HSBC bank loan

[Cadburyrose]

Hi,

I have just received a Final Demand letter and am getting quite panicked as to what to do. I stopped being able to make the monthly repayments on my HSBC bank loan when i lost my job in April last year and decided to move country with my daughter with better job prospects. I made offers to the bank of what i can repay per month, none of which they will accept, and kept them uptodate with my movements with the intention of repaying my loan, but as yet have not been able to do so as am surviving on benefits whilst inbetween jobs.

I got a final demand from HSBC today as my financial situation hasnt changed and they've previously written to tell me they'd be referring me to the metropolitan services. Now that the final demand has come and i have 18 whole days to repay the amount in full, which is impossible, do i just wait for a letter from MCS? Or do they actually send bailiffs round and I/m going to be taken to court? Everything is made twice as difficult no longer living in the country, but I've sent endless recorded letters and made fonecalls to every department they have, and it has all resulted in a lot of confusion and "no record of that" round in circles circus. Would anyone have any advice as to what to do?

Many thanks.

[cerberusalert]

I've created a new thread for you and moved it to the Debt Collection Forum so you don't get lost in someone else's thread.

[cerberusalert]

I've just realised your a non UK resident, have a read through http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/overseas-debt-overseas-account/250889-can-i-sued-overseas.html

[Cadburyrose]

hi thank you, i'm trying to read through it but am finding it very difficult.

i tried calling HSBC again and spoke to a totally ridiculous woman in the Debt Collection department who suggested "all i need do is repay xyz and avoid going through debt collection" but that in a months time the interest charges would overrun the overdraft again and i would be in the same situation as now. She couldn't answer. I was expecting that my case would be taken to court and a judge would decide what I could afford to pay back, based on my circumstances and then i would have to repay this amount in affordable monthly installments, with a ruined credit. From one of the links you suggested i gather the UK court could just send the order to an EU court and they'd serve me whatever terms are applicable, depending on this countries laws.

I could try calling HSBC again and getting nowhere, but was hoping that if it went to Metropolitan they'd be more straightforward to deal with and i could finally repay my loan.

will keep reading through the info you sent, thank you.

[cerberusalert]

They cannot obtain a CCJ against you in the UK because you are not resident here, if they obtain one using a previous address you can easily get it overturned. Even tho' you are in the EU and even though there are reciprocal agreements it is unlikely that they would try to pursue through your court system as it wouldn't be economically viable & even then you could probably argue that the court doesn't have jurisdiction in the absence of a UK CCJ.

 

They can trash your UK credit rating but it shouldn't affect you where you are. Metropolitan are the in-house collection arm of the bank & you'll probably find that they'll eventually sell the debt on to an outside debt collector and then the Wiener Walzer will start again.

[Cadburyrose]

The Wiener Walzer eh. hehe! Well thank you, i'd since given up on fonecalls to HSBC because they're so frustrating and ultimately lead nowhere. I was hoping i could sort out an informal agreement as its an overdraft and a personal loan with them and avoid bad credit, but it would appear this is not going to happen as they wont accept less than half of my previous repayment installments. I'm not 100% sure their financial advisors arent just reading from templates and I feel safer doing online research to find out what i can and cant do than trying to make sense with them. If they cant issue a CCJ and instead pass on the collection to someone else, this collection then could be based on Austrian law collection services? Or on the UK terms of the collection, just using an Austrian company. But in doing that, wouldnt you get a transfer of bad credit? Will call a collection company here tomorrow and see what they say.

Will wait to see what comes after my final demand letter and check back in here again. Thank you!

[cerberusalert]

With it being a loan as well it comes under CCA 1974 and you will find in the T&Cs of the agreement it will state something along the lines that the agreement is governed under the jurisdiction of England/Wales which would mean they would need to obtain a UK CCJ which they can't do.

 

You never said how old the loan is or whether it included PPI but it may be worthwhile to send a SAR to HSBC to determine a few things; firstly to see whether there is an enforceable agreement, if there are any unfair charges you can reclaim & if you have PPI which you could reclaim. This would reduce the alleged debt if indeed it was enforceable if you were still in the UK.

 

http://www.consumerforums.com/resources/templates-library/86-debt-collectors/576-subject-access-request-debt-a-dca

[Cadburyrose]

THe personal loan is....well i took it out in 2004 and then re-did it in 2006, so not that old. I will send an SAR, good idea.

[Cadburyrose]

Hello again, well i had a productive conversation with two ppl today at HSBC, the most relevant conversation I've had since being a customer for 18 years! The summary advice was to let the debt go to Metropolitan as they cant accept my offer, that this will result in 6 years of recorded bad credit, after the debt is paid off and then is wiped from my records. The personal loan and the overdraft are going to be lumped together and taken over as one debt. Also the interest charged on my loan when i took it out with HSBC will be removed from the debt as I am no longer going to be repaying to HSBC, so the amount will be slightly less.

So i should just wait to hear from Metropolitan first.

This is a relief knowing that at least there is a conclusion, however do Met. charge a lot of interest whilst recovering debt? Somebody must stand to make money off my debt i can't imagine not. Somebody here asked immediately, what the difference is in declaring myself bankrupt as I not only get bad credit but have to repay everything as well. Am i right in assuming that with bankruptcy you are registered worldwide and for 7 years instead of 6, and it is much more restrictive than default payment bad credit? Hmm. Anyway, thought i'd check back in with steps on from yesterday. Thanks!

[cerberusalert]

I'm afraid whoever you spoke to is not being completely honest.... Metropolitan are in fact the banks own in-house collection arm and particularly aggressive when it comes to collection activities. If you use the search function at the top of the page (under CAG annou8ncements) you will find examples.

Somebody here asked immediately, what the difference is in declaring myself bankrupt as I not only get bad credit but have to repay everything as well.

You don't pay everything back at all. When you declare bankruptcy it lasts for approx one year before you are discharged & all debts are cleared, tho' the notice of bankruptcy stays on your credit file for six years.

 

With you now living in an EU country and if you have been out of the UK for three months you would have to apply for bankruptcy there (unless you returned to the UK to apply). So if you are considering bankruptcy you will have to weigh the pros and cons of which country to do it in.

[Cadburyrose]

no, i do understand that met. are part of HSBC but the situation as it stands means HSBC wont accept my offer so are passing it on to their collection dept. i wasnt intending on declaring bankruptcy. my loans amount to 10K and i dont think its worth it for that "small" an amount. i just want to find out if met charge interest on the debt they collect, but have to wait again until tomorrow.

however, will search here to see what i can find. Im not expecting them to be easy to deal with but they cant be worse than HSBC and at least the whole thing is somewhat concluded, as one cost, not this chasing about rigmarole with different charges for different things on two separate amounts.

[cerberusalert]

If your total debts are under £15K and you fulfill certain criteria it could be possible for you to apply for a Debt Relief Order Debt Relief Order - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia It's similar to bankruptcy but a lot cheaper to apply for, similar schemes operate throughout the EU.

 

With Met still being part of the bank it's highly likely that interest and charges will continue to be added. It usually only stops when the a/c is sold on to an outside DCA.

[Cadburyrose]

yes there is that too. All in the space of 4 days!

[cerberusalert]

Have they sent you a 'Default Notice' yet? If they have can you post it up after removing identifiers.

[Cadburyrose]

no they didnt. they just sent the final demand. I emailed them asking for a default notice letter, but they havent replied.

[cerberusalert]

Have you sent a CCA request?