Halifax now with Blair, Oliver Scott getting nasty please help!

[allison6564]

Sorry guys but its me again with another one of our cards......

 

This one was originally Halifax and like my others we started having financial problems back in Jan 2010 and still are.

 

I initially came to an arrangement with Halifax to pay £27 back in 2010 but then on 11/03/11 had a letter from Blair, Oliver & Scott and after speaking to them (silly I know now) I arranged to pay £105 pm which was way to much for us but we agreed out of fright. Now looking at my credit file I can see that the card defaulted on 22/02/2011.

 

I continued with these payments up until jan this year when we realised that we had become more and more overdrawn at the bank and finally sat down and really took a long look at our I & E and realised that there's just nothing coming in to pay these creditors but we can just about manage to pay all our priority bills.

 

On 16/01/13 I wrote to B,O&S and sent them an I & E form and asked them to write the debt off as we just can't pay any more.

Response back on 22/01/2013 saying they can't accept nil payment asking me to contact them on the number but I had already requested all correspondance be in writing as because we have so many creditors it really made me ill in 2010 trying to speak to them.

I sent another letter 31/03/13 stating again that we just have no spare money and listed all my other creditors and once again asking them to write it off.

05/02/2013 I had a really nasty letter from B,O&S saying "you have failed to respond to our requests for full payment of the balance and you have not contacted this office with acceptable repayment proposals" .... then went on about further action etc but I HAD been in touch with them.

They then rung me on 11/02/2013 and I explained I wanted to deal with it all i writing and they advised me get in touch step change etc.

05/03/2013 I sent of a request for the CCA and breakdown of account to B,O&S. This was signed for on 11/03/2013.

15/03/2013 I had another call and I just said that I want to deal in writing and that I had sent another letter.

Now for the scary parts ... yesterday I had two letters waiting for me when I got home:-

 

One from B,O&S dated 13th MArch (yeserday was 20th but I have kept the envelope) and this is a Notice of Intended Court Action..saying I could have a charging order put on my home etc.

Another from Halifax themselves sending a reconstituted copy of my agreement and is really quite nasty. I think Halifax have sent a letter intended for when a third party is dealing with the matter but I have scanned and attached all the letters. There was also two sets of typed out terms etc one is a duplicate of the scanned form and the other is an up to date version.

Now I've been full of bravado starting my campaign to try and sort my and my families life out once and for all but these really scare me....

Please Please can some of you experts on here help me in the right direction x

[Desperate Daniella]

Hi Allison,

 

Blair Oliver and Scott are actually part of HBOS - they are the bank's in house debt collectors.

 

Firstly remove the figure from the letter and the Notice as this could identify you.

 

I'll come back to the credit agreement, but the urgent thing is to try and stop them from starting court action. If they do take you to court, no judge will make you pay more than you can afford and they know that, so they might go for a charge on the house, but you can certainly oppose that.

 

What I would do immediately is call StepChange and arrange a telephone consultation with them. These consultations usually take about a fortnight to set up. StepChange will give you a reference number, and usually when banks/DCAs realize that StepChange is involved they will give you some breathing space and tend to reduce the nastiness. That will hopefully put any action on hold for the next couple of weeks. Make it clear to StepChange that you are being harassed and bullied.

 

DD

[Desperate Daniella]

The credit agreement:

 

This looks like a cut & paste job to me. Is this all they have sent you?

 

There is a difference between pre and post-2005 (I think that is the year? - others will advise further) agreements in terms of what can be provided, but I think they have just stuck the signature box on that page. Does it look dodgy to you? Does the box line up correctly?

 

DD

[allison6564]

Hi DD no it all lines up etc but I have noticed that they haven't signed it..does this make a differance. I can't use Stepchange for a few reasons but they are not an option for me I have to deal with this myself.

I think I am going to ring them and tell them I am going to write in with a full and final as a relative has offered to give us some money although not a lot.

Thanks

[Desperate Daniella]

The layout looks completely wrong, and why have they only sent you page 3 of 8?

 

As it is an admitted reconstruction they don't have to sign it.

 

I would write and say that you are asking for a genuine photocopy of the entire agreement, and your request is not made under Section 77/78 of the CCA 1974, but under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations Act 2008. Therefore you require to see the whole document, and may subsequently require to inspect the document to check its authenticity.

 

You can also quote the Waksman Judgment in Carey v HSBC, paragraph 234 (4) which states that where an agreement has been varied a copy of the original agreement must be provided. (Every time they change the interest rate they are varying the agreement, apart from anything else.)

[Desperate Daniella]

That is clearly not a copy of an application form as she states. Application forms ask for personal details such as name, address, date of birth and so on.

 

Even if it does line up, and it looks as though the signature box is very slightly out of line, it doesn't look like a genuine application form.

[citizenB]

They are obliged to send you, in respect of an s78 request..

 

A copy of or a "truthful" reconstruction of the agreement

terms and condtions from both inception and currently - if variations have been made, they are obliged to send you copies of those as well.

A statement of account showing how the current balance has accrued.

 

 

A reconstruction is acceptable for s78 purposes, but the original will still need to be provided for court.

[Desperate Daniella]

You will be in a better position to negotiate a full & final, if that is what you want to do, if you can establish that they don't have the original agreement.

[citizenB]

As they have implied that they are going to take court action - then they are obliged under pre action protocols to provide you with the information you require.

[citizenB]

You do not HAVE to enter a DMP for them to acknowledge your financial hardship and enter into a payment arrangement.

 

However, it might be in your interest to have either Stepchange or National Debtline prepare a Common Financial Statement on your behalf - HBOS (as the account is indeed still with them despite the rhetoric from Blair Oliver Scott) are then obliged to consider your request to enter into a proper payment arrangement.

 

HTH

[allison6564]

MMMM lots to think about now .... they did send me another page with my personal info on to check but I didn't scan that ... it just says at the bottom to check the details and sign on page 3.....I ahve just done a full and final letter offering them £250 as the way I look at it we owed £5626 in Jan 2010 when it all started and we have paid £3278 (58%) off the balance and I ahve included this in the letter what do you guys think .

[Desperate Daniella]

I was suggesting StepChange purely for the purpose of buying some time and getting them to turn down the nastiness which they tend to do as soon as you quote the reference number. Of course you don't have to go through them and I'm sorry I didn't make that clear.

 

Just before I found CAG I was being hounded to death by AIC and the FSA told me to ring CCCS (as StepChange was then). As soon as I told AIC StepChange were involved they backed right off. I didn't follow the StepChange advice because I discovered CAG, thank God, but the effect of the StepChange reference number was absolutely astonishing.

[Desperate Daniella]

Personally I would ask what they would accept as a full & final figure. Get them to make the first suggestion.

 

Have you been paying interest on the balance all the time?

[allison6564]

I rang them at B,O&S and they were not too bad at all was surprised!!!! I explained there is just no spare money and so he has put it all on hold for two months and I said I was going to write in again phew bit more time.

[allison6564]

Oh and interest was only charged the first few months. I also put in the letter that I would like them to get abck to me by 15th April as if its ot acceptable I will offer to another creditor...do you think thats ok.

[Desperate Daniella]

I'm glad they stopped the interest.

 

I think you should say you may be able to get some help from a family member, but need to know what they would find acceptable as a full and final settlement figure.

 

If you say you can give them £250 and they say that's not acceptable then I don't think they will be more amenable if you then say that instead of the £250 going towards the outstanding balance you'll not give them anything and will give it to someone else.

[mikeymack2002]

Hi again imho if you done a I&E for your personal use and you offer xx for xx months and will review it in xx months then they have to take a serious look at your offer, a judge will frown on them if they don't, also wait till you get all the info and now the best advise anyone will give you IS STAY OFF THE PHONE to them and only deal with them in writing that way you have a paper trail if it goes to court , also you may consider a hardship response to them as well, also dont offer them any funds for any reason till you have all the details with you, because thats what they want MONEY then they WILL reneg on the deal DO NOT pay a dca ever, if you want to pay pay the oc (original creditor) anyone here will say the same even the big caggers lol if you really want to pay then pay the oc direct

[babydoll0141917]

The letter you received of BO and S is just a standard threatogram....I had plenty of them in 2008 ..still nothing has happened,,if you read through Halifax threads you will see that almost every1 has had the same threat of court letter

[allison6564]

Well had a letter back today rejecting my f and f offer of £250 ...no surprise there. What they have stated is that they only offer reduced settlement if you have extreme circumstances whatever they are. They do say they are able to offer a reduced payment plan but want an I and E from a third party first! I sent them an I and E in Jan which clearly shows that we have no spare income at all.

So not sure what to do now ....do I offer them token payments for a period?

The one thing I have noticed is that for the whole time the card has been running I only ever used it once for a £6.99 trans in 2008. the card started with balance trans of 4350 interest free, this was then cleared with another card in Nov 2008 but then we were juggling cards and put another balance trans on it in mar 09 for 5500 and this is what the balance has come from today. Interest was added to second balance trans and we only ever paid min each month.

Just not sure what to do now.

[citizenB]

They cannot demand an I&E from a third party. However, speak to National Debtline and ask them to help you complete a Common Financial Statement. Once you have signed it then HBoS simply cant demand anything else unless they issue a claim against you.

[citizenB]

Have they issued a Default notice ?

 

IMHO, if this were me, I would

 

1: Get the CFS sorted out

2: write to HBoS advising that you are enclosing the CFS which has been completed with the help of National Debtline. You believe they are now being unreasonable in that you are fully aware of your liabilities and fully committed to repaying your debts.

 

You believe they are treating you unfairly as you have made them fully aware of your financial situation/hardship and it would appear that they are simply playing mind games by unleashing their attack dogs, Blair Oliver Scott with their threats of litigation. You believe this is in breach of OFT guidelines.

 

That whilst you would be most unhappy if they were to proceed to litigate, you believe this would not be in either of your interests. However, should that be their plan, then you would bring to the court's attention your attempts to resolve this without the need to involve the courts and extra expense and produce for the court the intimidatory correspondence from HBoS and their in house agents, which is nothing more or less than their crude attempt to beat you into submission to prioritising their debt against other creditors.

 

You feel that you can offer no more than you have and it is they who now have to make the decision as to whether they want to accept your offer or proceed to court.

 

You wait to hear from them in due course.

 

etc, etc.

 

 

 

That you

[allison6564]

Thx CB that is sound advice. The account defaulted in 2011 . Sorry not been on here long but when you say CFS do you mean a certified financial statement? You might be right in that I need to get a third party to give it more authenticity although I don,t understand why they need that ...I am a trained accounts technician and more than capable lol but if you think they would listen more if I got in touch with Debt line I,all do that in the morning . Thx for the advice again

[allison6564]

Have to say it Scares the hell out of me the thought of going to court

[Desperate Daniella]

Hi Allison,

 

CB has given you very good advice, and they would have to justify to a judge taking you to court when you clearly don't have any more money. If they do really threaten that you could say you'll ask the judge to reduce the payments.

 

DD

[citizenB]

My apologies.. CFS - Common Financial Statement.

 

It is just another Income and Expenditure form with a fancy name. However it is widely accepted in Courts and the OFT advise that creditors are to acknowledge these.

 

It is my understanding that they are signed with a statement of truth.. so HBoS should not give you any grief.

 

 

 

Have to say it Scares the hell out of me the thought of going to court

 

Yes, it is scary, however you have made it quite clear that you are not attempting to avoid paying this debt. They cannot get blood out of a stone. If they were to proceed to litigation then they would look very silly when you have proof that a) you have been paying them and b) they have simply been obstructive and obnoxious in their responses.

 

I understand also that you could probably ask for a Time Order which is like a restructuring of the debt left to pay over a period of time.

 

I don't think you have been left with any alternatives if you want to prevent them from continuing to "threaten". IMHO, that is more stressful than having a claim issued and going to court.