LLoyds Loan & BLS arrangement- they want more!!

[lawrence2011]

Having agreed a payment plan with BLS Collections in July of this year, I have subsequently made every payment due without fail and yet BLS Collections continue to harrass me with letters stating the account is in arrears. I have wrote on several occassions to BLS Collections requesting an explanation and yet BLS have never responded, whilst continuing to demand payment of the arrears.

Today I have received one more demand stating if the arrears were not paid within 10 days they would cancel the plan and the full debt would be due.

I am in no position to make any more payment other than the one already agreed and I am certainly not in a position to pay the full amount.

In failing to respond to my letters I feel BLS are attempting to back me into a corner with the only outcome being I am taken to court and declared bankrupt.

I have just contacted the Financial Ombudsman Service to report BLS Collections, but having had previous experience of the FOS I am not hopeful of a favourable outcome.

 

Can anyone offer any sound advice as to any options which may be available to me?

 

Many Thanks

[kurvaface]

Today I have received one more demand stating if the arrears were not paid within 10 days they would cancel the plan and the full debt would be due.

 

 

What plan?

 

How was it set up?

[Revenant]

Hi lawrence

 

As long as you have all the paper work involved I don't think you've much to worry about as by making threats whilst failing to respond to your letters they're being totally unreasonable and it goes in your favour

 

Don't even give Court a second thougth as BLS will go no where near one as long as you keep up the agreed payments, can you imagine it . . "Well your Honour even though this person has been paying as agreed we want more than they can afford" . . unfortunatley Judges can't tell them to go jump in plain English but they have their way

 

The harassment is not easy to cope with at times so just keep all the letters safe and let them keep digging the hole they're making

 

R

[kurvaface]

My point is if you have an arrangement with them...how was it set up?

 

If by phone, go on the offensive and do a DSAR for the transcript of the call? Make a formal complaint to them. To trading standards too. Don't let them walk all over you. A DCA's default setting is to seperate you from your money, and having a memory span less than a goldfish, they don't care about what they said 5 minutes ago, let alone earlier in the year.#

 

And as Revenant says, harassment can get them into a lot of trouble. The definition of harassment that applies to the 1997 Act is very useful indeed - stating that its definition is what a reasonably minded person would think of their actions:

 

1 Prohibition of harassment.E+W

(1)A person must not pursue a course of conduct—

 

(a)which amounts to harassment of another, and

 

(b)which he knows or ought to know amounts to harassment of the other.

 

(2)For the purposes of this section, the person whose course of conduct is in question ought to know that it amounts to harassment of another if a reasonable person in possession of the same information would think the course of conduct amounted to harassment of the other.

 

(3)Subsection (1) does not apply to a course of conduct if the person who pursued it shows—

 

(a)that it was pursued for the purpose of preventing or detecting crime,

 

(b)that it was pursued under any enactment or rule of law or to comply with any condition or requirement imposed by any person under any enactment, or

 

©that in the particular circumstances the pursuit of the course of conduct was reasonable.

 

Send a letter saying that their action is harassment and it must stop now. If it doesn't you will take them to court for compensation. The lovely thing about the 1997 harassment act is that it allows for civil remedy in addtion to recognising the criminal aspect of harassment.

Edited November 10, 2011 by kurvaface

[lawrence2011]

Thanks guys for your replies.

 

The plan was agreed by letters, so there is a paper trail. It goes roughly like this;

 

1. From BLS Collections - please make payments on this debt.

2. From me - okay, but I can only pay £1.00 per month. Here is an income and expenses form.

3. From BLS Collections - that's okay, please make payments on the 5th of every month.

4. 1st payment made

5. From BLS - sorry, we can't accept your offer. Please fill in an income and expenses form.

6. From me - but you have already accepted my offer and Ive already filled in an I&E form. 2nd payment made.

7. From BLS - No Response.

8. 3rd payment made.

9. From BLS - you are now £19.00 in arrears.

10. From me - please explain yourselves.

11. From BLS - No response.

12. 4th payment made.

13. From BLS - you are now £18.00 in arrears. Pay within 10 days or we'll cancel the plan.

 

So they first accept my offer, then say they didn't. Then say I'm in arrears. Even if I hadn't made any payments I would still only be £3.00 in arrears! I have no idea where they get £19.00 in arrears from!

 

I wouldn't be half as p^sseed off with them if they had bothered to respond and explain themselves. Guess I'll sit tight, keep making the payments and keep piling up the paperwork.

 

Thanks again.

[maroondevo52]

What was the debt lawrence ?

[lawrence2011]

The debt is for a lloyds tsb personal loan. I spent almost a year telling lloyds I was struggling to make payments and asking if they would accept a nominal payment of £1.00 per month due to severe financial hardship but, surprise surprise they refused to go along with that, so it ended up at BLS.

 

I kinda get the feeling BLS don't want to handle the account anymore and are looking to create an excuse to pass it on to another DCA. Any thoughts?

[kurvaface]

BLS is LLoyds. I would copy the letter I suggested to LLOyds. They are responsible for the behaviour of anyone they outsource collections to.

[maroondevo52]

How old is the loan and is there any ppi on it ?

[lawrence2011]

BLS is LLoyds. I would copy the letter I suggested to LLOyds. They are responsible for the behaviour of anyone they outsource collections to.

 

Thanks, I have told BLS I believe them to be carrying out a campaign of harrassment against me, and have threatened them with going to a solicitor and seeking compensation, but as stated they simply ignore my 'nicely' worded letters.

I was aware they are part of Lloyds, as are MCA Solicitors who have also played their part in this, but where should I start writing to Lloyds about BLS's actions without again being ignored. At the end of the day, as much as i would love to get a solicitor onto this, I simply can't afford it at this time, a fact Im sure BLS know full well.

[lawrence2011]

How old is the loan and is there any ppi on it ?

 

The loan is approx 4 year old and yes, there is ppi on it.