Blair, oliver & scott - Halifax Loan.

[avocados]

Hi

 

I have fell behind with loads of payments which are listed on this link here http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt-issues/213576-where-start.html I feel the situation is now very serious so I am trying to tackle my creditors one by one.

 

This thread is to ask for help dealing with the Halifax for a loan and is the biggest amount I owe to anybody, (over £15k with interest) Today I receive a letter saying that Blair, oliver & scott are instructed to collect the full balance which is due immediatley and I must pay now! Which planet are they on??? :-? If I had that sort of mony sitting in the bank I would not be in this mess!

 

The loan was only taken out last year and my financial position has changed greatly since then for the worse so I would like to know what I should do? I am self employed but any extra cash I earn is to go on mortgage arrears as I do not want to be homeless.

 

Advice on what to do first, either with the Halifax or Blair, Oliver and Scott would be great

 

Thankyou

[katpuss]

First of all, have you sent off a CCA request to check that the debt is enforceable?

 

I have a halifax debt that is being dealt with by Blair Oliver Scott. Their threats are harmless, they told me that I needed to pay £205 immediately and nothing ever came of it!

[katpuss]

.....and always pay your mortgage first

[Bazooka Boo]

OK your debt is still being dealt with by Halifax at the moment, as Blair Oliver and Scott, are Bank Of Scotland.

 

As the loan was only taken out last year, it is perfectly possible that they will have all of the correct paperwork in order and available, but that doesn't mean you can't send them a CCA request.

 

How much of the loan is fees/charges added on top? I.E, late payment fees, missed payments etc etc.

 

Did you take out any PPI?

Have you corresponded with them at all about this?

 

If you do, you need to send everything in writing to get a paper trail of evidence, don't talk to them over the phone, unless you can record your calls?

 

IMHO you should write to them and explain your circumstances, and ask them for some help, or what do they suggest you do?

 

If as I expect, they ask you if you can somehow 'borrow' the money from a friend or member of the family, and that is their extent of 'help' then come back here for some proper 'Help'!

[FlyboyAgain]

BOS hounded me like a wounded animal.But once I discovered this site, got help and learned about the CCA 1974 and what is admissible, I grew more than confident in dealing with them. And you will, too.

 

This is what I'd do:-

 

 

• Sit down and draft and income/expenditure sheet (also called an Financial Staement or Debt Management Plan); you can get a template off the National Debt Helpline or maybe Consumer Direct.
  
• Get your local Citizens' Advice Bureau involved to stall your creditors until you can work out how much you can affiord to pay them.
  
• Find how old your debts are; this may be important.
  
• Eventually, you can ask them to see copies of your agreements to see if the have been properly set out. Read up on on S77/78 of the CCA 1974 threads on this site; you will have to do a bit of homework.
  
• Do not answer the phone to your bank or BOS! Write to them requesting all correspondence to be put in writing! I cannot stress this enough for both of them - esp the latter - will lie to you, verbally. Any verbal statement can always be denied at a later date if not recorded.
  

Once you've gotten you creditors stalled and are paying them, don't give in to them asking for increses every three months, as BOS are wont to do. Your are trying to get yourself out of debt, not stay in it!

 

From now on I'll check your own thread.

[buddy7]

Hi everyone, I am in agreement with all of the above, I owe just under £4k with the same halifax loan from about three years ago and have been harassed by BOS for the debt. The best advice is definately try not to give out phone numbers or speak on the phone to them only do letters as they can be really unkind!

 

I have done the DMP from national debt wbsite and sent that with an offer and am going to start paying at the end of the month. Do not offer too much as they will want more! Also have you any accounts still open linked with Halifax as I got a letter saying they were allowed to take money out to offset the amount owed? Don't know if anyone else has had that one? Good luck and don't let them scare you as they did me!

[katpuss]

Hi everyone, I am in agreement with all of the above, I owe just under £4k with the same halifax loan from about three years ago and have been harassed by BOS for the debt. The best advice is definately try not to give out phone numbers or speak on the phone to them only do letters as they can be really unkind!

 

I have done the DMP from national debt wbsite and sent that with an offer and am going to start paying at the end of the month. Do not offer too much as they will want more! Also have you any accounts still open linked with Halifax as I got a letter saying they were allowed to take money out to offset the amount owed? Don't know if anyone else has had that one? Good luck and don't let them scare you as they did me!

 

Good point about Halifax offsetting the debt against other accounts you have with them, they tried to do this with me but I removed all money from the account before they could debit it.

 

My advice would be to open a parachute account with another bank to safeguard your money.

[FlyboyAgain]

Also have you any accounts still open linked with Halifax as I got a letter saying they were allowed to take money out to offset the amount owed? Don't know if anyone else has had that one? Good luck and don't let them scare you as they did me!

 

They did that a few years ago with the small savings account I had with them: emptied it bar 1p then denied ever having done so. I was on the point of getting the police involved when I noticed they had set it against my overdraft. That was the start of the bother with them for me. And look where it's go them now?

 

And +1 to the parachute account. I had a savings account elsewhere that I got converted and shunted all the DDs/SOs into and sat back and watched the fireworks! Boy, was I a happy man that day!

Edited August 19, 2009 by FlyboyAgain
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