Thanks guys! Have a great weekend.

Hi, We had another two letters in the post today, I've attached them below. One is from the HFC, short later, stating we have to call them or make the payment. Can I send a similar letter to one suggested above, about will NOT ring them, only prepared to correspond by letter or email? The other is from Santander loans, thanking us for our letter and asking us to call as they need to discuss. Same letter re. not prepared to discuss on phone? Thanks! santander loan rcvd 10910.PDF hfc rcvd 10910.PDF

Thanks. Amended draft to MBNA below: "Dear Sir or Madam, Re.: Account xxxx Further to your letters dated xxxxxx and xxxxxx. Please explain the logic of your letter dated xxxxxx. If I was already in financial trouble when I took out the agreement with you then it's surely even more important to help me when I ask for it? We are always told to not stick our heads in the sand, if we're in trouble just tell you, that you're here to help. Well - I am in trouble and I do need help. I thought the Office of Fair Trading and the Financial Ombudsman Service advised that cases such as mine should be treated with sympathy - not be ignored? I will not send any more cheques until you confirm you have accepted my proposal outlined in my earlier letters, which I deem you to have accepted by cashing my earlier cheques numbers xxx, xxx and xxx, each for £xx.xx being the revised affordable monthly amount offered by me in the letters outlining my proposals on xxxxxx, xxxxxx and xxxxxx, unless you return the payments already banked. Yours faithfully,""

Thanks. The reason for taking out the MBNA card was we needed to transfer a balance from a card that had started to charge a lot of interest (we've been constantly transferring amounts to interest free credit cards for several years now, but not getting anywhere with it, plus new emergencies happen. At the end of the day, we just didn't have enough income to cover outgoings! ) to another interest free (or actually I think it might have been low interest for the life of the balance transfer) card.

Thanks. And letter to Santander as draft below: "Dear Sir or Madam, Re.: Credit Card Account Number xxxx Further to your letters dated xx and xx, I deem you to have accepted my proposals by cashing my earlier cheques numbers xxx, xxx and xxx, each for £xx.xx, being the revised affordable monthly amount offered by me in the letters outlining my proposals on xx, xx and xx. Please confirm by return you do accept my proposal of £xx.xx per month with all interest and charges waived with effect from [first letter I sent with lower payments]. Further to my previous letters, I do not wish to correspond by phone. Written communication by post or e-mail is my preferred method of contact and I will NOT discuss the matter any further by phone. Yours faithfully," Thanks!

Thanks BD. Here's a new draft letter to MBNA: "Dear Sir or Madam, Re.: Account xxxx Further to your letters dated xxxxxx and xxxxxx. Please explain the logic of your letter dated xxxxxx. I will not send any more cheques until you confirm you have accepted my proposal outlined in my earlier letters, which I deem you to have accepted by cashing my earlier cheques numbers xxx, xxx and xxx, each for £xx.xx being the revised affordable monthly amount offered by me in the letters outlining my proposals on xxxxxx, xxxxxx and xxxxxx, unless you return the payments already banked. Yours faithfully,""

No, they were very short letters, MBNA just said they won't consider a reduced payment a we took out the card but never paid full minimum amount. If arrears pass 6 mths account will default. M&S just said we should act now as our credit rep. is at risk and that they want us to call them!

OK, thanks. Below is a revised draft letter to Santander cards: " Dear Sir or Madam, Re.: Credit Card Account Number xxx Further to your letters dated xx, xx and xx, I acknowledge receipt of the Default Notice dated xx demanding payment of the arrears within 14 days. I am not in a position to make the payment detailed as demanded within 14 days of the date of the Default Notice, i.e. before xx. Can you please clarify if this means the agreement is terminated as of xx (i.e. 14 days after the date of issue of the default notice) since if this is the case I will need to seek further advice from CCCS, CAB or other independent sources of advice. It is therefore important that you confirm my legal position regarding the termination or otherwise of the agreement as from the date from which I will have failed to comply with the demands detailed in the Default Notice. If you are NOT opting to demand the full outstanding balance and/or formally terminate the agreement at this point then please clarify this by return, along with confirmation of your acceptance of the proposal made by me in my letters of xx, xx and xx which accompanied cheque numbers xxx, xxx and xxx, all of which have been banked by you. If you are not prepared to accept my proposals then I do not see any point in our continuing with the agreement as I cannot afford to pay any more than I have offered (and have paid) over the last few months since my original proposal of xxxxxx. In such a case I therefore feel it would be best to let the Court decide whether to order that I should now have to pay you the total outstanding balance now being demanded by you or alternatively how much I should have to pay you on a regular basis, and for the Court to decide whether any further interest and charges should be levied or waived. Yours faithfully,". Thanks.

Thanks BD, I see what you mean, but MBNA haven't sent a DN yet - or so it seems, it is just a notice of arrears by the look of it. So shall I carry on with lower payments for them and send the letter re. I deem you to have accepted my proposals by cashing my cheques/ I have to admit it is very daunting to send a letter to Santander, telling them I'd like the court to decide this one! There is no way I could pay the total outstanding amount if I was ordered to do so! You are now going to tell me that won't happen, aren't you?! Re. sending off for CCA, both of these are new accounts (taken out this year and last year, so I presume it's likely they have CCA.)

We have received 2 more letters today, scans attached. Not sure that M&S had received our cheque at that point. Seems MBNA are replying to our letter. Do I just carry on as before? M&S card rcvd 9910.PDF MBNA card rcvd 9910.PDF

Hi BD, Below is a draft of a letter to MBNA, could you let me know if this is ok, if anything missing etc. Thanks. " Dear Sir or Madam, Re.: Account xxx Further to your letter dated xx, I deem you to have accepted my proposals by cashing my earlier cheques numbers xxx, xxx and xxx, each for £xx.xx being the revised affordable monthly amount offered by me in the letters outlining my proposals on xx, xx and xx. Please clarify if your letter dated is a Default Notice. Yours faithfully,"

Hi BD, Below is a draft letter to Santander, could you let me know if I've put in too much, too little, etc.! Thanks. " Dear Sir or Madam, Re.: Account xxx Further to your letters dated xxxxxx, xxxxxx and xxxxxx, I deem you to have accepted our proposals by cashing our earlier cheques numbers xxx, xxx and xxx, each for £xx being the revised affordable monthly amount offered by me in the letters outlining our proposals on xx, xx and xx. If you now wish to make a counter proposal then please do so in writing as I will not be ringing you. It is not necessary to speak by phone. Written communication by post or e-mail is my preferred method of contact and I will NOT discuss the matter any further by phone or by personal contact with any doorstep caller. Do not send a doorstep caller to my home as I will refuse them permission to enter my property. Any breach of this will be trespass and any refusal to leave my property will be Breach of the Peace and the Police will be called. I acknowledge receipt of the Default Notice dated xx demanding payment of the arrears within 14 days. I am not in a position to make the payment detailed as demanded within 14 days of the date of the Default Notice, i.e. before xx. Can you please clarify if this means the agreement is terminated as of xx (i.e. 14 days after the date of issue of the default notice) since if this is the case I will need to seek further advice from CCCS, CAB or other independent sources of advice. It is therefore important that you confirm my legal position regarding the termination or otherwise of the agreement as from the date from which I will have failed to comply with the demands detailed in the Default Notice. Yours faithfully,,"

BD, of course you can send the info re Santander DN to Vic, at least then I feel I'm helping others in some way here as well!

Thanks for your support Vic. I'm just worried about not doing the right thing or not replying in time or .... Am completely out of my depth and just don't have the time to read through all the threads on here that I want to! But I'll keep fighting and doing my best.

I'm trying not to panic, but feel like I'm in over my head now. Yes I told them already we wouldn't discuss on the phone but prefer to communicate in writing. I'll put together a letter and post it here for approval, if that's ok. I always get proof of postage but I think in this case I'll go for Recorded Delivery! If they do come knocking on the door, do I have to let them in? Are they likely to, has this happened to you? What would it mean if they terminate the agreement? That I have to pay everything back at once? Is this likely? Can they enforce that? I'm not sure either if it is a Default Notice , as it just said Notice of Sums in Arrears at the top of the letter. We have missed two minimum payments (although of course made the lower payments to them). Would they issue a default notice now or is that after 3 missed payments? Can they even count the payments as missed when we are making lower payments?! Thanks BD. On the ropes - is that a positive thing? I'll be back later today with some draft letters. Thanks VERY much.

I've attached the latest letters we've received, three of them arrived today, one arrived earlier this week (mentioned it above). All three letters from Santander Cards have crossed in the post with my letter. All the cheques I sent have been cashed APART FROM Santander Cards! I'm just wondering if I'm getting into even more dangerous ground now, do I need to reply to these? What will happen if I don't? I haven't sent any letters to anyone yet, since sending cheques to all creditors of lower payments. santander card 080910.PDF santander card 310810.PDF santander card 080910 2.PDF mbna card 080910.PDF

Yes, will do. All I've had in the past couple of days is another letter from Santander saying we've to ring them urgently regarding our letter! Obviously I'm not going to, will be ignoring it for now and writing at the end of the month with the next cheque. Or would it be better not to ignore their letter but to reply without a cheque but with the letter above about not treating us as they should?

Thanks for your help with the letter BD! That sounds much better. As I've just sent cheques for September, will it be ok to send this letter with the cheques I intend to send on 30th September for October's payment?

Thanks for putting it in perspective for me - I keep getting the urge to get rid of these people as quickly as possible, but of course can't do that, so it makes sense to pay as little as possible each month and to get them to freeze charges and interest. "To the Chief Executive Dear Sir or Madam, Further to your letter dated xxxxxx and my letters dated xxxxxx, xxxxxx and xxxxxx, I am again writing to request that you freeze all charges and interest, as I am in financial difficulties and under the Lending Code you are obliged to assist me by freezing interest and charges. You are not fulfilling this obligation. However, you have cashed the cheques I sent on xxxxxx and xxxxxx, which you should only have done if you were accepting my proposal. Another creditor who did not accept my proposal did at least return the cheques. I look forward to hearing from you. Yours faithfully" Sorry, this letter seems a bit clumsy. Is there anything else I should be saying? Thank you!!

Yes that makes sense. OK, I'll send above letters to stroppy ones where we owe small amounts (I'll post the letter here for checking first, if that's ok). But do I do that after I send a F&F offer or before? Thanks!

I've just written all the letters with cheques for September. These are all the charges that have been applied to the accounts so far (all recent): HFC loan - £5 administration fee for late payment (this company only one not to cash cheque I sent, but returned it to us). Santander card - charged £12 on 16/08/10, £12 on 16/07/10 and £12 on 17/06/10, all are late payment fees (they are cashing our lower payment cheques though). MBNA card - late default charge of £12 on 23/07/10. (cashed our cheque though). M&S Money credit card - late fee of £12 on 18/08/10 (cashed our cheques though). The others (Sainsburys loan and Santander loan) haven't applied any charges to the accounts - yet! Next are accepting lower payments and not applying charges or interest to my account. Should I change tack for the companies applying charges or should I just take this on the chin and keep sending lower payments (not going to get anywhere fast with repaying the amounts that way, though)? Re. M&S - we only owe them £460 or similar - can we make a full and final settlement offer for them yet or is it too early? Can I make F&F offers on any of the other small ones (Next and HFC) or is that more likely to be accepted after a longer period of time has elapsed? Thanks for your help!

I've just checked and the only reference number I have with CCCS is a web reference number which just gives access to the details I provided online. I've emailed them asking how to get a reference number that I can give to creditors, so will wait to hear from them. The web reference is all that is needed to access the online details with no password! Very insecure I know. Having said that, each time I have struggled to find where to enter this web reference to change my budget sheet and cannot find it at all today! No, I tell a lie I have just found it here: https://debtremedy.cccs.co.uk/start.aspx

Thanks BD. If I quote my CCCS number, does that mean they can access my budget, I&Es online - the number I have from CCCS is the one I use to log on with and gives full access to my figures, I'm fairly sure.

Thanks BD. By the way, at no time have I quoted my CCCS reference no. to any of my creditors, should I do so? Would it help in any way? I didn't realise CCCS are funded by the banks, presumed they were government funded in some way ...

Thanks BD. I'll carry on with payments and nice letters. IGNORE - KEEP SENDING SAME AMOUNT WITH NICE LETTER. BUILD UP A PATTERN OF THEM ACCEPTING YOUR PAYMENT ON YOUR TERMS. ALWAYS GET PROOF OF POSTING (FREE) OR SEND RECORDED. >> So I can send a letter to Santander loans as below? Thank you for accepting my proposals of XX/XX/2010 by accepting my payments of the reduced amount of £x per month on XX June and XX July (etc.). I now enclose cheque number XXXXX as the agreed payment for September as promised. You will recall that my offer was conditional on all future interest and charges being frozen and, whilst I know that by accepting such payments you have accepted my proposals and will have honoured this agreement in full on your part, I should be grateful if you would send me an up to date statement reflecting the freezing of interest and charges". Thanks.