNT make payment to MBNA ?

No, I asked for confirmation in writing despite the oral assurances. When the letter arrived I tried to convince them that their interpretation of F&F was incorrect and did not pay.