Simply be / Reliable Collections

[miamidancer]

Hi,

 

These 2 companies are such a pain in the proverbial.

 

I opened an account with Simply Be in July 03, due to financial difficulties in May/June 06 began reduced payments of £4 per month.

My balance at that time was £202.66.

 

Over the years payment agreements have been broke,

due to confusing letters and demands from Reliable.

 

in Feb 09,

I lost my benefit and wrote to them offering a £1 token payment as that was all we could afford.

Never heard from them.

 

Contacted them in June 09 to give new address and because I wouldn't give my new telephone no,

the Agent threatened to go into my bank account to obtain it.

 

I went ballistic and demanded to speak with a manager, which I did, who apologised for the Agent's behaviour,

during this call, I arranged the £1 payment with him. Unfortunately I did not record the call.

 

Since then they say I did not make that agreement and have continuously harassed me with telephone calls, up to 8 in a day,

threatening bankruptcy, doorstep callers, bailiffs etc.

 

I have asked them numerous times to take me to Court and they said it would not be worth their while!

I have also sent them the harassment letter regarding calls twice but they have ignored it.

I now don't answer the phone.

 

I sent an SAR Oct 12 and after going through everything,

they have admitted that they do not hold a copy of a signed agreement but can provide a "True Copy" of the credit agreement

and t/c's from the opening of the account if I send a £1 payment!!

I have requested a True Copy of the CCA , not a reconstituted one and I am waiting to receive that.

 

They have never defaulted the account,

saying it would only do this after 6 missed payments and then send it to a DCA,

but the account has been back and forth between SB and Reliable for years.

 

I wrote asking for explanations on various aspects of my account.

I told them I did not accept the charges and interest that they had added to my account, which is now £730.41.

I have paid them back what I owe, plus £7.

 

I have told them I do not accept responsibility for the balance on my account and I have stopped the £1 payment.

I requested again that they take it to Court.

 

Now this morning I received this letter:

 

Notice of Assignment

 

Assignor: Simply Be

 

Assignee: Fredrickson International Ltd

Moorcroft Debt Recovery

Robinson Way & Co Ltd

1st Credit Limited

Buchanan Clarke Wells Group

 

We hereby give you notice that one of the above companies may be acquiring from Simply Be all its rights, title and interest in and to each of:-

 

a. the debt of £730.41 under the account agreement XXXXX, made between Simply Be and yourself

 

b. all other rights, title and interest in and to or relating to the outstanding debt

 

It is essential that all future payments, correspondence or queries regarding this account be directed to the above company, as and when the title is transferred. This assignment will come into effect within the next 2 weeks.

 

To prevent further or immediate action being taken to recover the full outstanding balance you must:

 

a. Pay the debt in full by using a credit/debit card

 

Or alternatively

 

b. Contact our recovery company on xxxxxxx ensuring you quote account no, to agree a suitable payment programme and make a first payment

 

For and on behalf of

 

Simply Be

 

1. Can they assign this debt, when I am disputing it?

2. I'm not sure about this, but could I reclaim the penalty charges and interest, although I haven't paid them?

3. Can they enforce payment of these penalty charges/interest without a true copy of a CCA?

 

Any input would be appreciated.

[ims21]

They have probably sold the debt because they know it is now all charges which you should reclaim.

 

Have you still got all of the statements showing the late payment/over limit charges etc and the dates they were applied to the account?

[dx100uk]

blimey time to get reclaiming me thinks

 

you do realise RC are shop direct !! [simplyBe]

 

is this on your cra file?

 

see below

 

dx

[i hate bailiffs]

 

Contacted them in June 09 to give new address and because I wouldn't give my new telephone no,

the Agent threatened to go into my bank account to obtain it.

 

 

:nono:

[miamidancer]

Hi,

 

Yes I have details of all penalty charges/interest charged. They also made a charge of £22.94 for setting up the payment arrangement, I was never told about this.

 

Which spreadsheet would I use for the reclaim, do I list charges and interest or just the charges? Is there a template letter I could use for this?

 

I thought RC were SB's inhouse debt collectors? I didn't know they were connected to Shop Direct.

 

All your advice is greatly appreciated.

[miamidancer]

Yes, i hate bailiffs, that was definitely a NO NO making threats like that.

[ims21]

Ok you can use this spreadsheet

 

CISheet v101.xls

 

Make sure that the interest rate reflects the rate they were charging you on the account.

 

List each penalty charge but not any of the interest...the sheet will work out the interest for you.

 

When done, how does the sheet total compare to the amount currently showing on the account?

[miamidancer]

I found a variation notice that said the interest rate was 34.1%, I used that on the spreadsheet but the figures are a lot higher than I have, is that because it is compound interest?

[miamidancer]

This does appear on my credit file as a late payment, nothing else. I can't see a date when this was first recorded, how will I know when the 6 yrs are up for it to fall off?

[ims21]

If you have a variation notice then the rate has changed I would guess. In that case you will need to use an average of the rate they were charging you.

[miamidancer]

How would I work that out please ?

[dx100uk]

find all the rates you can see

 

add them

 

then divide by the number of diff rates found.

 

 

dx

[ims21]

If it were me I would just keep it simple.

 

Say you had 20 months charged at, say 5% and then 10 months charged at, say 6%.

 

20 x 5 = 100

10 x 6 = 60

 

Total is 160

 

Divide by the total months, in this case 30 and you get 5.33%.

[miamidancer]

Thank you ims21 for the breakdown, I will sort through the statements and see what rates I can find.

[miamidancer]

The only consistent rate I can find from Aug 2010 is 2.62%. Would I use this rate for 12 charges I had from June 06/Aug 08? I dont have statements from before Nov 08, only a computer listed breakdown from 2003.

 

Do I list 2 charges on the same day separately or add them as one charge?

[dx100uk]

sadly if they are the same date but diff reason [late/over/ etc] you have to list themsep.

 

you'll need toconvert the monthly APR to Annual

 

http://www.stoozing.com/mon2yr.htm

[ims21]

Maybe use the rate of 2.62% pm for all of them and see what the figures look like.

[miamidancer]

Hi DX100uk,

 

I've already listed them separately. Do I just times 2.62% by 12 for the annual rate, or am thinking thats easy ?

[miamidancer]

So sorry DX100uk, I never saw your link.

 

Using the converter, the annual compound rate is 36.39%,

[miamidancer]

I still don't get the same figures as the penalty charges/interest add up to.

 

Is that because its compound interest?

 

Is there a template letter I could you use to claim the charges?

[dx100uk]

you dont add in the interest figure on the statements..

thats interst on the WHOLE of the monthly outstanding , not 'just' the charges part.

 

the spready does the int for you

 

just put in the 36.39% i D15

 

and ALL the charges each on a sep row in the spready.

 

dx

[miamidancer]

Using 2.62% on all of them, more or less halves the amounts that they actually are.

[dx100uk]

huh you calc'd 36.39...

 

the spreadsheet works on YEARLY interest

 

put in the 39.39 in D15

 

dx

[miamidancer]

Ive only listed the penalty charges on the spreadsheet, not the interest.

 

My figures are:

 

Charges £281.44

 

Simply Be added Interest of £435.77

 

Total £730.41

 

 

The calculator has CI @ £1105.73

 

Total £1387.17

 

 

Would I make a claim for £1387.17 ??

[dx100uk]

you use the info on the spreadsheet gives you

 

attach it to a post

 

set your default scan page size to A4 less than 300DPI [150 will do]

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 monetary figures and dates.

*********************************************************

{DO NOT USE A BIRO OR PEN OR USE SEE THRU TAPE OR LABELS]

try www.pdfescape.com TO BLANK STUFF,

*************************************************************

or

DO IT IN MSPAINT.EXE or any photo editing program

goto one of the many free online pdf converter websites ...

http://freejpgtopdf.com/

if you have multiple scans/pics

put them in a word doc FIRST and convert that to PDF

or use www.pdfmerge.com

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

..

 

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.

though dont use full bank names or CAG in the title

i'e Default notice dd-mm-yyyy TSB

.

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