minicredit negotiotion

[violentj]

hi all,i wont bore you with the ins and outs of my loan,but top and bottom is i cannot afford to repay it at this moment in time.

 

i have told minicredit and started a negotiotion /discussion with them.

 

they have sent me this and i just wondered if the charges were legit,it seems exessive to me on an original 220 quid loan to owe 500+

 

i would appreciate if anybody who has had more experience with them could advise on how i proceed from here

The first option is a roll-over. Roll-over is available 3 days before the due date and allows You to extend the loan for up to 30 days if You think that in 30 days Your situation will omprove. To apply for the roll-over You have to pay the interest up to date and extension fee of £15.00 however the roll-over depends on Your credit check results and might be declined.

 

 

The second option we are able to provide You is a settlement plan for £511.68. We provide all our clients 120 days from the due date to make payments of any amount towards their outstanding balance. Your current loan is not even overdue which provides You 135 days to make payments of any amount. You would need to make at least one payment a month towards the balance and clear the whole remaining balance by the 7th of November 2013.

 

 

 

The third option is a long term payment plan. We are able to accept the amount of £561.68 repayable under a payment plan through our payments collection partner. The payment plan balance consists of the following:

 

 

 

1. Original due date balance £300.08

 

2. Default charges £40.00 (Unless the loan is repaid in full before the 4th overdue day)

 

3. Interest for our default period of 60 days £171.60 (Will not increase even if t takes You a year to repay the Loan)

 

4. Debt recovery fee for setting up an alternative payment arrangement £50.00

 

 

 

The contractual interest rate is 1.3% of the principal per day from the date of issuing until the 60th day after the chosen due date. The above described overdue charges and interest are in accordance with the Loan Agreement. When choosing a long term payment plan option, a default will be marked on You credit reference file immediately but You will be able to make payments during a longer period of time.

 

 

 

 

Kind Regards,

MiniCredit Hardship Department

[email protected]

 

thanks for any advice guys

 

just for reference sake this is the current state of my account

 

2013-06-12£220.00£257.18£290.182013-07-10Active loan

[renegadeimp]

Minicredit are well known for adding on unlawful charges. Ignore them and if you feel the need to reply, tell them that you deny any and all liability for the charges and demand that they be explained in full.

[violentj]

i chose to speak to them,perhaps unwisely(i have kept it to email) they now are requesting documents relating to my finances and employment(or lack of) and the guy seems to be trying to boggle me .

i have read these forums before asking for help and tried to apply some tactics ive seen mentioned elsewhere but im out of my depth and i think the guy knows it, this was theyre last reply to me

 

Without the documentation we asked we are not able to assess your financial situation, calculate and affordable installment for a payment plan and consider a decrease of charges.

 

 

 

As You are already planning to see a legal advisor, please ask whether the creditor is entitled for the supportive documentation once the debtor is requesting for a payment plan.

 

 

 

We are not trying to avoid helping you in your difficult situation where full repayment cannot be made. Please provide us with the supportive documentation so that a payment arrangement could be set up in a fair and reasonable way.

 

where do i go from here,ive no idea what im doing and considering a debt management company(can anybody recommend one)

[renegadeimp]

The creditor is NOT entitled to documentation. Especially a low priority pay day loan company. The documentation is sent at the sole discretion of the debtor, and even then, only a simplified budget summary is needed. Nothing more. Minicredit are all bark and no bite. Once you show them you are not scared of them, you know your rights and you wont back down, they soon give up and start offering "discounts".

[violentj]

thank you renegadeimp

do you know if idebt plan are legit dmc ?

im not particulaly scared of them,but i would like to know where i stand legally before i stand my ground.i dont want to be spouting nonsense to them,letting them i dont have a clue inadvertantly.

is there any suggested reading for me on this re rights when it comes to these companies

[renegadeimp]

There are many dmp's. If you have to pay for it however, then it is a complete waste of time. Also, going by the info you have given, they seem to be pretty much incompetent at doing what they do.

[violentj]

oh no ive not entered into any dmp with a paid company yet was just debating it,im currently personally trying tosort minicredit myself,hence me wanting to know where i legally stand,go through the forums theres lots of advice but i dont know which path to take,do i stand firm with minicredit,tell them i have jsa to live on and just stick to that,do i leave it and wait till their dca gets intouch,do i go dmc route

[renegadeimp]

Minimuppets are easy to deal with. Onc eyou wear them down, theyll pass the debt to opos, who will try and charge you for doing so. (Opos are the same company, just a different desk in the same office). Play the same game with them and dont take any crap from them and theyll back down too.

 

I kno wyou dont want to go through the ins and outs of what has happened so far, but is there any chance you can? Especially if you have itemised breakdowns of the debt. This will help me or others form a letter to you so we can call them out.

[violentj]

[ATTACH]44741[/ATTACH]

 

erm well quite simply i got a loan of 220 from them,fully expecting i could pay it back before due date,but in the interim my dogs got ill and we have also found out he has a heart murmur and this is costing us a lot,im not entirely sure what itemisation you would like re this debt,i know they are a bunch of muppets-(i must add when i originally applied for a loan way back last year i was employed and it was paid back early however this one i wasnt employed,but it was just a case of clicking the apply button since i had an existing account)

but from whit you put its

loan £220.00

today owed £257.18

due date owed £290.18

but since all my "spare"(does anybody have spare these days)is sunk into the dog i knew come due day i couldnt pay,so i attempted to preempt it and get something sorted asap,the results of which i posted up there

 

1. Original due date balance £300.08

 

2. Default charges £40.00 (Unless the loan is repaid in full before the 4th overdue day)

 

3. Interest for our default period of 60 days £171.60 (Will not increase even if t takes You a year to repay the Loan)

 

4. Debt recovery fee for setting up an alternative payment arrangement £50.00 love this,they seem to be charging me for trying to sort out payment

 

if really needed i can post the entire email conversation ive had with there hardship rep so far,i think ive sorta steamed in too much,after reading these forums and thinking i know something when i really don't have a chuffing clue

 

edit:added email convo as attachment at top

Edited June 27, 2013 by violentj

[renegadeimp]

2 is unfair and can be reclaimed. 3 is grossly unfair as they are frontloading interest. 4 is unfair and can be reclaimed. They are NOT allowed to charge simply for setting up a repayment plan. You can post up the email convo if you want, but it doesnt matter too much. Minicredit rarely ever follow the rules anyway.

[violentj]

latest reply from these guys any sugestions on how i proceed(without making it worse)

 

 

A MiniCredit Harship Department member has replied to your application, #102610 with the following response:

 

The following response is being sent to You according to the Formal Hardship Procedure.

 

 

If You are refusing to provide us any supportive documentation and to support Your claim of unforeseen circumstances - we will not be able to reduce the balance further. The balance provided to You is already fair and realistic especially considering the fact that You have given us false and misleading information during loan application and did not present any evidence supporting unforeseen circumstances or any financial difficulties as such.

 

 

Please take the following in to consideration: The Office of Fair Trading „Debt Collection Guidance “expects creditors to discuss an affordable payment plan with the Customer who faces unforeseen financial difficulties. We are in our right to refuse Your settlement offer of the original due date balance only, but have to accept a partly payment offer you wish to make. This means that the total payment plan balance is calculated according to the Loan Agreement and the Office of Fair Trading „Debt Collection Guidance“ and you are then able to start clearing the balance by making affordable installments which is £25.00 as You have stated Yourself.

 

my reply

 

"could You explain to me how frontloading interest and charging me a fee to set up a payment plan is

fair and realistic?

I also ask you to prove i could have forseen a heart murmur and an intestinal bug,being i am not a an animal medical practitioner.

i also suggest you prove any accusations made against me regarding the initial loan application,and please do as all these emails are being saved and forwarded to the f.o.s and oft

 

and just to end the 25 was my maximum based on yourselves accepting to cap the amount at the initial amount owed on due date,since you seem unwilling to help in anyway whatsoever than i can only offer a token payment of 5 per month to be reviewed in 6 months time

 

please forward a payment book or a relevant bank details for me to send payments to"

 

i think i should stop replying i only seem to make things worse here

Edited June 27, 2013 by violentj
added my reply

[violentj]

i have no idea how to reply to this

A MiniCredit Harship Department member has replied to your application, #102610 with the following response:

 

The following response is being sent to You according to the Formal Hardship Procedure.

 

 

What do the terms fair and realistic mean?

 

 

 

The Customer whose financial difficulties were caused by an unavoidable and unforeseen circumstance should be in favor over the Customer to whom the non-repayment was known at the time of taking out the loan. Depending on the cause of the difficulties the creditor should consider suspending or amending charges and interest, but regardless of the cause should not demand payments that are more than the debtor can afford. The Creditor has the right to require supportive documentation regarding the cause of the financial difficulties to determine the time of the change and whether the cause was unforeseen or not. The reasonable and realistic payment arrangement can be set up when the Customer provides documentation regarding the monthly income and expenditure. As per the OFT guidance we should not set up an arrangement where the Customer will be unable to pay for the basic needs due to the payment installment amount.

 

 

Taking the above in to consideration and as You have mentioned that you no longer work and can only afford £5 per month. Could you please provide us with the up to date budget sheet showing the actual income and possibly a payslip confirming Your previous and current income.

 

 

 

In the payment plan balance you were offered, the only overdue charges were two default charges totaling £40. Interest is not considered an overdue charge as it is the cost of you pay for using the loan. The Creditor is not legally obliged to freeze the interest or after one month when the Customer experiences financial difficulties. I ask you to read the whole chapter from the Consumer Credit Act 1974 regarding the defaulted and early settlement. Part VII section 93 states that interest should not be increased on default. According to the credit reference agencies, the default cannot be registered before the 120th day after the initial due date. The Consumer Credit Act 1974 also explains that the Creditor is able to register the account status as in default when the Consumer is provided with the Default Notice and the date when the default will be registered. The Consumer Credit Act 1974 states that the Consumer does not have to pay more than one month interest with an early settlement, but this does not mean that when a loan is overdue, the Consumer is entitled to do the same and unless the loan is repaid on the 10th of July 2013 it will be overdue.

 

 

 

The interest itself is not an overdue charges, it is the agreed cost the Consumer pays for using the loan at the rate marked in the Consumer Credit Agreement (Loan Agreement) until repayment or default.

 

 

 

Regarding not freezing your balance, we would like to provide you the information we have received from the Financial Ombudsman Service when they have assessed complaints of this nature:

 

The application of interest and charges by a lender is a commercial decision for a business to make, and it is not for the Financial Ombudsman Service to comment on whether or not the charges are unfair.

 

 

 

In investigating disputes of this nature, we must look toward the terms and conditions of the specific agreement to decide whether or not the interest and charges have been applied in line with them.

 

 

 

When an individual encounters financial difficulties, there is no obligation on any lender to make amendments to the terms and conditions of the agreement- such as reducing interest or charges. However we would expect a lender to take a positive approach to the circumstances such as providing the possibility to enter into a repayment plan.

 

 

 

We are not saying that pet's illness could have been foreseen or predicted, but we do not have any supportive documentation regarding Your dog's misfortune and being a financial institution we need supportive documentation. However currently more important is the fact of providing us misleading information regarding Your income and employment status.

 

 

If we are unable to reach an agreement and this case will be escalated to Financial Ombudsman Service we will be more than happy to provide all the information ourselves, which will include, but will not be limited by the following: emails, the exact times any changes were made and IP addresses of the computer or computers used to update any details on file, logs from the servers and upon request Your internet service provider will be providing logs of Your activity to insure that the information provided by us is true and correct.

 

 

 

 

Kind Regards,

MiniCredit Hardship Department

[email protected]

[renegadeimp]

That letter is a blatant breach of oft guidelines. Ill write a letter gor you later if you want to play hardball with them.

[violentj]

thank you i would appreciate a more knowledgeable persons letter

[violentj]

LATEST REPLY FROM THEM

A MiniCredit Harship Department member has replied to your application, #102610 with the following response:

 

The following response is being sent to You according to the Formal Hardship Procedure.

 

 

Thank You for Your feedback, however in order to make a proper assessment we have attached a Hardship Application which we would kindly ask You to fill out. Please provide us with the supportive documentation confirming unexpected loss of employment after or during the tima the loan was issued and payslips confirming Your previous and current income if You would like us to overlook the balance.

 

 

Please also follow this link that takes you to Ombudsman news page on the official Financial Ombudsman Service webpage:

 

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/39/financial-difficulty-debits-39.htm

 

 

 

There you may find the following:

 

To help work all this out, the lender is likely to ask the customer to complete a statement of income and outgoings. This will probably be in the form of the Common Financial Statement, developed by the British Bankers’ Association in consultation with the Money Advice Trust. Some customers may feel that the questions they are asked are somewhat intrusive, but setting out their financial position in detail in this way is the first step to arriving at a solution.

 

 

 

 

Kind Regards,

MiniCredit Hardship Department

[email protected]

[stitchly]

Hi there!!! I took on these clowns via Fos and won and infact 84% of all complaints made to fos were upheld in the consumers favour.

 

As for income/expenditure....YES but a very basic one and DO NOT send them any payslips or bank statements,they certainly arent entitled to see any of that.

If the income/expenditure is not to there satisfaction ask them for there FINAL RESPONSE then get a complaint into the Fos.