major debts please help,westcot,equidebt,bla ir oliver & scott

[mzdspice]

Hi, i have 4 debts , 2 originally with Halifax and 2 originally with MBNA. i have Wescot, Equidebt and Blair Oliver and Scott chasing me for payments. The CAB sent them my income and expenditure on my behalf. Since then my partner passed away and i am off work with depression so claiming benefits.My phone is constantly ringing from these agencies . The debts in total are around £30.000 and i can see no easy way out of my situation as i am struggling to survive as it is. I am living in my partners house( it is in his name but he left it to me in his will, probate just been granted today) can anyone tell me what i should do?

[PriorityOne]

Hi, i have 4 debts , 2 originally with Halifax and 2 originally with MBNA. i have Wescot, Equidebt and Blair Oliver and Scott chasing me for payments. The CAB sent them my income and expenditure on my behalf. Since then my partner passed away and i am off work with depression so claiming benefits.My phone is constantly ringing from these agencies . The debts in total are around £30.000 and i can see no easy way out of my situation as i am struggling to survive as it is. I am living in my partners house( it is in his name but he left it to me in his will, probate just been granted today) can anyone tell me what i should do?

 

Firstly, I am so sorry to hear of your partner passing away. It must be an incredibly stressful time for you as it is, without the problems you describe above.

 

There is a letter in the templates section that deals with telephone harrassment. Send this to all companies that are bothering you by rec. delivery. In the meantime... hang up immediately, refuse to give security details or, leave the phone on the side until they get bored.

 

Please can you outline what each debt is for.

How old each account is.

If you have any CCJs (County Court Judgement).

The approx. amount still outstanding on each.

Which company each one originated with and which compnay is now chasing you for payment.

 

Edited June 18, 2011 by PriorityOne

[mzdspice]

Thanks for replying, my debts are as follows

mbna....£6.800.00....2005......wescot

mbna... £7565.61......2005.....equidebt

halifax...£783.17.......2005.....blair oliver and scott

halifax...£14.788.74...2005.....blair oliver and scott

 

I have no ccj's and havent checked my credit file

 

i also received a letter today from DVSL requesting i confirm my address

 

can anyone tell me how long probate takes?

thanks

[PriorityOne]

Thanks for replying, my debts are as follows

mbna....£6.800.00....2005......wescot

mbna... £7565.61......2005.....equidebt

halifax...£783.17.......2005.....blair oliver and scott

halifax...£14.788.74...2005.....blair oliver and scott

 

I have no ccj's and havent checked my credit file

 

i also received a letter today from DVSL requesting i confirm my address

 

can anyone tell me how long probate takes?

thanks

 

Ok.... prior to CAB contacting them on your behalf.... when was the last time you made a payment against these debts or, sent a written acknowledgement of them?

 

Ignore DVSL.... whoever they are, it's a phisiing trip.

 

Probate can take a while but please don't be in a rush to pay these leeches until we've established whether they're legally entitled to have it.

 

[mzdspice]

Hi, the last payments i made were March 2011, My partner died on 23rd feb and i became ill in march. CAB contacted them in march also

[matt5983]

Hi, the last payments i made were March 2011, My partner died on 23rd feb and i became ill in march. CAB contacted them in march also

 

As your suffering with mental health issue's with regards to your partners death, you can send them all a letter ref the lending code was changed in feb 2011 with regards to how people are treated with mental health issues. Fire that at them and they back down very very quickly.

 

Matt

[PriorityOne]

Hi, the last payments i made were March 2011, My partner died on 23rd feb and i became ill in march. CAB contacted them in march also

 

What I'm trying to establish is whether a period of 6 years went by without you making a payment..... or were these accounts opened with the original creditors in 2005? Before you were contacted by DCAs, were you making payments to the original creditors and if so, when were the last payments made? What were the circumstances aurrounding these accounts getting passed to DCAs?

 

Aplogies for all the questions but it helps to decide the way forward

[mzdspice]

the accounts were opened in 2005 with the original creditors. i was paying the original payments until about 2009 when i became ill with kidney problems and couldnt pay, that was when the DCA's got involved.

[PriorityOne]

the accounts were opened in 2005 with the original creditors. i was paying the original payments until about 2009 when i became ill with kidney problems and couldnt pay, that was when the DCA's got involved.

 

Ok.... thanks.

 

Finally, what kind of debts are these; loans, credit cards, overdrafts, mobile phone debts? I'm assuming the larger one is a loan.

[PriorityOne]

The reason for all the questions is because most kinds of credit involve the signing of a Consumer Credit Agreement (CCA, 1974). As all of yours would fall under CCA 1974... if they are credit cards and/or loans, then whoever is chasing you for payment needs to have the original in their possession before they can legally pursue you through the courts for payment, or legally collect any payment from you at all.

 

As all of the above accounts are now with DCAs, you owe it to yourself to check.... but before doing anything, the telelphone harrassment letter needs to go off first; by rec. delivery, to all of them. You then need to send a CCA request to each DCA; again by rec. delivery. There is also a template for this in the template section. If you are not sure of what a CCA request is and/or the benefits of requesting one, then please say.

 

You have so much going on right now.... and we are here to try and hold your hand through it.

 

[Tingy]

Hi,

I'm only posting firstly to say I'm sorry to hear about your partner. What a terrible, distressing time for you without this going on. Secondly just to echo the excellent advice already given by P1. You are in good hands here.

[mzdspice]

hi again,The large halifax was a loan,the small one a credit card. the mbna £6800 was a loan , the other mbna was a credit card but changed to a loan.

thanks for all your kind messages, its not easy without him as he would have sorted it out for me.Now I am on my own paying all the bills.all i have is my benefit of £69.00 weekly

[PriorityOne]

hi again,The large halifax was a loan,the small one a credit card. the mbna £6800 was a loan , the other mbna was a credit card but changed to a loan.

thanks for all your kind messages, its not easy without him as he would have sorted it out for me.Now I am on my own paying all the bills.all i have is my benefit of £69.00 weekly

 

Ok....

 

First of all, send the telephone harrassment letter by rec. delivery to anyone currently chasing you for payment over the 'phone.

Secondly, send each DCA a request (seperately) for the original copy of your Consumer Credit Agreement that relates to each of these accounts.

 

Everything by rec. delivery.

 

Both templates are in the template library. Each CCA request will cost £1, so send a postal order for each one (not a cheque). Also, do not sign with your normal signature; block capitals will do or a childish, readable "signature" instead will do. This protects you from the possibility of your real signature being lifted onto a fantasy document. It's not unheard of....

 

Once each CCA request has been sent.... sit back and wait. Have nothing more to do with anyone on the phone as advised earlier and see what gets sent back to you in response. When you receive something back, post up on here what it is and we'll take it from there.

 

As you're on Benefits, you would be within your rights to offer £1 a week against all of these; assuming they have the proper docs.

 

Dealing with finances at a time like this is deeply distressing. I can still remember my Mum learning to cope after my Dad passed away suddenly; many years ago now and it wasn't easy. Lots of love to you hun.....

[mzdspice]

thanks for your help priorityone. I have blocked all their telephone numbers and never answer unless i know the number. i will get on with the CCA'S straight away and will keep you posted on the progress. much love xxx

[mzdspice]

oops..... i just realised that I didnt sign the letters, will that make a difference?

[PriorityOne]

Some kind of signature is a good idea, IMO but don't worry about it now. They'll soon let you know if it matters to them.... it's far more important that everything goes by rec. delivery, to be honest.

 

Just wait and see what comes back.

 

[mzdspice]

hi, yes I did recorded delivery and they have all been delivered, just the waiting game now

[mzdspice]

UPDATE.....

CAPQUEST who have bought one of my debts from HALIFAX, have replied that they have put my account on hold for 28 days while they obtain the information needed.

WESCOT have replied that they are not the creditor but instructed by HALIFAX and that I have to send another postal order to HALIFAX, They have put the account on hold for 28 days..

[PriorityOne]

UPDATE.....

CAPQUEST who have bought one of my debts from HALIFAX, have replied that they have put my account on hold for 28 days while they obtain the information needed.

WESCOT have replied that they are not the creditor but instructed by HALIFAX and that I have to send another postal order to HALIFAX, They have put the account on hold for 28 days..

 

Re. Capquest..... good.

Re. Westcot.... no you don't. They have an obligation to pass your request to Halifax themselves.

 

In both cases, just sit and wait now.

 

[mzdspice]

Thanks hun, I will send the postal order back to wescot.

[PriorityOne]

Thanks hun, I will send the postal order back to wescot.

 

No need.... just file it away. You've made the request and the request still stands.... don't get drawn into any games.

[mzdspice]

what would I do without you xxxxx

[mzdspice]

UPDATE***

HALIFAX replied that they cannot find an agreement with the details I sent, but my letter was sent to BLAIR OLIVER AND SCOTT, with their reference not the HALIFAX reference. They want me to resend with details of my name, addresses and DOB

 

 

Same thing with CAPQUEST but its the halifax again who replied

[PriorityOne]

UPDATE***

HALIFAX replied that they cannot find an agreement with the details I sent, but my letter was sent to BLAIR OLIVER AND SCOTT, with their reference not the HALIFAX reference. They want me to resend with details of my name, addresses and DOB

 

Same thing with CAPQUEST but its the halifax again who replied

 

Blair, Oliver & Scott are in-house debt collectors for Halifax. They've managed to use your name and address to make contact with you, so that's a ridiculous request from them. Capquest must be acting for Halifax as well then. Once again, a ridiculous request.

 

Suggested letter re. both accounts is below:

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

Your ref: xxxxxx

 

I refer to your recent letter in response to my request for information under the Consumer Credit Act 1974, dated xx/xx/xx. As you (and your agents) have been in regular contact with me by name and at my existing address for some time however, I find your request for confirmation of who I am and where I live quite ridiculous.

 

Please note that my request for information still stands. Should you not be able to locate such documentation however, then please confirm as much under The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (CPUTR) 2008 by return.

 

Yours faithfully,

[mzdspice]

thanks again priority one, will do that asap xx