Advice on how to handle DCA with Settlement Offer

[thx1138]

Hello,

 

I bought a computer on credit with Dixons 4 years ago, [2004] when i was working part time.

 

Consequently i was bombarded by mail and phone calls from HFC Bank (who financed the credit) to get more credit from them.

 

Stupidly i agreed an appointment,

had to visit their branch and was sold a £5000 loan with extra payment protection and insurance that bumped the total cost up to over £10,000.

 

Now i'm not an idiot but when i went along i thought it was so i could clear my computer payments and maybe get a little more in way of a loan.

 

Instead i was pressured into a higher loan amount with all the extras sold on top and told it was in my best interests as it would consolidate all my other debts.

Not very sound finacial advice at all.

 

I came away almost instantly regretting what had happened but was told i could not go back on the decision as the cheques were issued

and given to me at the branch and the loan was now in force.

 

I managed to keep up monthly repayments of £150 but as i was working part time and needed to stay alive i had to default.

 

HFC were not very understanding and immediately defaulted my loan and passed it to Restons Solicitors.

 

I then got into more financial hardship and defaulted on future payments and was consequently issued with a court summons by Restons.

 

I called them immediatley and was told if i signed a consent order they would send by fax then i could avoid the matter going to court.

 

This was my biggest worry as i was trying to get a mortgage with my girlfriend and didn't want a CCJ against me.

 

I signed the consent order in a panic as i was told i had no other option.

 

Now the consent order was for £11,500 approx (On A loan of £5000!!!).

 

Once i had done that the court hearing was stopped like they said but now they had cajoled me into signing an agreement on a massively over inflated figure

- so i've been robbed blind.

 

I contested this through HFC complaints department and was stalled and stalled,

whereupon i informed them i would not be keeping up repayments until i was given a fair and proper hearing.

 

I've since been to court now and forced to pay £50 a month and because Restons have been very underhanded

and ruthless they have also slapped a CCJ on me for £12,300 (costs and all).

 

Consequently i've still not been given a fair represention of why i should owe so much and nobody at any of these companies has treated me fairly,

they have got me under a contract that i never wanted and added multiple charges, interest etc and have screwed me and i can't do a thing a about it.

 

Sorry this is long and drawn out but please is there any body out htere who can help,

 

i WOULD LIKE TO GET A CASE AGAINST THEM WHERE I GET THE DEBT (AND MY CREDIT FILE)

EITHER BROUGHT DOWN TO A FAIR AMOUNT OR WIPED OUT COMPLETELY.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

thanks.

[thx1138]

Phew!

Thank you happyalf, you've no idea how good it is to hear someone else knows what i mean!

Hopefully we can have some luck on this.

I'll also let you know if i find anything of interest, as i have no idea how these companies can basically ruin someones life as they see fit, to make a few quid.

There must be way to have this injustice sorted out.

I would greatly appreciate any help you can offer.

thanks again.

[thx1138]

As a footnote to my complaint there is also the matter that i have requested a copy of the Credit Agreement from Restons and HFC which has not been forthcoming,

 

all i've had from them is a copy of the default notice and a computer screen printout which was supposed to be their statement of the account

 

- now i'm lead to belive that a debt is unenforceable if a credit agreement is not supplied when requested, is this true?

 

Also HFC bank took money from my current account using my card number wothout my permission.

 

Is this unlawful?

Please can anyone help?

[cresswell80]

now i'm lead to belive that a debt is unenforceable if a credit agreement is not supplied when requested, is this true?

 

prob not true as you've already got a CCJ, therefore the debt has been enforced by the courts...

 

i'm no expert on these matters however; i'm sure someone will be along to help you soon.

 

in the meantime have a read here

[powelll]

Also HFC bank took money from my current account using my card number wothout my permission. Is this unlawful?

Please can anyone help?

 

Were HFC taking their loan payment from the account?

If it was their loan and their current account they have something called the First Right of Offset;

they can take their payment from your current account without your permission as it will have been in the original T & Cs of the loan.

 

Have you written to complain to them about your whole situation?

You can potentially take up a complaint via the FOS

( Financial Ombudsman's Service)

but you will need to have copies of letters you have sent to HFC as yo need to have followed HFCs complaints procedure first.

 

Send everything recorded delivery & keep a copy as the FOS will ask for copies of all letters etc.

 

If your copy agreement not supplied within 12 working days they are in breach of CCA 1974 regs.

If 30 days has elapsed they have committed a criminal offence

- contact your local Trading Standards as they can poss be prosecuted ( again you will need a copy of your request ).

 

Hope this helps; I assume you are not still banking with HFC?

[thx1138]

Thanks again for the help.

I will pursue the CCA and i can confirm my account was with Co-Operative Bank, never had an HFC account, the payments to them were for a loan.

 

I think what happened was i gave them my card number for a one off payment over the phone one month then they continued to use that casrd number to take money out, unauthorised.

 

Co-op Bank fraud dept got involved and had to investigate and cancel my card and as i went OD because of HFC

i also defaulted on other Direct debit payments so HFC caused a lot of trouble.

 

I really appreciate the help

[thx1138]

Good to hear your posts.

The more i find out about this situation and hear from other people, the more i am convinced that these companies are just nasty

 

Restons and HFC have been nothing but unhelpful and underhanded in the way they have tried to get money from me, i dunno how these people sleep at night.

 

I spoke to the guy who's dealing with my account at Restons today (am i allowed to name names?)

as i needed to set up a standing order to pay the court judgement to them.

 

I asked him weeks ago for their bank details and he said he would send it out, i still have not received them,

so his response was, 'not my problem i'm not the post office'

- he eventually gave me the details on the phone but how do i ensure that these payments are received, documented and receipted?

 

This is the same guy that pressured me to sign a consent order for £11,000(approx) by threatening me with court a

nd not helping me in the slightest by convingly saying this was the only way i could solve the problem and help myself,

not giving me any other option and doing all this with an abrupt arrogant attitude on top of it all.

 

I sincerely believe they would encourage that you default on payments to them,

just so that they can get a further order from the courts,

such as an Attachment of Earnings DO NOT TRUST THESE PEOPLE.

 

I would like to ask again if anybody knows if there is a way at getting back at this lot.

 

Is there any way that a 'customer' treated wrongly or unfairly as i mentioned in previous posts can take them to court or at least have the default notice and CCJ removed,

as the way in which they came about getting it was unfair,

 

i have not mentioned all the details but i can assure you i feel as though these people have ruined me.

 

i work full time (long hours) along with my girlfriend and as things stand now we cannot get a house together because of this situation and we were trying to start a family.

 

There must be a way to reverse this..

....is there?

[thx1971]

Hello, i am thx1138 forgot my details

update

 

I've been unfortunate to have to deal with a particularly hateful DCA for the past few years

but now I may be in a position to offer them a reasonable amount to hopefully clear my CCJ they have imposed on me

(can give details if needed but i heard these low lifes look on these forums)

 

The CCJ is effective until March 2013 - I owe approx £5000 and am paying £50 a month at present and have been since 2007.

 

At this rate it will take me years to clear this debt.

I have offered to pay a settlement figure but they will not accept it without a full financial breakdown and details of where the funds will come from.

 

My questions are:

1. When the CCJ ends in 2013 can they take me to court for another one?

2. As they will not even consider an offer without financial information is there a way to get round this?(Such as giving limited or false information.)

3. Or shall i just give them what they are asking for?

 

I have tried contacting the OC to consider a settlement but they passed it to the DCA to deal with, so no hope there.

 

They said they have acknowledged my offer but will not consider it without the financial statement,

so please could you let me know what my next move should be?

 

Many Thanks

[dx100uk]

so WHO took you to court in 2007?

 

was it the dca?

 

why type of debt was it?

 

ever looked at reclaiming?

 

 

dx

[twofoot]

CCjs do not expire, they only fall off your CRA file after 6 years.

[thx1971]

Hi,

Thanks for getting back to me.

 

I'm pretty sure it was the OC who took me to court though all of the administration of it was done by the DCA, so i could be wrong...

 

It was an unsecured loan of around £5-6K that ended up being a CCJ for £12K (go figure).

 

Never looked into reclaiming though i did go through the Ombudsman and complained which resulted in approx 2K being wiped off due to PPI...do you think I could reclaim?

 

Main issue for me is to get rid of this debt ASAP,

so would like to offer an early settlement but could probably only get £3K max to pay it off.

 

Appreciate all your help, wouldn't know what to do without the people on here.

 

p.s. previously posted the original details of this issue here under"HFC BANK and Restons Solicitors forced me into a CCJ now i can't get a mortgage..." (sorry unable to post link here yet)

[dx100uk]

posts merged here above from old thread

 

dx

[dx100uk]

i'll go through all this and help later

 

dx

[dx100uk]

blimey you went throught the wars dreadful lot.

 

they got me, in the end i got more than £5k out of them on reclaiming

 

thts your route

 

did you ever sar them@

 

now this DCA your paying

restons took you to court

 

who is the dca you are paying now?

 

have you copy of the CCJ?

 

let get you sorted

 

i'm sorry i never saw your org thread.

 

dx

[thx1971]

Hello dx,

Thank you very much for taking the time to address this issue. I've had a hell of a time because of HFC and Restons, without wanting to rant on too much

- these 'companies' have literally tried to financially ruin me, just because i was naive enough to be drawn in to do business with them by their persuasive selling

- and now years later they still plague me

- fortunately my girlfriend has stuck by me even though we can't get a mortgage but it has caused many problems as you can guess.

 

Any help you can offer is greatly appreciated.

 

To answer your replies:

1. The whole process was rushed through to court before I ever had a chance to SAR them (unfortunately heard about CAG too late)

 

2. I am currently paying Restons at the minute - any dealings I have are now with them (Although HFC did get involved when I went to the Ombudsman)

 

3. I do not have a copy of the CCJ (but will try and obtain one if needed)

 

All i'm asking for is to be treated fairly, which has never been the case

- they have used every trick they know to fleece money out of me..

..hope you can help in any way

 

(P.S. Sorry for not linking to the old post, the email address for my old account expired and couldn't log in anymore)

Edited September 6, 2012 by thx1971

[dx100uk]

ok

as long as anything you've been paying is to restons thats ok

 

i was worried!

can you phone the court

ask for a copy of the CCJ.

 

or

ask on the phone

 

write down EXACTLY what is in the judgement box.

 

get that SAR off to HFC PDQ too.

 

have you stll got the PPI refund details too?

 

dx

[thx1971]

Thanks again,

I've phoned the court and will pick up a copy of the CCJ tomorrow.

Have also sent a SAR request to HFC using the template from CAG.

As for the PPI refund details, i should have them around somewhere...

What should be my next move after getting these?

I'll give you as much info as I can and can't say enough how much i appreciate the help.

[dx100uk]

great moving forward

 

these bit are to get your ducks inline.

 

look out HFC incoming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

does the refund letter detail the calc they used to come to the PPI figure?

 

never ever known one from that era to be correctly calculated.

 

dx

 

 

 

dx

[thx1971]

I'll keep my head down!

Probably won't be able to get my hands on the PPI letter for a couple of days, that is assuming i still have it...is there a problem if it is lost or will the SAR request include the PPI details?

[dx100uk]

should be copied in the sar

 

dx

[thx1971]

Just got a copy of the CCJ, this is what it says:

 

To the Defendant,

You have not replied to the claim form (?)*

 

It is therefore ordered that you must pay the claimant £10,834.50 for debt (and interest to date of judgement) and 370.00 for costs (less £50 you have already paid).

 

You must pay the claimant the total of £11154.50

 

*I never recall ever getting a claim form, any idea what this refers to?

[dx100uk]

as you saying you knew nothing about reston taking you to court and getting the CCJ.

 

its a bit late now as its almost 6yrs from is date to get it set aside me thnks.

[thx1971]

Hello,

Yeah, i thought it would be too late to do anything like that,

so that's why I wanted to find out which is the best way to settle this debt with a F&F offer before the CCJ runs out,

as I am worried Restons might try and get another CCJ out against me once this one runs out.

 

Could you please confirm whether or not I should just send them a full financial breakdown with an offer?

[dx100uk]

ccj's dont run out!!

 

you can only have ONE per debt.

 

i would be in no rush to settle this either.

 

and NEVER send pers financial details to a dca

 

ONLY a judge can demand that.

 

IMHO you owe nothing

 

you've been fleeced blind here.

 

i need to get someone onboad to ask the right questions about the legal stuff here.

 

"i signed a consent order they would send by fax then i could avoid the matter going to court."

 

worries me . hve you got it?

did you even SAR HFC?

 

dx

[thx1971]

Don't think I still have that consent order.

 

Sent SAR to HFC last week but didn't do that originally.

 

Ideally I would like to clear this debt ASAP in any way possible,

as I need to join finances with my girlfriend and try and get a mortgage

 

family have offered to help pay some of the £5000 but Restons will not accept any offer without a financial breakdown, so I'm stuck.

 

I don't want to keep being in debt to them for the next few years paying this CCJ off at £50 per month.

 

Would be good to claim back but ultimately I just want this debt and these parasites out of my life