Advice on Vanquis please

[chrisucdj]

Hi everybody,

 

Im new to this site so i hope ive posted this in the right place.

 

 

I have a Vanquis card that is in default although i have been making some payments towards the account. According to them my balance is £1234.00. I haven't had a statement from them since june 2012. i have had letters from Impact since june.

I spoke to Impact today and they agreed a settlement of 50% (£617) which i said i could probably pay within 7 days if they put this in writing stating that it was a final payment to close the account.

The guy i spoke to would not send me anything in writing in the post but would only send me a email, which i find rather concerning. I have read that this lot will try anything to recover the debt.

 

 

the email says

 

SETTLEMENT OF ACCOUNT

 

 

Your balance with Vanquis Bank still remains unpaid, however to bring the matter to a close we are prepared to consider accepting a discounted amount in settlement.

We can discount your balance by 50%

This offer is only available for 7 days from the date of this email.

Please contact us immediately either on 0161 2226 216 or email us at [email protected] to discuss a mutually acceptable settlement amount.

If you do not respond to this proposal within 14 days from the date above, we will continue to collect the full balance.

 

Our opening hours are:-

Monday to Thursday 8am to 8pm

Friday 8am to 6pm

Saturday 8am to 1pm

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Collections Team, Vanquis Bank

 

Id like a little advice please

1. Should i accept this email as proof that if i pay the settlement that the account will be closed and they will not chase for more money?

 

Should i go back to them and insist in written conformation of the settlement and not accept this email?

 

When i pay off the settlement can i ask vanquis to remove the default from my credit file or am i lumbered with it for the next 6 years

 

thanks in advance

chris

[annemarie83]

Hi everybody,

 

Im new to this site so i hope ive posted this in the right place.

 

 

I have a Vanquis card that is in default although i have been making some payments towards the account. According to them my I is £1234.00. I haven't had a statement from them since june 2012. i have had letters from Impact since june.

I spoke to Impact today and they agreed a settlement of 50% (£617) which i said i could probably pay within 7 days if they put this in writing stating that it was a final payment to close the account.

The guy i spoke to would not send me anything in writing in the post but would only send me a email, which i find rather concerning. I have read that this lot will try anything to recover the debt.

 

 

the email says

 

SETTLEMENT OF ACCOUNT

 

 

Your balance with Vanquis Bank still remains unpaid, however to bring the matter to a close we are prepared to consider accepting a discounted amount in settlement.

We can discount your balance by 50%

This offer is only available for 7 days from the date of this email.

Please contact us immediately either on 0161 2226 216 or email us at [email protected] to discuss a mutually acceptable settlement amount.

If you do not respond to this proposal within 14 days from the date above, we will continue to collect the full balance.

 

Our opening hours are:-

Monday to Thursday 8am to 8pm

Friday 8am to 6pm

Saturday 8am to 1pm

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Collections Team, Vanquis Bank

 

Id like a little advice please

1. Should i accept this email as proof that if i pay the settlement that the account will be closed and they will not chase for more money?

 

Should i go back to them and insist in written conformation of the settlement and not accept this email?

 

When i pay off the settlement can i ask vanquis to remove the default from my credit file or am i lumbered with it for the next 6 years

 

thanks in advance

chris

 

To be honest Chris, no I wouldn't. Vanquis told me on the phone they'd take a setllement payment, they never did. And defaulted me I've just discovered. I'm trying to work out how to challenge this. Don't trust them. Get it in writing.

[ims21]

Yes get everything in "proper" writing.

 

But also bear in mind that before getting involved in full and final settlements, reclaim all unlawful charges on the account and their associated interest first.

 

You also need to get it in writing that the balance after making any payment will not be sold on or passed to any other party for collection.

 

The default will remain on your file for six years.

[chrisucdj]

thanks for the replies.

I have agreed to pay the settlement fee.

I questioned the phone operative firstly has the account been passed to outside collection company ?

the operative stated that the account was with them and hadn't been sent out to any other companies.

secondly i asked, if i pay the settlement without it in writing, how do i know the account will be closed and i will not be chased for more money?

the operative stated that they would be breaking fsa rules if they didn't honor the settlement offer

finally i said, before i pay the £617 im requesting the tapes of this conversation as the proof of verbal contract for settlement

the operative said they have made the request and the tapes will be with me in the next 2 weeks.

i verified that i would make the payment of £617 on receipt of the tapes.

 

ill wait and see if the tapes arrive before i contact them agin.

[ims21]

You need this settlement offer set out and agreed in writing, not in a telephone conversation. This is regardless of whether they send the recordings which is highly doubtful anyway.

 

You cannot trust these people...get it in black and white.

 

What have you done about any charges on the account?

[IdaInFife]

agree with ims

 

you need it in writing that they or no-one else can pursue for the rest

[sp1986]

Hi,

 

I wrote to Vanquis last week offering them a settlement figure. I asked them to respond in writing to confirm if or not they accept the payment and that if accepted, the money could be with them within 7 days.

 

They have persisted on sending me texts to say that a missing payment is due. I contacted them to say that I would not be making a payment until the original offer had been accepted or not in writing. They said that they do not respond in writing as they do not have a draft letter for such requests. They have verbally accepted my offer and I am supposed to be ringing back later today. I intend to record the call myself in case they eventuall dispute what they have agreed.

 

I know I've not done the right thing but I felt pressured into agreeing to paying. Would I better off not calling and keep on sending letters until I have something to confirm the acceptance? They've said that they will keep adding interest and charges to the account which will likely decrease my chances of my original offer being accepted as a F&F figure.

 

I have registed with Step Plan and I have an appointment to speak to a debt advisor next week. I just want this out of the way as it's making me ill.

 

Any steps on how to proceed would be appreciated.

[ims21]

They said that they do not respond in writing as they do not have a draft letter for such requests.

 

So they have no one in their organisation who can write an original letter? Unbelievable.

 

If it were me I would still do all of this in writing and get on with claiming back the charges before even looking at a settlement.

[sp1986]

Are they obliged to respond in writing if I have made my requests in a similar fashion?

[ims21]

You are quite within your rights to have all of this set out in writing. You do NOT have to communicate on the phone.

 

The fact that they don't appear to have the combined intelligence to compose a letter is not your problem.

[sp1986]

This is the letter I have drafted.. any advice or tweaks would be appreciated :)

I write in reference to the above account. I sent aletter via special delivery which was received by Vanquis on xx.

Within this letter, I confirmed that I could raise£xx in respect of the account and would offer this as an ex-gratia payment infull and final settlement on the account. It was offered on the understandingthat, if accepted, neither you nor any associated company would pursue the debtin any way and that I would be released of liability.

I also requested that any entries made on creditreference agency files relating to the account would be marked as satisfied infull.

I requested that any response from Vanquis was madein writing which I feel is not an unreasonable request as a customer.

I was informed on Wednesday 12thDecember 2012 that Vanquis do not respond to individual requests and thatdespite my offer of £xx being accepted verbally, bizarrely they could notfollow this up in writing before payment was made.

I have taken advice from various bodies includingthe Office of Fair Trading, the Financial Ombudsman and Citizens Advice whohave advised me in no uncertain terms not to make payment until I have receivedwritten agreement from Vanquis accepting my full and final offer.

To date, I have received no acknowledgement orresponse to my offer, so therefore I would like to make a Subject AccessRequest in order to ensure that the original offer is a fair and justifiedoffer.

I enclose a payment of £10 in order to request alldata that you hold about me. This includes, but is not limited to, thefollowing:

1. The original signed,executed credit agreement and any terms and conditions that applied to theaccount at the time of default and at the time the account was opened.

2. Transcriptions of alltelephone conversations recorded and any notes made in relation to telephoneconversations by your company, or by any previous creditors.

3. Where there has been anyevent in my account history over this period which has required manualintervention by any person, I require disclosure of any indication or noteswhich have either caused or resulted in that manual intervention, or otherevidence of that manual intervention in relation to my account formerly heldwith ORIGINAL CREDITOR.

4. True copies of any noticeof assignment and/or default notice or enforcement notice that you or theoriginal creditor sent me, with a copy of any proof of postage that you hold.

5. Documents relating to anyinsurance added to the account, including the insurance contract and terms andconditions, date it was added and deleted (if applicable).

6. Details of any collectioncharges added to the account; specifically, the date it was levied, the amountof the charge, a detailed financial Breakdown of how the charge was calculated, and whatthe charge covers.

7. Specific details of thefees/charges levied by any other agency in respect of this account and adetailed breakdown of said fees/charges and what each charge relates to and onwhat date said fees/charges were levied.

8. A genuine copy of anynotice of fair use of my data as required by the Data Protection Act 1998

9. A list of third partyagencies to whom you have disclosed my personaldata and a summary of the nature of the informationyou have disclosed.

10. Copies of statements for the entire duration ofthe credit agreement.

Ienclose the statutory maximum fee of £10. You have 40 days in which to comply. Ifthere is specific information which you require in order to satisfy yourself asto my identity, please let me know by return. However, please note that theabove address is the one which you normally use to communicate my privatebusiness to me and which you have hitherto found to be acceptable.

Duringthis time, I will make token payments towards my Vanquis account until anamicable agreement between both parties is made and confirmed in writing.

Inaddition, I have registered with Step Change formerly known as the Consumer CreditCounselling Service. My reference numberis xx and I am taking advice from them on the management of thisdebt.

Tore-iterate, I request that any further correspondence with regards this accountto be in writing only and do not wish to be contacted either via telephone ortext message. Any attempts at contact via telephone will be reported to OFCOM,Trading Standards and the Office of Fair Trading.

Ilook forward to hearing from you soon.

[ims21]

Do the SAR bit is a separate letter.