MBNA/marlins - now Arrows

[travisb]

Hiya Ladies and Gents,

 

A few years back I had a CC with MBNA which I disputed due to them being unable to provide an enforcable credit agreement.

 

They pursued me for the outstanding balance for a while and

eventually passed it over to a company called Optima (i think)

who harrassed me for a few months and then gave up after offering a settlement figure of approx 10% of the balance which i declined.

I haven't heard a peep from them since.

 

This was 3 years ago but

 

last week I got a letter from MBNA stating that they transferred the right to collect this account to a company called MFS Portfolio Ltd.

 

Just wondering if anyones had any dealings with this company and what to expect now.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

Travis

[citizenB]

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?356147-MBNA-and-sale-of-debt

 

You will find quite a bit about this company in the link above.

 

MBNA are looking to exit the UK credit card market and are quietly dumping their bad debt books..

[travisb]

Thanks citizenB, I had a read at that but that seems to concern folks who had either entered into payment agreements or had ccj's in place. I'm more wondering why after 3 years if MBNA weren't willing to take it to court why this crowd would think they had any chance of recovery and what they were likely to do about it.

 

Looks like they're just buying up any old rubbish for pennys in the hope they can get a return.

[citizenB]

As far as I know, no one has actually heard from this new company yet. So we dont know what approach they will take.

 

I imagine that as they have, as you say, only paid pennies in the £ - that it could be worth their effort to attempt to take it to court.

 

However, if MBNA hasnt done so, then there is probably a very good reason why no. You would need to send a Subject Access request (unless you have already done so) to MBNA in order to obtain as much information before it goes through the shredder.

 

They are know to shred everything older than 6 years so you need to act swiftly.

 

If the new owner does intend to litigate, then you will be better prepared if you have information that they are not likely to have been given

[travisb]

The account dates back to 1993 and was one which MBNA had taken over from BOS, I don't think I ever requested a SAR but i did request a copy of the credit agreement which was effectivley an application form and did not contain the required terms so I would have thought that if MBNA were not in possesion of an enforceable CCA then there would be little this new company could do to enforce it.

 

Do you think it's worth requesting a SAR?

 

thanks again

[citizenB]

Hmmm, now, well a lot of the HBoS documents from so far back have been so illegible which is a problem for them and their multi application forms where loan/credit card and PPI were included have been assessed as being unenforceable in some claims.

 

You would need to look round the forums and check to see if your document would likely fall into that category.

 

If it were me, I would want as much information as possible in order to counter argue anything the new owner chucked at me !1

[DonkeyB]

MFS Portfolio isn’t a new company – it’s just a debt buying division of Marlin. Been around for seven years. I imagine it stands for ‘Marlin Financial Services’, though it is registered as MFS Portfolio Ltd.

 

You”ll probably hear from Marlin Legal Services or Marlin Financial Services, acting on their behalf. They also have working links with Fredricksons.

[travisb]

Hmmm, now, well a lot of the HBoS documents from so far back have been so illegible which is a problem for them and their multi application forms where loan/credit card and PPI were included have been assessed as being unenforceable in some claims.

 

You would need to look round the forums and check to see if your document would likely fall into that category.

 

If it were me, I would want as much information as possible in order to counter argue anything the new owner chucked at me !1

 

At the time and with some advice from a more knowledgeable aquaintance I had pretty much established that the agreement was dubious, and having dug it out and had another gander it does not contain any of the following information:

 

amount of credit

credit limit

rate of interest

repayments

 

It is also clearly marked as an "application form". Would this still be considered unenforecable or have the courts moved the goal posts on this?

 

 

Thanks

[DonkeyB]

Can you scan and post inline as a PDF for us to see?

[renegadeimp]

So what you are saying travisb is they havent sent you the prescribed terms and conditions?

[travisb]

Can you scan and post inline as a PDF for us to see?

 

So what you are saying travisb is they havent sent you the prescribed terms and conditions?

 

Give me 10 minutes i'll post it guys.

 

thanks

[DonkeyB]

I would suggest an immediate CCA request.

 

See what it brings up.

 

Especially interesting as you have a copy of the original...

[travisb]

agreement attached

bosccagreement.pdf

[DonkeyB]

It states that you agree to be bound by the T&Cs, but it does not state what they are or where they are (which, if they provided those T&Cs with the missing statutory info, would have been enough). So no evidence at all that T&Cs were present at the time of signing. Classic Carey fail. They will struggle with that.

[DonkeyB]

It’s a terrible copy – was that the result of a CCA request or is your scanner just pants?

[travisb]

That's pretty much the way it was sent to me DonkeyB. Scanning obviously hasn't made it any better but yeah, it's a pretty poor copy.

[DonkeyB]

Just read it back... that’s the result of an earlier CCA request.

 

And that app form is from 1993. Do you remember what correspondence you had when MBNA took it over?

 

When did you make that CCA request? Obviously they did not send any associated T&Cs, so I’m guessing your CCA request was pre-Carey.

[travisb]

Just read it back... that’s the result of an earlier CCA request.

 

And that app form is from 1993. Do you remember what correspondence you had when MBNA took it over?

 

When did you make that CCA request? Obviously they did not send any associated T&Cs, so I’m guessing your CCA request was pre-Carey.

 

That was the response to CCA request made to MBNA in March 2009. They also sent a copy of their (then) current terms and conditions.

I don't remember what exactly they sent me when they took over the account.

Edited July 4, 2012 by travisb

[travisb]

well got letter from MFS Portfolio today.

mfsportfolio.pdf

Edited July 10, 2012 by travisb

[DonkeyB]

Too small... can you upload as PDF or via Photobucket.com?

[travisb]

sorry donkeyb, added pdf

[DonkeyB]

Interesting. This looks like a standard letter sent to all debtors whether they have a CCJ or not (the latter being your case). The first thing they have done wrong is start to harass people with phone calls BEFORE they issued a notice of assignment (though this was not done in your case, was it?). That sort of behaviour is a serious concern for the OFT. Worth a complaint for those who are victims.

 

If they have sent that letter to people with CCJs, then it may well be another large fib. They would still have to be substituted as claimant, and must tell the defendant of this. Their simple statement – to carry on paying even if you have a CCJ – is blatantly misleading, and further cause for complaint.

 

Your next move is to remind them that the account is in dispute, as your valid CCA request from 2009 has still not been complied with.

 

Out of interest, have you checked your CRA fies and the registry trust for any dodgy CCJs recorded?

[DonkeyB]

Also, when was your last proper acknowledgement of owing the money? Date of last payment?

[travisb]

No, I haven't had any phone calls from them.

 

I haven't checked my CRA file for about 12 months but last time i looked the only record was of the account being in default. On the back of that letter there's some stuff about them reporting to the CRAs, since the account has been in default since 2009 and that is already recorded what exactly is it that they can report?

 

Last payment made would have been April or March 2009.

[DonkeyB]

OK, then the account in dispute letter is the way forward.