Littlewoods problem

[cc4]

Hi

 

 

I have a littlewoods account which was all fine until November, when I lost my job and was unable to pay, I start a new job beginning of February, so from next month will be able to start with payment on my littlewoods account again.

 

 

I contacted them via email in December to say there was a problem and would they accept £100 a month, the mimimum payment is £112, they said no as its below minimum monthly payment.

 

 

The £100 I offerered was a silly amount as I could have paid it but would have left myself short on food,electric etc., I panicked as Littlewoods constantly phone and send scary looking letters so thought I should tackle them!

 

 

I haven't made 3 months payments which by the end of this month will be £336, I can pay next months payment, but wanted to know if I could pay a reduced payment on the £336 outstanding, they said no, they will however let me spread everything I have over 3 years and charge me extra interest, which will work out at about £100 a month in total I think if I've worked it out correctly.

 

 

Could anyone give me any advice on whether I could make a offer of a payment plan for the arrears and carry on the minimum payments from next month, I have no idea what to do.

Many thanks

[silverfox1961]

Hi and welcome to CAG.

 

Typical from Littlewoods (and all the other companies in the brand) in that they fail totally in their duty of care for people in financial difficulties.

 

As per the Office of Fair Trading guidance, all companies that have a credit licence should treat debtors sympathetically and as such Littlewoods are in breach of their duty.

 

I suggest a formal complaint via Recorded delivery so that they cannot deny receiving it. As for the arrears, if you can pay your normal amount when you can then add a fiver on top for the arrears, not much they can do.

 

Your credit file may be affected by this problem by them either marking your file as Arrangement to pay or (most likely) missed payments but beware they may slap a default on there as well.

[cc4]

Thankyou for your quick reply, is it worth me writing to them to tell them this is how I intend to repay the arrears? If I can clear them quicker I will do but for the moment I have no chance.

[dx100uk]

its a poxy catalogue debt VERY low priority

 

pay them what you can afford

 

food and ALL other priority debts COME FIRST.

 

got all the statements?

 

not got £12 penalty fees & PPI have you?

 

follow this:

 

TELL [dont ask] them they are only going to get £xxPCM for xx mts

as a goodwill gesture

and as a reciprocal GOGW they must freeze int & refrain from levying PENALTY charges.

if they wont

drop them to £1PCM for life.

.

as an example>

.

I am currently in financial difficulties and not able to meet my normal monthly repayments.

to show my goodwill, i am going to pay £5 for 6 mts.

 

i will update you in 6mts time or before, should my situation change.

.

could you please as a reciprocal goodwill guesture,

.

refrain from levying any penalty charges & freeze the interest on my account.?

.

Should you fail to assist me during a period of financial difficulty, contrary to all the guidelines and codes

issued by the relevent bodies and authorities that govern you and the way you conduct yourselves.

.

i shall have no alternative but to reduce my offer to £1PCM for the rest of the life of the account,

.

.

as your actions would do nothing to help me.

.

i thank you for your time.

..

.

dx

.

then pay by your internet banking site

.

and get reclaiming

.

TAKE CONTROL

.

or

if you have sent the above and they refuse

then write back........

.

.

i'm sorry, but you have failed to assist me during a period of financial difficulty, against all the guidelines and codes

issued by the relevent bodies and authorities that govern you and the way you conduct yourselves.

i repeat again, the contents of my letter dated dd/mm/yyyy, for want of clarification:

to show my goodwill, i am going to pay £XX for XX mts

could you please as a reciprocal goodwill guesture, refraining from levying any penalty charges & freeze the interest on my account.

i will update you in 6mts time or before, should my situation chance.

should you fail to help by refraining from levying unlawful PENALTY charges & freeze my interest,

i shall have no alternative but to reduce my offer to £1PCM for the rest of the life of the account,

as your actions are doing nothing to help me.

This is contrary to the rules you should operate under.

disgruntled account holder

dx

[cc4]

Thanks for that, really appreciated

[cc4]

I had email to say they won't accept my payment plan as it's less than monthly amount due

and arrears need to be paid to bring account up to date etc., etc.,

(I emailed and posted recorded delivery about difficulties),

 

I had extra care insurance with them which I successfully got reclaimed a couple of years ago, and cancelled the insurance then.

 

They are still adding on the £12 charge each time I don't pay the minimum monthly payment,

I won't be able to claim/deduct off the amount owing now will I?,

 

not sure what to do now.

[dx100uk]

did you send letter 1 above

did you make the said payment?

 

you can reclaim ANY £12 penalty fees they are unlawful.

 

dx

[cc4]

Yes sent 1st letter & sent email copy too, made payment.

 

Had email back to say they won't accept payment plan as its lower than monthly payments,

and if I'm experiencing financial difficulty to contact stepchange.

 

Today received final demand for 3 months arrears and

said if I don't pay my account will be passed to debt collection agency

and they will be adding another £12 collection fee etc.,

[dx100uk]

letter 2 then.

 

and time to get reclaiming the unlawful PENALTY fees

 

don't worry about their DCA. NDR. I think

 

DCA's are NOT BAILIFFS

they have

NO SUCH BAILIFF LEGAL POWERS.

 

its just another bloke at the next desk in a diff coloured skirt

[cc4]

Thankyou for the quick reply,

 

I reclaimed the extra care insurance etc a few years ago,

 

can I re-claim the various £12 charges they've added to my account in the last few months then?,

 

do I need to send them anything to get information

or just copy recent statements?,

 

Sorry for all the questions

[dx100uk]

yes you can reclaim them

 

if you have all the statements

 

then you have all the info you need.

 

simply put

any fixed sum PENALTY FEE

say for late/over/letter/phone

usually £12 can be reclaimed.

 

use the CISHEET from here

 

put their APR in cell D 15

[its the same process as you did for the PPI]

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?330996-Latest-Spreadsheets-PPI-Claims-and-Charges-Claims-Dec-2011

[cc4]

Hi again,

 

sent off both letters to littlewoods as suggested.

 

They seem to be ignoring everything,

 

had a email reply same as before saying they won't accept my repayment as it's lower than the monthly payment they expect and

 

I now need to pay £142 a month,

 

was waiting for reply to letters but nothing then

 

today a letter from NDR saying I need to pay over £500 in next 7 days to stop further action

 

or come up with a suitable repayment amount in 7 days.

 

I've tried and so far failed to get through to them,

 

have paid the £50 monthly payment last month

 

I told them I would be paying and

 

was going to do the same next month

 

 

haven't got £500 to pay in one go,

 

any advise please.

[dx100uk]

carry on with what you said you would do

 

you've sent letter 1

 

you've sent letter two

 

end of issue

 

you now have the high ground should it ever goto court

 

time to hit back and start reclaiming the fees & PPI if you've got it.

 

dx

[cc4]

Thankyou, I'm just getting myself into a state worrying about it, what can or will they do now? I know its not classed as a priority debt but it is still a debt, if i could pay it off or get back on track within 7 days i would but have no chance at the moment

[cc4]

I did claim back the ppi etc on this some time ago, I didn't send a SAR just emailed a complaint, they then emailed a form to fill out, they upheld my complaint, worked out what they owed me, I had no idea about SARS etc and the amount was one I was happy with, on one of my statements is a amount for ppi and another for ad-hoc charges eg postal costs they refunded.

This account was opened in the late 90's early 200's, they have since added on about £100 in charges since the refund of the ppi etc.,