Let down by DMP company, debts spiralling...

[Shanks]

I have been asked if I can help a friend to manage their debt problems.

 

After a troubled relationship broke down her partner disappeared leaving her with considerable debts.

 

These were mainly on credit cards in her name, although at the time she hadn't realised quite how much he had run up the debt before finally vanishing.

 

She accepted responsibility and approximately 5 years ago she voluntarily entered a dmp agreement with a non fee charging company.

 

There were three main debts,

an RBS credit Card (£14500),

Natwest recoveries (£25000) and

Santander (£12000)

 

She has reclaimed PPI in respect of the Natwest one which managed to recover approximately £10,000, but no ppi is due from the others.

 

She has never missed a payment.

Where she feels let down is that last August after having paid off about £15000 to the RBS debt

the DMC stopped making payments to them in the shared belief that that debt had been settled.

She continued to pay the same amount and the balance was split between the other outstanding debts.

 

RBS then issued a default notice saying that she still owes almost £9000 because they didn't freeze the interest

and charges etc have been added to the debt over the last 5 years.

 

She has contacted them direct and they have told her she 'sounds like she can afford to pay it so, tough,

and she has paid for the last 5 years so if it takes her another 20 years then she shouldn't have got into debt in the first place'.

After this last comment she was crying so much she just hung up on them.

 

She has contacted the DMC who have said that it's not their fault because it is down to the banks discretion whether they freeze interest

and she should have checked at the start of the DMP because it is her responsibility to check these details not theirs.

 

even though they were clearly under the impression this was the case and the debt was finished

they are offering no support apart from reinstating the payments to RBS.

After one call to RBS they did offer to credit her with the £12 default fee.

 

for a debt of £14500 she has now paid £16300 but still owes another £9000.

This is just the RBS debt.

She is at her wits end and is really beginning to suffer from the stress of this seemingly never ending saga.

 

She thinks the interest has been frozen on the others but isn't sure,

as far as I know has never requested a copy of the credit card agreements

and apart from the ppi claim has not claimed any charges back (I thought that window was closed now).

 

I'm not really sure where the best place is for her to start.

 

She is willing and I think capable of managing the debt herself if she thought that the money she was paying was clearing the debt

and not just taking her two steps forward and then one and a half steps back because of the interest.

 

Any suggestions or advise would be very gratefully received.

[dx100uk]

who was the DMP co.please

 

i question the fact that it was UP TO HER to check that the interest & charges were frozen.

 

in most DMP's they send a status report of each debt and the plan.

 

ok there is no guaranteed that DMP's do get int frozen, but something smells here.

 

dx

[Shanks]

Thanks DX, the DMC was StepChange.

 

I have a copy of the most recent statement, and have asked her to gather anything else she has so that I can try and check back.

 

thanks for the response.

[dx100uk]

ok great

must admit, thats rare for stepchange[CCCS] to fail to secure interest freezing & to not inform the punter.

 

i'd never the less CCA RBS.

 

that might resolve the issue.

 

if they have no CCA for the card

 

i veru much doubt they'll go anywhere near a court

 

so will sell it on.

 

then the fun might begin.

 

have you CCA'd all the other debt still being paid

 

for the time of the start with CCCs

 

they never ensured the debts WERE LEGALLY OWED

 

they just accepted what OC's or DCA's told them.

 

many times we have sadly found debts are not owed that CCCS and the other DMC's included

in the early days.

 

dx