DG Solictors. Need Help

[ppauls150]

Now after a bit of tit for tat over the phone and via emails as i am not going to lay down on this but they keep stating that they are in the right on what they have done this was the email i sent them this morning.

 

Hello

I have now found out more information from HSBC which now puts a better light on the subject. Found Below are a few key points.

 

1. It was only a loan and not a loan and Credit Card that was put into default.

 

2. The reason that the loan was transferred to the collections agency was due to the fact that HSBC took the Unlawful charges out of my account first which meant that there was not enough money in the account then to pay the loan.

 

3. The monthly loan amount I was paying was £84 per month. Since they stopped trying to take it out of my bank account and paid them directly for the last 14 months I have paid £1400. I have paid more than what the original loan agreement was for.

 

4. If it hadn't of been for the Unlawful amount of charges coming out of my account each month then the loan would have been paid every month and would not of gone to the collections department, Hence why I am also contesting the default notice put on the loan agreement.

 

5. Since the loan agreement is currently in dispute aswell, there should have been no decisions regarding what happens with the payments on the loan agreement as for paying a lump sum off.

 

6. The terms of me accepting the Payment from HSBC was that I received a Cheque upon signing the agreement for a full refund.

 

7. I have taken this matter up with the complaints Team who are looking into this matter but I expect something to be done due to the fact of the following information above.

 

8. I have now contacted several media departments regarding what has happened and I am now awaiting a response on if they which cover my story.

As you can see from the above key points, nobody should have had the authority to pay something off on my behalf which is clearly in dispute and using my money which was taken unlawfully in the first instance. I hope this clarifies my stance on wanting a full refund regarding this matter and once again have spoken to the courts who are awaiting your reply if you wish to defend this matter as Full payment has still not been received.

[ppauls150]

Now this is their reply.

 

Thank you for your further e-mails and telephone calls.

 

You have raised several points on which we have taken HSBC’s instructions. We set out HSBC’s responses below:-

 

Part 36

 

 

You made reference to Part 36 in a call to us yesterday. As we indicated the Part 36 regime does not apply to matters in the small claims court. There are no funds in Court.

 

The charges

 

 

HSBC does not, and has not at any stage, agreed that the charges are in any way “unlawful”. An offer of settlement was made to you solely on the basis of the commercial realities of litigating in the small claims court.

 

Your original claim and the settlement agreement

 

You are adamant that you can continue with your original claim. We disagree (and have pointed you to authority) as it has been compromised. You have a dispute over that settlement agreement – that does not mean your original action continues but means that you have to mount a fresh action on the compromise agreement. You disagree. We will therefore ask for the Court’s decision on this point.

 

The default registration

 

Your initial claim included reference to the default entry. HSBC’s offer of settlement – which you signed and accepted – did not make any mention of removing the default and was clearly expressed to be “in full and final settlement of your claim”. This is why we (D’Aubney) informed you, quite properly after the conclusion of the settlement, that you would need to raise that issue as a separate matter.

 

Accounts with Metropolitan Collections

 

There would appear to be no dispute with these accounts given that you appear to acknowledge the debt and, indeed, have made payments. As we have previously set out HSBC is entitled to set off the sums agreed to be paid to you against other accounts in default. For the avoidance of doubt you did not make it a condition of the settlement that you would receive a cheque by way of payment.

 

HSBC is confident of the legal position but acknowledges that you will be unhappy with our response. On a without prejudice basis and as a gesture to resolve this matter HSBC is, therefore, willing to write off the sum outstanding on the accounts with Metropolitan (£958.20) so that you will have no debt outstanding to HSBC.

 

We look forward to hearing from you.

 

 

Yours faithfully

 

 

DG SOLICITORS

[barracad]

They're offering you an extra £958.20 above your claim amount.

 

I would accept but it all depends of course on how important it is to you that you get the default removed .

[ppauls150]

I must say though that she says that i am not disputing the loan account, obviously she has looked this up but i filed with the Credit reference agency that i am disputing the default on the account and also sent in the Data Protection Act request to HSBC on the 30/5/06 telling them that i want all information on the account and if i find any charges on the account i will dispute this, but obviously she has not seen this on the file, and my main arguement is that when i mentioned to her about accepting the claim and what about the Default on the account as i have asked for that to be removed on the summons to the court she said that i would have to do that separtely.

Now my main problem is that yes the offer that they are giving seems very good in principle as they are now looking at wiping the debt out but a few gripes i have with it.

1. I am quite happy paying them £100 per month till it is paid off. But if i don't accept the offer and they pay me the £3851 then all i will be worse of is the extra £958 that i would have to pay extra. So really i would be silly not to accept on this basis.

2. But my main issue is the Default on the account which if they don't remove will be on my record for another 5 years. I cannot see them wanting to clear this aswell and if they don't i would rather go to court to get it removed. They have said the reason that they wont remove it is due to the fact that i say i have got the default due to the unlawful charges but they are saying that i am execpting the payment on a none blame policy.

3. Would this claim still go to court even though i did sign the agreement to accept payment though there are flaws in this as i was misinformed that i would have to claim the default seperately, and secondly that they paid the money to collections as opposed to myself.

[lookinforinfo]

I think you have had a result.

You originally set out to get your unlawful charges refunded, and the default

erased. OK you actually wanted £3800 in cash and carry on paying the £100 a

month. But this way, you are almost £1000 better off. Not sure why they would do this if they felt they were on solid ground. They don't give a stuff whether you are unhappy or not.

 

On the plus side, you are now £100 a month better off, your whole debt wiped

out,plus it will have to be recorded with The Credit Agencies that the matter is now

resolved.

And you can still pursue a new claim to have the default erased anyway.

 

It's up to you. Do you know any reason why they would pay you the extra £950?

There may be something we are missing...............

[steve!]

Interesting saga. I think you have them on the run, or they just want rid of you because you're turning into an expensive pain in the backside (more than likely). Personally I'd take their offer as it leaves you nearly £1,000 better off, and you can lay it all to rest. Sadly the prostpect of being £1,000 better off hasn't quite sunk in because of how it's being imposed on you. Need we all remind you that your debts are at least partly due to a lack of prudence on your part in the first place, and therefore you should perhaps consider the advice above?

 

I think you'd probably get your way eventually, but not through being technically correct, but more through brute force and the knowledge that they'll most likely cave in because of the on-going costs.

 

Good luck in any case.

[ppauls150]

Thank you for the response yesterday which was an unexpected response offering to clear the loan completely. Now I am not a greedy person and have looked at the possibilities of what HSBC are offering, and have looked at several conclusions.

Claim Against HSBC

When I first started my claim against the HSBC my main goal was to have the charges refunded in full and have the default removed. Now me being just a normal citizen and not being a solicitor or being a bank or person who has a solicitor on call all day like the HSBC, when I receive an offer through the post from yourselves I was naïve to expect that it is a straightforward offer. Since things have all come to light on certain aspects of things I.E like the default etc, where I was informed that the default would have to be done as a separate claim, which this was only due to the fact that I was being offered a non prejudice offer. What would happen then would be when I start a separate claim for the default to be removed, HSBC would turn around and say that the default could not be removed as I accepted part of my claim on the summons to take an offer without prejudice payment and would get nowhere. This was nice tactics by HSBC which as being just a normal citizen didn't look at what was on the other side of the coin by accepting the offer.

Default Notice

As I mentioned before I now understand that the only way that I will get the default removed is by showing in court that the charges were put on the account unlawfully, and the only was to do that is by still going to court. This would be due to the information that I was told before I accepted the offer regarding the default or not told of the way that I would be paid my refund and the tactics behind which accepting the offer stood.

As I say I did speak to the courts yesterday morning and again they said that the case will not just get stopped with HSBC presenting the letter I signed as I was mislead on several things which would mean that it would have to be finalised in the courtroom on who is right or who is wrong. I have an appointment with the solicitors on Tuesday 11th June so I shall see what they have to say aswell.

Negotiation and settlement of claim out of court

Like I said I am not a greedy person and was only looking at having the charges refunded in full and the default removed in court and this is what I was expecting to happen. I didn’t expect all this to start from HSBC with all these offers.

I suppose like the courts say that we should always try and resolve the matter outside the court room so I am willing to negotiate before anything if need be gets to the courtroom.

Now all be it that I was expecting the payment to be sent to me in full, this hasn't happened and the majority of my loan was paid off. HSBC have said they will wipe the little bit left and that is the end of the matter.

What I believe could be the final conclusions to this matter are the following.

1. Accept HSBC's offer of the loan being finished as a goodwill gesture.

Problem with this is that the Default will still stand for a further 5 years and that is not what I want to happen as I believe that it should not be on there.

2. Go to court, show the court that the charges are unlawful which will then show that the only reason the loan ended in default was due to the fact of the charges on the account, and get judgement for the payment to be made directly and safely to myself.

3. HSBC decide to conclude this once and for all, to make a last goodwill gesture of my claim on the summons, and instead of my asking for the money to be paid to myself in full, for the loan to be wiped off completely like the previous offer but to also as a goodwill gesture and no blame on either side to contact the credit agencies and have the default removed on the account.

I hope a final decision HSBC come to be option number 3 as number 1 is not a real option to me due to the default notice still on the account. Option 2 is an option but as I feel we are three quarters of the way to getting to a conclusion, option 3 would be the way forward and everything is settled.

Regards

[lookinforinfo]

Good letter.

The more I think about it, the more I have a nagging feeling that there is something

else going on.

 

They seem reluctant to remove the default, which as far as I am aware, would

cost them virtually nothing, apart from some time, and some correspondence with

the Credit Agencies. And instead, they write off almost £1000, and still leave

themselves vulnerable to having to remove the default. In fact they have probably

increased the likelihood of its removal by them erasing the debt.

 

I am pleased to see that you are taking legal advice, since to continue your action

all the way to Court having been offered more than you originally asked for, money

wise, might not be too well received by the Court. I am aware that you want the

default removed, and may well have been misled or misdirected over it, not to

mention further possible misdirection that you cannot proceed with your claim

now that you have settled.

 

I am not saying that you shouldn't pursue them to remove the default, rather that

it may be better to bring a new action than push your luck in Court now. Whatever you decide, good luck, and don't forget to keep all their correspondence for at

least 6 years.

[ppauls150]

Cheers lookingforinfo.

 

I have received correspondance again from the solicitors saying that they will mark the account as satified and if i wish to accept the terms now to let them know.

 

Again i can't believe that they tried to pull another one over on me. I know that there is actually a difference between an account being satified and an actual account of a default being removed yet they try and put it as if i think i would take it as satified meaning that they would remove it. I have emailed them back telling them that i know the difference between the two and like you say costs them hardly anything at all to actually remove the default as opposed to marking it down as satisfied.

 

All they have to do now is just accept that they will remove the default as a goodwill gesture with no blame and pay the whole loan off which they previously offered and that should settle the claim once and for all.

[lookinforinfo]

I know it's different for you, but from the outside looking in, you can't help but

laugh when they informed you that they would mark the debt as being satisfied.

What else could they do? Leave it on your credit report as it stands?

 

Just bear in mind that though the debt has been written off, it still exists on an

account somewhere in the bank. Yes it will be tax deductible, but maybe in a few years from now, they may be able to farm it out to one of the sleazy debt collectors

to attempt some sort of recovery from you. Without your current correspondence, it might be hard to disprove the debt.

[lookinforinfo]

After reading your post on the other thread it occurs to me that had you taken

your own advice on this thread, you would have probably already had the default removed, but would be £1000 worse off.LOL

 

As it stands, you look as if you are on course to get the default removed anyway.

I take my hat off to you. From getting hardly anything you wanted out of the

original settlement, you are looking good to have almost everything you wanted.

God knows how many precedents you have set. DG must be looking at you as their

best fee raiser this month- they will miss your income when you finally get the default removed.

What's next? You still want that £3800 cheque, don't you? LOL

[ppauls150]

On the subject of the original debt. From your first post, it seems the amount was around £5500-was it, and did they convert it to a loan, and what was the rate of interest? Also, the £3800 odd you asked for, was that all charges [plus Court fees] or was the 8% rate included?

 

What I am getting at here is that initial debt minus the lump sum and the monthly payment [5500 -3851-2400 {2 years}=£751 in credit], not £900 still outstanding.

so if all else fails, it appears on these figures that as the charges should not have been levied in the first place, then the debt should have been around £1800 which

you have more than paid, so the default should not now stand. Or did they force you to take out insurance payments on the £5500?

 

PS Still unclear as to the negotiations involved with the default-how did they word it

so that they could not tie it in with the settlement.

 

Ok Quick update seeing as it is 6am and i am tired. This quote has been playing on my mind for a day or so now and thought i would investigate what is mentioned. Now then i have read someone elses thread where their loans was made up of majority of Unlawful Bank Charges and thought to myself i reckon this could be the case with me. Now here is the food for thought and working on the figures tomorrow and seek advice regarding this matter. Lets just say i think you might of opened up a can of worms and as more info keeps coming the better i believe my case is getting. Lets take them to the cleaners. Everytime i think ok lets finish this case something else pops up and i think no they are not getting away with it. Now then look at this Loan agreement £2500. Unlawful charges applied to my account was £1400.(See Below Regards to this not being the final figure)

 

Now then what is also not calculated in the £1400 is the interest lost on this money which i should have so figures need to be looked at there.

 

Also and this is a big issue. HSBC have not fully complied with my Data Protection Act request for data regarding my Loan Accounts but especially my Credit Card Account.

 

Now then the Credit Card Account which was paid off with the Loan, which had charges on the Credit Card aswell + Interest. So the actual figure of £1400 is a lot higher in Unlawful charges that was paid by the Loan.

 

Lets carry on talking about the Cedit Card Account and the DPA. The DPA issued on the 30/5/06 (This is the second 1 issued on them) and anyone doing Math, my calculation is that they have till Monday to respond if not then they have Failed to comply with the DPA.

 

I know that they will fail to meet the deadline ( wait for it ) due to a lot of chasing around and getting nowhere i do know one thing from chasing this up, and that is they have lost all information or MISPLACED the account and therefore cannot send me any information on this account.

 

Now with all this information coming to Light no doubt they are wanting to wipe what is outstanding and also remove the default on the account. But i beleive to just allow this is letting them off the hook lightly and we shall see what happens.

 

Will keep people updated. Happy Reading.

[TaylorMade]

I know that they will fail to meet the deadline ( wait for it ) due to a lot of chasing around and getting nowhere i do know one thing from chasing this up, and that is they have lost all information or MISPLACED the account and therefore cannot send me any information on this account.

 

In my best Vulcan accent, your story has been "Facinating"

 

I've picked that quote from your above post, as I have been quickly supplied with my bank account statements, but no sign yet of my Credit Card statements from this wonderful organization. I wonder if they might have misplaced me?

 

It certainly sounds like you've had a result with your debt being totally cleared (with the additional £900+). Here's hoping you get the default notice side sorted out. If you can give me any pointers, then you know where to find me.

[un1boy]

I had some trouble getting my Credit Card statements because they sent my current account ones, but not the CC ones. I sent a Data Protection Act LBA from the library and they sent me all the statements, including my current account ones again, lol!!!

 

It was funny though, because as soon as they got that letter giving them 7 dasys to comply, I got loads of apologetic letters saying how the were sorry the CC ones weren't sent originally and that the CC department weren't aware of my request, and they realise that wasn't my fault and are sorry blah blah - these letter confirmed my statements would be with me within 7 days etc.

 

Haha - talk about keeping them on their toes!!

[nathal]

Absolutely fascinating.. BRILLIANT

[winnie123]

I am completly inspired by your thread - I hope that your default does eventually get removed. I have just requested my 6yrs worth of statments from HSBC so at the beginning of the cycle. I too have debts which defaulted and were sent to Metropolitian collection services. I am too concerned that the monies will be used to pay these debts off as I have a personal debt with family which needs to be settled with the monies. I will read your thread with intrest and await the updates

 

Good Luck :p

[ppauls150]

This has now all been completed. If i havent already said then sorry but about a month ago they paid the whole of my loan off that was outstanding which was an extra £958 on top plus through keep getting on at them they caved in and removed the default within 72 hours which shows they always tell lies especially when trying to tell me to check it in 3 months as that is how long it could take. All you have to do is make sure that you always ask for payments by cheque and if they dont pay by cheque then you will carry on going to court for the settlement.

[pswurkxm]

Hi guys

I got my without prejudice letter from DG last week offering to pay in full,

a sum of £4950.00.I have written back saying only a payment by cheque

will suffice,failure to comply will lead me to carry on with my court action.

But i added a little titbit to chance my arm,i have said i would except this amount paid into my acount,only if its a full and final settlement of my bank loan

which is in line to be defaulted soon. As they have not excepted my budget proposal from CCCS for the last 3 months.

Might be interesting to see what they say, ill keep u posted.

[Spiceskull]

This has now all been completed. If i havent already said then sorry but about a month ago they paid the whole of my loan off that was outstanding which was an extra £958 on top plus through keep getting on at them they caved in and removed the default within 72 hours which shows they always tell lies especially when trying to tell me to check it in 3 months as that is how long it could take. All you have to do is make sure that you always ask for payments by cheque and if they dont pay by cheque then you will carry on going to court for the settlement.

Well done and congratulations.

[ppauls150]

This topic was closed on 10 March 2019.

If you have a problem which is similar to the issues raised in this topic, then please start a new thread and you will get help and support there.

If you would like to post up some information which is relevant to this particular topic then please flag the issue up to the site team and the thread will be reopened.

- Consumer Action Group