I really wonder why they have to carry out a credit check to settle early? Anyone able to answer that..

Well if you can settle that low then it is excellent news and I would proceed, however you must make sure you get this is writing. I've heard of people doing this before over the phone and then the next month the debt collection department start ringing.

Get this in writing and go for it. Then claim the charges back later

Cheers

Had a look at your other thread and I'm very sorry to hear of your brothers problem and not surprised that these bastards are attempting to make him pay what he can't afford.

Ok a few things,

Have you ever let the bailiff into the house?

I'm assuming the bailiff is calling due to the CCJ being issued have you phoned the court and asked them when the warrant was issued, the court is waiting for your N245 i'm very surprised they have sent a bailiff out?

Which Bailiff company is it? Usually has the name on the letter they put through the door.

As was said in the other thread send off for the charges asap. This will put the debt into dispute.

Golden rule here. Never let the bailiff in!

Dear Sirs,

I write in respect to account #xxxxxxx which your company is attempting to levy distress on behalf of CL Finance. As your bailiff has already been informed I cannot afford to make the demanded £125 pcm payment demanded and have submitted my N245 to the court showing this to be the case. I am awaiting the Courts response.

I would also like to make you aware that I have requested a copy of all my statements relating to the above account from your client with a view to reclaiming all unlawful charges added to the account.

Please note this debt is now in dispute and as such your actions must cease immediately until both the dispute is settled and I receive instruction from the court.

I would also like to note that your actions are causing undue stress to my brother (whom I am representing) and only adding to his disabillity problems. This is not in good moral standing and will be reported to Trading Standards.

As you are aware I do not have to let you gain entry to my property of which you are required to peacefully and as such it is in both of our interests that your actions cease.

Yours Faithfully

Don't know if that will work but maybe worth a go.

Do MBNA still owe the debt or have they sold it to a DCA yet? If MBNA are still in control of the debt then I highly doubt they would settle that low anyway (if at all).

My advice, Get the charges from MBNA back. Leave the charges returned from Barclays for now and then add these together and offer them it. Although this probably won't be accepted you will have paid back a hugh ammount you owe.

Send a letter to the Council and state that due to Harrasment you are asking that they recall the debt from the bailiff company so as you can pay them directly and avoid any further stress resulting from the actions of the bailiff company.

Explain to the council that should there bailiff attempt to call again you will have little choice but to in the first instance contact the police as he is acting unlawfully by attempting to extort monies out of you you simply do not have, and secondly report him to the local papers to raise peoples awareness of the companies disgusting behaviour.

Explain that you have been paying on time and to the arranged agreement which will only change as your circumstances do. Inform the council that you are not avoiding payment and never have done (thus you cannot and will not go to jail) and that it is after all in your interest as well as theres to get the amount owed cleared as soon as possible and at the moment £100 is the most you can afford.

I was also threatened with Jail and one call to the council explaining the above had the debt returned to them and they were alot more willing to deal with me.

If he does try and call again either don't answer the door or call the police and just simply tell them you are scared he might try and break in.

Also if you were by yourself and the bailiff was male he should have a female police officer with him.

The Bailiffs must provide you with a breakdown of costs and also a statement of showing the ammounts added to your account so yes by all means send them the S.A.R.

The Council will have set figures as to how much a bailiff can charge per visit and they will only be able to try a couple of times before having to return the debt to the council.

If the costs the bailiff has added and the ammount the council says they can charge don't match then send them the prelim.

Sometimes it can be good to copy all letters to the council just keeps them on there toes.

Cheers

The DWP Payment should not have been taken this is the money the government decrees you need to look after your child and none of it is spare to repay debts. I have heard of someone who managed to get the DWP to pull these funds back from the bank and then sent it in giro form. I agree that wages the bank can use to offset but not the child tax credit, and anyway I would of thought they would have to clearly inform you of their intention to do so?.

When you contact the DWP about the crises loan explain that because of the bank you will not be able to buy essential things for your child and ask them if they can reclaim the money from the bank.

Wescott are Debt Collectors and other than in the sense that they either buy the debt from T Mobile or they attempt to reclaim it on behalf of T Mobile they are not the same company.

If T Mobile do send this debt to Wescott they are likely to register a default which will affect your Son's credit rating, the ammount is reasonably small and if settled quickly won't adveresly affect it.

I'm afraid I also don't really know how T Mobile operate with arrears but £50 per month for a £400 debt seems very reasonable to me I'm not sure why they would need to send this to Wescott.

As for not advising him on the tariff you might be able to claim this again i'm not really sure and someone else will certainly be better informed. If you do start getting letters from Wescott then simply offer them the same as you did T Mobile (providing he can afford this). They are very unlikely not to accept this. Read around some more the procedures are very simple (sorry can't post them now have to go back to work soon), if they have added charges to the account then you can claim these back and may also mean that a Default can be avoided.

You really need to get this back with the council and by the sounds of it you will have a good case to do so. Unfortunately the ways the system works you will have to pay (can be a very little amount a month) until the dispute is resolved and then you will get a refund.

Phone the council's recovery department explain the situation and if needs be site the regulation given in Terminators reply.

Explain to them that this issue has already caused you alot of stress and having to deal with bailiffs will only add to that.

If you can make payment via the council's website / telephone payment system of the amount you can be each month (this can be used as a first installment).

Explain to the council that you have done this as an act of your commitment to repaying even though you dispute the amount.

Not all council will accept this payment. I was lucky mine did and it helped when it came to arranging a plan with them.

If the council refuse to speak to you as the debt is with the bailiff company then you will have to wait I'm afraid. This is not as bad as it sounds the bailiff will try to call but just ignore him (they won't try for long) and if you do speak to them tell them you are not going to let them gain peaceful access to your property and as such it is within there interest to return the warrant to the council.

Number one rule as has been stated many times is do not let them in the warrant will be returned.

The Bailiff watchdog are very good and will help you with the fees which unfortunately i'm not to learned about. You are entitled to a break down of costs and I'm certain a copy of the account showing costs applied etc.

I know it can be very frustrating am in exactly the same boat with a long time left to run. Yeah BT often want £50 up front or something I was lucky to sign up before my finances changed wouldn't get one now. You don't have long to run but you want the credit files so you can checked that the CCJ has been marked correctly.

Things like a CCJ which is satisfied won't affect your ability to rent a house I doubt but will for a mortgage, I'm guessing if you want to try for a mortgage your bank is the best bet as they won't only use credit score and will look at the account history as well in order to make a judgement.

Its a real pain and something which for many is just an ongoing struggle.

The CCJ will still be on your file this will be causing you the problems. Have you cleared the debt you owe?

If so it is my understanding that the CCJ will still remain (marked as satisfied however) on your file for 6 years.

CCJs do badly affect a credit score and your credit reports will highlight this. Obtain them from all 3 agencies. Check for defaults which presumably would have occured before the CCJ.

Contract phones can be very strict have you had problems getting something a BT line or Sky used to Credit check?

Different things allow different credit scores 3G used to be the lowest check. I had bad credit and was accepted for one.

Uninhabitable properties are exempt from Council Tax (as far as I'm aware) and surely the property could be classed as such? I'm no expert either I'm afraid and probably the best people to see are Shelter or CAB on this. I have seen them about housing before and they were able to give me a list of things which makes a house uninhabitable ours was extreme dampness and they moved us two days after I saw the CAB.

Firstly I wouldn't want to stay there either and what you did is far from silly or trivial, the council actually have a duty to provide housing that is free from what you have mentioned and so they are at fault.

Do not be bullied by the bailiffs and do not let them into your house! If they do not gain access they will return the warrant to the Council (this just happened to myself).

I understand your point and reasons for not paying it but until the council do it is probably best that you start paying a little a month (they will refund what you have paid should they finally see sense). Contact the council and say that you are continuing to dispute the amount owed however you realise that until a verdict is reached you will pay xxx a month but should the dispute be resolved in favour of you they will be liable to pay it back and compensation for the stress levied on you. Make this realistic if it's only £1 then only offer this.

The bailiff told me I would be going to jail if I didn't let him in etc, this is rubbish and when I informed the council of this they weren't to happy and took the name and mobile number of the bailiff in question and said they would ring me when they had taken action against the bailiff. If you recieve threats like this do the same.

I would also consider taking the council to court and going public with it. Wait until the bailiffs are off your back and then seek advice through a lawyer or the such (many offer free consultation and if you don't earn much legal aid is availiable there is also a 24 hour phone number for those of legal aid but I can't find it atm but will try to for later).

If i were you i'd call the police, and take advice. This sounds very suspicious as far as I'm aware the court can't grant a CCJ against someone at the age of 16 simply because the minimum age for gaining credit (DWP lones for young parents aside) is 18?

Ok lets get a view little things cleared up firstly have you in the past 6 years made any acknowledgement of the debt or have they tried to contact you? For example by sending you letters or by you paying the debt? Telephone calls etc.

Plenty here will have had experience with Aktiv Kapital I'm sure so theres no need to worry these are usual bullying tactics.

The most important thing is not to acknowledge this debt until they have proved that it is yours (they will need to provide an agreement signed by yourself I'm not sure what this will be for an overdraft).

If there has been no communication about this debt in the last 6 years then (as was said by GC66) it is barred and will not be enforcable.

As has been said Never communicate with these people by telephone if they keep calling send the letter about harassment:

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/37006-harassment-telephone-response-letter.html

I will send that recorded later today. probably a good idea to attach another notice to stop all phone calls.

I don't hold my breath they have never replied to me before now so I doubt they will this time. I'm actually holding out for the CCJ as all I want to do is pay the amount at a rate I can afford.

Well despite my posts many months ago about trying to get MBNA to agree to a repayment plan and stopping harassment by telephone they are still having none of it.

I recently moved address and did write to them to inform them of this but much like almost all of the letters I send MBNA they don't have any trace of them.

Now they're attempting to get hold of me at my parents address. I'm guessing they go this from looking at my previous address on the application I filled out? Not that I've lived there for 4 years.

I am about to send this letter to them could any one tell me what they think:

Dear Sirs

I write for the second time to inform you of my change of address and would like you to update the records on my account accordingly.

Previous Address

xxxxx

xxxxx

xxxxx

xxxxx

xxxxx

 

I would also like to inform you that despite 4 attempts now your debt management department has not wrote to me regarding a repayment plan for the balances I owe you on my loan and Credit Card account, this is despite me providing a copy of my income and expenditure along with Pro rata offers for repayment, which has once been acknowledge but a letter following asking me to again send the details.

Furthermore I would like to point out that despite my letters you are continuing to contact me by telephone at work, this is not acceptable and I have already stated to you that all telephone calls must stop as they are harassment and therefore in contradiction of common law (administration of justice act).

Seeing as you have an inability to respond to me in writing and cease all phone calls I have had little choice but to refer this to Trading Standards who are now investigating.

I have also purchased recording equipment and all further calls either from yourselves or your representatives will be a criminal offence and again reported to trading standards / the police.

Please note it has been 4 months now since I first informed you of the financial difficulties I was in and you have still not agreed nor responded to my offer for repayment. You have (on many occasions) abused my rights to be free from harassment and to assist me in repaying the debt I owe in times of difficulty. This has led to a very serious impact on my mental health which has been recorded and should the situation not change will be used in court action against MBNA.

If we cannot come to an agreement then I would ask you to apply for a CCJ against me in a court of law. As you will be aware the court will then view my income and expenditure and set a repayment amount.

I have also sent a letter directly to Michael Rhodes whom has not replied to me, this is not good business practice and will again be forwarded to Trading Standards.

I await your response.

Yours Faithfully

Any views would be welcome.

Cheers

Many thanks for all your help I've drafted a letter which I will send recorded to the council today. I'd be happy with any thoughts:

Dear Sirs,

I understand that you have recently placed the Council Tax arrears collection I owe with a Bailiff. Please note that I find this action unnecessary and am perfectly willing to pay the arrears at £10 pcm. This figure has not been derived lightly and represents the amount I can afford to pay. If required I can provide you with an income and expenditure sheet showing this is to be the case.

I have already made the first instalment as a gesture of goodwill and will continue to do so monthly on or before 5th of each month (if required I will set up a standing order to guarantee payment).

I did initially offer the bailiff £10 per month which he ceremoniously rejected and stated (which I believe to be harassment) that unless I pay the full amount to him I will end up in jail.

This claim is unfounded as I am not refusing to pay the monies owed but due to my fears of harassment am only now willing to pay this directly to the Council.

I also note that the bailiff in question has added some costs of £40 for one visit which is above the rate the council has set out.

I am asking you to accept the repayment plan and ask the bailiff to return the warrant to yourselves.

Again I would like to stress that it has never been my intention to avoid this debt and I am perfectly willing to repay it, unfortunately at present I am only able to repay by instalments.

I look forward to your response.

Yours Faithfully

Hope this sounds ok but the council didn't even send us warning that the bailiffs would be visiting. Infact we haven't really had anything from them until now.

Many thanks

Hi,

On Saturday a Bailiff called at my property to 'recover' an unpaid council tax of £300 from my partners old property. When she moved in with me at the start of December the Council closed her account and sent us the final bill. The bill had no date by which to pay and as we are struggling financially we were about to write and ask they take installments. Unfortunately she already had a liability order against her from a previous missed payment and as such sent the bailiffs round.

We were out at the time but they left a letter with a mobile number to contact to 'make an arrangement'. I phoned the bailiff on behalf of my girlfriend (as thanks to this site I know her rights) and offered a repayment plan of £10 pcm, I stated this was all i could afford and if required was willing to produce an income and expediture sheet showing this. He rejected the offer stating that the full amount needed to be paid within 7 days otherwise he would be coming to take my stuff (which he can't as the warrent isn't in my name and my partner actually owns nothing of value). I then explained to him very calmly that he would in no way be able to enter my house peacefully and asked that he return the warrant to the authority.

After some complaining and threating me with prison he started shouting and eventually said 'i'll return it to the council'. I immediately made a first installment £10 payment to the council via there website.

My questions are these.

1) Is it likely he will return this to the council or is he just playing the fool.

2) I noted he had already added £60 to the bill for one visit

3) I have the receipt of payment made to the council will it be in my interest to send this to them as my girlfriend is perfectly willing to pay this debt off.

4) What happens next can the council get a warrant so they can enter the property?

Many thanks for any thoughts

Depends really most agencies will now almost always Credit check and charge you £30 a person for the privaledge. I'm riddled with defaults also but was lucky to rent privately direct from a landlord who didn't agree with running credit checks (quite nice of her).

In most cases they are mainly interested in bankruptcy and defaults shouldn't be too big a problem (but normally they will want to see previous rent account history). Explain the situation to them before the credit check and they may just ask you to find someone to act as a

guarantor. If not how is your partners credit? If good couldn't she rent the house and you just move in with her? Not sure how they deem this however.

Have you acknowledge this debt within the last 6 years? Either by making a payment or receiving / sending any correspondance to or from them? If no this debt is barred and cannot be enforced through a court.

Have a look at some of the other posts and find the letter to send stating that you know nothing of the debt.

In the meanwhile if they try and ring etc I wouldn't discuss the matter with them at all.

You can certainly get the recordings or transcripts of these calls and do not worry with letters like that if it ever did go to court (which it won't) you can use that as evidence of harassment against you and claim for compensation.

Firstly you need to check that Newman have the right to chase this debt. Read some of the other threads and it will tell you how to do so. Once you have done this the debt is in dispute until they have provided the required information (original signed credit agreement etc). If they don't they can't chase the debt.

Secondly send Capital One and Newman a Subject Access Request for a copy of all statements. Highlight the charges and follow the guides many have posted to claim these back (the debt will also be in dispute at this point also). At this point I would also ask for all information regarding yourself including but not exclusive to transcripts, personnel information etc. You are fully entitled to this.

You may well find - and it sounds quite probable - that most if not all of the debt will be cleared once you have your charges back and remember no matter what they say by adding charges they have made you worse off and contributed to your ability not to keep up payments.

I have had massive problems with MBNA also Global Vantage calls etc, I even had someone at MBNA ring me demanding to know what I'd spent 'there money' on etc etc and that I was being investigated for fraud. All total rubbish and of course harrassment. There is a template here which will get the phone calls to stop but be aware even after i claimed harrassment and a breach of the administration act they still tryed calling my work 4-5 times a day and if this happens to you give Trading Standards a ring. They are currently being investigated by TS and this will get the calls stopped.

MBNA can be a real nightmare one of the folks over at the national debtline said that they were just about the worst people to get credit with, I have to agree.

MBNA are scared of the courts so they would much rather (eventually) try to get a payment plan direct from you instead of a CCJ.

These people make me laugh (in desperation) they are perfectly aware that the debt is unenforcable without a copy of the original signed agreement so they attempt to use the law which is protecting you against you.

Unless they can provide you with the information you have requested then this debt does not belong to you. Getting the Fraud department involved is just stupid scare tactics do not send them a thing, they should already have it and if not there loss.

The reply is unsatisfactory and as such I would still report them for not providing the information within the required time lines and make sure you tell them that until proven otherwise (ie with the original credit agreement) you do not owe them a penny. State to them very clearly that any Tom, Dick or Harry could write to you saying you owe them money and unless they can show you that you do feck off.

Tell them Data Protection didn't mean a thing when in the first instance they chased you about the debt.

These people really do think we are fools. Hope this helps.

Hi I was wondering if anyone might be able to help, My girlfriend and I recently moved house and received a final council tax bill from our last property. This account was only in my partners name and apparently she owes £300 to them dispite me thinking we were pretty much upto date. She had missed a payment earlier in the year and as such they added another £100 to the bill then.

At the new property we are upto date with the council tax and there is joint liability for it (despite my asking for the account to be solely in my name they added her anyway). The trouble is that on the closing account bill we received it said at the bottom it was subject to legal procedings. Does anybody know what this means? My girlfriend is petrified the baliffs are just going to turn up at our new property.

I have written to the council asking them to consider a repayment plan. Thus far no reply. I did notice that on the bill they didn't give any dates when the bill had to be paid by. This struck me as a little odd.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated

No they cannot chase you for this debt if they haven't provided you with the information you requested. Haha that is rich of them 'In the absence of this confirmation we now request that you contact us with proposals'. The best they can do now is send this debt back to Egg do not pay them a penney. If they need informing i think there is a template on here to send which states that they cannot pursue the debt.

Next time they call just tell them politely you don't owe them a penney and hang up.