Numerous queries & time fast running out - Newbie Urgent plea for help

[officejet1000]

Everything was fine, all accounts were being paid on time, then I had a breakdown due to illness, ended up in hospital, and ordered to take 3 months of work followed by a review where I may or may not go back to work, due to the nature of the illness, part of it involved mental health issues, and the inability to use a telephone, write, type etc. Aware that my direct debits on all accounts were due on 01st May 09, I instructed an advocate to write to all my creditors, stating that due to illness the next months direct debit would not be happening and that I had been signed of work sick & at that stage we could not predict how long this would be for, the dd had been canceled, would they take this into consideration and provide a payment holiday. It then went on to say I would like to come to an agreement with them and I intended to continue to make repayments as soon as possible. They were then asked to correspond with me at a temporary address(a friend was looking after me after hospital), and to copy the advocate , these were on headed paper, with my signature authority sheet - the headed paper makes it 120% obvious that I have a mental health disability.

Advocate Letters to creditors sent: 24th April 09

Every single creditor ignored the letters and did not respond initially, then 1-2 did but directlty to me at my own address - not at the address they were requested to do so, and none copied in the advocate.

Under the Disability Act lenders have to follow certain guidelines when it comes to collecting debts, procedures & the way they communicate with the debtor

EG the reason an advocate is requesting the info is I may not be able to respond, understand or act on things, this is why I give authority.

They also cannot harrass someone that causes distress & stress, and when asked to put something in writing, they have to do so, in effect behave in a sympathetic & understanding manner

As the date for 1st May came and went and dd failed, because the companies al though informed in advance not to take the dd - they all did so, which caused charges for non payment of dd, late payment fees, additional interest etc.

So 1st May is first payment date missed

I then contacted CCCS and used the Debt Remedy self help and sent a Income and Expenditure Sheet + Offer of Token Payment to all creditors

Token Offer + Income /Expenditure sent

2nd copy of Token Offer & income/expenditure sent

 

Again 60% ignored letter, then starts the daily calls/letters harrasing me for payment with each call I become more ill to the pint I cannot answer the telephone anymore

 

I made payment to all creditors as per my offer wether they had agreed or not During this period I contacted all creditors with a full SAR request and for companiesthat I had loans they had SAR+ DPA request for Copy of Original Agreement - THE SARS all had £10 cheques & the SAR + DPA had cheques for £10 +£1 - the purpose

A: To see if I had insurance I could claim to cover payments whilst off sick

B: To calculate charges for reclaim under hardship waiver

 

SAR + DPA requests sent

Started to notice which companies had cashed cheques, but received nothing called them up was given no joy - this is where I think I may have started to go wrong however at this point I made it clear I was applying under the Hardship Rules and sent them all an LBA reminding them of their obligations, and the amount of days remaining to fulfil obligations, and for the ones that had sent some info through, advising this was not sufficent and that I wanted the full SAR and if not I would make a formal complaint to the Information Commisioner

 

By this stage still have not received full SAR's from anyone, usual delaying tactics, letters advising we have received request and are dealing with it, requests for address, id, signatures etc

 

LBA sent signed for on 9th June

 

Now this is whre it gets interesting and I get more confused/stuck

 

Creditors start to acknowledge Letter of Token Payments, but do not do it in correct manner, nearly all except one say yes, then come back and say no, confuse the life out of me with special repayment schemes, state if I do not pay default notices will be issued.

One or two start to agree one figure then a different dept will contact and say something completely different - all requested to put in writing as I cannot communicate and understand by telephoine - half of them clearly have no procedures in place for dealing with Disabilities & Illness

despite training being provided by the Money Advice Trust in association with Disability Charities

 

So they are in breach of S40 Administration of Justce Act for harrasment, was getting calls 7 days a week, before 08.30hrs, after 8pm and throughout the day, even from companies who advised they had removed my number as we had an agreement sorted - they didn't communicate to a collegue who starts chasing me for the debt again.

 

CSA Regulation rules breached, they state:

F: unless otherwise instructed accept all reasonable offers of payment provided evidence of non ability to pay

L: have due regard and deal sensitively with individuals where evidence has been given or is apparantthat they are incapacitated by a mental or physical disability

N: Offer maximum co operation with the debtors nominated or chosen Third Party, where Third party is an accredited advisory service, at first appt and on request give 30 days grace period before re-comencing collection activity

P: Take everything into account, including Common Finacial Statement and debtors future ability to pay and where available in all correspondance the name or designation of a specialy trained member of staff who may be contacted regarding financial difficulties.

Act wth full regard to Data Protection principles

 

OFT Breach which can result in Credit Licence being revoked

If a creditor or debt collection agency disregards requests made in respect of when and where to contact the debtor, this can also be classed as unfair. If you request a creditor not to contact you at work because this could jeopardise your job, and the creditor disregards your request, this could be classed as unfair practice.

If a creditor or debt collector tries to continue to make contact knowing you are vulnerable, suffering from illness caused by the situation or seeking medical advice, this could also be classed as an unfair practice as they are putting undue pressure on the debtor.

Although specifics are not detailed as to what is classed as unfair, all situations are investigated on a case-by-case basis. If a creditor is found to be practicing unfair tactics, this could in turn show them as unfit to hold a Consumer Credit Licence and the OFT has every right to revoke their licence.

 

So thats the story

17 Creditors

11 of which are credit card / loan / bank overdraft

 

Out of the 11 , one has issued Notice of Default Sums on same sheet as Notice of Sums in Arrears(2 months) - it states that I should look at OFT info page on Time orders etc, but it doesn't tell me the date the default comes into effect - surely this is wrong

 

The other company has managed to issue a Default Notice dated 27th May which is confusing as it states that if the arrears and overlimit are not paid by 24th June they may take the following action (note the word may)

Then the next paragraph sates with effect from 24th June we shall(note the word shall) - request the full outstanding balance of the agreement, and shall instruct their solicitors to issue proceedings against me or DCA to collect on their behalf - Register it as a default with CRA and giving me 28 days notice of this and terminate my credit card agreement

The confusion lies in that 14 may they write to say they cant get payment(call the product money)28 may letter to say they can't contact me by telephone(call the product money) 27 May Default Notice(product Card) 8 June payment plan(product is credit card)

 

Same company where I have a second product(card) has managed to issue me a Default Notice 21 May 09(they call the product Card) giving me until 18th June , followed by a payment plan letter(they call product credit card) on 8 June 09 confirming my token offer, and accepting it for 6 months and providing I pay each month on time starting 22 June 09 will not charge interest .this I have done and no further action will be taken, they then follow with on 18th June(they call product card) a letter to tell me my agreement has been terminated for failing to comply with the default notice, now correct me if i am wrong but I had until 18th June to comply but a payment plan was put in place saying if I did everything they asked by 22 June no further action would take place - so how can I have failed to comply. They have taken further action by issuing the notice and terminating the agreement and instructing external DCA

 

The products are actually

1: Card

2: Money

3: Loan

 

So the default notices have the wrong product names on, which lead to my confusion that I had until 24thJune to comply when actually I had until 18th

 

The third product`

Same company loan product one payment missed and they have issued Default Notice again using the words may and shall and going for full amount of loan

Note it was the same person who advised they would ensure all three products were aware of the situation. So how come I have 2 Default Notices, secondly as far as the loan is concerned can they issue a default after one payment missed, and they are all different dates. Should be same date, when I called loan dept they advised they had not been informed, I am also allowed to ask for the loan term to be extended and also so long as three payments hade been made in a row prior I can ask for a repayment holiday which I had done, but no holiday was offered, and no extending of the loan. I did have a holiday before so teh amounts were recalculated they are also supposed to send me new financiasls for this - they didn't, there is also insurance on this product.

 

This company also has a complaint lodged with them about harrasment for these products, and as far as SAR+ DPA is concerned they have produced one agreement out of three, no documents, no statements.

 

A different company sent default notice on 20th May saying I had 14 days to comply which meant 4th June, again they have not sent full SAR + DPAand on the letetrs sent I wrote account being disputed

 

Where do I stand, it's confusing enough with a brain that works, let alone the days when it is all fuzzy - they also were all advised that I was taking advice from CCCS but I was not on a DMP, and my meeting was 2 July and then I would make decision as to wether it was right for me or not.

I was advised its fine to have default notices, but I wanted to get time order in place - would this be right or wrong to have done? and I should consider going bankrupt - wrong again as I could not then be director of my company when I go back to work

 

Sorry it's a bit long and I haven't put company names in as I need to see if I can get some legal action in place with court on Monday morning, to dispute defaults as they should not have been issued and have them removed, secondly they have not complied with complinace requests for information, nor followed voluntary code for collections + harrasment

 

So I'm not sure what forms, and what to put down, as the agreements themselves I don't think they have, I don't know what I can claim for as they are withholding the information, I have a case for hardship which they have been informed about and had this information been provided I could probable have prevented all of this happening

 

It's too much for me to know what to do.how properly abd I considered sending it all off to a no win no fee, but I can't afford to give any moeny away, I need it to pay bills/debts

 

Any help greatly appreciated

[Spamalot]

Hello and welcome to CAG.... you are amongst friends

 

Unless someone comes along with a better strategy.... which is very possible! ....

 

I would advocate starting a different thread for each creditor stating each stage and posting up any corres you have that relates to it.

 

eg. Barclaycard... applied for CCA and Sar response was....etc...received default notice ...etc..

 

I for one got a bit lost in your first post and think that breaking it down into manageable pieces may help us to understand it more....

 

Just my observations and I am more than happy to stand corrected.

 

Spam.

[diamondgirl]

Yes would agree with spamalot, start separate threads it will be much easier for you and easier for all of us to follow.

 

DG:)

[WelshMam2009]

Ok OfficeJet...I endorse everything that Spamalot has said above.

 

Firstly, calm down!! I know you're not well, but allowing these bankers to grind you down is going to make you worse and not better.

 

In respect of the phone calls, if you can scrape together circa £100, then I suggest you invest in Truecall. It is a selective call barring and call recording facility.

 

I know CCCS do a good job, but personally, I prefered to sort out my own debt management plan (when I was paying them of course!!)

 

First off, you need to accept that your credit rating is going to be shot to pieces. However, the benefits of this are:

 

When those default notices land on your doorstep, you will enjoy scrutinizing them for defects!!

 

When the debt collectors write, you will laugh at their letters!

 

When your accounts are terminated, you will jump for joy!!! :lol:

 

So, start writing those new threads, you can link back to the opening post for general background reference, and post up copies of your Default Notices with personal information removed.

 

Best of luck and, as Spamalot said, you are amongst FRIENDS!!

Edited June 21, 2009 by WelshMam2009
awful spelling!!

[officejet1000]

Thank you for your response, to be honest I am finding the whole thing overwhelming, and I hear you say calm down, but when your entire life is on the line, and your future it is hard - I have tried, taken a step back, but things just don't seem to be changing / moving.

I do understand about writing about each company, but worried they will see and start action, and also how do I set up a new one for each company and link back to the main one?

I have approaced 15 law firms to help me with the litigation against the bank which is a business account and no one will, nor will anyone on my personal bank where they removed the overdraft - I have had a response from them and an offer, should this be posted online? Again its a really bad offer, and the issues leading up to it have been ignored and not dealt with, in a court they would face a much higher penalty, so I said thank you for response and willget back to them -its Citibank

The card companys & loans all have failed the SAR in one form of another, the default notices were issued incorrectly and now they even write saying it's not too late to change their mind(ie they realise they have done it wrong and trying to cover back) EGG

Egg Loans have said again realising they have failed in guidelines that they want me to tell them what I would like them to do

CCCS I am not in a DMP with them I used Debt Remedy, my appointment is Thurs this week, where I have said I will listen to what is said and then decide if they are right for me or not.

I used Community Legal Advice Debt prior, and they gave wrong information

[Spamalot]

Thank you for your response, to be honest I am finding the whole thing overwhelming, and I hear you say calm down, but when your entire life is on the line, and your future it is hard - I have tried, taken a step back, but things just don't seem to be changing / moving. We do understand, we have all been in the pits of despair not knowing where to start

I do understand about writing about each company, but worried they will see and start action, and also how do I set up a new one for each company and link back to the main one? Find the 'new thread button' at the top of the forum page on the left hand side and click it... Give it a title such as... Officejet1000 v Egg loan and put as much detail in the post as you can i.e defaults etc... then caggers who are up to date with Egg and have had dealings with them will jump in and help.

 

Do the same for each creditor... we all have our specialitys and know how particular creditors act/react and can advise you how to deal with what they throw at you.

 

Start as many threads as you need to. don't worry about linking back at the moment as it's not really important at this stage.

 

 

This is a very helpful link..

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/welcome-consumer-forums/107001-how-do-i-dummies.html

 

Best wishes. Spam.