My old mums 'bingo mate' heard about me claiming back my charges and asked my mum to call to see her to see if I can help.

I am so disgusted at the way she has been treated by the bank. She nearly had a nervous breakdown last year from all the stress. She is 79 yrs old, lives on her own in sheltered housing, has very few freinds as she has moved here from Yorkshire only a few years ago and is disabled so cannot get out much.

She got into difficulties with RBS and they slammed her with charges like I have never seen. She only had statements from 2 dec 05 to May 06 and they have hit her with over £ 3000 of charges !!!!! All her benefits were taken up by them and had no money to live on. She opened a bank with barclays and has the benefits paid into there now.

However, she ended up with £2363.20 o/d which the bank recalled in April 2006. It has now gone to over £3000 with interest although she is paying £25 per month off it.

It has been handed to Credit managment Services ( Part of RBS I think) and they are sending her all sorts of threatening letters. She is at her wits end.

What can we do to help her please?

I have sent off the SAR for her ( paid the £10 myself, I was so upset for her) Can I stop the credit people chasing her and can she stop payments?

Any halp would be appreciated

Now you have sent S A R and raised the possibility of penalty charges dispute, I believe you can phone the DCA and tell them the account is now in dispute and that they should stop calling and writing to the lady as you believe the bank is at fault and you will be dealing with the bank about it.

If they continue calling or are particularly threatening over the phone there is a letter you can send that might help http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/37006-harassment-telephone-response-letter.html although it will need adjusting..

Otherwise the process for reclaiming the charges is unaffected by the fact that its you doing it for her, you simply have to sign the MCOL/N1 as 'friend of litigant' or something similar...

Please click my scales if this has helped. ;0)

Depends on how much you want to be involved in this, but if you really want to get the stress off her, you could send a letter to RBS (from her) saying that you will be dealing with her account and that you should be given full access to any information you require etc etc.

That way you could stop all mail coming her way and get it sent to you. I guess if she's close to a breakdown, a break from all crap from RBS might be a relief.

Again, this does depend on whether you want to get involved that much.

When I claimed back charges on behalf of my friend I wrote all the letters in his name & he read them & signed them. He just passed everything he received onto me.

When it came to the claim stage I filed the claim online in his name but filled in the extra box with my details as correspondence address. All of the Court documents were sent direct to me & when I had to phone the court a couple of times there was no problem as I was named as representative.

It's just my opinion but I would not get the lady to formally give you permission to handle her affairs as this may cause problems later when the claim has been settled & you want to hand everything back to her.

Hi,

Thanks for your replies. I will handle all this for her as she is too scared now to deal with the DCA and the bank.

I feel so sorry for her and my heart really and truly went out to her.

My mum asked if I could help and I feel I should, she couldn't handle it on her own.

Kazaw, did the payment come to you as well? I don't want the payment going in her account to pay of these leeches as they have put charges on for their role in collecting the money, which needs to be sorted.

Can I stop the interest going on the amount as well? The £25 per month doesn't cover the interest on the £3000.

This is the sort of case that really makes my blood boil, don't suppose this poor lady would consider giving her stories to the paper would she?

Claim the interest back as part of the claim, there's spreadsheets to work this out for you.

Janquinny,

it will be in the paper and CAG will have a good mention as well!

I truly feel for this poor woman. It would be bad enough for a couple on benefits, but a frail old lady like this?/ I am gutted for her.

Where can |I find a template letter to send to the DCA to stop payments going out? And can I get the interest frozen?

Hi

Try sending this letter to the DCA whilst you sort out exactly how much is owing to your friend. This should give you at least 28 days if not longer. If the harrassment doesn't stop then please post again and I will try to help you further:

It has come to my attention that the debt alleged by ********* may contain a proportion of unlawful charges.

I have therefore sent a Subject Access request to ****** in order that I may examine my statements of account. A copy of this letter is enclosed for your records.

Please accept this letter as written confirmation that the account is “in dispute” until this matter is resolved. I am sure that you are aware of the Office of Fair Trading guidelines concerning legitimately disputed debts.

YF

What a terrible story - I will help out with your claim and dealing with the DCAs where I can

Thanks a million sarah,

I will send this off Monday. Do I not need to tell them to that she will be stopping payments and to deal only with me?

They should automatically either hand the file back to the original creditor or cease trying to enforce the debt for at least 28 days upon receipt of the letter. If you get anything back from them stating anything different, please let us know.

You could add a piece at the bottom

" I hereby grant authority to ******* in order that she may deal with this matter on my behalf. You may disclose personal details accordingly"

and also

"I am no longer willing to discuss this matter by telephone and require that all further communication is in writing"

(I only didn't put that last bit on mine because they didn't have my phone number)

Hope that helps

Thanks a million sarah,

I will send this off Monday. Do I not need to tell them to that she will be stopping payments and to deal only with me?

Sorry- forgot to mention. Please make sure you send the letter by recorded delivery (!)

will do thanks. Should I ask this credit mngmnt services also for a copy of the credit agreeement? I think she just rang them up and offered to pay £x per month. Would they have to give her a credit agreement?

That will be the next step if they don't either hand the file back or put it on hold after your first letter.

Hi Destiny, I've just heard about this. Truly awful. Publicity might make them focus on it. I think asking for a true copy of the signed executed contract or agreement is always worth doing. If you use the CCA template and send £1.00, they have to provide it within 42 days. If they cannot supply it, you have them in a corner. Worth a quid, I reckon. Sarah may have a better idea of whether this is worth doing, though ?

Not sure what other help I can offer at the moment. My department is spreadsheets, so I'll be glad to help with that when the time comes.

I'm subscribed to this thread, now.

Wishing you well,

Bill.

This was my CCA request:-

Consumer Credit Act 1974 s78 (1) Demand

Dear Sir/Madam

XXXX Account No: XXXXXX

Please supply me with a true copy of the signed credit agreement under which this account is conducted.

This is my right under your obligation to supply a copy of the agreement under the legislation contained within s.78 (1) Consumer Credit Act 1974 (s.78 (1)

for running – account credit).

Your obligation also extends to providing a statement of account.

I enclose a £1 cheque in payment of the statutory fee. This payment is not to be offset against the alleged debt under any circumstances.

As a member of the Consumer Action Group, I am aware that you are obliged to supply these documents within 12 days, under S189 of the

Consumer Credit Act 1974.

Yours faithfully,

Bill-k.

Encl: £1.00 Cheque no: XXXXX

Thanks everyone. I think I am going to need some help from the experts on here for this one. But............

I am determined to make these **** pay back every penny to this lovely dear old lady.

There are 4 accounts in question and one loan. Do I need a £1.00 for eahc one, or does the pound cover all of them like the SAR £10.00?

Can I get the creditor to pay her in a cheque instead of credtiting the account?

If you used the DSAR template, then I think you should be able to expect that to cover the copies of contracts, but I would be inclined to send them a separate CCA request for each of the loan accounts. I don't think current accounts are covered by the CCA, so rely on the DSAR for that. It may not be necessary, but for a quid a pop, it's more ammo, I reckon.

I would suggest separate requests, as it might be easier later on if/when they fail to supply and go into default.

You will probably get some more help here, later. I can hear the jungle drums !!!

Oh and thanks for the click, matey !!

Can I get the creditor to pay her in a cheque instead of credtiting the account?

You may find that when you have added up all of the charges and the interest (if you decide to go for contractual) RBOS owe your friend more than she owes them anyway. Whether cheques are sent out or balances credited is always a difficult one. They are very likely to credit the balance and then credit anything left over by cheque. Speaking personally, if it is the original creditor and the debt has not been sold on, I don't have a problem with that.

ps. just a small bit to add into Bill's excellent letter. After the bit about enclosing the £1 fee I always add "this payment is not to be offset against the alleged debt under any circumstances". I have seen several threads where DCAs have just credited the £1 and then played dumb about the request. Just a small point but, it may save you extra hassle.

Thanks Bill,

The 4 accounts are current accounts that she owes o/d on and one loan account

So, I realise the SAR will cover the charges ion the 4 current accounts but as she is paying them back at £x per month and there is interest going on the balance, I assume that this will be a credit agreement - or not?

If so, do I ask for a CCA for all 5 accounts?

ps. just a small bit to add into Bill's excellent letter. After the bit about enclosing the £1 fee I always add "this payment is not to be offset against the alleged debt under any circumstances". I have seen several threads where DCAs have just credited the £1 and then played dumb about the request. Just a small point but, it may save you extra hassle.

Thanks excellent piece of advice. Crafty little tinkers aren't they??

Thanks for that Sarah - I've edited that post to show the addendum. Good point. Destiny, it's a grey area I think, regarding whether or not O/D accounts are covered by the CAA. For an extra £4 it may still be worth it just on the off-chance. Belt & braces & all that.

I have had payments made directly into an account which had been closed. I told them that paying unlawfully deducted penalties straight back into the account may not be seen in a favourable light by a Judge. I received cheques eventually. I would demand payment by cheque, myself, just to make these wretched people grovel. Then pay them what suits you, when it suits you. But that's just me being grumpy !!!

When it comes to POC ask for a cheque.

Destiny I have PM'd you.

there's not much I can add to the brilliant advice you have been given by everyone here. there's just one thing though - isn't there a consumer right about stopping them from touching benefits income?

Thanks for looking in Bong, and yes, that's right - I believe there is an Act you can quote. If we can't find the quote, then I'm sure you can tell them that they are not supposed to deduct from benefits.

Bong'll probably be back with the Act in a tick, if I know Bong.

haha Bill!

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt/36790-bank-taking-your-benefits.html#post289030