Moorcroft - on behalf of tesco insurance

[libbyb]

Hi all - haven't been here for a while, but my son was visited by Drakes because he hadn't paid his fine to the Magistrates Court. He was banned from driving for being over the limit and sitting in his car, and he has just finished his six month ban. He rang Tesco insurance and advised them of his circumstances, and told them that the insurance policy was not required for at least that period - and probably was not valid in view of his ban anyway. He was paying monthly. He received a demand from them for £143.65 and he rang to query it as he thought his payments were up to date. He now has a demand from the pre-court division of Moorcroft demanding this sum and telling him that he must pay by November 3rd - we received the letter on 31st October and this was his 7 days notice. I have read another thread on Moorcroft and have printed off the template letter asking for a copy of the credit agreement and have this posted off today encloseing £1.00 and sending via Royal Mail "for signature". Does my son have to pay Moorcroft? This must be one of the worst experiences he has had in his life - can't wait 'til he's settled down and not a youngster any longer!

[lookinforinfo]

What did Tesco say about the £143.65 when he rang them? In his policy, can he

ring to cancel, or does it need to be in writing. |Also in the policy document it

should state if, on cancellation there are additional costs.

 

In any event, unless the car is kept in his garage [and even then it is questionable]

the car should be kept insured. I beleive you can get a reduced insurance if

the car is parked up for a while.

 

Also it would be helpful if you could clarify something. You say that you had a

letter from the pre-court division of moorcroft, which would suggest that it had

not yet gone to Court, But the first line of your post says that Drakes [not Moorcroft?] had contacted you for non payment of a court fine which should

mean that the case has already been heard.

 

Are there two fines involved as two companies appear to be involved?

[mutzi]

Insurance companies are exempt from requiring consumer credit agreements.

 

Is the fine paid?

 

You can cancel insurance if it's not needed and they can charge an admin fee for that (only their costs though.) You need more information about where this £143 has come from.

[libbyb]

Hi - sorry to have confused two issues here. My son agreed to make payments to the court for the fine imposed alongside of his ban. He made two payments and then the third was rejected by his bank and that is when Drakes became involved. They charged him the balance of his fine and £200+ which he had to make to the bailiff directly on his card.

 

The Tesco Insurance is a separate issue but resulting, obviously, from his driving ban and that's where I have linked the two together. Until the ban he was fine, he called Tesco advising them of the circumstances and he did receive a letter from them. I really just wanted to know if he has to deal with Moorcroft at all? Are they just out to scare him and add charges on top of what Tesco say he owes? I have suggested he send a cheque for a third of the balance to his insurance and a letter outlining his intention to clear the amount over three months. He has had to move nearer to his job as he had no transport and our links (rural) are non-existent. Consequently his disposable income is now minus £500 per month!! His car is in our garage.

[mutzi]

Bailiff fees have most likely been overcharged, was it just one visit? Have a look here: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-bailiffs-advice/38134-issuing-claim-against-bailiff.html

 

Don't send moorcroft any money. You need to find out whether any money is actually owed first, this isn't clear from your posts. What did they say on the phone and in the letter? Is there anywhere he can see a missed payment ie bank statements?

[libbyb]

I have read other threads on here regarding Moorcroft and they all seem to involve writing to the company for a copy of the credit agreement. I have done this with a £1.00 postal order (yesterday) and I faxed them the letter too, keeping a copy of the transmission report as their deadline to contact them by is 10.00 a.m. today. I hope this will put a stop to their demands. In the meantime the letter from Tesco advised my son that by cancelling the policy he had incurred charges - and also that the payments were taken a month in arrears. I don't think he disputes owing them money but, as mentioned above, his outgoings are much higher now than before and it's all becoming a bit of a juggling act for him. I am prepared to pay the first third of the outstanding debt to help him out, but I don't want to get involved with a DCA and end up paying much more than the figure owed.

[libbyb]

Bailiff fees have most likely been overcharged, was it just one visit? Have a look here: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-bailiffs-advice/38134-issuing-claim-against-bailiff.html

 

It was just one visit, and we told this bailiff that my son didn't live here due to the driving ban etc., and that when he did live here he was not an owner of any of our property. He has kept this address for his post as I do see him regularly and he doesn't want to have to renew his address details with his bank/employer/etc as he is not intending to stay in his current bedsit for too much longer! In fairness to the bailiff who came, he was not rude and when he warned me that he would get a warrant for my son's arrest because this was a court fine he was collecting, he ceased his onslaught as I became visibly upset. I know my son has been stupid but he isn't a criminal because of that, and I dread to think that they can lock him up because he had one over the 8 at a party and then sat in his car to sleep it off! The reverberations from this incident will affect him for a long time to come I think.

[POCA]

I wouldn't worry too much about your son being arrested. He would first be summonsed to court to show good cause to the magistrates as to why he hasn't paid his fine. Arrest and imprisonment are really last resorts. The bailiff was quite probably trying to scare you or just didn't understand his job.

 

Perhaps your son could write to the court explaining his circumstances. I've known courts to quite often reschedule fine payments to £5 a week, or even to write them off altogether. Then he could deal with Tesco's/Moorcroft.

 

I've had professional dealings with Moorcroft and find them to be pretty useless, even when you don't owe them money! I do have a funny story of getting one over on them but I can't share it in public I'm afraid.

 

At some point sooner or later your son will look back on this and think "that was stupid. Better not do that again!"

[lookinforinfo]

If you haven't already done so, you should write to Drakes asking how they

arrived at their charges. Even if money is not tight, there is no reason to pay

more than you have to, and if you can get a refund, it will be that much less

to find to pay the still outstanding fines.

I hope that Blfuk1 will not mind if you use his letter from another thread to

confirm Drakes charges.

 

"Please provide a detailed breakdown of the costs you have charged showing in each case the reason for the cost and the actual cost against that item. For any cost which relates to an attendance fee, please state the date and precise time of the attendance and the name of the certificated bailiff making each attendance with the name of the county court where the relevant bailiff obtained his or her certificate."

 

And Poca is quite right about your son not being arrested. It is applied to those who won't pay, rather than those who can't and for the bailiff to suggest that he

could get an arrest warrant just like that, is disgraceful.

[Guest HUSBANDKHAN]

The bailiffs threatning with arrest is common. If they say they are going to call the police to arrest then they are lying through their teeth. The police are only there to keep the peace. A arrest warrant would only be issued after another summons has been issued. Also do note that the bailiffs will not make anything if the warrant is taken back by the claimant. regardless of how much work has been done by them. ie if a debt of £150 is given to the bailiff they add £200 on for themselves if you do not pay or they cant get you to pay and as long as they have not entered your premises the warrant will go back to who ever issued it and will remain at the original £150 unless you have made payments direct to the warrant issuer.In which case the original debt will be reduced. a bit confusing but straight forward.

[Guest HUSBANDKHAN]

just a quick one.the tesco insurance has a claim been reported on the insurance ? even if it was settled ? this could be a reason for it being passed to dc.

[libbyb]

Hello all and thanks. I shall copy the letter to Drakes and get that off to them asap. You are right about them adding on £200 for themselves. I think my son was more worried about them coming for him at his place of work and just gave his card details. He is very image conscious (aren't they all?) and anything like this would mortify him, truly.

No claim has been reported on the insurance to his knowledge, certainly not by him and as I said, the car is off the road in the garage.

Somebody from Kirsty has just called on an 0161 number saying she was from MDR (Moorfield Debt Recovery I presume) so I have given her my son's mobile and text him to let him know she will be calling. I have asked him to asnwer her but to say that he has been advised to communicate in writing only. The DCA letter we sent to them has not been replied to. I bet he's quaking in his shoes now!

[mutzi]

It looks like, after recieving this sort of letter drakes will refund you pretty quickly. For only one visit I would expect the charge (although its not clear for fines) should be around £20. Expect most of the £200 back.

 

So you can concentrate on the insurance for now.

In the meantime the letter from Tesco advised my son that by cancelling the policy he had incurred charges - and also that the payments were taken a month in arrears. I don't think he disputes owing them money but, as mentioned above, his outgoings are much higher now than before and it's all becoming a bit of a juggling act for him. I am prepared to pay the first third of the outstanding debt to help him out, but I don't want to get involved with a DCA and end up paying much more than the figure owed.

If he has arrears then obviously he needs to pay them but the charges for cancelling can only be the 'cost of administration'. Just like bank charges they are probably far too much. Do you have a figure for just these charges?

 

The money drakes refund should be a large portion, if not all of any arrears covered anyway.

[libbyb]

Thanks, Mutzi - he has all his post, so I shall have to meet him and look at the letters from tesco. The Drake's letter was sent off to them yesterday.

 

I am not so sure about Moorcroft calling him though - shouldn't we receive a written response to our communication? I sent the letter to be signed for, so I will suggest we wait the 12 days and then send out a 2nd notice - which one should that be?

[Guest HUSBANDKHAN]

Read this thread which will give you more infor about a law which catches all bailiffs out !!! http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-bailiffs-advice/47014-certification-ceremony.html#post372765