Hi, Having trolled through the various discussions on the forum i think i still need help. I recently received acknowledgment for a claim recently submitted to Barclays on a loan taken out 13yrs ago & they are requesting for additional information, most of which has been provided already or that they know about. Please provide details relating to how the policy was sold to you. You might wish to recall details where the sale took place, who you spoke to.. (surely this is info they should have - after all they sold me the loan, and as it is now 13 years ago i cant be 100% certain where i got this) Provide documentary evidence of your employment status at the time. I only have an offer letter from my employer i started working for in 2000 which stipulates life assurance, health insurance, private healthcare and company pension. Do you think this document would suffice? Please provide further details or, if possible, documentary evidence relating to the savings you had at the time. (This is also information they should have as my main bank at the time and they have details of my balances within my saving accounts at the time. At the time I would have also relied on my family to support me financially had the need arisen) Please provide any additional details that would support your claim (If there are any other guidelines and tips you can provide here that would truly be appreciated) Thanking you in advance!!! GeeGee

yes, thats the only debt she has. i will read up on DRO as i dont know too much about that. Thank you!

Yes shes on state pension only. i'm still to sit down with her to get a clear picture on what her disposable income is.

not rude at all. She's 62 turning 63

Do you propose I also include an income and expenditure statement when I send this....or not at this stage? I can draft a letter and share it to get your comments before I send this out, if there are no templates you are aware of that I can use. Thanks,

Are there any templates you think I can use to bring this to both the banks and the OFT's attention. Because this was via telephone conversation I am wary of how they may defend themselves. Would you advice I write to them first asking for them to restructure loan payments based on her retiring, lack of income and see what their response is?

Yes she's on a state pension and currently having housing benefit paid as well. She had a conversation with the bank a few weeks bank advising them of her status and trying to see if she could get payments restructured and reduced but they seem to have been quite stern with her and informed that she will need to pay the loan or else they will get debt collectors out to her. The loan is an unsecured loan and she doesn't own any property.

The loan balance is approx £10K taken from Halifax and she is currently paying £500 a month but just can not afford to keep these payments up. Off the top of my head I think she still has approx 24 more months left on the loan. This was taken out as a normal loan. Thank you for your help!

The loan is approx. 8 years old. She didn't take any PPI on it and has not defaulted before so no charges against it.

Hi, My mother has just retired and i have found out she has an outstanding loan which she was hoping to pay off from her pension. Unfortunately her pension is not even worth it and she has just gone on benefits. Does anyone have any advice as to how I could either look to get the balance written off as she has no income any more. The loan is with Halifax. This is beginning to cause her stress which I would like to avoid getting any worse. Thank you!

HELP PLEASE!!! I had my first court date on Thursday last week (an adjourned date) and found out that the other side had attended the original date a week earlier where a judge made a decision and ordered a 28 days repossession order in my absence. When I went to court i provided the judge with the letters from court stating the adjourned date and stated this had not been requested by me. I also had a bundle of extra statements to present to the judge in my defence of which the judge didn't even show any interest in trying to look at it when i offered to approach to give him this information in my defense. The only things he asked was if my situation had changed - looking at the other sides notes, unfortunately to which it hasn't. So I am still unemployed. He asked if i was in a position to pay the normal monthly payment in addition to clearing the arrears once again at present not in a position to pay the normal monthly payments. To this effect he said the decision made in my absence would be upheld. Is this legal - seeing as the court dates mix up was through no fault of mine. Second I had sent MX a proposal letter on the 21st Nov to which I have still not received a response to up to this date. Surely this can be seen as a position where negotiations are still ongoing. When I told the judge this i briefly outlined the contents of the letter (which I also asked to present to him and he refused) and he proceeded to say MX wouldn't accept my proposal. Having gone back to think things through is the judge able to make these decisions/assumption without even looking at the documents in question. The judge told me that bailiffs would be instructed on the 7th of Jan. Is there anything I can do to stop them knocking on my door?? What I have done thus far is after leaving court in a totally confused state. Had a cup of coffee in a local cafe. Went back to court and went to the equiries desk where i wrote a letter that was going to be given to the chief judge? asking for a new hearing where both parties should be present as this was no fault of mine. I also asked in the letter for the repossession order to be suspended. The lovely lady who helped me said i should expect a response in 7 -10 days however I am worried that due to the Christmas period the response may be too late in time to stop bailiffs being instructed before the 7th of Jan. Is there anything further I can do. I have two really good job prospect looming but due to the Christmas period both firms say they are only likely to get back to me in the new year. Thanking you in advance

HELP PLEASE!!! I had my first court date on Thursday last week (an adjourned date) and found out that the other side had attended the original date a week earlier where a judge made a decision and ordered a 28 days repossession order in my absence. When I went to court i provided the judge with the letters from court stating the adjourned date and stated this had not been requested by me. I also had a bundle of extra statements to present to the judge in my defence of which the judge didn't even show any interest in trying to look at it when i offered to approach to give him this information in my defense. The only things he asked was if my situation had changed - looking at the other sides notes, unfortunately to which it hasn't. So I am still unemployed. He asked if i was in a position to pay the normal monthly payment in addition to clearing the arrears once again at present not in a position to pay the normal monthly payments. To this effect he said the decision made in my absence would be upheld. Is this legal - seeing as the court dates mix up was through no fault of mine. Second I had sent MX a proposal letter on the 21st Nov to which I have still not received a response to up to this date. Surely this can be seen as a position where negotiations are still ongoing. When I told the judge this i briefly outlined the contents of the letter (which I also asked to present to him and he refused) and he proceeded to say MX wouldn't accept my proposal. Having gone back to think things through is the judge able to make these decisions/assumption without even looking at the documents in question. The judge told me that bailiffs would be instructed on the 7th of Jan. Is there anything I can do to stop them knocking on my door?? What I have done thus far is after leaving court in a totally confused state. Had a cup of coffee in a local cafe. Went back to court and went to the equiries desk where i wrote a letter that was going to be given to the chief judge? asking for a new hearing where both parties should be present as this was no fault of mine. I also asked in the letter for the repossession order to be suspended. The lovely lady who helped me said i should expect a response in 7 -10 days however I am worried that due to the Christmas period the response may be too late in time to stop bailiffs being instructed before the 7th of Jan. Is there anything further I can do. I have two really good job prospect looming but due to the Christmas period both firms say they are only likely to get back to me in the new year. Thanking you in advance

Flower2, Thanks for the info. I hadn't written to request charges be frozen so will do that straight away and getting the FOS involved sounds like a very good idea. My lenders solicitors wrote to the local council (apparently a new procedure where repossession cases are involved) who called me in to see if they could help. They have booked me in to see a solicitor who usually comes in to help them on Wednesday to see if they can assist with my case. According to the lady i saw at the council-housing section, she says the lender has to consider this interest option seriously under some hardship clause they have to comply with. They would have to present a very good argument as to why they are refusing this proposal. (not sure if anyone has more knowledge on this aspect). I am hoping the solicitors i see on Wednesday will be able to help me, if not I'll call the court as you've suggested. Court date isn't till second week of December so hopefully I've got a bit of time.

Henderson50, Was wondering if you have a copy of the template you used and what other supporting documents you sent to Barclays to get your hardship loan approved. Just been reading other threads and it seems very few people have been successful with this. Any help you can give would be good. I'm currently facing repossession, unemployed, paying my creditors token payments (£1.00) so any extra cash i can get my hands on would help a lot. Thanks oops - sorry for hijacking the thread

Thanks - appreciate it

Thanks for that, I'll have a read of that and also look at the other areas you've recommended.

Thanks, Just looked into it and MX has a fee of £185 to change it to tenancy. Not sure they would allow me though. As you say the alternative is to kip on couch. I think I'll head off to the local DSS office tomorrow and really get clarity on the NI position. I've checked all documents and they seem to be all in order the arrears statement doesn't include any charges and all the other legal fees which leaves me to believe it's all been added to the balance of the mortgage. They haven't however included a copy of my mortgage contract or report from the advisor who paid me a visit against my wishes (and still cost me £100 somewhere). Is there somewhere I can check to see if all the documents have been properly served?

I've started a separate thread in the repossessions section Repossession Looming: Help for your help and guidance to avoid any confusion with the existing thread. G

can't sign on - not entitled to benefits despite the fact i've lived here all my adult life. Great news that I don't need the permission of the lender to have a lodger. Unfortunately its only a two bed - so can only have one:|. Do you know if I would need permission to rent the whole place out or would i still be fine.

Hi Flower2, Will definitely make sure all correspondence from now is recorded delivery and request for the report as well. I've kept track of people I've talked to previously but probably not as precise as I should be. Will definitely put things on a spreadsheet for that. Cheers for that idea. Glad to see you got a bit more time and with the FSA fining them I'm sure you headed for victory.

Hi Ell-enn, Unfortunately not ligible for any of the rescue schemes on offer. Been to CAB and seen others to help with this. It would have been a life line but hence why asking about whether the interest reduction route or getting permission to rent the place would be advisable in this case.

Hi, I've been reading the site scouting for guidance on how to approach my current situation and hope I can also benefit from the great assistance people have received. I'm single and have been out of work due to restructuring since July. Since then I have been making part payments on my mortgage (Int only). My current arrears stand at £5598.28 The visit from the mortage companies debt advisor (who cost me £100) was she would try and see if my interest rate could be reduced from 6.29% to the variable rate to reduce payments. I also suggested being given permission to rent the place out as another alternative. Both of these avenues where declined by the lender so needless to say her efforts came to nothing. I am still to see a copy of the report that was submitted. I now have a court date in a few weeks time and was hoping to get advice on how i can pursue both the above lines to help me keep my house. I've had estate agents come to give rental valuations with 3 stating i should achieve between £750-£800. My interest payments are currently £1015. I would then definitely be able to add to cover the difference. The alternative would be to look to get a review on my interest rate and get this changed to the variable rate which would bring my payments well within reach even with the help i'm receiving from family. I think payment would come to approx £500. Is there a way of me arguing that the 6.29% is unfair based in the current market that we are in. I'm still tied to this rate for another 2 years (ouch!) which hurts. I've also taken a look at the lenders site and can't really find info that i think would be useful to me. I did however manage to rent out my second room (behind the lenders back) which has obviously been giving me the little income that I use to make part payments. I would really appreciate any assistance on how i can prepare my defense to avoid repossession. A I&E statement has previously been sent to the lender and this had no income showing on it. Not too sure how to best approach this, i really don't want to let the house go..cause Lord knows i worked hard for it.

Thanks for the response DeH's, I guess to give a more accurate account of my situation- I'm single and have been out of work due to restructuring since July. Since then I have been making part payments on my mortgage (Int only). My current arrears stand at £5598.28 The visit from the mortage companies debt advisor (who cost me £100) was she would try and see if my interest rate could be reduced from 6.29% to the variable rate to reduce payments. I also suggested being given permission to rent the place out as another alternative. Both of these avenues where declined by the lender so needless to say her efforts came to nothing. I am still to see a copy of the report that was submitted. I now have a court date in a few weeks time and was hoping to get advice on how i can pursue both the above lines to help me keep my house. I've had estate agents come to give rental valuations with 3 stating i should achieve between £750-£800. My interest payments are currently £1015. I would then definitely be able to add to cover the difference. The alternative would be to look to get a review on my interest rate and get this changed to the variable rate which would bring my payments well within reach even with the help i'm receiving from family. I think payment would come to approx £500. Is there a way of me arguing that the 6.29% is unfair based in the current market that we are in. I'm still tied to this rate for another 2 years (ouch!) which hurts. I've also taken a look at the lenders site and can't really find info that i think would be useful to me. I did however manage to rent out my second room (behind the lenders back) which has obviously been giving me the little income that I use to make part payments. I would really appreciate any assistance on how i can prepare my defense to avoid repossession. A I&E statement has previously been sent to the lender and this had no income showing on it. Not too sure how to best approach this.

Hi, New to the site and wondered how you went by convincing MX to reduce your interest rate. My house is being repossed - first court date on the 17th Dec due to arrears. I'm currently on a 6.29% int rate which is fixed term and due to exp early 2011. I may be able to save the house if i can get the interest reduced. The house is currently in -ve equity so if figure this would be in their best interest. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Yes - Mortgage Express is part of the scheme. It's owned by Bradford & Bingley. Mich7K keep us informed on how you get on. I'm trying to do all I can to maintain full ownership of my place on this end.