Please help :(

[Boo-Boo]

I'm hoping someone here can give me some advice ...

 

I have a very large overdraft with Bank of Scotland (almost 3k) I haven't used this account for years (it was from my student days), but out of the blue I have had a letter from them saying that they are preparing legal proceedings ... so I called this morning, and they want me to pay over £400 per month, I told them all I could afford to pay was a maximum of £50 (that really is all I can pay ) but they aren't accepting this .. I ended up hanging up on the girl I was talking to, she was so rude. and kept laughing when I said I couldn't afford to pay the amount she was suggesting ... Is there anything I can do? I don't want to have to go to court, please help ..

[Guest willowb]

Hi Boo Boo....don't worry.

 

 

Do you think that most of your o/d is made up of charges...i.e, returned chq's, dd's, referral charges, card misuse fees, o/d charges (except standard monthly fee)? If so, then don't pay them a penny! Send of your DPA letter, requesting statements for the last 6 years. You should receive these within 40 days. Tot up the charges and take it from there.

 

What's the worse they can do? default you! If you haven't been already. When you're at the stage of sending a LBA (letter before action) then you can demand that the default be removed anyway.

 

We have an overdraft for £3k, £2,345 of this o/d is pure charges!! When you add the interest etc, it exceeds the o/d amount. If they hadn't over charged us in the first place, then we wouldn't owe them anything!

 

What you are doing is putting the account into dispute.

 

Let us know how you get on, or if you have any more questions.

 

WXX

[Boo-Boo]

Hi Boo Boo....don't worry.

 

 

Do you think that most of your o/d is made up of charges...i.e, returned chq's, dd's, referral charges, card misuse fees, o/d charges (except standard monthly fee)? If so, then don't pay them a penny! Send of your Data Protection Act letter, requesting statements for the last 6 years. You should receive these within 40 days. Tot up the charges and take it from there.

 

What's the worse they can do? default you! If you haven't been already. When you're at the stage of sending a LBA (letter before action) then you can demand that the default be removed anyway.

 

We have an overdraft for £3k, £2,345 of this o/d is pure charges!! When you add the interest etc, it exceeds the o/d amount. If they hadn't over charged us in the first place, then we wouldn't owe them anything!

 

What you are doing is putting the account into dispute.

 

Let us know how you get on, or if you have any more questions.

 

WXX

 

Thanks for the reply Willow ..

 

The thing is, I'm not sure if it is made up of charges ... It was a case of .. if I wrote a cheque, the cashed it, there didn't seem to be any limit on the overdraft, and I'm not sure if they charged me or not ...

 

Should I still go ahead and send the letter asking for details of charges? And what should I do in the meantime? Will they send me another letter with a court date?

 

Also.. the letter came form a comany called Robinson way & co, and not from my bank, so who should I send the letter to?

 

It's such a mess

[Guest willowb]

Hi Boo Hoo,

 

I find it quite bizarre if they haven't charged you, maybe you hadn't noticed? Get the statements anyway and have a good look.

 

As for them not accepting your offer of £50 a month, seek advise with the citizens advise bureau who will point you in the right direction to get something sorted, but you will be defaulted.

 

Send the letter to your branch, it then gets directed to where it needs to go....everything recorded delivery!

 

Be calm....when in crisis, people here will give you sound advice.

 

They are a bunch of bullies and if you show any weakness they'll go in for the kill like a pack of wolves....be strong.

 

WXX

[zootscoot]

You need to find out if Robinson and co purchased the debt or are simply acting on their behalf. If they purchased you need to mae a CCA request for a copy of the agreement between them and the bank which will tell you exactly how much they paid for the debt- probably a lot less than you think. This will give you greater flexibility to negotiate.

If the overdraft does contain charges you can put on hold their enforcement of the debt by challenging the charges and they can not enforce a debt which is in dispute.

If the debt does not contain charges a letter along the lines of the one below may help. This worked for me. You can adapt it to your own circumstances.

 

 

 

Dear Mr XXX

 

Re: Account/Reference Number XXXX

 

 

 

I am very disappointed that we seem unable to reach a satisfactory compromise in this case. As I have already explained, I can only afford £50.00 per month at the present time. This is the only realistic payment proposal bearing in mind my personal budget. Please find enclosed budget sheet.

 

You have stated in correspondence your intention to commence proceedings in the County Court against me. The commencement of legal proceedings under such circumstances could be counter to the ‘Overriding Objectives’ of the new Civil Procedure Rules. You will be aware that the ‘Overriding Objectives’ underpin everything the court does. Moreover, paragraph 4 of the Protocols Practice Direction states that in cases not covered by an approved pre-action protocols, the court will expect the parties “to act reasonably….. in trying to avoid the necessity for the start of proceedings”.

 

 

I would suggest that your consistent refusal to accept my offer could be viewed as unreasonable given that a court is likely to award periodical payments inline with or less than I am proposing. I would ask the court to consider this matter with reference to the ‘Overriding Objectives’. This could leave you liable to pay your own costs. I’m sure that we could sort this without the need to take the time of the courts and the offer of £50.00 per month, is of course still open to you to accept.

 

Yours faithfully

 

 

xxxx

 

Hope this helps

[MCKENNARISE]

Firstly if you make an offer of £50 they shouldn't refuse it, if its all you can afford.

As a long term view, if you made the bank an offer and they refused a judge would frown upon this. Put it to them in writing, recorded delivery and keep all letters etc.

In the meantime obtain all your statements, and work out the charges then seek a refund. Also note that if your charges made you overdrawn add the interest on to.

[Boo-Boo]

Thanks everyone for the advice ...

 

I've just had Robinson and Co on the phone again, they have told me they will definitely not accept less than £70 per month, no matter how much I tried to explain how I really couldn't do that ... paying even £50 is going to make a real difference to what little money I have left at the end of the month

 

They offered me a settlement, and took £1000 off the full amount of the debt, but said I'd have to pay it all in 2 installments, which would be £900 a month for 2 months ... (that's my whole monthly wage!!!) So obviously I said I couldn't do that. He then said If I don't pay £70 today they will pass this to their legal department... what do I do? I've just called back and apparently they have purchesed the debt from Bank of Scotland, so does that mean I don't send the bank the letter asking for past statements? Should I go ahead and pay the £70 so they don't pass it to the legal department?? Please help

[zootscoot]

If they have purchased the debt you need to do a CCA request for a copy of the original signed agreement between you and RBS and also a copy of the contract proving that they have purchased the debt. There are letter templates for this request somewhere on the site. Basically they are obliged to provide this information under the Consumer Credit Act s.77-79. Failure to provide the info after 12 days suspends the debt. If after 28 days they still have not produced the documents the debt becomes completely unenforceable.

 

In the mean time you should not pay the 70.00 as this will acknowledge the debt. Until you have proof that they do own the debt you are not obliged to pay.

 

If they pass the debt to their legal department this is good news for you as you will start to deal with people that know the procedures (hopefully). If they contact you regarding legal proceedings tell them that you are disputing the debt and are awaiting documents pursuant to the CCA request. A court will not entertain a claim by them whilst the debt is in dispute.

 

If they can not produce the documents that is the end of your problem you are completely released from the debt. If they do produce the documents that is when you need to start negotiating for settlement. It really is better to keep all correspondence particularly offers of settlement in written form - you then have evidence that you have tried to seek a reasonable settlement if it does go to court. They are more likely to accept an offer which has been written and you have shown by including a budget sheet that it is all that you can afford. You can also refer to any refusals they have made over the telephone in your letters so this can be used against them in the unlikely event that it goes to court.

 

Hang in there- don't let them intimidate you

[Boo-Boo]

Thanks Zootscoot

 

You're being a great help.

 

WOuld someone please let me know where I can find the CCA request? I've looked through the templates and can't find it!

 

Thanks very much

 

B

[zootscoot]

Hi Boo -boo

 

Unfortunately they're not in the templates library. I'm not sure how to do links so I've copied and pasted this from Seminole's post under Debt Collection Agencies thread

 

 

Dear XXXX

 

I do not acknowledge ANY debt to your company. I require you to supply the following documentation before I will correspond further on this matter.

 

1. You must supply me with a true copy of the alleged agreement you refer to. This is my right under your obligation to supply a copy of the agreement under the legislation contained within s.78 (1) Consumer Credit Act 1974 (s.77 (1) for fixed sum credit) - your obligation also extends to providing a statement of account. I enclose a £1 postal order in payment of the statutory fee, PO Serial Number xxxxx.

 

2. A signed true copy of the deed of assignment of the above referenced agreement that you allege exists.

 

3. You are notified that you are obliged to supply these documents, whether you are the original creditor or not under S189 of the CCA 1974.

 

Non-compliance with my request is a criminal offence under the above Act and will result in a report being submitted to the relevant statutory authorities.

 

As you are aware, a credit agreement that is not properly documented and signed by the customer is totally unenforceable under the CCA and therefore is a complete defence to any court claim that is issued.

 

Yours faithfully

 

xxxx

[angeljen]

I don't know about the CCA request, sorry.

 

Just thought I should tell you it's better to deal with all your 'creditors' in writing rather that by telephone. This way, you always have evidence of all communication between you and your 'creditors'. Keep copies of all the letters you send and all the letters you receive. This will help your case if it gets as far as the courts.

 

Good luck!

[Boo-Boo]

Thanks guys ...

 

I'll be sending the CCA today!! Fingers crossed!!

[zootscoot]

Good for you!

 

Keep us posted as to how you get on so others can learn from your experience. In the mean time if you get any more phone calls simply say politely but firmly that you wish all correspondence to be in writing and hang up.

 

Good luck

 

Zoot