Black horse and Meritforce

[gemma2603]

I had an account with black horse which i defaulted for £144.74 p/m

 

im now paying £70 to Meritforce.

 

The reason im asking for advise is i have signed up to Experian and its showing each month im paying black horse (which im not)

but each month its showing as payment late which is having a negative effect on my score.

 

I have spoken to Black horse and they say Meritforce are a 3rd pary company collecting on their behalf and its nothing to do with them

and they couldn't tell me the amount outstanding which is £1076! so no help there.

 

Spoke to Meritforce who said there is noting they can say but they have added £400 to the original debt! is this legal?

 

and how can i stop my credit file from showing as late payments each month?

Thank you for any advise given.

[dx100uk]

dump meritforse

 

they are not the owners they are spoofing you.

 

pay bh direct by hyour internet banking portal.

 

and stay off that phone!!

 

never phone a dca!

 

now are you being hit with PENALTY charges too!

I bet you are no dca has any powers to add anything to a debt

esp one THEY DO NOT OWN.

 

i'd sar BH and get all the statements.

 

what is the default date on the cra file and how old id this debt?

 

dx

[gemma2603]

Thank you for the reply dx

 

I will stay off the phone

How do i go about paying BH direct?

i offered to pay BH the full instalment amount rather than pay Merit £70pm which was refused.

 

The debt is not showing as defaulted on credit file just 6 payments late,

the original loan was taken out in 2004

cant find any paperwork from Meritforce to find out when they took over.

I will send the letter tomorrow when i have access to printer.

 

Thank you

[dx100uk]

the details to pay BH will be on their bill/statements.

 

its very rare for a 2004 loan to still be running 10yrs later

what were the org terms...smells of heaps of charges here.

 

ignore meritfrarce!

 

dx

[citizenB]

Do you know if meritforce have purchased this debt or are they merely collecting on behalf of Blackhorse ?

 

It might be in your interest to send a Subject Access Request to Black Horse - it will cost you £10.00 and they have 40 calendar days to provide this to you. This is a request for all the data that they hold in respect of your financial relationship with them. There should be a diary of events/communication log. This details all the actions taken on your account - letters sent/received. telephone calls made by you/them. It should also record when the account was handed to meritforce.

 

You should also receive statements so that you can make a reclaim for any default /penalty charges that have been applied to the account.

 

You might end up having to send a SAR to meritforce in order to establish why they are adding charges, unless the original contract allows for this. Then they are not permitted to charge for collecting the debt.

[gemma2603]

dx

Original Terms was 36 Months but couldnt keep up payments in the early days so was only paying a small amount to Meritforce of £30 and increased to £70 last year.

 

I dont have any old paperwork from them to find out details to pay direct only thing i have is original credit agreement from BH.

 

citizenb

They told me Meritforce was acting as a 3rd party i pay Meritforce and it gets transferred to BH

i dont have an original contract for Meritforce but they said earlier they would send me a statement when i questioned the amount.

[citizenB]

In which case you need only send a Subject Access request to Black Horse as they are still the owner of the debt and every action taken by them and meritforce should be on records held by BH.

 

The are obliged to send you statements, so you should write to meritforce separately and demand they send you a statement of account regularly.

 

You will find a draft SAR request in the CAG library, top left hand side of the screen - highlighted in green. You will need to send a £10.00 postal order - stapled to the request.

 

The request is for ALL data they have in respect of your financial relationship with them. Once you receive that, you will have a greater understanding of what is going on and you can see if there are any charges that you can reclaim in order to reduce the amount you owe them.

 

It is very wrong that you are paying one company who are then forwarding those payments on late. So you need to deal with that as well. I will draft a letter for you for tomorrow asking them to sort this out for you.

[citizenB]

Ok, you need to send the following letter to Blackhorse Head/Registered office - send it by Recorded delivery post if you can afford it but at the very least you MUST obtain a free proof of posting from the Post office and attach it to your copy of the letter. Also send a copy of this to Meritforce, again with a free proof of posting. Make sure you enter the date where I have highlighted in red.

 

 

Dear Sir or Madam

 

Account References

 

FORMAL COMPLAINT

 

I am currently making payments towards the above reference account via a 3rd party agent "MeritForce".

 

It would appear that payments are being recorded as being made Late, which is untrue as I am paying by the agreed date which is (10th of the month / whatever).

 

I also understand from MeritForce, that I am being penalised for this. If there is a time lag between my making the payment on the AGREED date to MeritForce and them passing the payments on to you, then that is between you and them and I should not be penalised for this.

 

I believe you are treating me unfairly and in contravention of BCOBS and your own Lending Codes.

 

Furthermore, whilst I have been making payments to MeritForce, I have not been receiving any statement of account, which I understand I am entitled to. Would you please ensure this is rectified and ensure that statements are sent to me on a regular basis in future.

 

I would like you to resolve this as soon as possible.

 

I look forward to your response within 14 days from the date of this letter.

 

Yours faithfully

 

SIGN

 

 

cc MeritForce

 

 

[gemma2603]

Right i have done the SAR for BH will get that posted tomorrow.

 

What happens when i receive the statements?

 

Do i need to be paying BH direct?

 

i have the agreement number shall i put that as the reference?

 

do i need to notify BH and Merit that i will be paying BH direct?

 

Thanks citizenb

[gemma2603]

Also do i pay them £70 same as i pay Meritforce or £143 as the original agreement

[dx100uk]

you can put the agreement number if you wish

 

when you get the statements you are looking for PENALTY charges [fixed sums]

 

pers i'dnot be telling anyone

 

meritforce are only a dca they have no legal powers to do anything

never ever seen a meritforce claimform.

 

dx

[gemma2603]

Right ill keep you updated.

So you advise i cancel standing order to Meritforce and just set up a standing order to BH? how much should i pay the original agreement amount?

Debt agencies dont bother me anymore just want my credit score to rise im slowly getting there apart from these numptys

[dx100uk]

you pay them what you like

but for a 2004 loan i'd expect its already paid..

 

how much was it for

 

dx

[gemma2603]

original loan was £5165 according to credit file i owe £1076 BH wouldnt tell me the outstanding amount Merit said it was £1476

[dx100uk]

no way!!

 

£5k in 2004 still going!!

 

and the agreement say 36 mts?

 

dx

[gemma2603]

Agreement says 36 Months @ £143 but i did miss payments and in the past only been paying min amounts £30 plus im 100% sure interest and fees have been added

Ill be the first to admit i was young and full of available credit and no good at keeping paperwork but im getting there.

Thank you for your help so far

[citizenB]

It would appear to me that interest and charges are still being applied.

 

It is ridiculous that interest is being added whilst less than half the contractual payments are being made. I suspect that is all you have been servicing to date.

 

Lets see what response you get to the letter I drafted for you and the results from the SAR.. then take it from there.

 

They are wrong to not provide statements.

[gemma2603]

Thank you ill keep the post updated.

[dx100uk]

IMHO you have been fleeced blind here

 

dx

[gemma2603]

imho you have been fleeced blind here

 

dx

imho?

[gemma2603]

Sorry just realised lol yes think your right!! But no more

[blueboy1]

In my honest opinion

[citizenB]

imho?

 

In my honest opinion

 

 

or..

 

In My Humble Opinion

[gemma2603]

Right... i have had a reply today, not really telling me much: payments which i have made since January this year- agreement balance in November 2008, December 2012, January 2013. Where do i go from here? TIA

[citizenB]

Right... i have had a reply today, not really telling me much: payments which i have made since January this year- agreement balance in November 2008, December 2012, January 2013. Where do i go from here? TIA

 

 

Sorry, who have you had a response, from. MeritForce or LTSB ?

 

This is the letter you sent them, yes..

 

 

Dear Sir or Madam

 

Account References

 

FORMAL COMPLAINT

 

I am currently making payments towards the above reference account via a 3rd party agent "MeritForce".

 

It would appear that payments are being recorded as being made Late, which is untrue as I am paying by the agreed date which is (10th of the month / whatever).

 

I also understand from MeritForce, that I am being penalised for this. If there is a time lag between my making the payment on the AGREED date to MeritForce and them passing the payments on to you, then that is between you and them and I should not be penalised for this.

 

I believe you are treating me unfairly and in contravention of BCOBS and your own Lending Codes.

 

Furthermore, whilst I have been making payments to MeritForce, I have not been receiving any statement of account, which I understand I am entitled to. Would you please ensure this is rectified and ensure that statements are sent to me on a regular basis in future.

 

I would like you to resolve this as soon as possible.

 

I look forward to your response within 14 days from the date of this letter.

 

Yours faithfully

 

SIGN

 

 

cc MeritForce