Advice with Metropolitan Collection Services please.

[Zephy]

Thanks for that

 

Yes I do have most, if not all of the letters I have received from them each month. Along with the payments I have made so far.

 

I will get them all into order and send off the letter as you suggested.

 

Thanks again,

 

Zeph.

[ims21]

Before approaching them you will need to prepare the spreadsheet of claim.

 

This is the one to use....follow the instructions in the notes tab...

 

CISheet v101.xls

[Zephy]

Ah thank you...I was jumping the gun again, that's very helpful.

Looks like that's my Sunday is filled up.

 

Would I send the form directly to Very? The letters of recovery I receive are always from NDR (nationwide debt recovery), but I haven't dealt with them and have dealt directly with Very.

I'm just wondering now who actually 'holds' the charges I am aiming to re-claim.

 

I apologise if I seem very unorganised...I am. I have only just been able to truly tackle this debt now.

[ims21]

NDR are Very's in house debt collection arm so they are all the same company.

 

However, I would address the issues to Very as it is they who will be named in any future court action that may prove necessary.

[Zephy]

That is great, thank you so much!

 

Out of interest - you don't have to answer - but how would you go about settling the debt from now?

 

It started as a £700 debt that I could not pay on time as I lost my job, I offered £50 each month and they refused it point blank. So going off advice on here I just paid them between £5 - £15 each month depending on what I could spare as a gesture, being that I had very little left after household bills etc

 

Now the debt has doubled due to interest and charges, and I'm not 100% sure what the best course of action is.

They are now (very recently) threatening me with a statutory default notice - or I can contact them to agree a 'Reasonable proposal for payment' - £50 wasn't enough last time I tried, so I doubt it is enough now.

 

I actually thought about making higher payments on the account, but the interest would just counter any payments I made making it pretty futile.

 

This is my last debt to sort out and then I can finally be (almost) debt free.

 

But NDR really are a slimy bunch and have made it 100 times more difficult for me to pay them than anyone else. Everyone else pretty much accepted a certain amount each month and I have stuck to it and they have been pretty amicable.

But NRD are the lowest.

[ims21]

OK the first thing is not to be intimidated by these people.

 

The reason we are looking at the charges is that they are unlawful penalties and do not reflect the true cost to them of any breach of contract by you (i.e. by not paying the minimum payments etc. etc.)

 

If these penalty charges are unlawful then so is any interest added as a result of them.

 

So the idea is to establish what the quantum of the charges and associated interest is. You then deduct that from the balance they say is due in order to arrive at the true balance.

 

The other reason that calculating the charges and interest figure is that it may, in some cases, wipe the debt completely.

 

If any default they put on the account is a result of unlawful charges then that default can be challenged as being invalid.

 

So it is worth putting the time and effort into looking at what the charges and associated interest actually is.

 

If there is till an amount owing after the charges and interest are removed then we look at making a proposal for settlement. That might be a monthly plan or a full and final settlement if that is possible given your personal financial situation.

 

Having said this, they cannot have what you haven't got so although it may not appear to be the case at this stage, they are better off by negotiating than they are by wielding a big stick, especially when there are unlawful charges involved.