Hi BRW They haven't shown me my agreement yet! If I send back the budget form offering token payments does that then prevent me from asking for the agreement or making any claims?

Hello all I have received a Income and Asset Expenditure form from MBNA here in South Africa. Have filled it in and am posting it off today. Have made an offer of token payments. If they accept the offer can I still send the SAR letter to claim back chaqrges?? Thanks:)

Well it seems things aren't quite as bad as they first seemed. HFC called me back yesterday evening like they said they would and said that they would restructure the loan for the two missed payments to be added at the end. That was a result for me as I couldn't have made the three payments before the 1st of June. When I spoke to them on Tuesday evening the guy didn't seem to think it was very likely that they would agree to restructure the loan so I wsa quite pleasently surprised to receive their call and a positive answer yesterday.

Hi Tiglet Thanks for the reply. I know they can add on charges for late payments but what I meant was can they charge me legally because of two late payments. I spoke to them yesterday evening and they are going to get back to me later today. They said I had to make three payments before the 1st of June to bring it up to date but I can't afford to do that. I know it's my fault that the money wasn't in the account on the right day on the two occassions mentioned but I can guarantee it has been in on time since January (the last time it was late) and will continue to be from now on. I have had the loan since February 2006 and had never ever missed a payment before. Hope they can sort something out. Do you think maybe they would accept me making the payments to bring the account up to date at a later stage when my financial situation has improved slightly? Thanks for the help:)

Hi everyone I recently joined the site for advice on an ongoing problem with MBNA. After a lot of advice had been given last week I began to feel a bit better and not so stressed. But now I have just been hit with a blow. I took a loan out with HFC Bank and currently I am abroad but money for the repayments was being put into my bank account for a direct debit that comes off on the 21st of each month. Yesterday I got a call from my dad at home in Ireland to say a letter had arrived from HFC saying that my account was in arrears by 501euro and that I had to contact them immediately to avoid charges. At first I couldn't understand what had happened and thought there must be a mix up but upon some investigation into my internet banking it would seem that on two occassions (last november and in january) the money was late going in to my bank account and therefore the direct debit was refused. I have to try and contact them today to sort it out but am wondering can anyone advise me as to whether or not they can take action or charge me? Please help!!

Hi BRW It has been encouraging reading the stories on here. There are countless threads of peoples encounters with MBNA that begin with desperation and then end up not being quite as bad as first seemed. I just wish I had known about this site before now and not buried my head in the sand for so long. But as always hindsight is a great thing. Can't think of the past though, have to deal with the present and go ahead;)

Another question........Is it only if MBNA fail to respond to my request that the account is in dispute? Or is it if they fail to give me the original agreement with terms and conditions?

Thanks so much BRW......You have been very helpful indeed:) Hopefully this will be the start of something good and MBNA can put up with some harassment now....see how they like it:D

Bingo.....BRW I have finally managed to find the information I was looking for on the site Home - Data Protection Commissioner - Ireland (for any other Irish users:)) It states Under section 4 of the Data Protection Acts, 1988 and 2003, you have a right to obtain a copy, clearly explained, of any information relating to you kept on computer or in a structured manual filing system, by any person or organisation. All you need to do is write to the organisation or individual concerned and ask for it. Your request could read as follows: Dear ... I wish to make an access request under the Data Protection Acts 1988 and 2003 for a copy of any information you keep about me, on computer or in manual form. I am making this request under section 4 of the Data Protection Acts. You should also include any additional details that may be necessary to enable the organisation to locate your record; e.g. customer account number, staff number, or PPS number (if you are writing to a public-sector organisation). When requesting some types of record, such as credit records or Garda records, it may also be useful to provide a list of previous addresses, previous names, and date of birth. You may be asked to pay a fee, but this cannot exceed €6.35. Once you have made your request, and paid any appropriate fee, you must be given the information within 40 days, although most organisations manage to reply much sooner. What if an organisation refuses to respond to my access request? If a person or organisation does not comply with an access request which you have made, it is open to you to make a complaint to the Data Protection Commissioner. The Commissioner will investigate the matter for you and ensure that your rights are fully upheld. The Commissioner has wide powers to investigate complaints made to him and will take appropriate action against any persons or organisation who is not complying with the provisions of the Acts.

Thanks again BRW for all the helpful advice. I'm trying to find out what the story is in Ireland. Firstly I want to request statements for the time I have had the card. I emailed the helpdesk at the link posted earlier for Irish Statute Book seeking advice on the procedure in Ireland and the cost but all I got back in reply was what seemed like some sort of autmated response to be honest saying the service doesn't cover the type of query I had:-| I have been looking around on the net for someone I can contact who can advise me on this. Could I ask MBNA directly about getting the statements and how much it is with SAR letter or would they just fob me off with lies? I also want to get a copy of the original agreement and terms and conditions that were stated when I took the card with them. Like I said BRW I have provided them with contact details for me here now. Am I being foolish in thinking they will now just stop harrassing my parents:confused:

Hi BRW Thanks for all the info and advice I certainly don't want any of my family members being harrassed but they have already sent a lot of letters to my parents house and called them. At one stage they were texting my mothers mobile phone. My mother is unwell at the moment and has been for a while. When I spoke to MBNA yesterday I gave them my number here and my address here and asked for them to stop calling my parents. It would be better albeit more time consuming for them to send mail to me here but I am not sure if they will do that. They said they would sent the forms for the budget to me here but what about all the other letters saying if I don't pay they will take further action. Giving them a soliciters address is a good idea but again would be better if that address were here in SA. As for the payment protection, I have been paying it and will pay it this month but from then it is cancelled as it is of no use to me. The last time I actually used my credit card was last July, so nearly a year. The late fees and interest and overdrawn fees have added hugely Am I right in thinking I can claim back late fees and over limit fees but not interest? Also can you claim back these charges from the entire time I have had the card? Thanks for all the help:) I should add I have made effort to make payments as and when I could and the account hasn't just been left with no payments made to it since last July

Have just had a look on the Irish Statute Book website. There was an email address for a helpdesk there so have sent off an email enquiring if there is a similar procedure in Ireland as in England and how much it would cost etc. The forms MNBA said they were going to send to me here are basically like a personal budget plan type thing. So they can see my incomings (very little) and outgoings and then decide on a reduced payment plan. Can I just make a suggestion of a token amount each month without filling this in? Would save time, rather than waiting for it to arrive here and then sending it back.

Hi there Main Man.....thanks for this link, will have a look now at this and see what the story is. Thanks to the others who have posted. There may have been nine posts in here yesterday but they were all me getting increasingly worried and desperate:( I did wonder if I could get a family member to act on my behalf receiving correspondence etc. Does anyone know if I can do this? It would be helpful as getting post sent here can take quite a while sometimes and vice versa when sending from here to Ireland. Maybe I was naive in thinking they were being so helpful:confused:

Have finally gotten through to them on the phone and they were actually quite helpfully. I was pleasantly surprised considering all the horror stories I have been reading about them. Told them I can't afford to pay what is owed at the moment and don't know when that will change. They are going to look at freezing the charges and have cancelled the payment protection cover as it was of no use to me and won't be anyway if I decide to stay in South Africa as it is only valid in Ireland. They said if I could make any token payments at all it would look better than not paying at all. They are going to send me some forms here in South Africa and cease calling the number of my parents house and only deal with me directly here in future.

I've tried searching for a similar website in Ireland but can't seem to find one. Does the help on here apply only to England? I don't seem to be getting anywhere