Littlewoods have my cca

[worry246]

Hi i sent off for my cca 2 weeks ago to littewoods , today i got a copy of my cca . my account was opened on 31/10/2002 and this agreement they sent is signed on the 24/7/2007 for 2 wardrobes i agreed to have over 103 weeks. Last month i couldnt pay the min repayment to them , they agreed i could pay them £50 less for the next two months , but will have to find the £100 to pay them back at the end of the two months.They phoned me up last week And said they could reduce my bill by £60 if i sign a new contract. Please any advice on my next move , is it possible this could go to court . I have not got a scanner but took took pictures of the agreement they sent

[cerberusalert]

The images are too small to read. If you upload them to TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting & then copy and paste the URL back here we'll be able to see them.

 

On the Tinypic page left click the 'choose' button & a seperate window will open, choose which file you want to upload and left click 'open', the window will close then left click 'upload now' button. Your document will upload to tiny pic & the page will refresh giving a list of links. Just copy & paste the Url link back here & we'll be able to see it.

[silverfox1961]

HI,

 

Now call me thick if you want but that agreement is for £258.

 

Where is the agreement for the rest of the balance?

Where is the agreement from 2002?

[worry246]

Image - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video HostingImage - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hostinghttp://tinypic.com/r/2dtr9g5/6http://tinypic.com/r/14b3jtc/6

Edited February 6, 2010 by worry246

[worry246]

Hope they are much better to read now . They sent me no agreemet for 2002 when i opened my account , only the agreement for 2 wardrobes , amout of credit £258.00 duration of agreement 104 weeks , total amount payable £333.28

[Guest Cartaphilus]

They phoned me up last week And said they could reduce my bill by £60 if i sign a new contract.

Others will probably tell you the same, but don't. That is a common tactic of LWs.

 

Incidentally it's also unfair debt practice to get a debtor to refinance under the OFT guidelines. LW's know this or should know it but rely on us not knowing. Any new agreement with them could potentially double that debt, as they charge interest up front not over time. I only know this because they did it to me a long time ago and before I knew more on the matter, that I shouldn't have refinanced and had other options.

 

But it's the other one you need, from 2002. I could be wrong, but I think Littlewoods/Shop Direct only started using that particular agreement from 2007 onwards. Potentially, they may not have the one from when you opened this account; hence their sudden eagerness maybe to get you to sign another agreement/contract.

Edited February 6, 2010 by Cartaphilus

[Jadgee]

The agreement you have is for the extended terms for the wardrobes so only that part of the balance is enforceable. They won't have your original agreement for the rest of the account and the balance outstanding (if there is one) and I also sense a certain panic from them in getting you to sign a new agreement for the entire balance.

[Guest Cartaphilus]

and I also sense a certain panic from them in getting you to sign a new agreement for the entire balance.

Yes, which is what I said.

 

No, the agreement they would have anyway would be pre 2007, when the regulations changed.

 

What ails me, though, is that Littlewoods try this again and again with debtors. Before I knew more, I was convinced by them over the phone (I refuse to speak to any creditor or DCA by phone anymore, it's an utterly total waste of time, plus my oxygen, oh and call casts) that my only option was to take out another loan/finance to cover all of it. Refusal after refusal to accept what I could pay, what I could actually physically afford to pay them, documents were issued straight away, not avoiding my debt, just telling them I couldn't afford to maintain what I was paying because I simply didn't have the money anymore, everything done as we debtors are advised to by these companies. Like the OP (original poster), I was also offered a reduced payment package per month. My debt with them was relatively small but like I said I was led to believe I had no other option, nothing about whom I could turn to eg Consumer Credit ... etc or CAB. Nothing about that at all. I either paid the monthly fee, including by then dozens of £12 for letters, late payments and I also became aware they charged £12 for each phone call made to me to obtain payment, in lieu of a letter charge.

 

One thing I do know, as thousands of others do, is that Littlewoods won't negotiate for a lower than minimum payment per month. Months of this nonsense, it was transferred to a DCA.

 

So, in other words, signing another agreement with them would mean you could potentially be chained into a spiral of more debt for life with this company. Because if you get into trouble struggling to pay on the new loan, they will no doubt try to get you into another consolidation loan until the debt becomes so high you would never pay it back.

 

So, say, debt of £200. Could become well over £1000 if not more.

 

Sorry for the long post but Littlewoods is one of those who left a very bad taste in my mouth after months of dealing with them, and their inhouse outfit.

Edited February 9, 2010 by Cartaphilus

[worry246]

what is the difference pre 2007 ? checked my account on line yesterday they have added about £400 even before got the new agreement, and not going to sign it when i do get it

[Guest Cartaphilus]

Re 'pre 2007' more info can be found here (and on CAG but I found the easiest one I could find on Google rather than search through an infinite number of threads/posts):

 

Rules on credit agreements | Business Link

 

But briefly, pre 2007 ones didn't contain certain things certain clauses making them legally binding.

 

checked my account on line yesterday they have added about £400 even before got the new agreement

New agreement? So you can still access your online account? Usually, Littlewoods suspend online access once your in arrears. Though, without having inside knowledge of them, I suppose it may depend how long you've been in arrears with them but I know they do cut off online account access quite quickly once into arrears at some point. Do you mean the one they phoned you about - was it Nationwide Debt Recovery (NDR) or Littlewoods (both are the same BTW) - recently or is this another one? But if you've not agreed to anything with them (?) how have they done this? Did you agree to anything on the phone? Because they will accept it, even if you say 'yes' to a misleading question or carefully placed question, which they are trained to do. You are still within your rights to cancel it, by their own terms and conditions on the agreement once you receive it as far as I am aware.

 

Like I said, Littlewoods are famous for getting debtors to take another loan out, getting people further and further into debt over longer periods of time.

Edited February 10, 2010 by Cartaphilus