XS Direct 3k Total Excess - Worried regarding Debt Collectors

[unclebulgaria67]

Yes you need to escalate the FOS complaint. I don't think xs direct will wait around 6 months before debt collection activity starts, if you are not continuing with the FOS complaint.

 

At the end of the FOS process, if they don't fully uphold your complaint and you have to pay xs direct, then it is up to you how you deal with it.

 

I would suggest you offer long term repayment over say 3 years or however long you need.

 

If xs direct ever go to court all you would be expected to make are affordable repayments.

 

Any offers you make in advance would see you in a good light.

 

But you are not at this stage yet.

[dacouc]

Stupid question, but how did Hyperperformance explain the All Sections excess? Did they just tell you it applies to all sections or did they tell you that it is paid if you claim or did they properly explain how it works?

[Jayden1994]

Yes you need to escalate the FOS complaint. I don't think xs direct will wait around 6 months before debt collection activity starts, if you are not continuing with the FOS complaint.

 

At the end of the FOS process, if they don't fully uphold your complaint and you have to pay xs direct, then it is up to you how you deal with it. I would suggest you offer long term repayment over say 3 years or however long you need. If xs direct ever go to court all you would be expected to make are affordable repayments. Any offers you make in advance would see you in a good light. But you are not at this stage yet.

 

Can I not just keep telling them I am escalating this to my FOS investigator and give them her name and my reference number just to keep prolonging it and buy myself some time?

 

Stupid question, but how did Hyperperformance explain the All Sections excess? Did they just tell you it applies to all sections or did they tell you that it is paid if you claim or did they properly explain how it works?

 

Quite simply put, The sales representative over the phone when I first purchased the policy told me "it is an all sections excess meaning even in the event of a third party claim I could be asked for the full amount from XS Direct".

[unclebulgaria67]

That is up to you. But you will have the FOS and xs direct writing to you asking what you are up to.

[Jayden1994]

Yea so I continue to prolong it, You reckon that's a feasible option?

[unclebulgaria67]

Pass.

 

Suspect FOS might just decide your complaint is closed and then xs direct will employ debt collectors.

 

Within 6 months, if there was no final decision on the complaint you could re-open submitting any further submissions to the FOS and debt collection would then be on hold.

 

Personally,

i think you should respond to what xs direct have said and go for a final decision from the actual ombudsman.

 

If your complaint is not upheld, then negotiate repayment over as long a period as you need.

[Jayden1994]

Will them repayments over whatever period of time have any effect on my credit score?

 

Once negotiated of course

[unclebulgaria67]

No

[Jayden1994]

Okay, Well as always I'll keep you updated on my movements and the help is much appreciated.

 

Its a shame it seems like its come to this "repayment" option as I really thought I had a fighting chance. Feels as if XS Direct have ignored my complaint and focused on the part they can easily bat back to me and reject as their final response. I will outline what we discussed above to my FOS Investigator within a week or 2 and make sure she understands where I am coming from.

 

Lesson has definitely been learnt in which I can tell anyone else I meet out there, Friends or family who don't have the guidance and complete inexperience in the car insurance side of the world to not make the same mistake I did just to get themselves on the road.

 

Kind Regards

 

J

[Jayden1994]

Hi all

 

Just an update to anyone out there. After XS Direct issued their final response I did not forward it to an Ombudsman as of yet and left me alone for a couple months. I am now with different insurers and did not have mine cancelled with them due to disputing my case at the time.

 

They are however chasing me for the sum now and threatening to pass the debt to debt collectors if they do not hear from me by the 26th of this month. I'm worried and unsure as to what to do at this point as I do not have the means to pay that sort of money.

 

Shall I forward my previous dispute from a few months ago to an ombudsman ?

 

Will they actually get debt collectors involved to chase down payment and take legal action?

 

Any advice/ info would be appreciated again

 

Thank you, Hope you are all well.

[unclebulgaria67]

Read back through the thread. You knew you would get to this point, where you would have the debt chased and you can just ask the FOS to elevate the complaint to an Ombudsman. From memory they are purely replying on you being informed of the excess when you bought the policy. Read through your complaint to the Ombudsman, as you gave a good explanation of other issues e.g threatened cancellation, no terms stated in policy about repayment of the excess.

 

Once you continue the FOS complaint, they should back off and let the FOS come to a decision. If your complaint is not upheld, then negotiate repayment over a long period.

[Jayden1994]

Yes.

 

Will XS Direct uphold what they say though and issue debt collectors and or possible bailiffs in the future?

 

I do not want it to get to that stage because I doubt I can negotiate a repayment of £20 a month or so which is what I can afford..

 

Regards

[unclebulgaria67]

Debt collectors have no powers.

 

XS direct would have to issue a county court claim first and if you ended up with a CCJ, you could be subject to enforcement.

 

But you would not let it get that far and would apply to pay by instalments based on what you could afford.

 

If you lose your FOS complaint, then offer £20 a month to XS direct as an amount you can afford.

 

Then it us up to them.

 

If they reject your offer, it is up to them whether they take you to court and still end up with £20 a month.

 

Seems a bit pointless, apart from getting the debt officially registered.

 

They might not bother.

[Jayden1994]

Alright. Once again thank you for clearing things up and clearing my head up at the same time.

 

One question though, When you say "they might not bother" meaning they might just write it off entirely or you mean settle with £20 a month?

 

Kind Regards

[unclebulgaria67]

Not every debt is subject to a court claim.

 

Companies will make a decision as to whether it is worth it or not.

 

They will hassle you with debt collection letters and phone calls first.

 

Insurance companies don't generally have staff that deal with long term debt payments of £20 a month.

 

If they accept it, then mostly likely to be farmed out to a debt collection agency ( DCA) to do the admin.

 

You will the get hassled every 6 months to increase the amount.

 

If you can't afford an increase, you just tell them and ignore.

 

A DCA is more likely to go to court than an Insurance company.

[Jayden1994]

So in theory I could ignore XS Direct for a little who are currently hassling me via email and saying if i do not reply by the 26th they will forward my files to a debt collection agency to buy myself some time?

[unclebulgaria67]

If it were me, i would not want to play games. You are doing what you did before. Not escalating your complaint to buy yourself a few months of peace and then worrying 2 months later when you are threatened with debt collection. Seems like a head in sand opportunity is taken whenever this is an option.

 

Suggest you escalate your FOS complaint NOW and that should put debt collection on hold for a few months. If your complaint is not upheld, then offer XS direct the £20 a month. If you start paying, it will be end of year or start of next. As i say, it will be difficult for them in regard to £20 a month, but given no repayment terms offered in policy terms, then they don't have much legal argument to require anything more.

[Jayden1994]

Yea you're right about the head in the sand.

 

I'm in discussion with my FOS Investigator as we speak so this is in the process.

 

I just hope that as you say they are forced to accept £20 a month and I am not punished.

[unclebulgaria67]

Just had a thought when looking at threads.

 

If the FOS reject your complaint and don't make any mention of how the £3k is to be repaid, just saying that is between parties to negotiate. If XS Direct reject your offer of £20 a month, then why not start a new FOS complaint, on the specifics of the £20 a month offer being rejected. In theory it would be a new complaint issue. The FOS might say it is a continuation of previous complaint, but if they don't deal with repayment terms, then why should they not look at it. The FOS should be looking out for consumer interests.

[Jayden1994]

Ok If all else fails I will definitely give that a shot. Once again thank you for all the help and advice.

 

Kind Regards

[marcsehgal]

hello just gone through your post

even i got same problem from xs direct asking me to pay £1485 and insurance was mis sold to me

 

never explained about excess properly and

 

when i ask them can i pay £50 a month they refused and told me you can only pay 10 month £148 a month and they told me if they dont receive first payment by 1 dec 2017 they will send it to debt collection

[Jayden1994]

Wow really, That's horrible news...

 

From what I've been told above they do not have a choice if you say to them £50 is all you can afford... I'm not sure how they could send it off for debt collection if you're offering some form of payment etc but I'd wait until one of the others reply... That's not encouraging for me at all as I'm still awaiting a reply from my Ombudsman.

 

Regards

[unclebulgaria67]

hello just gone through your post even i got same problem from xs direct asking me to pay £1485 and insurance was mis sold to me never explained about excess properly and when i ask them can i pay £50 a month they refused and told me you can only pay 10 month £148 a month and they told me if they dont recieve first payment by 1 dec 2017 they will send it to debt collection

 

Sent to Debt Collection means absolutely nothing.

 

They can move your debt paperwork down to the local fish chip shop to wrap cod and chips in and they would have about the same level of authority.

 

Debt collectors do not have any powers.

 

They simply try to come to payment arrangement with you and if you don't then it is up to xs direct what they want to do.

 

If you are happy you owe a debt for the amount stated, it is your choice whether you want to pay them.

If you do, then there is no requirement to agree with any repayment schedule.

If you can only afford £10 a month, that is all you have to pay, no more.

The xs direct policy had no repayment terms in their policy contract, so the repayment amount is your choice.

 

If you refused to pay a debt at all,

then it would be up to xs direcf to issue a court claim against you and if you got a CCJ,

you just apply to pay affordable regular payments.

[dx100uk]

would be nice if the OP updated us as to what transpired...

[Jayden1994]

Hi all,

 

I would give an update if I had an update myself...

 

I have given my FOS Investigator my complaint towards XS Direct themselves and clarified/ changed some of the initial wording and emphasized certain points even more within the new word document I sent her.

 

She replied asking if I had a final response letter from XS Direct,

Which I did receive but couldn't locate to send her so I told her no.

 

I have not heard back from her in a couple weeks now so I will send her another follow up email.

 

I haven't heard back from XS Direct neither after they told me a month or so ago that my case would be put on hold after I informed them I was pursuing my complaint with my FOS Investigator.

 

If any updates arise I will be posting them here immediately. Hope you are all well anyways.