Notice of Debt Collection from Westcot/Barclaycard. No idea what to do next

[andre preview]

Hi,

 

 

I was self employed but my business now makes very little with just a few hundred a month coming in.

 

 

9 months ago my wife and I sold our house (which had a joint mortgage) and bought a cheaper house in her name.

 

 

We used the profit to pay off some debts but I'm still left with about £30k debt on credit cards and an unsecured loan. (which I haven't paid for about 7 months)

 

 

After my wife has paid the mortgage she's left with about £600 a month for the other bills eg community charge, utilities etc so there's not much, if anything , left to pay my debts off.

 

 

I'm 60 but hoping to develop a new business which may bring some money in.

 

 

Also, my mother died last week and I'll receive a small inheritance of around £2000. Other than that I have no assets or car.

 

 

I've included a more detailed breakdown below but any advice would be very welcome.

 

 

1 Is it really worth asking for the original credit card agreements? I've read elsewhere that they don't need to be original to recover the debts. Also, do I have to send letters to both Westcot and Barclaycard?

 

 

2. We no longer have any joint accounts. Will my wife be held responsible for my debt problems and do I have to declare her income if it goes to a ccj?

 

 

 

 

3 They've added late payment charges for the last 7 months or so. Can these be reclaimed and if so, how do I go about it?

 

 

Lastly, I can't access the library though I registered a few years ago.

 

 

Personal

 

 

Barclaycard started in 2001 £1877

Barclaycard started in 1994 £12005

Barclaycard started in 1994 £9940

Opus started in 1996 £1067

Nationwide started in 2014 £1890

Aqua card started in 2014 £Zero

Barclays overdraft £1300 Total £28k

 

 

Business

 

 

Barclaycard £4500 Unsure when it began as its not listed in Noddle

Unsecured Business Loan Barclays £1200

[theoldrouge]

send cca requests under s78 for the 3 Barclaycards , and one for the opus??(who was the original creditor?) card

 

to whoever is chasing you for payment

 

your wife is not responsible for debts in your name

[andre preview]

Thanks theoldrouge

 

 

I think Opus took over the Citi group a few years ago

[theoldrouge]

get the requests off to whoever is chasing you, any ppi on any of these accounts?

 

please list who now owns/ chasing each debt

[andre preview]

One other point, I haven't yet told Barclaycard my new address but I assume I should now tell them.

 

 

I do have mail redirected from my old home but they don't redirect recorded delivery or signed for mail.

 

 

If they were to take me to court, would the letters be sent recorded delivery?

[theoldrouge]

yes you should always update creditors with your address

 

you are a long way off court, so dont panic on that score

 

especially with debts started that long ago

 

get the cca requests sent off for a start

 

if you could list who is chasing you it would be helpful

[citizenB]

Court paperwork is not sent by tracked mail.

[andre preview]

Many thanks for the replies. Much appreciated.

 

 

There isn't any ppi but is there any chance I can reclaim the added late payment charges?

 

 

All the other debts are still with the original lenders apart from 1 with westcot.

 

 

When I receive the CCA do I challenge it if it doesn't display my original signature?

 

 

Also, will it look worse when I have to negotiate with them if I've kept one card healthy and not paid the others?

[citizenB]

 

but is there any chance I can reclaim the added late payment charges?

 

Yes, you can submit a claim for these. If you have statements showing the charges, then all you need do is complete a spread sheet from the link below.

 

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

 

Once you have done that, send a copy of the spread sheet along with a letter asking for these to be refunded, to the company.

 

If you don't have the statements, then you will need to send a subject access request first in order to obtain them.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?387306-Full-Subject-Access-Request-**Updated-January-2015**

 

The subject access request IMHO should be sent even if you do have the statements already, because you may well find other data that will be of use at some point

[andre preview]

Thanks citizenb!

[mikeymack2002]

Don't forget to add the interest to any reclaimed fees this could be worth a lot of money in each case and could wipe out the alleged debt

[andre preview]

Thanks for the tip. I asked for a SAR from Barclaycard a few years ago for a PPI claim. I assume its ok to ask for another?

 

 

Today I received a letter from Barclays cancelling my overdraft of £1300. Whats the best strategy for dealing with overdrafts?

[theoldrouge]

OK to ask for another SAR, for EVERY ac that you hold/have held with Barclays/Barclaycard (all in one SAR)

 

very limited with overdrafts, for now I would wait, and suggest once you have checked everything in order from your SAR return

 

and it appears as a default on your credit file

 

you then offer a token monthly payment in line with your I&E (eg £1-£5 pcm)

 

much more ammo with your old credit card accs

[slick132]

With BC a/c's, we always recommend reclaiming the full amount of each penalty charge, plus compound restitutionary interest at 24.9% or 29.9%.

 

You'd have to take court action to get them to repay the charges but BC would set the refund against any a/c balance. So court action may not necessarily be worth doing.

 

However, because the a/c's were opened pre 2007, first check to see if anyone has a proper signed credit agreement with CCA requests.

 

[andre preview]

Thanks again for all the valuable advice. Much appreciated and its helped to ease my fears.

 

 

I still have one credit card with nationwide which I pay each month as the minimum payment is only £10 or so.

 

 

When I arrange a repayment plan with Barclaycard, will BC demand more because they'll see I've been paying off Nationwide?

[andre preview]

Do I send a CCA request to both Barclaycard and Westcot? Also, I have 4 BC Cards so do I send them separately with a £1 postal order in each envelope?

[theoldrouge]

one request for each card, if wescot is chasing you for each then send to wescot

 

otherwise direct to bc

 

same for the old citi/ opus, to whoever is chasing, if not direct to opus

[andre preview]

Thanks

[citizenB]

Thanks again for all the valuable advice. Much appreciated and its helped to ease my fears.

 

 

I still have one credit card with nationwide which I pay each month as the minimum payment is only £10 or so.

 

 

When I arrange a repayment plan with Barclaycard, will BC demand more because they'll see I've been paying off Nationwide?

 

Are you going to provide B/shark with a Income & Expenditure form ?

[andre preview]

Yes citizenB, I can send them my budget but not sure whether to include my wife's income as she's now paying all the bills ( leaving about £100 for both of us to live on a month)

 

 

I was about to send off the CCA requests today when I read on another forum, the following which has really confused me :

 

 

You can request the CCA, but:

 

Since last year they only need to supply a copy of the terms and conditions applicable at the time and a copy of the agreement that would have been in force at the time (which does not have to bear any signatures)

 

As your was conducted over the net, they do not need to provide an agreement, under amendments to the CCA, again all they need to do is provide the T&Cs and Copy of the agreement in force at the time. If it was taken out after April 2006, then they would need to provide one anyway as the law changed!

 

Now the nasty bit. Since least year if they move to court action, on this type of agreement MOST District Judges are allowing the case if the creditor can show that you a) used the card [made any purchases or drew cash] b) made any repayments to the card account.

 

As a final kick in the nasties, even if you managed to get it to the situation that they cannot take legal action, they are still allowed to report to your CRFs.

 

Why all these changes I hear you say, well it is as a result of legal test cases forced by the Claims Management Companies who promise to write off your debt ... Well they couldn't and they have cost us all as a result!

[citizenB]

Hmm, I will ask others if they think your I&E should include your Wife's income - I will ask others on the team for their input.

 

 

 

 

 

If

[theoldrouge]

imo you really need to send the cca requests for those old cards

 

to satisfy s78 their reply must be a true copy of the original agreement taken from a specifc document

 

read thishttp://fshandbook.info/FS/html/FCA/CONC/13/1

[citizenB]

I have no idea which forum you took that information from (please do not say on CAG), however, I am not absolutely certain the content is totally correct.

 

I notice that most of your accounts were opened prior to 2007, so you are still protected using the previous legislation and therefore they WILL be required to provide the original agreement for inspection - if only to a court.

 

They will also be required to prove that you had the terms and conditions at the time of signing the agreement and not some weeks/months afterwards.

 

They will also be required to prove that they are the CORRECT terms and conditions that were supposedly agreed to at the time of entering into the agreement. So many lenders, MBNA in particular seem to think they can produce any set of terms and conditions and claim "these were it" ? See "Harrison v Link"

 

B/shark's agreements were "questionable" in that terms and conditions did not form part of the original agreement and were usually sent (if at all) some weeks after the borrower had spent all the available credit !

[andre preview]

Thanks for full response. It was on the payplan forum

[citizenB]

Thanks for full response. It was on the payplan forum

 

Hmm, well it is rather sad that they have not provided a fuller explanation of what has happened.

 

There have indeed been some District Judges who have not fully understood and given judgment in the claimants favour, but certainly not most

You only need read round CAG to see that there have been quite a few Judges who have found in the defendant's favour where it was/is obvious the claimant was/ is playing fast and loose with the paperwork.

 

These are pretty much always where the accounts were taken out before 2007.