Advice If possible Please

[shakamaker]

Hi Guys can anyone help with the following:

 

My ex misses was going to do a driving instructor course and she became pregnant,she had signed up for the course but then contacted them and told them she cant do it,they told her she would still have to pay.

 

To cut a long story short she didnt pay it because she couldnt afford to and now they have a debt recovery firm calling telling her that she has to pay £5k + in the next 7 days otherwise they will go for her assets car and or house.

 

We have transfered the owner of the car to me but she is worried they will take her house.

 

Ok so this is what she has had so far with regards to them calling her yesterday:Barclays passed it to Mercers and then Mercers passed it to Allied International Credit UK Limited,They are not a DCA and they dont want deals they just want money and they have been instructed by barclays to collect any means necessary.If she pays within 7 days £2k will be knocked off the bill if not it goes to litagation and she will hear within 7 days and they will do a land serach on the property and based on that they will see about bankrucy.

 

She doesnt want to go bankrupt (obviously) and she cannot have an IVA as she is not working because of the baby is there anyway else around it?

[harrassed senior]

Hi and welcome, can you tell us please, who does she actually owe the money too, you say Barclays, is this a loan, or is this a Contract from a Firm. It would depend on the circumstances as to what can be done.

[shakamaker]

Hi And thanks for the welcome,she signed for the Instructor College and the loan was arranged from them through Barclays I believe.

[tessisme]

Hi And thanks for the welcome,she signed for the Instructor College and the loan was arranged from them through Barclays I believe.

 

 

hi an welcome

 

I'd send them a CCA see what they come up with.

[shakamaker]

hi an welcome

 

I'd send them a CCA see what they come up with.

 

 

Sorry to sound slow but what would happen if i do that?

Would it just lay out what she has signed?

 

As for the earlier post she signed up for the instructor college and if you cant afford to pay for the course up front you pay through barclays which is held off for the first year in which time you may complete the course and pay it back.

As she got pregnant and tried on several occations to contact them (when they would never return her calls)and from there it was just letters and phone calls demanding the money.

[Bazooka Boo]

My ex misses was going to do a driving instructor course and she became pregnant,she had signed up for the course but then contacted them and told them she cant do it,they told her she would still have to pay.

 

To cut a long story short she didn't pay it because she couldn't afford to and now they have a debt recovery firm calling telling her that she has to pay £5k + in the next 7 days otherwise they will go for her assets car and or house.

 

Sorry I'm having a dumb day, again!

 

As I see it, she signed up to do a driving instructor course with the Instructor College who had the money from the course paid by Barclay's:confused:

 

This then made her liable to Barclay's for the amount of the driving instructor course:confused:

 

And although she couldn't do the course, they (Barclay's) are chasing her for the money that the Instructor College has said she spent on the course?

 

As I also understand it, a CCA wouldn't be any use if the agreement was made after April 2007 as all credit agreements are deemed to be CCA compliant after this date. But someone else may be able to shed some light on that.

 

If the instructor college has had the money from Barclay's for the course fee, then I would write to Barclay's and tell them of this, as she hasn't spent the money, as she never attended the course!

 

As for Allied International Credit UK Limited they are a DCA.

they have been instructed by barclays to collect any means necessary

 

Do you have that threat in writing?

(1) Any person who sends to another person—

(a) a letter or other article which conveys—

(i) a message which is indecent or grossly offensive;

(ii) a threat; or

(iii) information which is false and known or believed to be false by the sender; or

(b) any other article which is, in whole or part, of an indecent or grossly offensive nature,

is guilty of an offence if his purpose, or one of his purposes, in sending it is that it should, so far as falling within paragraph (a) or (b) above, cause distress or anxiety to the recipient or to any other person to whom he intends that it or its contents or nature should be communicated.

Malicious Communications Act 1988

 

 

They are Idle threats, and she is a long way off bankruptcy. Firstly they would need to take her to court, and don't believe any threats of them knocking on the door to take goods, again they would need to take her to court, obtain a CCJ, then she would have to default on the CCJ, and then a County Court bailiff would have to obtain a peaceable 'walk-in possession'.

 

 

calling telling her that she has to pay £5k + in the next 7 days otherwise they will go for her assets car and or house.

Utter rubbish,

 

STOP TALKING TO THEM OVER THE PHONE

 

STOP TALKING TO THEM OVER THE PHONE

STOP TALKING TO THEM OVER THE PHONE

Get everything in writing so she has a paper trail of evidence, unless she is recording the phone calls?

If you send them anything in the post, do so by recorded delivery, and PRINT your name or use a computer generated signature. Don't sign.

 

If she pays within 7 days £2k will be knocked off the bill if not it goes to litigation and she will hear within 7 days and they will do a land search on the property and based on that they will see about bankruptcy.

2K will be knocked off! How much was the course?

Do you know if there are any charges added to that amount?

 

If she genuinely cannot afford to pay the debt, then the best thing is to go to court, that way then she will be able to show the judge she can manage £1 a month, and that is all that they will get!

My concern is that the instructor college has claimed this money from Barclay's, in my opinion fraudulently, if she had told them she would be unable to do the course in good time due to her pregnancy and they have still gone ahead and claimed the money from Barclay's I would seek legal advice, wash my hands of it and let Barclay's argue the toss with the Instructor College!

[shakamaker]

Ok I have some more info from my Girlfriend:

 

As I see it, she signed up to do a driving instructor course with the Instructor College who had the money from the course paid by Barclay's correct although initially the instructor college told me to approach Clydesdale bank regarding refunds( I believe a part of Barclays) which I did but they refused to speak to me because although the account was in my name the money went to the college so there for they wouldn’t discuss anything to do with money with me! A vicious circle!!

 

This then made her liable to Barclay's for the amount of the driving instructor course again correct.

And although she couldn't do the course, they (Barclay's) are chasing her for the money that the Instructor College has said she spent on the course? Yes

 

As I also understand it, a CCA wouldn't be any use if the agreement was made after April 2007 as all credit agreements are deemed to be CCA compliant after this date. But someone else may be able to shed some light on that.

 

If the instructor college has had the money from Barclay's for the course fee, then I would write to Barclay's and tell them of this, as she hasn't spent the money, as she never attended the course! I have done this but Barclays claim the college have done the best they can by offering to keep the course open to me and that they have attempted to contact me to arrange for me to complete the course. At no point has anyone contacted me from the instructor college. Even when I initially approached them and I was told their reply policy was 28days they didn’t actually get back to me for 3months with a response! I was also told by the college that they do indeed provide refunds but on this occasion I did not meet their circumstances. When I asked for a copy of the circumstances to which they had reviewed my situation on they denied any knowledge of what I was talking about!

 

As for Allied International Credit UK Limited they are a DCA. So Barclays initially passed me to Mercers (an in house DCA)who have now passed me on to these!

Quote:

they have been instructed by barclays to collect any means necessary

Do you have that threat in writing? No, when I had the telephone conversation and I asked the girl what she meant by me being passed to the litigation team and what that would mean she refused to speak to me about it and said it meant I would get a letter within a week telling me what would happen next. Having asked for a general idea she became extremely nasty and told me she was going to put the phone down. I asked to speak to a supervisor who told me he would knock £2k off if i paid within a week else proceedings would start with the land registry to have the debt put against the house! Again none of this is in writing yet!

(1) Any person who sends to another person—

(a) a letter or other article which conveys—

(i) a message which is indecent or grossly offensive;

(ii) a threat; or

(iii) information which is false and known or believed to be false by the sender; or

(b) any other article which is, in whole or part, of an indecent or grossly offensive nature,

is guilty of an offence if his purpose, or one of his purposes, in sending it is that it should, so far as falling within paragraph (a) or (b) above, cause distress or anxiety to the recipient or to any other person to whom he intends that it or its contents or nature should be communicated.

Malicious Communications Act 1988

 

 

They are Idle threats, and she is a long way off bankruptcy. Firstly they would need to take her to court, and don't believe any threats of them knocking on the door to take goods, again they would need to take her to court, obtain a CCJ, then she would have to default on the CCJ, and then a County Court bailiff would have to obtain a peaceable 'walk-in possession'.

 

Quote:

calling telling her that she has to pay £5k + in the next 7 days otherwise they will go for her assets car and or house.

Utter rubbish,

 

STOP TALKING TO THEM OVER THE PHONE

 

STOP TALKING TO THEM OVER THE PHONE

STOP TALKING TO THEM OVER THE PHONE

Get everything in writing so she has a paper trail of evidence, unless she is recording the phone calls?

If you send them anything in the post, do so by recorded delivery, and PRINT your name or use a computer generated signature. Don't sign.

Quote:

If she pays within 7 days £2k will be knocked off the bill if not it goes to litigation and she will hear within 7 days and they will do a land search on the property and based on that they will see about bankruptcy.

2K will be knocked off! How much was the course? £3645 + additional £3102.42 in interest for the term of the loan. Again it appears they are charging me for the entire term of the loan when payments were only due as of Nov 08! I have tried to make min £1 payments which Mercers declined saying not to make silly offers and to come back with something more serious. When i said the same to Allied they said there was no point making payments now it had gone to far!

Do you know if there are any charges added to that amount? I have had late payment charges each time of £22.50!

If she genuinely cannot afford to pay the debt, then the best thing is to go to court, that way then she will be able to show the judge she can manage £1 a month, and that is all that they will get!

My concern is that the instructor college has claimed this money from Barclay's, in my opinion fraudulently, if she had told them she would be unable to do the course in good time due to her pregnancy and they have still gone ahead and claimed the money from Barclay's I would seek legal advice, wash my hands of it and let Barclay's argue the toss with the Instructor College!

[Bazooka Boo]

Barclays claim the college have done the best they can by offering to keep the course open to me

 

OK, Barclays are still using their in house DCA's, Mercers being one of their first, AIC another also Risk Management Alternatives might drop you a line.

If I were you I would write to Barclays asking them for 28 days grace, and to hold any further action on the account/loan until you can seek legal advice about The Instructor College.

Take a look at this template and edit to suit.

 

At no point has anyone contacted me from the instructor college. Even when I initially approached them and I was told their reply policy was 28days they didn’t actually get back to me for 3months with a response!

Ask them for their Complaints procedure immediately, and follow it through to the letter until you get the response you are after.

I would also ask them for their Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)

 

they didn’t actually get back to me for 3months with a response!

This is normally the length of time in which a company has to resolve your complaint, before you can escalate it further to an independent agency.

 

When I asked for a copy of the circumstances to which they had reviewed my situation on they denied any knowledge of what I was talking about!

Ask for it again, but this time in writing not over the phone, unless you can record the conversations, they can tell you the moon is made of cheese then deny they ever spoke to you!

 

 

when I had the telephone conversation and I asked the girl what she meant by me being passed to the litigation team and what that would mean she refused to speak to me about it and said it meant I would get a letter within a week telling me what would happen next

Probably because she had only just learned to pronounce 'litigation' and never had the time to look up what it means!

Don't be too worried, if a DCA refuses to speak to you, it only means that the question you posed isn't on their script, so they don't know what reply to give!

Have you had a letter yet?

 

Having asked for a general idea she became extremely nasty and told me she was going to put the phone down.

I don't believe you! They're much more professional than that!

 

I asked to speak to a supervisor who told me he would knock £2k off if i paid within a week else proceedings would start with the land registry to have the debt put against the house!

Utter utter rubbish, you should have laughed and told him you'd put the phone down unless he started telling the truth.

OK for a minuscule debt of less than ten grand, there is no way on gods earth anybody would be able to go to court and apply for a charging order against a property,

firstly the creditor has to take the debtor to court, and here if the judge see in the creditors favour, may apply a CCJ with a set amount the debtor must pay. If the debtor fails to pay the amount set out by the court, they are then in default of the CCJ, and there are a number of way's in which a creditor can obtain payment.

Firstly, and simply, send in the 'county court bailiffs' to remove goods to the amount of the debt. (A Warrant of Execution)

Secondly- an attachment of earnings order- which will stop the money from the debtors wages.

Thirdly- A third party debt order, which freezes any money the debtor may have in bank/savings accounts..

Finally- a charging order which means that the debt will be paid upon the sale of the debtors property.

 

He is talking out of his backside, please do not entertain his drivel over the phone or any other DCA that wants to enter into a conversation, get it all in writing, and if you have those phone calls recorded then you must report them to the OFT and the ICO and give them a copy.

 

I have tried to make min £1 payments which Mercers declined saying not to make silly offers and to come back with something more serious.

If that is all you can afford, then tell them to take you to court, because the judge will not make you pay any more than you can afford, I guarantee. And they know this, just call their bluff.

 

When i said the same to Allied they said there was no point making payments now it had gone to far!

IMHO to keep the wolves from the door until you are able to get to the bottom of this, I would still make the token payment of £1 a month, keeping a record of any monies you pay, so that you are able to claim this back from them.

 

I have had late payment charges each time of £22.50

No doubt they are illegal and can be claimed back, so don't add them to any of your calculations as to the amount outstanding.

Have you been in touch with the Citizens Advice Bureau in your area for some assistance?

Also the National Debt Line is a very good source of knowledge.

And another V.V. Good organisation to make a complaint to and get it addressed is Howtocomplain.com :grin::grin:

 

Info taken from HMCS

Edited May 13, 2009 by Bazooka Boo
Alcohol induced typos.....again!

[GamekeeperToPoacher]

I am wondering if it might be worth going the SAR route?

 

It is possible that they would provide the information about the litigation threats.

 

Also do you have a copy of the original agreement? Even though it is post 2007 it may have some clause to go at them for.

 

I recall that the hotel industry has to 'mitigate' their loss if a holiday is booked then not taken.

What did the driving school do about trying to let that period? Did they make a reduction fr not consuming fuel? Did they not pay the teaching instructor? All of this MAY be relevant BUT IMHO it may hang on whether your partner did let them know or just tucked her head under the pillow

 

GK