advice please- moorcroft/argos card rip off

[cfm.international]

hi all,

i need some advice how to get lowered/reduced /written off some nasty letters from moorcroft(argos card debt collectors)

i feel definatly ripped off( i was pressurized into a argos store card) and after spending 56quid i now owe nearly 200, as the moorcroft robbers bang on 12 quid to just send me a letter.

whats my best line of defense??

i live mostly abroad, and could i suppose go down the "deed poll" route, and forget them, how will this affect my credit rating??

can i sue them for abusive something or other???

cheers

[buzby]

Not really. Assuming you were over 18, being persuaded to sign up to something ('pressurised') isn't mis selling - and clearly you must have used the card to purchase goods. You cannot take the moral high ground from charges applied because you didn't play the game.

 

You might be able to challenge their charges for letters if these fees where never disclosed to you or part of their T&C's, but I believe they are, and they do have a 'mised payment' charge.

 

Your credit file will show the default for 6 years, and all your known linked addresses will continue to be pulled up. If they suspect the deed poll trick, then you'll get the fraud flag too, and that is something best avoided!

Edited December 28, 2008 by buzby

[dx100uk]

yep

the £12 is not a letter fee by the dca it's a late payment charge by the OC.

 

eh? this credit card idea seems diff to comprehend for some people!

 

dx

[cfm.international]

yeah... i think i'll stay abroad for the next 20 or so years..i fancy somewhere nice and sunny...

[cfm.international]

where are their cross reference files from?

how do they cross referance, the banks, and storecards ??

who decides , what goes on your file?

where is the data kept??

how do you get your file "cleaned up"?

i lived abroad for 20 years-never worked or anything for that time in the uk, how can they suddenly create a file with my name on??

do they cross reference n.i.numbers??

cheers..

[buzby]

If you've never bought anything on credit, opened a UK bank account or dealt with a utility that disclosed your financial dealings, then there's nothing you need to do - the trouble is, avoiding all this is virtually impossible. However, other countries have similar private firms doing EXACTLY the same thing, and many owned or partnered with them. With a full name a DoB, along with an address is all that is required to start the ball rolling. If you registered as a UK elector, you'll be listed for that address. From this basic framework, everything else is added, when they get new information that relates to you. If you get Royal Mail to redirect your mail - the CRAs are told 'to prevent fraud'.

 

Who decides what goes in? Information already in the public domain is used to verify and enhance the data they have, even the BT phone book is used. The more information they can get, the better the CRA clients like it. The data is kept on the individual servers ('secure') of the CRA's.

 

'Cleaning Up' you file is an urban myth. You can do it if you can challenge the information held is inaccurate in any way - a right under the DPA. But only the incorrect data, once proved - is expunged.

 

Assuming you've not been in the UK since 1988, you will have had a file created at your old address, if you've moved to Spain, then your old address (then) would be linked to your new one, and then added to - this is how they are linked. NI numbers are not, but if they know it, they'll use it as an additional identifier.

[cfm.international]

so for example, if i defaulted on a bank loan, had voted, lived somewhere, had a uk bank account, they would 1)blacklist the address, 2) ban me from any credit or anything for 6 years?

what about if i paid it all off? would it still stay on file??

when i was abroad, i lived in about 6 different places- and they dont speak english at all, i was never in the phone book, voted or whatsover- and the uk credit agencys/banks have no jurisdiction in the country i was in..let alone come a knockin'....

[buzby]

Addresses aren't blacklisted, and neither are people. The database shows whether the person being enquired about is (a) known, and (b) the financial dealings (good AND bad), and all official civil court orders (CCJ's Property inhibitions).

 

All institutions can make their own minds up as to whether they wish to offer their services to you, it doesn't ban them from offering you credit, but they may score you as being a high risk and refuse to offer you their product. Some firms are refusing to offer credit cards to people who have no arrears or debts, simply because they are NOT using them 'profitably'.

 

The database shows a snapshot of six years, if you owed money it would show as owed, if it was paid off, then it would show as 'satisfied', but it would not disappear unless the entry was somehow in error and you could challenge it, forcing the CRA to remove it in its entirety.

 

A credit reference agency never has 'jurisdiction' as it isn't a department of the State, just a private company. The language used where you live(ed) is immaterial. Sandander for example (a well known Spanish Bank) reports to the Spanish equivalent of Equifax, and as I noted earlier, utilities routinely do the same. All it takes is a bit of 'intelligence' to link the J. Bloggs of Wolverhampton is the same guy now in Malaga and the linking is complete. The issues is nothing to do with debt, but leaving a financial trail of good, bad or non-contentious trading.

[Bookworm]

hi all,

i need some advice how to get lowered/reduced /written off some nasty letters from moorcroft(argos card debt collectors)

i feel definatly ripped off( i was pressurized into a argos store card) and after spending 56quid i now owe nearly 200, as the moorcroft robbers bang on 12 quid to just send me a letter.

whats my best line of defense??

i live mostly abroad, and could i suppose go down the "deed poll" route, and forget them, how will this affect my credit rating??

can i sue them for abusive something or other???

cheers

How much of the balance is interest (they have a very high APR), how much charges? Have you paid off the original £56?

 

You can -and should- reclaim the £12 charges + interest levied on those charges, but the purchase and interest on that is legitimate and not reclaimable.

 

However. If Argos has sold the debt on to a DCA, you could ask the DCA to provide proof that you owe THEM anything at all, your contractual obligation being with Argos, not Moorcroft.

 

I have asked for your thread to be moved to the debt forum, where people who do know a lot about DCAs and their tactics will be able to assist you further. ;-)

[maroondevo52]

Thread moved........

 

cfm.international. as Bookworm says, you can re-claim a lot of the charges levied on this account, however it might be worth your while sending Moorcroft a CCA request, without a valid CCA the debt becomes unenforceable, putting you in a good position to offer a 'full and final' settlement figure to clear the debt.

 

Letter 'N' in the library.............

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt-issues/20758-creditors-dcas-letter-templates.html

 

Send this recorded, with a £1 postal order and don't sign the letter.

 

If they do come up with your agreement, you can then re-claim any charges, thus reducing the debt.

 

Regards.

 

Scott.