Hitachi Captial loan for furniture - now cabot letter - help

[ecb]

Please can you give me some advice.

 

I have a credit agreement with Hitachi Capital and they have sent a letter today saying that they have tried to contact me (I rang and spoke to them last week) and so they havent received a satisfactory response. they are going to instruct a Personal Representative to call at my home and assess the current situation...... I will be charged £85 for this.

 

I had called them the previous week. I have written to them and included a full budget statement showing my income and expenditure and offered them £1 per month (which I am paying). My partner left me without a job and with a mortgage, 3 kids, this debt plus others. I cant claim any benefits so Im living on Child Tax Credits and Child Benefit. I dont know what to do.

 

Please can anyone help me with this. Ive seen another tread about CCA - not sure what this is or if it has any relevance to my debt.

 

The outstanding balance on this is £2558, the monthly agreement payments were to be £200 (based on his income of course!) and so I have no hope of meeting those even if I did find a job.

 

Any help or advice of how to deal with this, what it means or what to do next would be very gratefully received. Thanks

[ScabHunter]

1 NEVER talk to them on the telephone unless you have a telephone recorder such as the Truecall, and have made a conscious choice to engage in this mode of dialogue

 

2 Send them a letter which I will give you in the next post.

 

3 Is this a credit card or a loan? When was it taken out? This affects the next move.

 

SH

[ecb]

The girl that I spoke to was quite pleasant but said that the minimum they would accept is £50 per month for reduced payment. I said that there was no way I could commit to that but wished I could.

 

It is a loan for furniture taken out last Sept 2008

 

Thank you so much for replying..

[ScabHunter]

The girl that I spoke to was quite pleasant but said that the minimum they would accept is £50 per month for reduced payment. I said that there was no way I could commit to that but wished I could.

 

It is a loan for furniture taken out last Sept 2008

 

Thank you so much for replying..

 

There are two big problems here - one is that a loan taken out in 2008 is going to be enforceable. The other is that you are obviously a property owner which leaves you vulnerable to other methods of attack.

 

How much equity is there in the property?

 

SH

[ecb]

oh dear.

 

Prob about 80k:(

[Bazooka Boo]

they are going to instruct a Personal Representative to call at my home and assess the current situation...... I will be charged £85 for this.

 

No you won't! They can try but it is an unnecessary and unlawful charge which will never stand up to question in a court of law.

 

Ok firstly, however nice they may seem at present, you must stop talking to them on the phone, unless you are recording your phone calls??

 

Start getting everything in writing, so then you will have a paper trail of evidence, not just 'well she said he said' which can't be proved.

 

The "ONLY" person who is able to "LEGALLY" force you to pay "ANYTHING" is a judge.

If all you can afford to pay is £1 a month then I strongly recommend that is all you pay them.

You do not have to get them to agree to this amount, just pay it, although you must not pay it via direct debit, as they can and will, take exactly what they want from your account withhout your permission.

Set up a standing order or send them a Postal Order each month, but I recommend a Standing order to them.

 

Hitachi Capital UK are the finance company you would have signed your agreement with, so fortunately for you they haven't sold it on to some lowlife DCA, so your bargaining powers should be that your circumstances have simply changed, and for the time being you can only afford £1 a month, if they want more then you should tell them to take you to court where a Judge will decide on the amount you can afford to pay. (normally £1 a month)

 

Was this a joint signature/Account??

Was there any PPI (insurance) on the purchase?

How was the deposit, if any, paid for? (Credit Card?)

 

Please Please Please, remember, this IS NOT A PRIORITY DEBT!

 

First is your Mortgage, rent, tax, utility bills pretty much all the bills that if you don't pay will end up with you going to court, or worse Jail!

Non-priority debts

 

You may not lose your home or go to prison for not paying 'non-priority' debts, but you can still be taken to court and ordered to pay what you owe - often with extra costs on top. If you still don't pay after you've been ordered to do so, bailiffs can be used to seize your property.

Examples of non-priority debts include:

 

• credit card or store card arrears
  
• catalogue arrears
  
• bank overdrafts and loans
  
• benefit overpayments
  
• money borrowed from friends or family
  
• non-essential goods bought on hire purchase (HP)
  

For any other debts that you may have which you might need help with then please ask by posting the relevant questions in the relevant posts, if your not sure then either ask, or just post them and a MOD will be able to move them into the relevant post for you..

Try not to worry, the fight back and reclaiming your right starts here:D

 

 

 

Boo:wink:

[Bazooka Boo]

one is that a loan taken out in 2008 is going to be enforceable

 

Not necessarily SH, if this is an agreement for furniture it is perfectly feasible that the agreement could have been signed in store, just because the CCA deems that all agreements made after 2007 are CCA compliant does not mean that they are:D

 

So a CCA request is still, in some cases, perfectly necessary, but the OP hasn't given enough info as to how this agreement was made yet so as to write off courses of action...

 

 

Boo;)

[ecb]

Hi Boo,

 

Thanks for your long reply.

 

This is solely in my name (fool, fool, fool)

No PPI was taken out - i used to work for one of those companies and so avoid it like the plague

The deposit was sizable, £803, but not certain how that was paid, I will check my bank account.

 

The agreement was signed in store, not sure what difference that makes.

 

Thanks

[ScabHunter]

oh dear.

 

Prob about 80k:(

 

Yikes! These numbers go totally over my head as I've never been involved in mortgages, owning property, raising families, marriage etc. Too big a job for me, that's for sure.

 

There are a couple of possibilities. Could you sell up, move into something smaller, and get rid of the debt? I know selling houses is not easy or automatic, but could you think about it?

 

The other possibility, if you've got a spare room, is to take in a lodger. This gives you tax free income, so you could pay the debt back in a relatively short space of time. I obviously don't know if you've got any other creditors, but this might be a way out for you.

 

This only applies, of course, if your other income would not be affected. It is not my area of expertise.

 

This situation of a pitiful income but high equity creates all sorts of problems. Creditors can go for a forthwith judgment and then get a charging order on the property. In a case like this where there are children it is unlikely there would be a forced sale, but it is still not pleasant.

 

You are also vulnerable to statutory demands because the creditor would have a genuine incentive in trying to make you bankrupt, although it has to be stressed that this debt is probably not large enough for a creditor to want to spend the money on making you bankrupt. The charging order is far more likely.

 

Even the last resort solutions are basically taken away from you. Bankruptcy would result in serious losses, and the Debt Relief Orders which promise to be the salvation for so many impoverished people are not available to homeowners.

 

An Administration Order might be possible in the future, but only if there is more than one creditor, and only if you have a CCJ against you.

 

There is no point pretending that this situation is pleasant, because it certainly isn't. It is important, however, to be aware of all of the possibilities before you decide what to do.

 

In the meantime, I need to find that letter you need to send to these idiots about the doorstep harassment.

 

SH

[Bazooka Boo]

 

In the meantime, I need to find that letter you need to send to these idiots about the doorstep harassment.

 

SH

 

Do you mean this one Sh?

http://www.consumerforums.com/resources/templates-library/86-debt-collectors/590-letter-used-when-a-dca-threatens-a-doorstep-visit-.html

 

Give them the template letter linked below through the letterbox or chained door.

 

http://www.consumerforums.com/resour...ep-visit-.html

 

Tell them to leave as you have nothing to discuss and all communication must be in writing.

 

Tell them you will call the police if they don't leave immediately.

 

Remain calm and polite at all times.

 

Walk away from the door so the visitor cannot try and talk to you.

 

If they don't leave, call the police to report that you are being harassed and the visitor refuses to leave.

[ecb]

oh dear. Sounds all very scarey cos I dont know what half of those terms mean.

 

Re the house move. I dont see that as being an option because I live in a pretty crap area as it is. Wouldnt find something big enough for us to live in for whats left of the equity and wouldnt get another mortgage cos I have no income and my credit rating will be shot by all of this, plus being associated with my ex.

 

He's totally messed up my life and walked away with his £7000 per month salary!! one of the other debts we have is in joint names, but he is refusing to give his new address and they say they will just chase me despite my pointing out that I am unable to pay while he simply refuses to do so.:(

[Bazooka Boo]

The agreement was signed in store, not sure what difference that makes.

 

That simply means that you can ask them for a CCA (consumer credit agreement) and they will have 14 days to supply it to you.

If the CCA they send is unenforceable in anyway, or is incorrectly laid out, missing relevant terms and conditions, APR%, etc etc, or even if they fail to provide you with the CCA within the time period allowed, then you are legally allowed to withhold payment until such time as they do provide you with the necessary, legally enforceable documents.

 

The fact that it was signed in-store certainly acts in your favour:D Especially if it was a Friday afternoon and some teenage stand in was just waiting for you to sign the dotted line so he could get down the pub, and failed to file the documents correctly!

 

 

Boo;)

[Bazooka Boo]

He's totally messed up my life and walked away with his £7000 per month salary!! one of the other debts we have is in joint names, but he is refusing to give his new address and they say they will just chase me despite my pointing out that I am unable to pay while he simply refuses to do so.:(

 

Do you know his address??

 

My only advice would be, to keep the wolves from the door for the time being is to simply pay them all the 'token' payment of £1 a month.

You do not need to have their agreement, you should definitely not speak to them over the phone, keep "EVERYTHING! in writing 'only'.

 

If they ring, put the phone down, if they persist, tell them "Everything in writing" and then put the phone down, if they still persist, unplug the phone.

 

They will continue to chase you for as long as you entertain them, and the simple fact is that they know where you are so they don't have to waste money tracing your ex.

 

Send them the Telephone Harassment letter along with the Doorstep Collector letter!

 

Don't speak to them over the phone, set up a standing order, and not a direct debit or cheque payment, to all of your creditors for £1 a month until you can get further advice regarding all of your debts and the best way to deal with them..

 

P.S. send all correspondence via recorded delivery, and PRINT your name 'never' sign it.

 

 

Boo;)

[ecb]

Hi Boo

The thing I signed in the store is headed as Fixed-sum loan agreement Regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974......

Is that the same thing as a CCA?

It has APR 0% on it, unlike the £40 charge and interest they are applying every time I open another envelope.

 

If it isnt do you have a link to a CCA request letter that I could use.

Thanks, I will send the door step letter today.

[ecb]

Please can anyone give me some advice what I can do about this??

 

I have a debt with Hitachi Capital, the recent statement shows an outstanding balance of £2580, taken out nov last year, opening balance was £3600. My partner left in Feb last year and I notified them that I didnt have a job and couldnt meet the payments. Was working with CAB at the time and they advised nominal payment of £1 per month which i have continued to do.

 

They have applied £185 of charges to the account. £10 of which is for Automated telephone charge?!

 

I received a letter recently offering me a 25% discount on the outstanding balance if I cleared it in full.

 

Today I received a letter from addlestone keane solicitors who state a sum of £2604 due for immediate payment. Unless a cheque in settlement of the full amount is received within next 7 days proceedings will be instituted against me forthwith to recover the amount due together with statutory interest and all court costs.

 

What can I do.

 

I started work this month, so I should be able to make a payment to them, Im not sure what my salary will be and not sure I can pay the £200 per month that was originally agreed.

 

Whats my options if any now - other than paying the whole amount which I obviously dont have.

 

Please can anyone help me?

[citizenB]

I am not able to offer any advice, but have flagged your thread for the attention of the site team.

 

What kind of loan is this ? Is it regulated by the Consumer Credit Act ?

 

Have you received a Default Notice ?

[diddydicky]

assuming you dont dispute the debt download the I & E sheet from the payplan or CCCS site and fill it in yourself use their formula to work out your disposable income and pro rata it amongst your unsecured creditors

 

that is what you should offer

 

it is worse to offer an amount you cannot COMFORTABLY afford and then default on, than to offer what you can afford

 

if they take you to court the court will use the same formula and you will have the benefit of being free of further charges

 

clearly paying one pound a month and having such charges imposed is of no use to you

 

do you own/joint own your house?

[slick132]

Hi ecb,

 

Further to CB's Q's above, is the a/c in your sole name.

 

Have you received a Termination Notice and/or Notice of Assignment.

 

Do you have all the statements for the a/c. If so, make a list of all penalty charges added to the a/c. You can list these on a Site spreadsheet to make a Schedule of Charges. Read the Reclaiming Guide at Link No1 in my signature.

 

In the meantime, write to the solicitor saying, "The account is in dispute regarding unlawful penalty charges, which you are disputing with the original creditor, Hitachi Capital. Accordingly, no further collection activity should take place until this dispute is resolved."

 

If you don't have the statements necessary to do this, send of a SAR to Hit Cap - http://www.consumerforums.com/resources/templates-library/48-bank-templates/110--data-protection-act-1998-subject-access-request-

 

Also send Hit Cap a CCA request to check if the credit agreement is enforceable - http://www.consumerforums.com/resources/templates-library/86-debt-collectors/581-cca-request-letter Even though the agreement is recent, it is worth checking.

 

Make the list of charges and send it to Hit Cap with this letter - http://www.consumerforums.com/resources/templates-library/48-bank-templates/121-bookworm

 

Shout if you need help with this.

[ecb]

Hi it was a loan taken out for furniture at Furniture Village

Im not sure if I have a Termination Notice, Im going to look through the paperwork to find out.

 

Yes it is just in my name and yes, my home is also in my name (mortgaged).

 

Thanks for your advice. Because I havent been paid by the new job yet, Im unable to fill in the expendiure forms etc, but wanted to know how to deal with /stall the solicitors until I can actually offer them a more reasonable amount. During one phone call to Hitatchi, they said that the least they would accept would be £50 per month for 6 months, not sure if that would be acceptable now if its gone to solicitors. Do you have any ideas about this, or do they just want full amount and nothing else will do?

[palomino]

Since the CAB has dealt with this matter in the past I would suggest you go back to them.

[slick132]

but wanted to know how to deal with /stall the solicitors

Just write to the sol'rs as I suggested in para 4 of post 4 above.

 

Don't speak to anyone on the phone about this. You don't have to take their calls and you should avoid calling them.

[ecb]

Hi Palomino, since Im now working and have an income, they can no longer deal with my debters, also it takes weeks to get an appointment just to discuss things with them.

 

Thanks Slick, I sent the letter today, thanks for your help.

[Josie8]

Can you post a copy of the Default Notice. Hyundai's tend to be invalid.

[diddydicky]

i have a hyundai trajet- it was a good motor:D

[Josie8]

Same can't be said of their default notices .....,,