Marlin Europe II - Black Horse debt

[banksters]

Hi all.

 

Just looking for a bit of advice please.

 

I have recently started dealing with my Father's debts. He is currently on a DMP with Step Change Debt Charity (Step Change) (formally known as CCCS).

 

He has several creditors, most of which are happy to deal with Step Change and stop all interest. Apart from 2 creditors, Argos Card Services and Marlin Europe II. These two creditors are absolutely refusing to stop the interest meaning about 70% and 30% respectively of my father's payment is actually coming off the debt.

 

Step Change will only say that they are very entitled to continue adding charges and say they are powerless to do anything. Neither of these debts will be paid within his lifetime, my lifetime and probably my children's lifetime!! Basically they are going to want his money until his death, the debts can never be paid.

 

I will probably concentrate on one of these debts at a time not to make too much work for myself. So I will start with Marlin Financial II.

 

The original creditor was Black Horse Ltd. In all fairness they stopped the interest and charges. When the debt was passed to Marlin they have decided to add the interest varying from around £3 a month to nearly £16 a month, depending on which way the wind is blowing!

 

I am assuming they are entitled to continue doing this, at least by law. Still why do some creditors 'help' and stop all further charges and some, like Marlin and Argos, do not?

 

I am just wondering the most appropriate way to move forward. The DMP, whilst not ideal as they seem to be leaning towards the creditors is handy as it's free and makes things easier as my father only has to pay 1 payment instead of several. On the other hand they won't budge and even make an effort to try and negotiate an interest/charge freeze as they say the creditor has rights.

 

Any advice on moving forward will be greatly appreciated.

[havinastella]

Hi Banksters and welcome to cag.

 

Marlin cannot add anything esp interest to this debt. Black Horse were notorious for adding charges to the account. Are there any charges to reclaim from them, any PPI?

 

Have Marlin 'Brought' the debt or they just collecting for BH?

[huggy41]

i would stop payment to Marlin and ask for the CCA the hold with regards to this account it will cost £1. also as they are been pushey push back and only pay them £1 each month watch them change there tune to your way of thinking.

[dx100uk]

did you check ALL his debts SHOW on his CRA file?

 

and

 

CCA'd everyone he is paying?

 

you appear to indicate Marlin are only collecting on BH's behalf.

 

if so THEY have NO legal remit to be allowed to add ANYTHING to the debt.

 

his CRA file wil show you who owns all his debts.

 

dx

[banksters]

Hi Banksters and welcome to cag.

 

Marlin cannot add anything esp interest to this debt. Black Horse were notorious for adding charges to the account. Are there any charges to reclaim from them, any PPI?

 

Have Marlin 'Brought' the debt or they just collecting for BH?

 

Hi all and thank you very much for your replies.

Marlin are adding interest

There was no PPI on any of his debts (wish there was now!)

A quote from a letter from Marlin: "This letter is notification that Marlin Financial II has assigned to it all right, title, interest and benefit in your above account, previously owned to ME III.

This means that Marlin Europe II Limited is now entitled to all sums owed under the account and the benefit of any actions taken by or on behalf of ME III Limited prior to the assignment."

It also mentions the "Original Creditor" as being Black Horse Ltd and then "Previous Creditor" as being Marlin Financial III, now Marlin Financial II is dealing with it.

 

did you check ALL his debts SHOW on his CRA file?

 

and

 

CCA'd everyone he is paying?

 

you appear to indicate Marlin are only collecting on BH's behalf.

 

if so THEY have NO legal remit to be allowed to add ANYTHING to the debt.

 

his CRA file wil show you who owns all his debts.

 

dx

 

I havn't checked his file for a few months, I will send off for it and take a close look. Also I will CCA them at the same time.

[banksters]

i would stop payment to Marlin and ask for the CCA the hold with regards to this account it will cost £1. also as they are been pushey push back and only pay them £1 each month watch them change there tune to your way of thinking.

 

Hi and thanks for replying.

 

Trouble is as my father pays on a DMP there is no way he can remove this debt from his plan without cancelling all of it.

Step Change will not allow this.

 

They also refuse to lower the payment to them until they decide to stop the interest.

 

Personally they would have a pound of me if they were lucky,

but it's an awkward situation and my father always gets overly worried by these shysters.

 

I'm on the case now and will start the ball rolling with CCA's and so forth.

[ken100464]

My two penniworth on this.

 

Marlin are known litigators and pride themselves on this fact.

 

Sometimes better to find your safe ground before attacking.

[havinastella]

If Marlin say they own the debt, send the CCA request ASAP.

[banksters]

Hi all.

 

I sent for a copy of my father's agreement and it seems I will need to wait a bit longer as they currently do not have it. I am unable to post links or images as my post count is too low so I can't post the letter he received. I will however quote this from his reply for a copy of the agreement:-

 

"We write with reference to your letter dated .............. and confirm as we do not hold all of your information on file we have requested a statement of account and copy of the agreement from the original creditor and we will forward to you upon receipt."

 

It also shows outstanding balance, Creditor (ME II Ltd), Original Creditor: Black Horse.

 

I also received a statement from them showing that for the whole of this year (2012) my father (via CCCS Step Change) paid £135 of which Marlin added £56 interest meaning only £79 came off his debt. Roughly another 15 years left at that rate on top of the seven or eight years that has already been paid.

 

I noticed another poster stated that, "Marlin are known litigators and pride themselves on this fact." (Thanks for the heads up). Assuming that my father decided to play hardball, Marlin goes to court and gets their CCJ this would mean the interest would stop? Am I right please? If so this may be a better way, I'm not sure.

 

I will write to Marlin asking them to stop the interest first though, see what happens. I know all my own creditors are not charging interest, particularly the ones that are being dealt with by debt collectors, I find this unusual that Marlin are adding interest or more than likely my inexperience shows through!

 

Anyway, any advice greatly appreciated.

[havinastella]

Marlin cannot add anything. How much is the debt for?

[banksters]

Hi

 

The current balance is for just under £1200

[dx100uk]

if they OWN the debt

 

they are entitled to add the int on the original agreement.

 

as they inherit all the rights and terms etc.

 

dx

[dx100uk]

you dont need 30 posts

 

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!!

'

BUT......

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

but leave all figures and dates. {DO NOT USE A BIRO OR PEN]

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

..

goto one of the many free online pdf converter websites [http://docupub.com/pdfconvert/]

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

try and logically name your file so people know what it is.

i'e Default notice dd-mm-yyyy

.

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

[banksters]

OK thanks for the posts. I will attempt if necassary to follow the instructions above to post the letter

 

So the CCA I requested will tell me who owns the debt? Still even if they are entitled to add interest it will be unlikely they will ever get the full money due to the length of time it will take to fully repay.

 

So I assume they buy the debt for peanuts and then get as greedy as possible off other peoples misfortune......

[dx100uk]

no CCA wont tell you.

 

your fathers CRA file will though.

[smouk]

So I assume they buy the debt for peanuts and then get as greedy as possible off other peoples misfortune......

Yup! Welcome to the "exciting world of financial services" as one DCA/DP once referred to it in a recruitment ad.

[banksters]

Hi all

 

I still have not received a copy of my father's credit agreement from this company. If I recall rightly they had something like 12 or 14 working days to provide me with a copy of the agreement. The request was sent and dated December 03rd with a reply from them stating what I have already shown above.

 

I spoke to StepChange or CCCS on behalf of my father and sought advice on them not providing me with the agreement and was told basically that a credit agreement was not necassay anyway as I had been paying them for some quite some time and that was sufficient to admit I owe the money. They have refused to stop paying them or orthwise cancel my father's whole DMP, not just remove a creditor.

 

Is this information correct please? Not sure as to my next step, all I really wanted was for them to stop the interest charges.

 

Look forward to your help and advice with appreciation in advance. Thanks.

[ken100464]

And here is the problem. You are looking at UE as no CCA. Step change are financed by the banks and dont like the idea of UE and will spout off about you owe the money so pay up and if you start playing silly buggers we will stop all your DMP. Wonder why lol.

 

Banks made the rules but now you have caught one out breaking those rules they dont like it.

 

If you are timid then these so called charities perhaps have a place. Better to deal with the DCA's yourself so you can make decisions best suited to you not to someone else.

 

You have told these firms you are in trouble and are asking for help. What do they do. Nothing. Welcome to the real world of the finance industry.

 

If you werent in a DMP then a snowball calculator would have you probably throwing as much money as possible to the interest bearing accounts. That would over time save you money but the charity wont be interested in that just you paying your dues. Time and again you see people thinking they are debt free only to find one creditor didnt stop interest and that they still owe thousands after paying for years.

[dx100uk]

yes typical of CCCS

 

dmp the DUMP do it yourself.

 

if marlin havent sent a cca in 12+2 working days

 

then you can fire off the failure to comply letter

and stop payment to

anyone that fails this test

 

as for paying = admits debt, WRONG.

 

if he got cash cowed in the first place

thats the reason no CCA = was NEVER OWED!!

 

 

dump CCCS now.

 

dx

[banksters]

Hey guys thanks for your replies.

 

For sure there's a lot to think about here.

 

I would totally agree though that CCCS has always been hard work, only making things easy by paying one payment and they do the rest.

 

For sure they have always seemed to me to lean very much towards making sure the creditors are kept extremely happy.

 

I have argued previously that the amount they allow for Housekeeping for example is too low, by a large amount.

 

Looking at some old paperwork, which must be 9-10 years old they allow the same amount today as they did then,

maybe they live in a different universe where nothing ever goes up in price.

 

I will look for the other letter you mentioned as they have not yet produced a Credit Agreement.

 

I will look at seeing the best way to pay each creditor without CCCS,

but this I will need to discuss with my father, who unfortunately worries and panicks over the smallest thing.

 

Ultimately though, there's nothing secured and he has no assets so at the very worst what really can these creditors do?

 

I feel you have given some great advice guys and I would very much like to start acting on it and helping my father out, because I think CCCS have taken him for a bit of a ride.

[dx100uk]

yep well spotted!!

 

only the banks in mind

dump them

 

dx

[Happyhippy1959]

Dump them and deal with them yourselfs, I have a marlins debt and I have played hardball with them myself, overdraft full of charges so brings the total down by £375, told them time and time again this is what your getting less £375, always offering me a discount if I pay full amount, guess the discount amount everytime

 

You got it £375, so I just take the discount figure of £350 off me £745 owed then take another £350 off that for illegal charges and offer full and final. Guess what, they slither back into there hole. I have told them if I ever reach my figure of what I owe which stood at £599 something that was less illegal charges then that would be all they would get see you in court. Paid these clowns a £1.00 a month for nearly three years when struggling now I am in a better position its £5.00, if my positions gets worse it goes down, they never bother just thank me when it goes up or say's sorry if I reduce. These idiots even sent a three page Income and Expenditure form ha ha ha, which Boo kindly filled in with my massive lottery win, in other words confidential information is just that confidential. I went through CAB at the start of my journey I owe approx £42 unsecured and my house has been repossessed out of my 14 creditors all but two are unenforceable and Marlins overdraft does not come under the CCA rules. It was thanks to this site that I decided to take on the DCA's, have never looked back since. Least now I have a few pence in me pocket at the end of the month and had so much fun on the way dealing with these low lifes and the underhanded tactics they tried, with the help of all on here I sent em packing back to there grubby holes. So Bankster, stand up and take em on for your dad, pay what you can afford if you have to pay at all.

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY FRIENDS ON CAG, YOU HAVE CHANGED MY LIFE BEYOND BELIEF AND I OWE SUCH A GREAT DEBT OF GRATITUDE TO YOU ALL. IT ALWAYS FEELS LIKE A FAMILY HERE.

[banksters]

Dump them and deal with them yourselfs, I have a marlins debt and I have played hardball with them myself, overdraft full of charges so brings the total down by £375, told them time and time again this is what your getting less £375, always offering me a discount if I pay full amount, guess the discount amount everytime

 

You got it £375, so I just take the discount figure of £350 off me £745 owed then take another £350 off that for illegal charges and offer full and final. Guess what, they slither back into there hole. I have told them if I ever reach my figure of what I owe which stood at £599 something that was less illegal charges then that would be all they would get see you in court. Paid these clowns a £1.00 a month for nearly three years when struggling now I am in a better position its £5.00, if my positions gets worse it goes down, they never bother just thank me when it goes up or say's sorry if I reduce. These idiots even sent a three page Income and Expenditure form ha ha ha, which Boo kindly filled in with my massive lottery win, in other words confidential information is just that confidential. I went through CAB at the start of my journey I owe approx £42 unsecured and my house has been repossessed out of my 14 creditors all but two are unenforceable and Marlins overdraft does not come under the CCA rules. It was thanks to this site that I decided to take on the DCA's, have never looked back since. Least now I have a few pence in me pocket at the end of the month and had so much fun on the way dealing with these low lifes and the underhanded tactics they tried, with the help of all on here I sent em packing back to there grubby holes. So Bankster, stand up and take em on for your dad, pay what you can afford if you have to pay at all.

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY FRIENDS ON CAG, YOU HAVE CHANGED MY LIFE BEYOND BELIEF AND I OWE SUCH A GREAT DEBT OF GRATITUDE TO YOU ALL. IT ALWAYS FEELS LIKE A FAMILY HERE.

 

Thanks very much for that, very encouraging and informational.

[banksters]

Hi all.

 

Received a reply from Marlin for my CCA request. I think I've attached them correctly

 

I don't believe this is my father's Credit Agreement but more of a statement, am I right?

 

I telephoned them, forgot to record the call though They say this is all that is required for a CCA Request....

 

Cheers.

[dx100uk]

thats a statement of account

 

NOT a CCA

 

i've moved your thread to the black horse forum

 

have a look at a few threads here

 

you'll find what one should look like

 

dx