Hi everyone,

I'm new to this forum and would be grateful for any advice.

My mother took out a Virgin credit card back in 2010, she suffered a number serious health issues, lost her job and could not afford the monthly repayment.

She continued to make reduced payments, until she was no longer able to afford these either. I carried on paying token amounts on her behalf over the last 5-6 years.

The debt was passed on to a number of DCAs but I continued to pay Virgin directly. Recently a letter was sent to my mother titled "change of Agency" from Arrow and one from Shoosmiths requiring a I&E form to be completed for "payment plan review".

My mothers health never recovered, to the point where I manage her finances, the only income she receives is ESA/PIP and I top up to pay the bills and rent.

If I fill out the form, her basic expenses significantly outweigh her income, so I'm very unsure how to approach this and would be grateful for any advice.

Thank you.

send them a CCA request

who says she even OWEs this money.??

don't forget a DCA is NOT A BAILIFF

and has

ZERO legal powers

this was a virgin MBNA credit card debt?

That’s correct.

Do I need to complete the I&E form from Shoosmiths in the meantime?

no send arrows a cca request

put them to strict proof they hold the legal paperwork to enforce the debt

and any other debts you/her are blindly paying to DCA's

retitlted and moved to the MBNA forum.

the debt has now been sold to a debt buyer DCA [arrows]

shoos are their pet solicitor.

just to check things 100%

the letter was not entitled letter of claim

was it?

Thank you.

No, the letter is titled “Payment Plan Review - Financial Assessment”

It also says that “ it is important that we hear from you within the next 7 days. In the absence of a response our client reserves the right to commence legal action.”

“The following payment options are available to you

1. Repayment of balance by an affordable payment plan

2. Consideration will be given to a discounted settlement figure”

Do solicitors have to deal with vulnerable individuals any differently?

in a way yes they do..

...but they don't care ..just want free money ..

but lets make them get their ducks inline first eh?

CCA request time!!

wont hurt to also send MBNA an SAR to get everything they hold too.

could be stuff to reclaim like PPI and penalty charges.

Send the CCA request off and they have to fulfil it to get anything from you. Their timelines are irrelevant. They wont have any paperwork on your debt. No DCA does until you request it. Of course, the DCA's know this and know 90% of people dont, so they get free money for sending out a few automatically generated threat letters that no actual person in the DCA office has seen.

Thanks for all your help everyone.

I finally received a letter back from Arrow Global.

It says “We are unable to revert to the original creditor to obtain the documents that you requested”

“We acknowledge that, until we are able to provide copies of the documents to you, your account is unenforceable. This does not mean that the account has ceased to exist, if we are provided with the relevant documentation at a future date, we will send copies to you. At that point the account will again become enforceable and we will then require your proposals for repayment. “

The debt is old and has fallen off the credit record already but what do I do now? Stop the payments? Propose a settlement?

I'd appreciate the forums guidance

Just ignore it now. You should have stopped payments 2 weeks after you sent the CCA.

At that point the account will again become enforceable

Umm no it wont, if other statutory reasons come into play But its just a threat to scare you into paying to make them go away for good.

You certainly wont be offering any settlement payment. They do NOT have the legal right to collect any debt on the account because they do not have the paperwork needed. They even clearly state the account is unenforceable. Breath a sigh of relief and forget about it now.

Its over. Done with. You won. They lost. Congratulations.

Thank you so much for your help!

should have stopped payment the days the 12+2 workings days time limit passed

never mind

another DCA cash cow removed from their milking parlour

glad cag could help

think about a donation because of all the potential money we've now saved you

keep us here to help others like you.

dx