About to miss my first CC payment and what happens next

[Wooks001]

Thanks for confirming what I thought.

Have sent a "message" on the internal email system so they can't deny receipt, and sent the same by email.

So far they are just repeating what they have said before, but have also added a late payment fee to the account.

Not worried by this as £12 is nothing in relation to the overall debt, but proves that they have ignored my request to freeze interest and charges.

I'll update once I've received a response, as far as I am concerned I have advised them of my situation and it's upto them now to reply.

From what I've read in other posts, 3 missed payments and the account gets referred to DG solicitors, maybe they will communicate by email.

[BiGaD09]

I had a similar situation with HSBC with a credit card, however I think you have the added benefit of them being unlikely to supply an agreement for the original or the current account. If the original agreement would fall under the CCA 1974 I would CCA them, then wait the 12 + 2 days when they will default.

Then write to them informing them that you are aware they are in default and can't enforce the debt, however out of your goodwill you are willing to pay £x per month on the basis that they will freeze interest and charges for the duration.

I did this, they ignored me, and they passed it to Metropolitan and D&G Solicitors (who are both HSBC owned) who then sold it to a couple of other DCA's before it went back to HSBC. I just hung on and fought my corner, resulting in them not receiving payment anyway and a debt they couldn't enforce.

Whilst this essentially resulted in me not being obliged to make any payment, this was not the basis for taking this form of action. My sole reason for doing this was to shift the balance of power so they would be more inclined to accept my terms for repayment.

 

As a side note, do you have any PPI on the card? A successful claim could potentially offset the whole balance saving your credit report and a lot of hassle for you.

[SWLABR9]

How can you know if the original agreement would fall under the CCA 1974 legislation please?

[AndyOrch]

It will state that this is an agreement regulated by The Consumer Credit Act 1974.

[BiGaD09]

The CCA 1974 is applicable to any agreement entered into prior to the 6th April 2008.

[SWLABR9]

So why's it unenforcable? Sorry if I'm making you go over old ground.

[Wooks001]

What about after the 6th April 2008.

[AndyOrch]

The CCA 1974 is applicable to any agreement entered into prior to the 6th April 2008.

 

What about after the 6th April 2008.

 

They all come under the CCA1974 pre and post.

 

Andy

[SWLABR9]

So they're all unenforcable? Would this be why the CC companies choose to send debt collectors (who we really mustn't call bailiffs) instead of going through the courts? I do remember there was this guy allegedly owed £20K to a CC. He complained about the way he was being harassed by the debt collectors and the judge agreed with him and let him off the 20K! I read several reports of this in the papers but none asked the obvious question; if this guy really owed the money, why didn't the debtor simply go through the courts instead of sending endless teams of (inept, bullying) debt collectors? Struck me as very odd at the time... thanks for replies here, people, much appreciated.

[Wooks001]

Bit confused about how the unenforceable comments relate to my situation, so far all I have had from the bank are statements such as you will recieve our full response once we have considered the issues you have raised.

Don't actually mention what issues, and there have been several.

 

Assuming they do eventually get their act together and make a proper response, could a SAR request include a CCA request as well. Only a quid but it's my quid.

[AndyOrch]

Some will respond with an inclusion of the CCA some wont, not responding to the DSAR is far different with less legal implications as to not responding to a Section 77/78/79 request.

 

Andy

[citizenB]

Wooks, for some reason the answer to your final question is NO.. they do not have to provide a copy of the agreement in response to a SAR. The reason being it is covered under the CCA1974 ACT.. I appreciate that you will agree with me that it is financial data and that the SAR is a request for ALL data. But that is the way it is.

 

Some companies DO provide a copy within the SAR request. Most however, do not.

[citizenB]

At the moment, all you are doing is data gathering in order to protect yourself should HSBC not accept your request to lower payments in line with your income and freeze interest and not apply charges.

 

We know that HSBC and the 3rd party agents they use for collections can be very aggressive. Anything that can help you negotiate a repayment plan would be useful.

 

Of course this is all supposition.. HSBC might be perfectly reasonable and you can simply file away the information. IMHO, it is worth the £10.00 plus postage for peace of mind.

[Wooks001]

Thanks for the advice, it's hard to tell what is happening at the moment if anything.

Requests through their approved messages for statement have produced nothing after 7 weeks, and I don't know if they will agree to my request to be contacted by email since there has been no response.

It's a shame that HSBC customer service has gone down the toilet since they moved to overseas call centres, I've had the account for 25 years but couldn't recommend them now.

[citizenB]

You could send up a follow up request - but this time, head it OFFICIAL COMPLAINT. Point out that their delay is causing you unnecessary stress.

[SWLABR9]

Servicing local loans isn't what the banks are about now. Since they got rid of the bank managers they've had no real way of ascertaining risk so they don't get involved any more. They don't want to bother with theones they've got, there's too little profit to be made compared with gambling on the international stocks/derivatives scene. This is revealed as very serious when you realise that banks are where, in recent decades, our entire money supply has come from. Under the conditions of Maastricht/the Lisbon Treaty that's the only place we're allowed to get money from too, the govt is no longer allowed to introduce it directly into the economy. Instead it has to go to the banks first. This is why QE goes to the banks, not to, say, small businesses. Pretty antisocial, you might think, and I'd agree. Our politicians have a lot to answer for, as they've granted a handful of privately owned banks control over the money supply for the nation. But enough digression

[Wooks001]

Not a lot of point at this stage mate, since they are neither replying to internal messages or email.

Until I get copies of the statements I can't even assess the situation.

The balance is more than I would expect, so until this is resolved there's no chance of them getting a penny.

At the end of the day it's upto them to contact me, after 3 defaults my understanding is that no further charges or interest can be applied to the account. So far that's been £12 which they can whistle for.

[Wooks001]

Sort of an update for you folks.

 

No response to my request for copy statements - still with a specialist department.

No acknowledgement of the fact that I have advised them of my financial difficulties.

Letter demanding immediate payment of arrears. Contact HSBC immediately by telephone if unable to pay.

Letter stating that my request to communicate via email has been passed to the relevant department, and that they have 8 weeks to respond.

 

Is this normal for HSBC, not to provide contact details, advise which department my queries/complaints have been referred to. Find it difficult to believe that a major bank can be so inefficient, but suspect that this is the norm.

[Wooks001]

Hi Folks,

 

Had a response to my request to communicate via email, it's 3 pages long but here's the important bits.

 

I understand you are unhappy about not responding to the emails you have sent from your ******* account.

Please accept my apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused.

 

Please be advised that we respond to customer queries via three channels and these are telephone, Post and Personal Internet Banking. Basically the rest of the letter is them saying that they are not going to respond via email, and I should contact them by telephone/post.

 

My understanding is that I have the right to contact them via email, am I correct?.

Their version of email does not keep a copy of my message, nor does it allow attachments, mine does.

[citizenB]

You have the legal right to communicate in writing !!

 

From what they are saying, they dont have a facility for emails other than through their contact form on their online banking.

 

I would say that you are going to be restricted to regular Royal Mail communications.

[robcag]

 

Please be advised that we respond to customer queries via three channels and these are telephone, Post and Personal Internet Banking. Basically the rest of the letter is them saying that they are not going to respond via email, and I should contact them by telephone/post.

 

My understanding is that I have the right to contact them via email, am I correct?.

Their version of email does not keep a copy of my message, nor does it allow attachments, mine does.

 

They may use the argument that standard email is not a secure method of comminication (which it is not) and the type of 'internal email' their Internet Banking service operates is secure (which it probably is to a fairly high degree).

 

Rob

[Wooks001]

Am I misunderstanding the following:-

 

OFT guidance for all businesses engaged in the recovery of consumer credit debts

July 2003 (updated November 2011)

 

k. ignoring or disregarding debtors' reasonable requests in respect of when, where and how to contact them

For example, shift workers may ask not to be telephoned during certain times of the day.

Also, some debtors may request contact by email rather than by telephone.

 

HSBC obviously have the facility to respond by email, since they already have. They are choosing not to do so, atleast in a meaningful manner..

[Old Cogger]

usual HSBC crap response, Read FOS guidelines it states ignoring claimant/customer reguest for responses by E.mail, if you make a complaint the respose to FOS, HSBCs reply is: - usually we have identified and corrected our proceedures regarding this subject. - then get away with it again.

 

Happened to me regarding SAR request beyond 40 days., the SAR arrived (1st Part the afternoon after a court case in the morning - not coincidence that)

Edited June 27, 2012 by Old Cogger

[citizenB]

Am I misunderstanding the following:-

 

OFT guidance for all businesses engaged in the recovery of consumer credit debts

July 2003 (updated November 2011)

 

k. ignoring or disregarding debtors' reasonable requests in respect of when, where and how to contact them

For example, shift workers may ask not to be telephoned during certain times of the day.

Also, some debtors may request contact by email rather than by telephone.

 

HSBC obviously have the facility to respond by email, since they already have. They are choosing not to do so, atleast in a meaningful manner..

 

Print that off and send it to them Either by email or Royal Mail !!

[Old Cogger]

Also a complaint regarding phone calls during the day to a night worker & requesting all in writing are ignored by HSBC = we do not have to comply with regulations.