Big debts

[redbat]

Hi

I am not sure if this is the right place to be posting or even the right forum.

I have some huge debts and no way of repaying them, several people have suggested bankruptcy to me but I am loathed to go down that route.

I sent all my creditors a cca request about 3 months ago. A couple have sent back letters saying they do not have them and will not chase me until they find one, two or three have sent what look like real agreements back and a couple have sent blatant recons back.Now I know the recons are ok so far as a cca request is concerned but don't they need the original to take me to court?

There are some that have issued odd default notices and Natwest even terminated the account prior to the date on the default notice.

 

Anyway my question is...do I SAR them now to get all the paperwork the have which will I assume include default notices, termination notices etc, or do I wait until they issue papers and then put in a defence and use CPR?

 

I am not trying to avoid my debts and would only ever defend any action, I have good reasons why I can not afford to pay them and for how/why I got into the mess I am in

 

To SAR them all would cost me over £300 so it would be on a one a month , maybe one a fortnight basis as to who is causing me most trouble

[renegadeimp]

You could write up a budget form and ask them to write off the debt if its not a huge amount, as you cant afford to pay them off at all or within a realistic timeframe.

 

You could also send them a budget summary and tell them they are getting £1 a month. IF they try to push for more and you genuinely cant afford it, you could tell them to take you to court. There you can submit a defence to show a judge your circumstances, and a judge would decide on a payment order. THis could be a few pounds a week/month, a big reduction in the debt, or even wipe the debt completely in rare circumstances.

 

Try all available methods first before you start worrying. No court in this country will ever make you pay more than you can realistically afford without sacrificing your essential outgoings.

[drop47]

Not a bad idea. Ask them all to write off the debt.

[renegadeimp]

Forget about Sar fees for now. Get a income form sorted, create a budget summary and we can go from there. If you can prove that you dont have any income ( you will 100% need the summary for this), then its fairly straightforward to deal with your debts from there.

 

If you are on state benefits, then the max they can get is £1 a month. Period. If they took you to court, a judge would probably wipe the debt or substantially reduce it. He could even tell the creditor that payments will be suspended for a period of time. The creditor could then decide that its not worth their time keeping you on their files and discontinue your debt.

 

 

The key here though is to get that income form done, so you can check your finances fully. No creditor will believe you until this is done.

 

If you want to "go it alone", then give National Debtline a call. They are amazing at helping people, and can do all the paperwork for you, including negotiating with your creditors.

[redbat]

There are just so many of them from big to small that if I pay them all £1 per month I would not have enough to live on. Thank you.

I am going to have a look and see what are enforceable and what are not and see where I go from here. Some of them are quite old, early 2000's or before

[renegadeimp]

Ok. If some are more than 6 years old, and you havent paid them or acknowledged them in writing for 6 years, then forget about them as they would be statute barred and unenforceable.

 

Again, and i cant stress this enough. Get that budget form done. Then when you have narrowed down the debts that are still live and enforceable, you can then decide what you want to do. Remember, some of them could be coming up on statute barred. Youll know this if a creditor who hasnt contacted youf or years suddenly come sout of the woodwork. They only do this when the debt is about to Hit SB status, or it already is.

[redbat]

Sorry just to be clear , all the debts have been paid until recently, so I will be looking at the CCA request route first

[dx100uk]

i'd check your cra file first.

 

those that no longer show, IMHO warrant a cca request.

 

dx

[redbat]

Sorry I do not understand what difference my credit report makes, why only CCA those that are not on it?

[dx100uk]

trying to split things up.

 

if a debt is not on your cra

 

its either defaulted more than 6yrs ago.

 

or

 

its SB.

 

for someone with so many debts

i'd suspect cash cowing enters the picture here.

 

your CRA file is a VERY good way to find out your ACTUAL fnancial positio

 

rather than taking on spec what creditors/DCA's claim.

 

and i totally agree about not going BK too!

 

dx

[redbat]

Thanks.

Just to confuse the issue, what if there is a debt that was defaulted more than 6 years ago but I am still paying. Is it not a good idea to cca them as well to see if it is enforceable?

[drop47]

Hi redbat. If i was doing it i would do a cca request to all my creditors unless you know they are statute barred.

[dx100uk]

Thanks.

Just to confuse the issue, what if there is a debt that was defaulted more than 6 years ago but I am still paying. Is it not a good idea to cca them as well to see if it is enforceable?

 

debts defaulted more than 6yrs ago should not be showing on your cra file so are covered by what i said in post 8.

 

dx

[redbat]

Thanks Dx, I understand the bit about 6 years from default but if I have been paying it so it is not statute barred I can not just stop paying or they could try to take me to court. That is why I was wondering if I should cca them as well

[dx100uk]

nowhere on this thread have i mentioned anything about not paying JW

 

dx

[citizenB]

redbat, you seem to be pretty clued up about CCAs, etc.. so not sure what exactly you are asking us to help/advise on ?

 

Perhaps you could clarify..

[redbat]

nowhere on this thread have i mentioned anything about not paying JW

 

dx

DX I know you haven't mentioned not paying, it is me who is trying to find a way out of the mess I am in. If I can find some of these debts to be unenforceable then I will stop paying them as I have no money, if they are enforceable I will have to try something else but maybe if it is just a couple then I can manage to pay them. That is why I was asking about SARs and why only CCA request those that show on my credit file. It's to late anyway as I have cca'd all of my creditors.

redbat, you seem to be pretty clued up about CCAs, etc.. so not sure what exactly you are asking us to help/advice on ?

 

 

Perhaps you could clarify..

Citizen B , there is a whole lot of conflicting information out there on what is and isn't enforceable. Only today I read a post on here where someone said no signature=unenforceable and someone else said it wasn't required. When you are stuck in the house pretty much all day every day through disability you do a lot of reading. So yes I may know some of the general basics what I need from this site is help in working out what is and what isn't enforceable For example I have something from american express that to me looks like rubbish but may be enforceable I do not know. As soon as I get to a scanner I will scan it and post it up and see what you think

[citizenB]

A lot has changed over the last 2 or 3 years and whilst there might be some "unenforceable" documents out there - it would be a foolish cagger who suggested that you didnt pay.

 

Yes, there are Halifax Accounts (preference accounts) that are almost certainly unenforceable because they are multi agreements without the prescribed terms for all 3 contracts on the one application.

 

Some HSBC credit cards taken out around 1998 were sent out with debit cards with NO agreements in place.

 

There are probably a lot of agreements that are not enforceable - but mostly until you stand in front of a judge you dont know whether or not he/she is going to agree with you.

[redbat]

Just to apologise if posts have got duplicated. Before I started talking about my debts I wanted to know if the view on here had altered hence my thread http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?365531-CCA-1974-and-S77-79-requests

 

Once I knew I could get help here I have been a bit more open but some of the posts have got double posted for example knowing about statute barred etc.

 

Just noticed, what do you mean by not paying JW? I confused

[redbat]

A lot has changed over the last 2 or 3 years and whilst there might be some "unenforceable" documents out there - it would be a foolish cagger who suggested that you didnt pay.

 

Yes, there are Halifax Accounts (preference accounts) that are almost certainly unenforceable because they are multi agreements without the prescribed terms for all 3 contracts on the one application.

 

Some HSBC credit cards taken out around 1998 were sent out with debit cards with NO agreements in place.

 

There are probably a lot of agreements that are not enforceable - but mostly until you stand in front of a judge you dont know whether or not he/she is going to agree with you.

 

Thank you for that, even though it is not what I want to hear. I hope that things do not get before a judge but as I really can not pay I will have to find some way round it. Looks like another sleepless night for me . Maybe with some help I can keep them at bay for a while until I start to get better . If I post some agreements up will people pass opinion on them?

[dx100uk]

ofcourse we will

 

it might well be an idea to start a new thread in the named banks forum, as each one comes through

 

else it gets mighty confusing!

[redbat]

Thank you, I will start as soon as possible with my American Express one, I need to work out how to scan it without stuff to identify me and post it

[renegadeimp]

Cover the personal info with black labels, or you can scan it, then edit in MSpaint for windows that is on your computer. You can then save it, then either convert it to a PDF file, or upload it to an image site such as photobucket.

[dx100uk]

scan the required letters/agreements/sheets - as a picture[jpg] file

don't forget you can use a mobile phone or a digital camera too!!

or

convert existing PC files to PDF [office has an installable print to PDF option]

.

'

BUT......

ENSURE: remove all pers info inc barcodes etc using paint program

but leave all figures and dates.

.

goto one of the many free online pdf converter websites

it would be better to upload a multipage pdf if

you have many images too rather than many single pdfs

.

or if you have PDF as an installed printer drive use that

or use word and save as pdf

.

open a new msg box here

hit go advanced below the msg box

hit manage attachments below that box

hit the add files button on the top right

hit select files, navigate to your file on your pc

hit upload files

.

.

dx

[redbat]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]38431[/ATTACH]

 

This was the response to the Amex CCA request.

It was done online but I am not sure when

 

Do not worry about the bank details showing as they are non existant now, I have changed banks

 

What are peoples opinions?

Edited September 21, 2012 by redbat