CCA not available!....next step?......help please

[zara2]

Can anyone help me please? On 20th August I requested a CCA agreement from the DCA dealing with my debt of £8000 approx. They replied very quickly with this letter attached in PDF format. I called the National Debt Line and they were very helpful but unfortunately not clear and concise. I’ve been to the CAB in the past and they didn’t even want to CCA request the DCA so I am very apprehensive of their advise. I feel the advise given on this website to be priceless and would be so grateful of help from all of you in what should be my next step. They ask me for “confirmation that my payments will continue in 7 days”. Having dealt with this particular DCA on numerous occasions I find them very intimidating and usually end up in tears.

Please help and advise on my next step. I would like the debt gone and could possibly ask my family to offer maximum of £2500 as a Full and Final. Is that OK to do?

Many thanks to all in advance

dca cca0001.pdf

[reallymadwoman]

It is entirely up to you what you now decide to do, and you have a number of options. These are the ones I can think of, but I expect someone else will contribute some more.

 

1. Write back and thank them for confirming the alleged debt is unenforceable through the courts and you will not be making any further payment. You are perfectly entitled to do this. No doubt it is already recorded on your credit reference file as a default (and settling in full wouldn't remove it, but see 'settlement offer' below), and they can add as much interest as they like since they have no means of actually making you pay. Sooner or later they will get fed up with hassling you and just go away.

 

2. Make an offer of full and final settlement. If you do this, you must get their agreement in writing and you must get them to agree (also in writing) to remove any reference to this alleged debts from all your credit reference files. I seem to remember a starting figure of about 10% being suggested as reasonable, but certainly no more than 25% since that's 25% more than they can make you pay.

 

Since you mention that you find this particular company very intimidating, my inclination would be to go with the first option. Seriously, what are they going to do? They can write letters which you very quickly get very good at laughing at (but keep them safe anyway), they can phone you - worst case scenario is that you change your number - and they can ...... do absolutly nothing else. No agreement = no court action, which is really the only valid threat they have.

[rebel11]

Hi Zara

 

Don't forget to reclaim all penalty charges or mis-sold PPI on the account. This might reduce the balance considerably. You can claim interest as well as the charges.

You can claim charges 6 years plus. All Templates and spreadsheets can be found on this site.

[rebel11]

Double post.

[zara2]

Hi RMW,

 

many thanks for advice. If i went for a 10 - 20% full and final which both parties have agreed on, is it right what you said re, remove details of debt from agencies? I have a partner who i want to marry but we cant as my credit rating is so poor with this on it and also he would become liable. Until debt cleared off record i cant marry, he has a mortgage etc. If i ignore it, which believe me is a lovely thought after all this hassle they have given me, i feel my credit rating would be poor indefinately, rendering me useless in financial circles.

thanks in advance.

with regard to charges, i have already asked to be sent charges from bank. It feels great in a way to have one over them. im not avoiding owing, but the dca has bought it from another dca , so i feel ive paid my dues back to them and the rest is now pure profit to them.

 

thanks guys

[reallymadwoman]

How long has the default been on your file already? It will drop off after 6 years anyway. A husband/wife is never liable for debts solely in the other parties name, though if you have any joint accounts (mortgage or bank) then your credit rating could affect his ability to get credit.

 

Even if you paid in full all the creditor is obliged to do is mark the account as 'settled' - the default would still stay on record for the same 6 years. If you offer a full and final then you can make it a condition that the default is removed, however if the creditor doesn't do this about the only way to force them is through the court.

 

Finally, be aware that DCAs often pay less than 10% for a debt, and might have only bought it on the basis that they pay a percentage of what they recover so if they recover nothing, they pay nothing.

[zara2]

HI,

i collected a default from the original bank in March 2005. I am not sure if i have any other defaults, but from i understand you guys have told me is that the DCA cant default me again on the same debt?????

It appears that i should stop paying altogether and ignore them as they cant seem to do anything? It really is hard to get my head round the fact that they have bullied and humiliated me over the years and turns out the debt is "unenforceable?". I recognised the debt with HSBC in the past and intended paying it all back but if they gave it up to a dca and they possibly bought it for 20% then over the years i have lined the dca's pockets to a great profit.

I feel like i am almost able to smile for the first time in years. The reason i got into debt was solely nusrsing my terminally ill husband. I have now moved on in life, met another man and just want new beginnings. It looks like that may happen:-)

Please tell me your honest opinion on what you would all do next in my case. I believe the advice on here is second to none.

Thanks guys, you're all fantastic

[reallymadwoman]

They can only default you once for this debt and if they try to change the date then you can fight it.

If the original default was March 2005 then it will drop off your file next March, so it's only 6 months until your credit file is clear. It might be worth applying for a copy of your file just to check you've got the date right and no one has done anything underhand with it.

6 years ago I had multiple debts which I was paying off with every spare penny I had even though that wasn't much. 4 years ago both creditors got stroppy and started passing the accounts on. One took me to court but I won - debt 'written off' and I've never heard from them again. The other has now been around 19 different agents (some of them twice) but they haven't had another penny out of me and they're not going to get another penny without a court order.

Until the daily phone calls and threatening letters started I had every intention of carrying on paying for life if I had to. If they'd left me alone they would by now have received the full amount back. Instead they chose to harass me continuously, which in my opinion means that they've forfeited any right to any further payment. They won't take me to court (because they know they would lose) and I won't pay - stalemate. The account is now passed on about every 6 months, I get a few letters but only send my standard 'in dispute, will not enter into correspondence' reply to the first one and ignore the rest, and then they go away. They will give up eventually.

In the meantime, my life has completely turned around in the last year so I'm just getting on with it and enjoying myself. I have the occasional moral pang, but it doesn't last long!

[zara2]

hi,

 

the last line of their letter says they want a reply within 7 days. I am still unsure what my reply should be to them. I have asked HSBC the details of my bank account charges so i can identify what debt is bank account and what is loan. The loan takes up at least 95% of the total 8K. Start getting nervous when i get pushed by these people. Please can someone give me a directive on what i should reply with. Thanks.

[reallymadwoman]

What you need to write depends upon what you want to do - pay or not pay? Ignore their demands for a reply within 7 days, what are they going to do if you don't reply in time? There is nothing they can do and they know that - they're just trying to pressure and bully you.