Minicredit advice

[westfield]

Well first thing i notice is the talk of a default on your credit file. That is absolutely out of order as before they can do that they have to issue you with a default notice as per the consumer credit act with a desired remedy and a date for you to remedy it by. Second point and i think it has already been said,demanding payment in a particular way is against oft guidelines. I see smithy found a thread where i had given the name of the head if claims so i would email her direct and tell her that unless they provide bank details within 72 hours they will forfeit any claim against you and you will report them to the oft for the breaches. That is what i would do,of course you don't have to carry it through and it doesn't wipe the legally owed part of the debt although i think they might have a hard time convincing a judge if they have the balls to go that far.

[Super Daz]

When I had a default notice from Minicredit, my missed payment was 31st January - my default was issued (and is reflected on my credit file) on 1st February - before they had even sent me a single letter.

[westfield]

Report report report. I would have thought you could claim damages for that. Although getting money off them might not be so easy.certainly contact the cra

[Welshy27]

I was pleasantly surprised to find that Mini Credit and Opos have not added any default to my credit file nor was there any record of the numerous loans I took out with them.

[westfield]

I have a late payment marker which is probably the best thing on my credit file!

[rippedoff15]

Hi All, just had this reply from Mini Credit:

 

 

I have looked into Your complaint and have noticed that the reason of the non-repayment was the cancelled debit card. You were immediately advised to make the repayment with the Ukash cash repayment possibility on 19/10/2012.

The Office of Fair Trading „Debt Collection Guidance“ expects creditors to discuss an affordable payment plan with the Customer who faces unforeseen financial difficulties. We are in our right to refuse Your settlement offer £150 but have to accept a partly payment offer you wish to make. This means that the total payment plan balance is calculated according to the Loan Agreement and the Office of Fair Trading „Debt Collection Guidance“ and you are then able to start clearing the balance by making affordable instalments.

I have attached the Loan Agreement to the current response so that you could read what you agreed with. The charges are all explained in the Loan Agreement.

The application of interest and charges by a lender is a commercial decision for a business to make, and it is not for the Financial Ombudsman Service to comment on whether or not the charges are unfair. In investigating the disputes of this nature they would need to look toward the terms and conditions of the specific agreement and decide whether or not the interest and charges have been applied in line with them.

Please review the financial agreement you entered into with us and you may see that the applicable interest and charges were outlined within the document. When you signed the agreement, you agreed to be legally bound by those terms.

When the creditor has specified the payment method in the Loan Agreement to be a debit card payment, we do not have to provide our Banking details to Customers. The Creditor has to provide an alternative payment method of it’s own choice and when You read the Loan Agreement You may see that Ukash repayment possibility is the agreed alternative.

Please log in to Your account follow the instructions and send the application back to us.

In order to apply for Hardship status of your account, please follow the instructions below:

 

1) Please fill in your current income details.

 

2) Please fill in your current expenditure details.

 

3) Please fill in your creditor details

4) Please review the details.

 

5) Click Print the form

 

6) Sign, date and fax the form to 020 7138 2919

 

7) Our team will need to assess the proposal. You will be contacted by our Hardship team member within 5 working days from the date the form is received to come to a mutually agreeable solution.

To discuss Your monthly payments and the repayment plan balance please contact us on 08718903015 from 9AM to 9PM Monday to Sunday. We may require documentary evidence of your financial difficulties.

Microcredit Ltd has provided to our customers with unforeseen financial difficulty the option to fill in the Hardship Application on their www.minicredit.co.uk online account. With this option we would require proof of their claims of the financial hardship as we need to be certain that the loan was taken out in good will with the intention of making the full repayment on the due date.

We are always trying to treat Customers in a fair and reasonable way considering each hardship separately. When a Customer faces unforeseen financial difficulties that could have not been known at the time of applying we consider the decrease of interest depending on the cause of the difficulties.

Has anyone else had this email, if what should i do regarding a reply

[westfield]

Yes had a very similar one.The insistence you fill in the hardship form is irrelevant as is the statement that charges are a commercial decision. The OFT say they have to be fair and proportionate. Have you had the 100 letter charges,hardly fair or in the contract.

[westfield]

I am a bit confused. You said that they had accepted your offer but it seems they haven't. Go onto the OFT website and search for debt collection. The document you want is 664(rev) that was updated this month. It seems to me that looking at their emails they have broken several of the guidelines including the threat to send round a doorstep agent to collect as they see fit (surely a veiled threat). The default and extra charges are not reasonable and i believe the extra charges incurred while you were trying to negotiate a settlement. I believe (my opinion only) that they are **** who need standing up to and that they need ignoring

[rippedoff15]

Well just had an email from mini credit. They state they will accept repayment of 249.00 that amount based on a loan of 100.00 taken out on 13/10/12. It MUST be repaid via debt or ukash. However i could pay via bank but they must put the account to their debt company this will add more fees. Is that blakmail !!! Has any paid via ukash ???

[smithy70]

some where i heard the site was dangerous. Whatever they say they can not refuse a payment method

[westfield]

Ripped off they are taking the p. I would go back with an offer of 150 or less. Actually i would go back and say sod off but that is just me.

[rippedoff15]

Do feel like saying get stuffed, i have tried to sirt it out but they just refuse my offer of payment

[westfield]

I can not tell you what to do but if it were me i would complain to the oft then put in a formal complaint to kristel regarding excess fees and the fact they will not provide bank details. After that ignore until you get a proper response

[rippedoff15]

This is their reply regarding my repayment request

 

Microcredit Ltd is able to agree with a full and final settlement offer repayable under a settlement balance, if the total repayable amount will cover the loan principal £100, interest 1% of the loan principal per day up to the date of the final payment and £80 of overdue penalties.

 

The amount we are willing to accept as a balance for a settlement plan is £249 if repaid latest by the 21st of December 2012. The settlement balance consists of the loan principal £100, interest up to 21/12/2012 totalling £69 and the overdue penalties totalling £80.

 

The settlement plan payments have to be made either with a debit card or Ukash vouchers.

 

The following information has been taken from the Loan Agreement You agreed to be legally bound with:

“We will accept payment by debit card and uKash”.

If the above payment methods cannot be used, we would need to forward the account to our debt recovery partner who will be able to provide their banking details. Please be aware that if the involvement of the debt recovery partner becomes necessary the default notice will also be sent to You and the information will be registered on the credit reference.

[westfield]

Another assumption. So they send it to opos and issue a DN. They can only register that if you do not pay it by the time stated. After that s89 ( i think) comes into play. Was reading something on another website earlier.

[smithy70]

My suggestion is to tell them to go forth and take you to court if they have the balls for it...but that has to be your decision and maybe be a little more subtle than that

[rippedoff15]

I have emailed them with an offer to repay a lump sum now or over 12moths and this is their email today

 

Dear Mr

Thank You for the reply!

If you wish to repay the loan with a full and final settlement payment, then we are able to accept £249 if repaid in full latest on the 21st of December 2012.

With a longer term payment plan where the final payment is made after the official default date the 120th day overdue, we have to add interest up to the 120th day also. With Your loan the payment plan balance would be £325. The payment plan could be set up with our debt recovery and legal partner Opos Limited from January 2012.

They have not yet confirmed their bank details so yep, unable to repay

[juliesearle]

hi.i put in a complaint to the fos..as they were ignoring my wishes to send me alternative payment details..and used my debit card even though i withdrew my authorisation...i sent copy of there email to fos..and MINICREDIT are at present being monitored by the fos for breaching there conditions on handling financial hardship cases..they also stated they shouldnt have asked you to use someone elses card and it is a no no...they now the fos have issued a complaint on my behalf asking for another alternative matters of paying and should do so....xxxx i was told as long as i cancelled my debit card and informed the lender before due date..they shouldnt have used this card..and charges dont count...as i had a response from minicredit stating they dont accept my withdrawel of authorisation....is a load of rubbish...goood luck..and my i suggest you use the fos as well....

[smithy70]

So they are "accepting" 249. I can not remember have you already paid them anything?

I would still be loathed to pay them anything more than what you borrowed and 1 months interest and certainly not by any means other than with their bank details

[juliesearle]

i want to pay them..something.but are not giving me any details to do so..the fos are involved now...xxx there emails from minicredit..are repeated again and again...same old crap...you entered an agreement blah blah...because i told them before payment was due..im only paying the loan plus one month interest...

[rippedoff15]

Same here i have emailed them many times. They refuse to give their bank details and only accept debt card & ukash. They will give bank details when their inhouse collection have the file. Yes more fees i have wrote to oft & fos just waiting for a reply. As soon as i have theirbank details will transfer loan plus month interest. And no more

[rippedoff15]

Ho Ho Ho, Minicredit have frozen loan and passing to Oops colection they will confirm nank details but after that will be Jan 13. Not before lets hope it get cleard soon

[juliesearle]

great..how did you get them to freeze loan..any advice please....and well done...

[smithy70]

It's a case of wait and report them to the OFT and the FOS

[Sade_k]

I'm wondering if someone could give me some advice? I'm new to this so unsure of how to start my own thread so sorry to add to another. I'm 24 and stupidly took out a loan with mini credit. I applied for £100 and only got £80 and my loan was due for repayment 3 days ago (1st jan) and I originally owed £121. Me being the idiot i am thought my repayment date was much later and in the mean time I had to cancel my card for other reasons. It's only reading other posts on this site I've realised how difficult and horrible these people are! After emailing them to ask how I can make payment of the original amount I've had no reply. I'm scared and worried this is going to escalate to a ridiculous amount of money as it has with a lot of people. What do i do now? Any advice would be great thank you.