Minicredit -advice please

[MindSurfer]

I'm being hassled by these folks too, I had 9 payday loans (I was a fool) and now have 6 left to pay off. Minicredit is one of them, although I have managed to keep on top of the rest of them by paying rollovers for most and clearing off 1 or 2 each month, Minicredit told me that they didn't do rollovers (although it is there in the contract) and that they refused any payment plan.

 

I had actually called them the day before the loan was due and explained that I could not pay the full amount and offered to pay £100-£150; and then clear the balance at the end of the month. I was told that Minicredit "don't do rollovers" and then that was that. I watched the charges rolled in; revised the contract again and noticed that actually they do have rollovers (although, they reserve the right to decline them). I thought that since the credit limit on my contract said £1000, I couldn't see a reason for them to decline the rollover - let alone tell me that they didn't do them.

 

I have received default notices from them (none of them had the information sheet attached as required by the OFT), I have been told that a doorstop collection fee would be added if I didn't pay up by a certain date (the fee was actually added before the due date). I replied with the standard "I refuse to make an appointment letter"; and since received another doorstop collection letter, with dates that they will come around this time. I referred them to the previous email and recorded post letter I had sent them.

 

The point I am trying to get to is that this company has not been reasonable in the least, I am making complaints to the OFT and financial ombudsman, however I feel that what I would really to do is to take them to court. This may be a bit naive, but I don't think that companies should be able to bully people like that.

[foxtrotoscar]

hi mindsurfer, same problems here!!! when did you take the loan? out and for how much? as mentioned before i can not believe these guys are still trading

[MindSurfer]

hi mindsurfer, same problems here!!! when did you take the loan? out and for how much? as mentioned before i can not believe these guys are still trading

 

hi foxtrotoscar, my original loan was for £400, requested the loan mid-September; and at this point they are asking for £792.

 

I really hope that OFT takes their license. If not, I should be back on track in February; maybe I can take them to court or something.

[foxtrotoscar]

exactly the same here mindsurfer! what dates did they say they would get a doorstop collection out? i was also thinking of taking these guys to court when i get more on my feet. they are Literately loan sharks

[MindSurfer]

hi foxtrotoscar,

 

The letter stated they would come between the dates of 22nd November to the 29th November. This letter was dated the 19th November and arrived 24th November.

 

This afternoon, I sent them an email about their letter: -

 

Minicredit,

In regards to your letter to me, dated 19-11-2010, I refer you to my previous email dated 8-11-2011, the bit you seem to have missed is: -

 

"under the Office of Fair Trading rules, you can only visit me at my home if you make an appointment and I have no wish to make such an appointment with you. Therefore the charges cannot be incurred. There is an implied license under English Common Law for people to be able to visit me on my property without express permission; the postman and people asking for directions etc (Armstrong v Sheppard & Short Ltd [1959] 2 QB 384. per Lord Evershed M.R.). Therefore take note that I revoke license under Common Law for you, or your representatives to visit me at my property and, if you do so, you will be liable to damages for a tort of trespass and action will be taken, including but not limited to, police attendance."

 

And of course, in regards to your recent phone call: -

 

"I advise you that any attempts to contact me must now only be in writing; and any attempt to call my employer or myself will be recorded and noted down in my complaint to the Office of Fair Trading. A copy of this letter will also be sent by recorded post."

 

Regards,

 

To which, I got this reply: -

Dear Sir,

 

Please log in to Your MiniCredit.co.uk account to use the "Repayment" possibility. All overdue charges will be added until the balance is cleared in full.

 

Kind regards

Client Support Team

 

I sent them this in response: -

 

Minicredit,

I made a perfectly reasonable offer, which was within the terms of the contract to make a payment of £150; and a further payment to clear the balance at the end of October which you chose not to accept.

I refuse to pay the charges you added to my account of £25 (added 1-10-2010), £25 (added 2-10-2010) and £55 (added 3-100-2010) and the doorstop collection charge of £100 (which you added before the due date of 9-11-2010 on the letter).

Your overdue charges are contrary to the OFT guidelines. A review by a court of law will not view the charges as fair.

You cannot charge for "doorstop collection" - this is against the law.

You cannot threaten to disclose personal financial information to a third party (such as my employer) - this is against the law.

I will only pay £400 at the end of this month plus the interest charges between the 1st October to the 28th November, calculated at %1 per day, as per the contract; on a loan amount of £400, which is £4 per day. Which breaks down as follows: -

 

October interest payments - 31 days £124

November interest payments - 28 days £112

Payment taken - £80 (the payment that you took in October)

Loan amount £400

Total £556

 

Please note: -

Under the Office of Fair Trading rules, you can only visit me at my home if you make an appointment and I have no wish to make such an appointment with you. Therefore the charges cannot be incurred. There is an implied license under English Common Law for people to be able to visit me on my property without express permission; the postman and people asking for directions etc (Armstrong v Sheppard & Short Ltd [1959] 2 QB 384. per Lord Evershed M.R.). Therefore take note that I revoke license under Common Law for you, or your representatives to visit me at my property and, if you do so, you will be liable to damages for a tort of trespass and action will be taken, including but not limited to, police attendance.

 

Any attempts to contact me must be in writing only.

 

Regards

 

I have also requested all data that they have on me (including any recorded calls), which is a legal right under the data protection act.

 

I may be financially well enough to think about taking them to court in Feb, but what I'm not sure about is if there is a time limit on this?

[Stupid1]

What to do next??? Not had any contact from Minicredit for weeks now, have continually emaild them but no response... Have checked online account - I borrowed 100 GBP it now stands at 390 GBP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and status shows as Debt Collection. I have been making the odd token payment, but it doesnt appear to be reducing my balance. What to do next?? Should I just sit tight and wait?

[Jamie Kingston]

stop paying them for sure. unless you have an agreement in writing dont pay them.

[foxtrotoscar]

how you getting on stupid?

[Stupid1]

Still Nothing from this lot, no phone calls, letters or emails!!! Just sit and wait for them to get in touch, I was paying token payments but does not seem to be reducing my balance, so will now only pay the odd £1 or so until they can be bothered to come to some amicable agreement or be bothered to reply to my 30 odd emails. How are things going with you? Have you had any contact with them?

[MindSurfer]

Well, I paid them back as stated in my email (basically, 2 months interest, plus loan amount - £80 that they had taken earlier.). Today, I had a letter off them telling me that I had to pay up the remaining balance by close of business of the 19th. Now, the interesting thing is that, not only are they still calling me, but also, the letter I sent via recorded post to the address on the website also failed to arrive; and in the letter, they have said that they will issue a default notice.

 

The funny thing is, is that they already have sent a default notice, but it was lacking the advice slip (as is required by law) - that meant that the default notice was not enforceable (according to the OFT website). They also appear to have dropped on another £100 in charges (legal fees this time).

 

I have made complaints to the OFT and the financial ombudsman, but other than that, there is little I can do (I'm not paying them a penny more). I have to call the citizens advice tomorrow in regards to the letter (my wife is getting very worried). Personally, I don't think they'll do anything. They appear to be blowing lots of hot air.

 

P.S. I also noticed that on the website, there is a £5.26 partial repayment fee. Don't use the website to pay!!!

 

They must be wide open to legal proceedings with the stuff they've been pulling? Does anyone know if there is a time limit to legal action? i.e. between their offence, and the time it has taken for me to gather financial resources for the job.

[foxtrotoscar]

complete joke. they cant carry on like this its unreal

[MindSurfer]

Has anyone been to court with Minicredit? I'm off to see Citizens Advice on Thursday to get some advice from them. From the conversation I had with them today, it seems like what Minicredit has done is perfectly legal - in regards to the charges. The rest of this may be viewed as harassment, but from what I have seen so far, no-one on this site has said that they have won against Minicredit, nor that the OFT or FOS have done anything (or are doing something).

 

My argument against Minicredit is that they have a clause for rollovers in the contract, they can be given at their discretion. When I called them the day before the loan was due, I was ready to pay £100 to £150, but not the full amount. They told me that they don't do rollovers. I found out later that this was not true. That's the reason I've fought against the charges, because I was ready to pay the rollover fee; and that the only reason the charges were applied is because THEY told me they don't do rollovers. But it's there in the contract.

 

Is this the right way to go? From what happened, I think I'm in the right and they shouldn't stand a chance, but when the law is concerned, things can be very different from fair. Does anyone have a point of view to share on this?

[emmity]

Can anyone help me please? I have had the same letters threatening to send a doorstep collector. I have also had voicemails left saying this is my last chance before they take legal action. My loan was £100 and they are saying I own £409 (£100 being the fee for doorstep collector).

They said that to keep the doorstep collector away I will need to make a part payment by 18th December.

What should I do? If I send that letter about how they cannot visit my residence without my permission will it make them worse?

[ianry]

Hi All, similar story here I'm afraid.

 

Took a loan out with them in September this year, got given notice of termination of employment about 2 weeks later. I contacted them (as I had done with the other payday loans I had - more fool me!) to explain my circumstances and try to arrange a payment schedule. I tried to find a genuine email address/contact name but couldn't so ended up using their info@ email address. The original loan was for £500 and the balance is up to circa £1,000 at the time of speaking due to ridiculous charges. I spent a good amount of time reading up on the consumer credit act, and referred them to the fact that under that Act they had legal undertakings to accept a payment plan (within reason) and weren't able to demand payment in full if the consumer wasn't able to pay them.

 

I have started receiving standard voicemails again, the most recent one today about legal action. As it stands I am refusing to pay them a penny until there is a payment plan in place in writing (I have done all of my communication via email and have all the emails), every time I try to set-up a payment plan they refuse and demand payment in full.

 

In all honesty I'd quite like them to take me to court so I can bring a host of evidence around how I have made best endeavours to come to an arrangement, yet have been refused at every term.

 

Having dealt with a few pay day companies, for my sins, I cannot believe how bad (and blatantly flaunt the law) this mob are. I've regularly copied the OFT complains email in on my emails (I have found this usually gets companies to take notice) but even this hasn't worked with Minicredit, despite quoting sections of the Consumer Credit Act under the OFT guidelines.

 

I'm expecting a small windfall early next year so I will offer to pay the original amount (possibly plus a small amount of interest), yet it worries me that these people are allowed to prey on the most vulnerable in society. I'm quite fortunate that my situation is that I do have good earnings and this spiral of payday loans was caused by my own stupidity. I've been on payment plans with about 7, which is now down to 4 and the aim is to get them all cleared as soon as I can afford.

 

For anyone reading this as a newcomer to the lovely world of pay day loans I would advise to avoid them unless you have absolutely no other recourse, and even then try to borrow as small an amount as possible and repay it as soon as possible. Borrowing larger sums is simply not practical due to the interest levied on these loans and leaves you in a spiral where monthly income has to be supplemented on a regular basis by further loans.

 

If you must use a pay day lender, AVOID MINICREDIT LIKE THE PLAGUE.

 

In terms of the specifics on this thread, I'd urge anyone else with similar issues with Minicredit to come forward and lets get together and go to the OFT with our recurring illegal situations.

[robjam1969]

The worst they can do is take you to court and with a company like this it is probably not such a bad thing. Whether they will go there is another matter. As for their charges for visits, interest etc they can add what they like, It doesn't mean you will have to pay them. You tend to find that all these companies will eventually negotiate if you stand firm and refuse to pay them what they want. The flipside is the constant harrassment in the short term. Dont give in!!! (and never let them have your bank details for any repayment plans)

[ianry]

Thanks for the reply, I've cancelled the card I used and moved my main banking to a different account to ensure they don't get a penny. I hope they pass it on to a debt collection company as they usually pay a lot less than the value of the debt and as such tend to accept much lower settlement. I'm quite fortunate that I tend to have a very methodical approach to checking various regulations and have become somewhat adept at complaining over the years, I do worry for people who panic or give in to their unlawful harassment and something needs to be done, yet despite copying the OFT in on email where I explain to Minicredit what aspects of the CCA they have broken the OFT have done nothing.

[MindSurfer]

All, today I visited Citizens Advice. After revising the contract etc, the opinion is that all the stuff they have done is perfectly legal and above board. It's all there in the contract. As far as I can tell, it would probably go to court; and I would be asked to pay (at a suitable time scale), but I would not be able to win.

 

After telling my wife so many times that they can't tell me that it was they that are in the wrong and not me, it turns out that they don't have to be reasonable if they wrote it into the contract. Nor can I do anything about the lack of response to my request for personal data under the data protection act. I can get them for harassment, but that's all. I was wrong - I feel like such an idiot.

[ianry]

I'm 100% certain that they have broken the Consumer Credit Act and ignored all of my correspondence, I would assume the same applies to you.

[MindSurfer]

Unfortunately - no. It's covered in the contract. They don't have to accept payment plans etc and the charges are listed in the contract.

 

I was refuting the charges that they applied, given that they had told me the company doesn't do rollovers - so if I'd gotten a rollover, I would not have got extra charges. That means that they can say that I was refused (covered in the contract).

 

The default notice that they have sent me is not valid - that's the only thing I've got at the moment. They can charge whatever they want for debt recovery. (listed in the contract as debt recovery costs).

 

Unless there is something that has been overlooked by citizens advice?

[ianry]

Well regardless of what says in any contract or T&C's you can't break the law which is what they are doing by refusing to accept or discuss any form of payment plan as stated in the Consumer Credit Act

[foxtrotoscar]

looking at it you both are right however what minicredit are doing is unfair. they will not even hold a convo or let you explain what is going wrong. it seems to be they have a very strict way of dealing with late payments etc and will 100% not budge..... i would like to hear of anyone that has a payment plan in place with these guys as im certain noone has...... somethink needs to be done and the OFT etc dont seem to be doing anythink at the moment

[foxtrotoscar]

what are you going to do mindsurfer?

[ripvanwinkle10]

Has anything happened with the guys who have been having problems with Minicredit?? Have you agreed payment plans or have you had to pay in full? Have any of you been to court?? Got I feel I'll be joining you. Every other Payday Loan company has agreed payment plans, whilst Minicredit look like they won't.

[j1mb0b]

Hi ripvanwinkle10... Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but yesterday I received notification that Minicredit had lodged a claim at Brentford county court for the recovery of their money. The original loan was £300 and they're now claiming £782!

 

I've been in touch by email, phone and have a DMP with Payplan which is all ticking along nicely. They basically say that their T's and C's don't recognise DMP's and they won't accept a part payment.

 

I have no idea what I'm going to do because a CCJ will be on my file (6 years) as opposed to the 30 months left on my DMP.

 

And I thought it was all going so well

[slgsue]

Hi, just thought I would add to this post. In relation to the court papers, you will need to enter a defence, put everything you have in copies of all emails, contracts etc, I dont exactly know what to put in a defence but that is definatley something you should do before they get a CCJ against you.