Halifax/BOS/Blair Oliver

[linz17]

Can anyone advise please; I

have been paying BOScott £26 per month since 2006.

I get a letter from them on a fortnightly basis saying I'm one month in arrears (not)

also they threaten to take payment from any money in my account even if it is my Husbands.

 

 

I was made redundant, illness etc & till now have paid up BUT the letters never stop.

I have sent a letter asking for details of the debt agreement as I had read on a previous thread.

 

 

This morning I have received the usual letter Plus a letter from Bank of Scotland

telling me they are trying to obtainthe original CCA docs but if that if I'm using a claims Mgt Co.

they have quoted a warning issued by OFT re

'even if an agreement was to become unenforceable customers will sill owe any outstanding balance to the lender' etc

 

 

they cannot have it both ways,

who do I owe Halifax or Blair Oliver Scott?

 

 

I have put up with phone calls, letters etc since 2006

& have letters from Bank of Scot.

apologising for any harrasment. I give up!!!

[Desperate Daniella]

Hi linz17, and welcome to CAG!

 

Blair, Oliver & Scott are part of HBOS. They clearly think it is so hysterically funny to use the same initials for the in-house debt collectors.

 

Sorry, I am unclear if you are making the repayments through a Claims Management Company? If you are I think it will be the delay in the money being forwarded which is resulting in the letters.

 

Your agreement with Halifax might have a term which states that you have agreed to offsetting from your account, which means they can take money if you haven't made your payment. However, there are strict guidelines on this (priorities which come before they do) and if they transgress they can be reported to the FOS who usually sort it out pretty quickly. The best way round it is not to have too much of your husband's money in your account, or to open a parachute account, a completely basic account, and one which is not in anyway connected to HBOS.

 

You should write to HBOS saying that you will not speak to them on the telephone, and you will report them to OFT and FOS if they continue to harass you like this.

 

Hope that helps to start with.

 

DD

[Desperate Daniella]

Another thought: Phone the FOS and ask them for the name of the person to complain to at HBOS. They will often have a direct line which of course you'll never be given by the banks themselves, and once you have a named person and a complaint number you may find someone actually takes action to stop the letters and phone calls.

[linz17]

Thanks Daniella,

Thanks for your reply, as you can see I'm new to this wonderful site! I only found out that Blair Oliver Scot were part of BOS because of it. It was inferred that they had bought the debt from BOScot, it is paid directly to Blair by SO from my Halifax account. I changed my telephone number some years ago to avoid the constant calls so now it's letters only, but I have had no letters from Bank of Scot until today, I sent the letter to Blairs by rec.delivery so they must have passed it on. It's quite unpleasant. I have cancelled the SO now as I've paid for over 6 years & nostatement from them. If this brings it to a head so be it. I'm retired now, my husband is disabled & I cannot keep paying something which never decreases. I have kept all the paperwork from Blair, but they appear to havenothing to do with the bank, crafty move.Any suggestions please?

[Desperate Daniella]

Hi linz,

 

It has never decreased? What was the original payment agreement six years' ago?

 

I have to go out now, but will be back later.

 

Hang in there.

 

DD

[linz17]

I have the original letter from BOScot saying they are now handing the claim to a Debt Collection Agency. So BlairOliver send me fortnightly letters, saying I must increase my payment of £26.00 I asked for a CCA copy & BOScot provided - no decrease & have been paying since 2006, I pay through the Halifax to BOliver I have letters from BScot apologisng for the first set of harrasing phone calls - to whom do I owe this debt?? I think that I should offer to go to the County Court or is this the wrong thing to do? help please!!

[Desperate Daniella]

The letter about a debt collection agency is designed to scare you and it makes no different because BO&S are their agency.

 

Was the credit agreement they sent compliant with the CCA 1974? If you don't know what I mean by that I will explain and give you the details, but basically all credit agreements have to contain the prescribed terms. Did they actually send you a copy of an agreement you signed, or just the terms and conditions of the current card?

 

Have they not sent you any statements at all? If the debt is not decreasing, someone is taking huge charges here. I think you are going to have to send a SAR to Bank of Scotland, asking them for all details of your account including the statements.

 

DD

[Desperate Daniella]

SAR = Subject Access Request. If you hit the highlighted SAR it will take you to the template letter.

[linz17]

:???:I am new to this so bear with me please!

 

I was retired due to ill health & am on state Pension.

 

Had an account with Next & no signed CCA pre 1995

 

after sending SAR requests etc this has now been handed to Moorcroft.

 

Also have pre 1992 loan with BSO.

 

After complaint's of harassment I had to change my phone number & have a letter from BOS with apology.,

 

I have paid this debt for years & it has hardly decreased.

 

Sent a letter to Blair Oliver asking why I owed them the debt, it has now been set up with Moorcroft.

 

Have lost credit rating but that is of no interest now as I could not afford any loans etc!

 

I am sick & tired of the whole business & have requested that they begin Court proceedings which they seem very reluctant to do,

if I went to Court & explained my financial position & took the files of hundreds of letters from BOS would this be a mistake ?

or can I get it over & done with by offering an amount I can afford instead of receiving2 letters per week?

 

Was also told by M'croft it is only classed as harassment if more than 20 phone calls are made a day.

Please can someone advise???

 

(I have sent SAR & requested copies of original agreement.

Seems strange that after all this time they have registered it with M'croft.

[Ihatebanksandbankshateme]

If the level of calls were such that they caused you to change your number, then that may well fall within the recent Court of Appeal rulings ( yes theres been a few) on harassment. Cases such as Roberts v Bank of Scotland show that the Courts are happy to make findings of harassment in such circumstances.

 

The Next account, if you never signed a credit agreement and opened the account in 1995 it is likely to be unenforceable due to the breach of s61(1)(a), 65 & s127 Consumer Credit Act.

[fkofilee]

Sounds like this could be SB (Statute Barred) & Unenforcable.

 

I really wouldnt worry about it... DCAs are usually just blowing warm (If not luke warm) air and need to be deflated ^__^

[dx100uk]

if you've been paying for years

then it wont be statute barred.[bos]

 

get a cca request off to each of them

 

no cca = no pay

 

somethings not right here.

 

on both these debts.

 

dx

[linz17]

Thank you all so much for your advice, I'll start again with the CCA's. There is def. not one for Next & they admit it!

[dx100uk]

and what happened

 

 

dx

[linz17]

Up to now nothing!!!! Moorcroft let it slip that only if there is a signed CCA can they take me to court. I also printed off the Trespass rules re Bailiff's & phoned Moorcroft & quoted them over the phone. To date I have received umpteen discount, special offer letters to try & get me to pay a discounted sum. Am still just letting their letters stack up for use at sometime, harassment ? they always ask me for a phone nbr & I always say I'm not on the phone, it is ex directory so comes up as withheld.

Thks for all help received.xx

[Bazooka Boo]

If you have received discount letters, and especially from these clowns, then I wouldn't be parting with any more cash.

 

They have clearly exploited you long enough.

 

Stay OFF the phone to them from now on, as it just encourages them.

Being Ex directory will not mean your number comes up withheld, you need to ask your phone provider to permanently withhold your CLI number.

Ex directory simply means it isn't printed in the phone book, or published on line.

 

And Moorcr@p won't go anywhere near a court, they'd be ripped to pieces!