Lloyds/Newmans

[shadowdog]

I have a debt to Lloyds bank for £3700 which is from a current account with a £500 overdraft. The debt has been assigned to a company called Arrow Global and they are using a DCA called Newmans.

 

I did try to reclaim bank charges but was told by Lloyds that they would not bge refunding them.

 

I was paying £10 a month to another DCA but stopped as I could not afford the payments.

 

After receiving a letter from them threatening to take me to court I wrote to them asking them to prove I owed the debt. They have now sent me copies of bank statments from Lloyds.

 

I cannot afford to pay this debt as I have been on income support for a long time due to ill health. I own nothing of value and my house is rented.

 

Not sure what to do next, do I ask them to consider writing off the debt or offer a nominal payment? Are there any template letters I could use?

 

Would very much appreciate some advise on this.

[rhos123]

hi, in your current situation i would offer a token payment of £1 per month. i dout very much they will write the debt off. i presume that the cause of this debt is made up from there greedy charges ! iam in a simular situation with capt daniels and his bunch of pirates at lloyds tsb i send a £1 p/o each month and indeed they are lucky they get that! do not worry if you have no assets there is little they can do.

[harrassed senior]

Good advice, if they ask you to set up a payment plan, make sure it is standing order. If you have any other accounts with the Lloyds group remove any cash and arrange for income to be paid some other way.

 

Look on the threads on this site for reclaiming charges, just because they say they will not be refunding them doesn't mean that you do not have a case to reclaim them!

[shadowdog]

Ok thanks I will look into that.

 

Is there a letter in the templates library covering this and does anyone know if I have to prove my income to them?

I can do this but I am reluctant to give them any of my personal information.

 

Many thanks

[harrassed senior]

No, you do not have to prove income to them whatever they may insist. YOU tell them the information you want them to have.

 

Which template do you need?

[shadowdog]

Ok thanks alot for that. Can they refuse a nominal payment of £1 a month, the last DCA insisted on me completing an income/expenditure form (I was a lot less informed then), I'm looking for a letter with the correct wording saying I am willing to pay a nominal amount if there is one.

 

Many thanks

[Tartan Barty]

If you deal with Lloyds direct they will tell you that a 'new' policy has come out saying that they can only suspend interest and charges if you complete a I&E with them. Just ignore them and pay £1 per month. Not sure how this will work will Newmans but never give them your I&E details. If they add interest and charges to the acoount, it will only make them look silly.

[shadowdog]

Lloyds do not seem to be involved in this anymore as they have assigned the debt to a company called

Arrow Global so I'm not sure who I should contact and should I just write saying I cannot afford more than £1 per month due to my circumstances?

[Tartan Barty]

I would just send a letter to Arrow saying that after assessing your financial situation you can only offer a token payment of £1. They will bleat and refuse to accept it but just keep paying it and keep records of paying it. If it ever went to court the judge would agree that anyone on benefits should only make token payments.

[Bazooka Boo]

If it is Arrow that is asking you for money, then write them a letter stating you will pay them £1 a month starting from dd/mm/yyyy, then stick to it, they will refuse to accept this, but that's not your concern, set up a standing order, NOT a direct debit.

Keep a copy of all payments and keep a diary of events also, as for the bank refusing to refund their charges, have you got this in writing? If so, and that is their final word on the matter, ask the FOS to look into it for you, it will take ages, and I mean months if not years, but it lets the FOS and the corrupt banking industry know that they have a long way to go yet before they can get back in the Public's good books..

[shadowdog]

Thanks for all the adivse, just one last query, I do not have Arrow's bank details to set up a standing order. Should I ask for this when I write and do they have to give them to me?

[Bazooka Boo]

If they want payment then YES they will give it to you, all you need is their account number and sort code, just tell them you want to set up a direct debit to pay £100 a month, the fools will give you the details, then set up a standing order to pay £1 a month..