PDE and repayment plans

[Estane]

Managed to get myself into a pickle last month with payday loan debt after a student loan payment was cancelled a week before it was due to be paid to me. (I work almost full time hours, but was at university up until February as well)

 

This meant that I couldn't pay off the debts it was earmarked to clear, so straight away went about contacting the various lenders and requesting payment plans. 5 companies total, all of them replied promptly and agreed to my proposed payment plan except for 1 : Payday Express, who I have an outstanding debt of £240 with (£60 a month interest).

 

They say that I do not fulfill they're repayment plan criteria, and that a student loan is not considered financial income. They offered to talk me through some other clearing methods, but none of them would freeze the interest and the loan would balloon even further no matter what. In a month I'd be completely crippled again despite sorting the debt with all my other creditors.

 

I made the £40 payment anyway, so at least they've had something from me, but they're still adamant about applying charges and missed payment fees. They say it will be passed to DCA in 39 days.

 

And that's where I got stuck, not sure what my next move should be. Any thoughts?

 

EDIT : I've had this particular loan for 6 months so far. Original for £240, so I've paid more than the loan total back just in roll over fees. Should this affect my decision in any way?

 

Cheers

Edited May 18, 2012 by Estane
additional information

[Estane]

It seems they're ignoring all of my coreespondence and have just taken the money anyway, so I've incurred bank charges on top of what I owe. Bank is refusing to initiate a chargeback and telling me to contact the lender, which of course is a brick wall as they're ignoring me completely. All I seem to be getting is the same generic email stating their payment plan conditions.

 

I probably shouldn't have paid them anything at all until they agreed to this, but I figured it would look better to try and repay it as soon as possible. Seems this was the wrong move and now I need a new bank account.

[renegadeimp]

The bank cannot refuse to start chargeback proceedings. I suggest you go to the CAB and see if they can put you through to someone with legal training in this area. You could be entitled to compensation as well as other costs.

 

Get the new bank account, keep the old one open and see what a legal professional has to say about it.

[Estane]

I've spoken to the bank again, they say their hands are tied until the charge actually shows up on the account, at the moment it's still being processed. New bank set up, changing my payroll details today when I hit work, and a visit to the CAB scheduled first thing tomorrow morning.

 

I've sent more emails to PDE repeating my request for a payment plan; they're just replying with the generic responses asking me to speak to collections and telling me I haven't tried to contact them about this before. 6 weeks worth of emails say otherwise. I'll update further once I get a resolution with the bank and CAB.

[renegadeimp]

Dont worry about what the PDL says. You have complete proof to say different.

 

Call the banks bluff. Wait till the payment clears ( shouldnt be more than 3 working days), then demand they refund it.

[Estane]

Finally managed to speak to a UK based operator for my bank. They are happy to initiate chargeback proceedings, however they want me to fill in a form they're sending out and return it to them. Apparently they can't consider it a fraudulent transaction as the CPA is in place, only an unauthorised payment, they reckon they can't give me any access to the money for a good few weeks. Will be trying my luck with a personal banker today instead.

 

. PDE are still afk it seems, not even bothering to reply with generic emails anymore since they took the extra £20.

 

I'll have to hit the CAB tomorrow, my work shifts have been conflicting with their opening hours this last week.

[renegadeimp]

Did you get them to cancel the CPA?

[Estane]

They said they could send a letter to PDE asking them to stop, but that the company could ignore it and carry on anyway. They wouldnt do it at my request.

 

I'll be seeing a personal banker in the next hour, I'll have an update after that.

[renegadeimp]

What?!

 

Under UK law the BANK cancels the CPA. NOT the Payee.

 

Regulation 55 of The Payment Services Regulations 2009:

 

55.—(1) A payment transaction is to be regarded as having been authorised by the payer for the purposes of this Part only if the payer has given its consent to—

 

(a)the execution of the payment transaction; or .

(b)the execution of a series of payment transactions of which that payment transaction forms part. .

(2) Such consent—

 

(a)may be given before or, if agreed between the payer and its payment service provider, after the execution of the payment transaction; and .

(b)must be given in the form, and in accordance with the procedure, agreed between the payer and its payment service provider. .

(3) The payer may withdraw its consent to a payment transaction at any time before the point at which the payment order can no longer be revoked under regulation 67.

 

(4) Subject to regulation 67(3) to (5), the payer may withdraw its consent to the execution of a series of payment transactions at any time with the effect that any future payment transactions are not regarded as authorised for the purposes of this Part.

 

This means that you can simply ask your bank to refuse the payments, it is also good practice to let the lender know too.

 

So, if you would like your creditor to stop trying to take a payment all you need to do, in theory, is to inform them that you remove their authority. It's probably better to do this in writing and via recorded delivery - if possible.

 

You can learn more about your rights via the following fsa guide:

 

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/static/pubs/co...ghts_guide.pdf

 

And

 

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pubs/consumer_...s_payments.pdf

 

Taken from http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?336569-How-to-remove-a-lender-s-continuous-payment-authority(6-Viewing)-nbsp

[Estane]

Right, after a lengthy face to face conversation at the bank I've been told that PDE do not have CPA, that the transactions are merely debit card transactions. In order to challenge the £20 debit I need to have the bank send them a letter, but I've been told cancelling the card will stop any further payments (of this I am dubious, especially in light of other peoples dealings with PDE).

 

To be honest the banker seemed like she was trying to fob me off. I also spoke to her about the charges applied to my account as a result of this over payment, and she said I would still have to pay them as it wasn't the bank that was at fault. She did advise I speak to the CAB as soon as possible to see where I stand, so first thing tomorrow morning we dust off ye olde bicycle.

Edited May 30, 2012 by Estane
spelling errors

[Estane]

Spoke to the Cab, they reckon I've got a pretty strong case and advised me to get in touch with National Debtline. I've just finished speaking to them over then phone, they've advised to set up the new bank account, to try negotiating using cash flow as it demonstrates that I've had independent advice, and that the payday loan company MUST have a CPA in order to have debitted money in the manner that they have.

 

Payday Express also sent me a letter in the post today acknowledging my complaint about them taking money from my account against my wishes, they've promised a response by the end of the month.

 

I'll probably have to wait until after this jubilee milarky before I can do anything more.

[National Debtline]

Hello Estane

 

Hope you found our service useful.

 

Keep us updated with any further developments.

 

Best wishes,

 

National Debtline

[toptrapper]

Estane,

Keep us informed of the complaint findings from Payday Express, will be interesting to see if their findings are aligned to regulatory requirements, more so if national Debtline have taken an interest.

[Estane]

Received a letter from PDE today, apparently they need mroe time to address my complaint. They reckon I'll have a response by 16th July, almost 8 weeks since my initial complaint. They really do like cutting it fine!

 

I've filled in and returned the form Barclays sent me to reclaim the extra money they took, but they have refused point blank to scrap any of the bank charges hitting the account. Whichever way this goes, I can see myself being at least £32 out of pocket as a result of these shenanigans.

[toptrapper]

Usual waffle from this crowd. Don't forget they only have eight weeks from the date PDE received your complaint to send you a final response. If they don't bang respond in the regulated 8 weeks, (and not what they may make you believe) send it straight off to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

I note you suggest that you've been hit with bank charges that your bank are refusing to refund. Once (if) you receive a final response and you don't agree with their impartial deep investigation/ total and utter whitewash/dismissal of your complaint; and you decide to complain to FOS, you can always request this charge refunded from PDE, along with intrest and nominal compensation.

And a big smiley *hello* to PDE if your reading.

[renegadeimp]

Yep. As above, they have 8 weeks regardless of their excuses.

[Estane]

Thanks both.

 

Received my 'final response' letter today. They have refused to uphold the complaint, but agreed to my repayment plan as a 'goodwill gesture' and in the interests of 'acting reasonably'. However, they've happilly added on another months worth of interest and have ignored the fact that I withdrew permission for them to debit my account for the money I didn't have. As such, the charge issue hasn't been addressed at all.

 

The best part of the whole letter :

 

"Payday Express made contact with you on 18th May 2012 where you advised us you did not want to be contacted via telephone, to which this was noted and actioned accordingly"

 

"On 21st of May 2012 a collection team leader attempted to contact you via phone to discuss your most recent email"

 

They've given me until July 20th to respond and have said they'll pass to DCA if an arrangemnet is not made. What's my next move here, give them two fingers and let them bring on the DCA?

[renegadeimp]

Good will gesture? Yep. You called them out and they realised they couldnt do what they wanted. So they are admitting fault but are trying to pin the blame back on you. They are even trying to extort more money out of you by adding more interest.

 

You now need to get this reply to the FOS and tell them exactly what has been going on. You do NOT need to respond. Get it to the FOS and copy in the PDL " for information purposes only".

 

See how much they start squirming.

[toptrapper]

Thanks both.

 

Received my 'final response' letter today. They have refused to uphold the complaint, but agreed to my repayment plan as a 'goodwill gesture' and in the interests of 'acting reasonably'. However, they've happilly added on another months worth of interest and have ignored the fact that I withdrew permission for them to debit my account for the money I didn't have. As such, the charge issue hasn't been addressed at all.

 

The best part of the whole letter :

 

"Payday Express made contact with you on 18th May 2012 where you advised us you did not want to be contacted via telephone, to which this was noted and actioned accordingly"

 

"On 21st of May 2012 a collection team leader attempted to contact you via phone to discuss your most recent email"

 

They've given me until July 20th to respond and have said they'll pass to DCA if an arrangemnet is not made. What's my next move here, give them two fingers and let them bring on the DCA?

 

The chances are the DCA will be their halfwitted chimps at Castlebridge Financial Management, they're as incompetent as PDE, managed by the Money Shop group like PDE, so don't expect any form of decent service or empathy. Personally, I agree with renegadeimp, get the complaint off to FOS asap. The comment about telephoning you on the 21st confirms they're unable to deal with complaints in a competent manner, all manna from heaven for your complaint should you go to FOS. I'd also suggest that their demand in you having to respond before the 20th oppressive and probably unfair; they're the ones who have mucked this up - not you. Why should you be pressurised to drop your complaint?

 

Also, the cream if you do go to FOS, PDE will be responsible for the £500.00 fee for the investigation, plus any interest in charges that may come your way. Get complaining, hit them where it hurts.

[Estane]

Cheers renegadeimp, toptrapper.

 

The forms are in the mail to me now. I assume each case would have its own unique characteristics and this in itself would necessitate at least some variation, but is there a typical sort of response time for these investigations, a time limit perhaps?

[toptrapper]

Estane,

 

When you say each case, do you mean separate complaints to Fos and OFT? If so, then yes; for time limits, FOS expect a complaint to be made within 6 months of the business final response. In the past, where I've made a complaint to FOS, I've used the same form to also make my complaint to OFT as all the information was relevant.

[Estane]

Estane,

 

When you say each case, do you mean separate complaints to Fos and OFT? If so, then yes; for time limits, FOS expect a complaint to be made within 6 months of the business final response. In the past, where I've made a complaint to FOS, I've used the same form to also make my complaint to OFT as all the information was relevant.

 

Seperate investigations by the FOS. I understand there's a time limit for making the initial complaint, but do they try to conclude it within a specific timeframe as well?

[toptrapper]

You must complaint to FOS within 6 months of the final response from, in this case Payday Express. As for FOS finalising their complaint; you're in the lap of the gods!! It's worth giving them a call to check out current waiting times, as I'd suggest you're looking at a few months considering the backlog of PPi complaints their wading through.

[Estane]

I'll have to delay unfortunately. O2 customer

[Estane]

Somewhat offtopic, as it concerns a different creditor : I have repayment plans set up with all my other creditors, including wonga, and have arranged to make payments via bank to bank transfers for all of them, cancelling cpa in the process. Wonga ignored this cancellation and debited a second payment after the bank-to-bank transfer was made, they are refusing to repay the funds until they hit their bank account, which according to my bank statement happened within 2 hours of the initial payment.

 

From what I can tell both Barclays (my bank) and Wongas bank HSBC use the faster payments scheme. By this logic the money should already be in their account. I contacted Barclays this morning to have the funds refunded and they quoted 'visa regulations' stating that a merchant has up to 15 days to correct their mistake. Is this true or have Barclays just told me yet another pack of lies?