Debt advice really needed PH/BH

[Claire0o0]

current provider on electric.

[martin2006]

Ok good, thise are the 2 mist important ones to get sorted, moving on to gas, electricity and water next.

[martin2006]

Ok well thats good aswell, did i see you top up prepayment meters? In that case the elec debt is being taken care off every time you top up.

 

Any gas or water arrears?

[Claire0o0]

They haven't taken anything yet but said it could be between £10 and £15 per week on the debt for electric. the gas I have no arrears and the water will be getting took direct from benefit.

[martin2006]

Ok who is your water company?

If there are arrears you could be entitled to help from the water companies' trust fund to clear your arrears,

alternatively, most water companies offer schemes for helping with arrears such as matching payments for 6 months and then from month 7 double matching.

 

For example, you pay 20 a month, they match it for 6 months, month 7 onwards they pay 40, well worth checking these schemes out on your water companies website.

 

So you seem to have all your priority debts under control with a little work to do with the water maybe, next you prioritise food and any necessary living costs, such as transport or other essential items not forgetting TV licence.

 

Once you have worked that out you will be left with an amount, known as "disposable income", this, you divide equally among the remaining creditors and send written offers.

 

If you have no disposable income, then depending on your total level of debt, you could apply for either a Debt Relief Order, an Individual Voluntary Arrangement or Bankruptcy. None of which are really as bad as they sound.

Edited October 6, 2016 by martin2006

[dx100uk]

nice work martin.

 

 

worried about .. plus a £1,000 debt with the electric board.

[brassnecked]

nice work martin.

 

 

worried about .. plus a £1,000 debt with the electric board.

That is being paid back through the pre pay meter, so Claire0o0 might be able to reduce the amount taken for arrears by the meter, especially as these suppliers are notorious for setting a stupidly high amount like £20 a week before any energy.

 

Yes ditto superb advice Martin.

[dx100uk]

Yes but £1000 that's a lot for a12mts bill

Hope it wasn't old bills they weren't entitled too???

[martin2006]

Its surprisingly not a high amount for 12 months use.

If you think it equates to around £20 a week in usage, thats alot less than i use for a 3 bed terraced, mine is neare £30 a week.

[Jason BrightHouse Web Rela]

Hello Claire0o0,

 

Firstly I would like to take the opportunity to sincerely apologize for the experience you have had with us.

 

We can understand your circumstances and would be more than happy to assist you.

Usually in such instances, your local store is the best point of contact as they have several forbearance tools to help bring your account up to date, whilst taking into consideration your change in circumstance to help with your financial situation.

 

A list of our forbearance options include:

 

1.Commitment

- When a Customer has missed their weekly payment and ‘commits’ to bringing their agreement back on track by an agreed date.

 

2.Rewrite

- When a Customer’s arrears are added to the end of their agreement. This may be one agreement or multiple agreements.

 

3.Breathing Space

– When a customer advises they are in financial difficulty and are actively seeking independent financial advice. Can be for a period of up to 28 days.

 

4.Product Substitution

– When a customer returns their current product and substitutes it for a product with a lower weekly payment.

 

5.Write off

– When a customer is experiencing severe financial difficulty and all other forbearance options have been exhausted.

 

6.Product Return

– All customers have the option of returning their product, at any time, without penalty.

 

Please allow us the opportunity to help by contacting your local store.

If for any reason you feel that you are not satisfied with our service,

please feel free to contact our Customer Relations team on 0800 526 069,

so we can look into this for you.

 

Kind Regards

Sunpreet

[martin2006]

Hows this going claire, have you made any progress?

[Claire0o0]

I fell behind on payments

 

 

the area manager called on Friday

ended up in an argument as he refused to help reduce the payments from £30 to £15 per week.

 

 

I gave him a rundown of what I have to pay out as I've lost my daughters tax credits/child benefit

me and my partner receive £113 per week and after bills/food etc

we've only got around £15 left which we offered.

 

I've paid well over a year on the two items we have.

he said he'd get in touch with his boss and see if they'd except the reduced payment but its highly unlikey they would.

 

 

never heard from him and now our tv has been turned off by them so we can't use it.

 

 

the tv itself belongs to me as I was given it from a friends a few years back and buy as you view has there box attached to it.

 

 

l I want is for them to accept my payment.

now I'm going to be sitting without a tv to watch.

[BankFodder]

I find that this is a shocking story. Isn't BAYV based on the fact also that you put money into a slot meter in order to save up money to pay off the debt? If this is the case then essentially they are preventing you from collecting the money that you need for the next payment.

 

What is the mechanism by which they switch the TV off? How does it work?

 

Also, are there any terms and conditions which allow them to do this? Is there anything on the documentation you have received – and is there anything on their website?

[BankFodder]

In fact I've just checked their website – and in their FAQ, they do refer to restricting your access to your TV. On the other hand, they say that this is only done after sufficient notice is given.

 

Have you had any notice about this?

 

You could tweet something like this if you wanted:

 

@BuyAsYouView pretty heavy-handed action from BAYV – and without sufficient notice? BAYV have turned my tv off http://cag.tw/1vn0

[BankFodder]

We've had a tweeted response from BAYV: –

 

 

Buy As You View

@BuyAsYouView

 

 

@Real_CAG Good Afternoon, can you send a dm from your personal account with your details. I will be happy to assist you further,

 

Alex, BAYV

 

 

I suggest that you contact them and see what they can do. I think that you need to point out that there has been no "sufficient notice" as per their claims on their website. Furthermore, they are not acting responsibly because they are refusing to accept any kind of payment from you and that means that you can't even reduce the debt partly. In other words, they are insisting on a certain level of reduction and if it is anything else – more manageable – then they are refusing to accept it. This is more than irresponsible, it is outrageous. They have a duty to accept any payments from you even if they're not happy about it. They have a duty to allow you to take any measures you can to reduce the debt. This is even if they don't find the instalments that you can make to be satisfactory. They still have a duty to allow you to reduce the debt.

 

Finally, they talk about having a friendly staff and approach et cetera. On the basis of what you have told us here, there was nothing friendly.

 

I think that sufficient notice must mean that there is notice in writing. Simply somebody turning up and making an almost instantaneous decision, is not sufficient notice.

[dx100uk]

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-3504517/Buy-View-hand-939k-crackdown-regulator.html

[Claire0o0]

The area manager came out Friday and said he'd speak to his manager Tuesday gone. we've had not default notice or anything and tv which is ours anyway was working earlier and then they switched it off on their end.

[renegadeimp]

next time, if ANYONE comes out, tell them quite clearly where they can go. Do NOT open the door to them. Ever. They also cant switch it off on their end. If its connected to the internet... why?

[dx100uk]

bypass their mains feed with another lead

[renegadeimp]

Personally i'd tell them in no uncertain terms that if they refuse to switch it back on, theylll get no further payment. besides, theyre already refusing payment towards an outstanding amount owed, which is not allowed. And also flouting guidance by no being compassionate to a debtors circumstances

[BankFodder]

Personally i'd tell them in no uncertain terms that if they refuse to switch it back on, theylll get no further payment. besides, theyre already refusing payment towards an outstanding amount owed, which is not allowed. And also flouting guidance by no being compassionate to a debtors circumstances

sorry, but I don't think that this is helpful advice. First of all, they have the whip hand. It doesn't matter a bean to them whether or not you pay. They're not short of a bob or two.

 

Secondly, you need to show willing all the way and avoid conflict. So far it is BAYV who are acting totally unreasonably and irresponsibly. You need to keep it that way.

 

I suggest that you take my advice and contact them by Twitter message as suggested above and see if you get a resolution. I wouldn't hang around too long. If you don't get things sorted out within a couple of days then come back here and we will discuss some further and more serious action.

 

In the meantime, keep on making the payments that you can make. It is very important that you don't stop this.

[fkofilee]

Great advice from Bankfodder there.

If you havent DM'd them on Twitter yet then do so ASAP. IF you need help, please let us know.

[renegadeimp]

My point is that bay are like bright house and are unlikely to compromise or even follow procedure. They're a law unto themselves.

[silverfox1961]

As I see it, BAYV are in breach of the commitments it made to the FCA

https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/rent-own-provider-buy-you-view-pay-%C2%A3939000-around-59000-customers

 

They have turned the TV off without issuing a default notice which they assured the FCA they would not do.

 

This quote from Thisismoney

 

The meter is connected to the customer's TV and historically it was 'temporarily interrupted' when a 'suitable payment or arrangement' was made.

 

 

Temporarily!

 

I would be filing a report to the FCA pointing out that BAYV are still doing things that they assured the FCA they would not do.

 

If you do DM BAYV, please keep us updated on what they say. Companies like this just hate bad press and they will try to coerce you into a confidential agreement.

[BankFodder]

Have you sent them a message yet?

 

In view of what has been discovered by silverfox above, I think that not only should you be complaining to BAYV but also you should be asking for compensation. I would also be making a complaint to the FCA and also to Trading Standards.

I'm sure that you aren't the only one to be receiving this kind of heavy-handed bullying and unlawful treatment from BAYV.

 

If BAYV wanted to sort this out, then they should go through the list of everyone who they have disconnected from their TV and yet who have not been issued with default notices as per FCA requirements – and switch them back on and also send them a letter of apology.

 

Do you think that BAYV is up to this? I doubt it.