A bit of advice

[Apok]

Hi, i'm looking for some advice regarding a debt i have with welcome finance, i'll outline the history of the debt etc below.

 

Initially i took out a loan to sort out a house i was moving into (first place of my own, yes it was rented but was not furnished etc) of £2700, i took this out in order to also consolidate another debt i had at the time (overdraft).

 

Everything was going alright until after the first couple of months payment, i had a problem with my place of work, they didn't pay me on time which meant my bills went out and i got overdraft charges (unauthorised overdraft charges at £25 a time or something similar from hsbc), this left me in a bit of a state for the rest of the month as my wages barely cleared my overdraft + the charges levied on top of me, on top of that hsbc reversed the payment that was due to be made to welcome.

 

it all came to a head the next month as i had problems with being paid late AGAIN which lead to my welcome bill not being paid again, this led to welcome defaulting me, and they had been chasing me for the money ever since.

 

they took me to court in order to get a ccj against me, i won they lost shortly after this they sent collection agents round my house when i wasn't in, i arrived home to find a piece of paper with my personal details, the amount i owed, account number etc stuck to my door.

 

I made a complaint to welcome regarding this back when it happened and heard nothing from them until recently (after movign properties the complaint happened in early 2009).

 

They now claim that i owe them £7,473.

 

I was looking at getting a loan to consolidate some of my other debts.(simply because i would much prefer dealing with one creditor etc)

 

The main advice i'm looking for is what kind of settlement figure should i offer welcome finance regarding this loan (need to know how much i need to pay out so i don't take on more debt than i can afford) or what action i should take regarding this loan.

[Guest]

you say that they took the matter to court and you won? what happened in court, what was the judgment?

[Apok]

I'm not 100% sure, i submitted defence etc online.

 

Just looking through my documents and stuff now to see if i have a copy of information regarding the judgement.

Although i believe it had something to do with the fact they hadn't complied with my cca request, they claimed that the timescale i had given ( same as the template from here ) was unreasonable and i had to allow upto 4 weeks to receive the information, the information didn't turn up until well after that.

 

 

one thing i have noticed going through my documents is that a copy of the credit agreement (photocopy) that was submitted to the court by welcome is signed and dated 10/09/07, whereas a copy i have is dated 10/07/07.

 

Also far from happy with the charges they have added to the account (£10 a phonecall) for multiple phonecalls, when i had written to them saying to contact me in writing only..

[Guest]

would need to know what happened in court, ie the judgment for eg or if it was stayed, discontinued, struck out?. or is there a judgment against?

Edited October 6, 2011 by Ford

[Apok]

looked through every bit of correspondence i have, unfortunately have nothing from the court other than the initial claim form submitted to the county court.

i do have a letter dated after the course case which reads.

 

We have been in contact with the mediation service following the recent court order as the claimant would be interested in pursuing this opportunity for settlement.

 

If you are interested in a mediation taking place please contact the mediation service on (Telephone number).

 

 

 

But other than that nothing im afraid.

 

Edit :- I do have a letter from their solicitors (irwin mitchell) dated mid 2009 offering a reduced settlement of 3660, however that is probably not an option lol.

Edited October 6, 2011 by Apok

[Guest]

contact the court tomorrow to get confirmation on what has happened re the case. then post back with details.

Edited October 6, 2011 by Ford

[Apok]

Right, so i spoke to the court this morning regardign the case.

 

Apparently i was wrong, there was no judgement as welcome finance filed a notice of discontinuance before the hearing was due.

[Guest]

that is still a good result. they probably didn't have enough to carry on in court!

you say that you submitted a defence online? was this before their notice of discontinuance? if so, you will also have the benefit of civil procedure rule part 38.7. so, unless anything significant changes since their court claim in terms of their case against you then they should have difficulty in starting another court claim against you on the same facts.

with this in mind, you could try and negotiate a without prejudice low full/final offer. or, you could leave it and see what they do.

they offered around 3.7k before, which is about 50%. you could try starting low with around 15% and see what they do?

technically, the 'debt' still exists. but, they have previously started a claim and then discontinued which is a big factor against them re any future legal action.

they must abide by the law/guidelines/codes (on cag). under the lending code, they should communicate in writing when requested and written responses are forthcoming. they should not be increasing a debt through interest/charges.

also, you mentioned that someone came round. you could send/incorporate the template 'doorstep' letter available on cag. and complain.

ensure not to acknowledge/admit any liability.

just to clarify, you say that the discontinuance was regarding their overdraft claim. and you are now looking to get a loan to pay off creditors one of which is this overdraft? only consider a consolidation loan if you can realistically afford the repayments on it, and it would be more beneficial than current circumstances.

see what others think

imo

Edited October 8, 2011 by Ford
typo

[Apok]

Hi thanks for the reply.

 

Just to clarify the original loan was to pay off an overdraft and for home improvement, i was thinking of taking out a consolidation loan to pay other debts i currently have.

 

The discontinuance was of their claim in court regarding the loan i tookfrom them in 2007, the amount of which was 2300 (not 2700 that was a mistake), they claimed i owed them around 4.5k when they took it to county court in late 2008, i submitted the defence before their notice of discontinuance.

 

 

The debts are a few K worth of various bills / creditors that i couldn't afford to pay when i got made redundant previously, this would allow me to deal with one creditor rather than several, mainly just for piece of mind and less costs when corresponding (recorded delivery letters etc) one of the creditors i would be looking to pay off is welcome but again i was unsure regarding this debt seeing as they haven't contacted me until this week in about a year.

 

Now that i'm working again i believe i could realistcally afford the repayments of the loan i was thinking of applying for a bank loan(been with the bank several years and never had any late payments unauthorised overdrafts etc)

[Guest]

apok

the discontinued court claim was for around 4.5k re a loan?

where does the 7.5k mentioned in your first post come into things? and the 3.7k offer?

was the o/d paid off, and they are now pursuing the amount of the discontinued claim re the loan? or, what are they now pursuing?

please clarify.

Edited October 8, 2011 by Ford
typo

[Apok]

To clarify i took a loan from welcome to pay off an overdraft, the loan was for 2300, i used this to pay an overdraft, and to start working on where i was living, i got defaulted because i had problems paying the repayments.

 

4.5 is roughly the figure they filed the claim for back in 2009, £7,473 is what they have written to me recently to say that i owe them at moment, i.e. this is what they are pursuing.

[Guest]

ok,

so, they are still pursuing the discontinued claim (then 4.5k) re the loan, and are now trying for 7.5k instead of the 4.5k?

[Apok]

Yea, you got it.

[Guest]

as per my post #8 then

could try and negotiate low, or ignore/tell them to bog off and leave this particular one seperate from your consolidation?

are your other 'debts' challengeable? eg missold ppi? charges? no paperwork?

could wait and see what others think?

have a read around cag, including the blogs

Edited October 8, 2011 by Ford
typo

[Apok]

The other debts aren't challengable i didn't take out ppi on anything im afraid, got paperwork for the others.

[Guest]

apok

any thoughts on what you might do?

note where a claim has been discontinued where 38.7 is involved, then new evidence and/or a change in the law would generally be required for a new claim on the same facts to be considered. but, of course, it would be for the court to decide in the circumstances upon application.

in general have a read around cag, including the blogs.

imo

[Apok]

Still thinking on what to do really, it would be nice not to have to take on additional debt when doing a consilidation loan as it would bump down monthly payments, length of the debt etc all of which are good things.

 

Then again if something were to happen in the next two years (could be statute barred by december 2013, as last payment was in either october or november 2007?) it could cause me problems further down the road, it's definitely a matter that asks for some serious thinking and that's what i intend to do.

[Guest]

that's a fair point re s barred. if you do correspond with them, ensure not to acknowledge debt/admit any liability

OOI. i wonder why they discontinued, seeing that you say that they sent a copy agreement to the court? was it not properly executed? was there a compliant default notice?