Mercers Debt collection Agency and Barclays Bank

[perth66]

i recently got laid off...unfortunate but thats life.....i had perfect credit up to this point.

obviously my credit card payments didnt get paid...so barclays bank set their own debt collection agency onto me....calling up to...and im not joking...20 times a DAY.

my branch assured me..that my housing benefit would be safe in that current account and that no debt collection agency could touch it.

what happened next?.......mercers debt collection agency stole the housing benefit as soon as it was put into the account.

this is how i dealt with it...it works.....try it.

first of all i made a fraud complaint to barclays bank.

whats not known by many people is that barclays have whats called "appropriation of rights" to money going into your current account to pay outstanding debts as long as it DOES NOT CAUSE FINANCIAL HARDSHIP.

 

lastly...i forgot this...DO NOT BELIEVE what your branch tell you...move the money away from that bank ASAP

they also signed up to a voluntary agreement that no benefits should be taken to pay outstanding debts.

on the same day as making the call to fraud..and kicking up a REAL stink in the bank...i called CCCS the credit couselling charity who were enormously helpful.....they put me onto the financial ombudsman...who up held the complaint and told them to refund the money..which they promptly did...all this took about a week.

we changed our phone number..used the pro forma that CCCS sent us...to send a £1 token payment to mercers.

doesnt matter if they accept it or not..under law it shows a willingness to pay.

so to recap....if you get behind with barclaycard...and/or barclayloan....DO NOT USE YOUR CURRENT ACCOUNT. have the money paid into another bank...normally you can open whats called a cash account that gives you a simple atm card.get your money paid into THAT.

that way they have no access.

secondly..change your phone number...not always easy to do..but i recommend it...BT will do it for free if you explain you are getting harrassing calls.

thirdly.....contact CCCS...they were excellent.

Edited December 12, 2009 by perth66
forgot something!

[dx100uk]

just to clairify the terms used here.

 

the bank can take payments from you bank A/C if the cards etc are under the same banking group. this is called the offsetting rule.

 

IF yor only income is benefits, then you should write to your bank a 'notice of appropriation' letter, telling them they are not allowed to offset against this A/C as its only income is benefits. payments

 

dx

[slick132]

Hi Perth and welcome to CAG.

 

We come across the banks exercising their "Right to Set Off" regularly.

 

See here about how you can notify the bank of your Right of Appropriation - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt-issues/36790-bank-taking-your-benefits.html#post289030

 

I'm glad you got this action reversed so quickly - many others have not been so fortunate. I assume you are no longer putting credits into the Barclays a/c. Don't do so in the future either as there's every chance BC/Mercers will do this again.

 

[perth66]

just wanted to say quickly too......the peace of mind we got..was worth ALL the hassle we went through to do what was needed.