River Island ( store card)

[merlin100]

Hi all,

right, briefly. My son has had no income for nearly 2 years.

He cannot work due to a car accident and has been seeing a consultant for those 2 years.

I have managed to get him Housing and Council Tax benefit but nothing to live on, myself and his mother have been buying his food.

Last month I went with him to his doctors surgery and managed to get him a sick note for a month. This was posted Recorded Delivery but DWP denied ever receiving it. That may be true as I checked for a signature on the Royal Mail site and the trail stops at delivery to their Sheffield depot.

I have lodged a complaint.

 

Now the problem - he is being constantly hassled by River Island ( store card). He only owes them £358.

Does anyone think that after the above explanation, I stand a good chance of asking them to write this debt off?

And if so, how would I word it?

Dont think its worth a CCA request as he only took it out in 2008.

I could ask them to accept £1 a week, maybe even a month, but he genuinely has no income, so even to offer that small amount would be a contradiction to declaring that he has no income.

Any thoughts people?

Many thanks.

[MARTIN3030]

If he is suffering financial hardship,then under Office of Fair Trading guidelines on debt collection,they should not be seeking to collect more than he can reasonably expect to afford.

You need to send an income and expenditure sheet and explain the circumstances in writing,making an offer that he can afford.

Who is chasing the arrears ?

Is it River Island or a collection agent ?

Its unlikely that they will consider writing off the debt.

Has there been any charges added over the account period for missed payments/late payments ?

If so it may be worth looking to ask for these back.

We need more info to advise further,but I am sure we can help you sort this out.

[MARTIN3030]

I Think a good idea to post about your issues with DWP in the benefits forum-theres some very good members there who can advise on this too.

[merlin100]

Hi Martin. Dwp issues already posted thanks.

First River Island started the threats, now Santander.

Not sure about charges etc - will have to look into that.

Sometime this year we are hoping his compensation claim will be settled ( already told it will be a substantial amount).

He obviously will pay it out of this, but we cannot say exactly when the claim will be settled.

My main concern is that Santander may ask for proof of no income - how do you prove something that doesnt exist?

[BankFodder]

I think that you need to look at the full extent of his indebtedness and not just deal with them one-by-one as they appear.

 

Go through everything and find out what he owes - then come back here.

 

Generally, do not expect these people to be prepared to write off debts because of this kind of story.

 

How long ago did he have the accident and whose fault was it?

[harrassed senior]

Just a point to add here.

 

With regard to 'compensation'. I am sure you will be aware of how the sum your son is claiming has been calculated.

 

I went through this when my daughter was unlawfully killed, and I can tell you that although you intend to pay his indebtedness out of this eventual sum, beware of 'everyone' trying to make a claim on this money.

 

Specifically, you will know that the amount awarded is ONLY to clear debts that have accumulated due to the accident, and to cover your sons' ongoing expenses in connection with the event (accident).

 

Do not let anyone bully you into paying amounts in full and leave nothing for the future. Peoples' 'take' on compensation is that this is a free amount of money for your son to spend at will, whilst you will know by the way it is calculated that it is not, and neither is it a 'private income', much of it will be to invest for his future.

 

Sorry if I sound as though I am 'preaching' but having been there, I can speak from personal experience.

[merlin100]

Hi Bankfodder,

the accident was 2 1/2 years ago - well documented on another thread.

The other party was prosectuted for his actions ( my son was walking on the pavement and a little idiot thought it would be clever to mount the pavement in his car and run my son over - he suffered multiple injuries, but one in particular is permanent, an irrepairably shattered and painful ankle).

Apart from a small amount of rent and council tax ( thanks to DWP cock ups) the River Island card is all he has to deal with.

[merlin100]

Hi all,

my son has Cohens after him with a CCJ Claim (Northampton) for £338.

 

He has had no income for well over a year now due to losing his job after a car accident and has been supported by myself, his mother and his girlfriend.

 

We have tried to sort this out

first with CL Finance

then with Cohens but no-one wants to know

- seems they would much rather prefer the CCJ.

 

 

They are aware he has no income ( although they would probably deny this now).

 

I could CPR them as a delaying tactic,

but the debt was only taken on by him just over 2 years ago

so all I will be doing is delaying the inevitable really.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions as to the best way to approach this?

I would rather try and get the CCJ Claim withdrawn.

 

Im thinking of offering Cohens £25 a month.

Does anyone think this would work or will Cohens still go ahead with the CCJ?

Thanks all.

[unclebulgaria67]

You are right to avoid the CCJ. The problem you might have is that they won't accept the monthly payment offer from a 3rd party. There is no guarantee of payments continuing to be made.

 

If you can afford to pay off the total or a good chunk of it, I think that would be the only way.

[postggj]

do you have a n1 county cout claim and when was it received

 

what was the debt for

[Bazooka Boo]

Have they issued a SD?

 

Have you anything in writing or has this all been over the phone?

£25 a month seems very very fair to me, esp as he has no income, is he on benefits at all? If so the maximum they will get out of hime should they go to court will be £1 a month, and I am very sceptical about them being able to get a CCJ for that piddling amount, it will cost just as much again to get it into the courts!

 

I think they are all bluster, unless of course they have already served the papers, then if so, you MUST put in a defence, and all they will get is £1 a month, greedy chancers.

You MUST keep everything in writing, if you send them an offer of £25 a month, send it to them recorded delivery so you know they received it, keep a copy of it and the receipt and printout of their signature when they received it, then if it does go to court your son will be able tp prove that he has offered payment but they have refused, therefore they are wasting the courts time.

 

If in the meantime, they have not issued papers, then IMO, if the debt is known and he agrees he does owe it, he should set up a "Standing Order" NOT a direct debit, and pay them £1 a month, they would find it extremely difficult for a judge to force an unemployed person to pay more than that, as he has no income.

Keep EVERYTHING in writing, and DO NOT talk to them on the phone EVER!

[harrassed senior]

Have you actually received a Summons or is this in the threatening stage.

 

If you have received a Summons, then you can go the CPR route, but I believe you would still need to enter a defence. If you have contacted the Court and acknowledged receipt and stated you will be entering a defence then this extends the time limit from, I believe 14 to 28 days for a defence to be entered.

 

This would indeed buy a little more time, time for you to gather together written proof that they have not accepted your offer of payment.

 

Once they see that you are not a walk over, then it is possible the claim will be dropped.

 

As I say I am no expert, but they will look silly in front of a Judge who, in all likely hood would only order payments of £1 per months, having refused your offer of £25 per month.

[merlin100]

Hi all and thanks for the quick replies.

Post, yes they have entered a claim, issue date 23/08/10. It says he has 14 days plus 5 to acknowledge or enter a defence.

Up to now hes been trying to deal with them by phone ( I knew nothing of this), so I know they will deny any attempt by him to resolve this. Is it too late to send a written offer?

Under these circumstances, is there anything I could hope to achieve by sending a CPR request?

I will send a letter today offering £25 a month on condition they withdraw the CCJ claim. Is that reasonable?

[postggj]

dca are not know to take installments

the problem you have is cl finance is part of a greater company called cattles they own cl finance as well as lewis dca to name but a few.

 

cattles is no longer trading and is in addministration so the likes of cl finance just want a debt secured by a ccj. makes it easier to sell that way

 

is this a loan

car finance

credit card debt

 

we have had quite a bit of experience with cl finance so all is not lost

[merlin100]

Hi post, its a River Island store card originally owned by Santander, obviously now sold to CL

[postggj]

do you have a default notice

[Seminole]

When was it taken out- pre or post 2007?