Hi everyone,

I'm looking for a bit of help if possible for my daughter's bf.

English isn't his first language, so I'm attempting to help him out.

He had £3000 in his bank account two years ago, he banks with RBS.

He took out the money through the post office.

It turns out the bank had made a mistake and the money wasn't his.

He had no overdraft facility arranged either.

The bank wouldn't accept a payment arrangement and, according to their letter

they 'passed account details to AIC'

He didn't reply to any corespondance from AIC and now his account details have been passed on to Fredriksons.

He has made a repayment plan with Fredriksons, to begin at the end of this month, for £16/per month,

however, as this is a direct debit, I'm sure it won't be long until they change the amount,

and I advised him to go to his new bank on Monday to cancel it.

Now, obviously, we can't ask for a CCA as there won't be one, and I've seen on the forums that these discounted offers (which this is from Fredriksons)

mean the debt is on dodgy ground.

The debt is in fact RBS' fault surely, as they allowed the post office to pay out money that shouldn't have been in his account in the first place,

although he is willing to pay it as he doesn't want people banging on his door or a trip to court.

I'd just appreciate any advice on what steps to take.

Thanks

Gem.

Why is he paying a DCA?

Especially a lowlife such as freds?

Stop that direct debit and pay the OC.

If the bank doesnt own the debt still, you need to be finding out why.

NEVER blindly pay a DCA a penny.

You state that you have had a discount letter from freds?

That DD must get cancelled NOW.

You are being cash cowed.

Has he been offered a discount, though, or just terms to allow him to settle the whole sum over a period of time?

RBS may have credited his account in error, which is a mistake, but you can't really claim it is wrong they

"allowed the post office to pay out money that shouldn't have been in his account in the first place".

He had a positive balance (even as an error by the bank). It isn't erroneous to allow someone to draw on such a balance.

Yes, the bank credited the account in error, but equally he can't claim "I thought it was a gift from the bank".

One would normally notice an extra three grand being in your account, and the correct thing to do if it is unanticipated is to query it with the bank :

the fact he withdrew it and spent it would suggest he knew it was a bank error and wished to capitalise on their error.

However, if he was expecting a payment and had reason to believe it was his money it would strengthen his position (as well as being a defence if he was prosecuted for taking it!). Were there any such circumstances?.

Regardless of the motives, he still shouldnt be paying a DCA. If the debt is sold, then no payment is made until the exact circumstances of the debt are known.

yes must concur

in this instance it needs a full investigation.

pers i'd sar RBS

get all the info.

its 'interesting' there is a discount on offer'

this points to 'something' being 'wrong'

it maybe, this is the way that the bank has decided to deal with the issue.

however, spider sense tells me there is more to this than meets the eye.

yes the bank made a foopar, but, they are under no obl to offer to ''help' the OP.

we need and he needs to get the facts by SAR.

bottom line, push away the DCA's, yes

deal directly with the bank

can you get him to get his cra file please too

dx

Thanks for all the replies.

I've told him to go into his bank on Monday and cancel the DD (I only found out about this today, so couldn't advise him to not deal with DCA before).

Not sure about who owns the debt at the moment,

I believe it's the bank still,

as they sent the original letter saying they had passed his detials onto AIC,

and then sent the other stating passed on to Freds...not sold on.

It is definitely a discount letter (he'll be paying back 55%)

Bazza...yes,

he had a payment sent to him from abroad,

he'd withdrawn a large amount a few days before,

and when he checked his balance and saw that amount,

it seems he assumed he'd been sent more than he originally thought.

Yes, maybe you or I would have thought about checking a bank statement rather than just the balance,

but he didn't,

he assumed the payment he was sent by his family was larger than he'd expected.

It was a genuine mistake by him after a genuine mistake by the bank.

...so yes imo it's their fault and they should have allowed him time to repay them,

but they wouldn't enter into a repayment agreement, passing his details on pretty much as soon as he told them he couldn't repay it in one installment.

No-one is saying he shouldn't pay it back, he is more than willing to, at an affordable rate,

he doesn't know about DCAs in this country, so made the arrangement with Freds out of ignorance

(there are plenty of English people making the same mistake as that daily!)

He has never, (and neither did I) made any reference to it being "a gift from the bank" .

So SAR the bank, okay, will get onto that.

What are we looking for on his credit file though?

It's not a credit agreement.....

Gem

Discount letter = bad debt. Plain and simple. If the DCA is only acting on behalf, then why on earth did he set up a DD with them? If the debt still resides with the OC, then payment is ONLY to be made direct to the OC. Nobody else.

Discount letter = bad debt. Plain and simple. If the DCA is only acting on behalf, then why on earth did he set up a DD with them? If the debt still resides with the OC, then payment is ONLY to be made direct to the OC. Nobody else.

I asked him the same question, to which he replied "the bank said they will only accept full payment" so he thought he HAD to deal with them...until I told him otherwise.

The discount letter was the reason I posted, I've read so often that these are usually sent when the debt is questionable. I know he owes them money but that just set warning bells ringing in my head.

The bank will say that, but they are governed by OFT guidelines which state that if he cant pay it, then they have to agree to a repayment plan.

As already suggested, the next step is to ignore the DCA's and get a SAR to the bank.

if it a debt it will still show.

dx

if it a debt it will still show.

 

dx

I see, thanks for that.

Will get onto the SAR and come back when he has a response from RBS.

Thanks for the advice so far

Gem

it will be interesting if it does show.

obv you and I are 2nd hand here

but scanning up all the leters

or atleast giving us and idea of what the BANK have previously sent & said will be useful.

you [he] can totally ignore ANYTHING a DCA writes in THIS INSTANCE.

and esp DONT converse on the phone

it might be an idea for him to cancel the D NOW - by his internet banking portal or via their 24/7 phoneline.

then WRITE to the bank SPECIFICALLY stating they are NOT to honour any payments to XYZ DCA.

without HIS written consent.

dx

I'll get as much from him as I can/he has, dx, and get it scanned for your perusal.

It is difficult dealing 2nd hand with this, to be honest,

it's not made any easier by the language barrier!

I've been trying to explain to him,

he thinks I'm trying to find a way out of him paying, which isn't what he wants!

I think I have managed to explain I just want him to only pay what he should, and to the right people,

lest the 45% Freds aren't asking for atm come back and bite him on the rear with another DCAs teeth in a years time!

Gem

45% something is very wrong withte debt here.

quite honestly I cannot see a bank 'allowing' someone to say have £3k of someones else money

then only wanting £1500 back.

something smells

the story must have holes we've yet to fill in.

dx

Isn't there usually a limit at the post office as to how much per day?

 

Bazza...yes,

he had a payment sent to him from abroad,

he'd withdrawn a large amount a few days before,

and when he checked his balance and saw that amount,

it seems he assumed he'd been sent more than he originally thought.

 

Yes, maybe you or I would have thought about checking a bank statement rather than just the balance,

but he didn't,

he assumed the payment he was sent by his family was larger than he'd expected.

 

It was a genuine mistake by him after a genuine mistake by the bank.

 

Gem

If he was expecting £5000+, and £4-5000 arrived, and then £3000, it isn't an unreasonable error.

If he was expecting £2-3000, and £2000 arrived and then another £3000 .... It isn't unreasonable to say "alarm bells should have been ringing"

The bank will be aware of this, and the FOS's views.

They'll have seen the pattern of transactions.

Roughly how much was he expecting and roughly how much arrived before the 3k?

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/87/87-banking-complaints.htm

No idea about limits at the post office, nor indeed, how he took it out as he isn't here.

I know I took £600 out of PO last week when I got mums pension for her, but that's a different type of account.

Gem

Firstly, I'd like to apologise for not updating info as promised, my mother has recently been diagnosed with alzheimers and had a rapid decline at the same time, so my life has been consumed with her and her difficulties.

I went into the bank with my daughters bf, and got him to enquire about why a dca had been brought in when the account hadn't yet been closed and he'd offered to make payments directly to the bank.

The manager we spoke to said the repayment offer wasn't acceptable, although once I pointed out that the OFT says that creditors cannot refuse a debtors offer of repayment, the offer suddenly became acceptable ( I think showing the dca letter offering of 55% reduction of a debt the bank still own might also have had something to do with it!).

So he is now paying the bank direct.

Thanks for the advice and info given.

Gem

get all the statement by SAR

don't pay ant penalty charges

something smells

if a discount has been offered

dx