Scary MBNA

[pixiepixie]

Hi - Ive been reading some of the posts on here regarding credit carde companies and MBNA pops up a lot.

 

I have a card with MBNA that Ive probably had for about 8years - I havnt used it for years and am dutifuly paying it every month in the meagre hope of reducing the balance to zero and closing it. Im getting nowhere

 

If I write to them and ask them to freeze the interest to give me a bit of a headstart on it - will they take this as an intention of not to pay and treat this as a black mark against me?

 

Ive never not paid them - but I am truly getting nowhere with it!

 

Ive read lots of posts about MBNA which has scared me a bit - they told one client to go sell her clothes!

Any advise would be great,

[diskmandave]

Hi - Ive been reading some of the posts on here regarding credit carde companies and MBNA pops up a lot.

 

I have a card with MBNA that Ive probably had for about 8years - I havnt used it for years and am dutifuly paying it every month in the meagre hope of reducing the balance to zero and closing it. Im getting nowhere

 

If I write to them and ask them to freeze the interest to give me a bit of a headstart on it - will they take this as an intention of not to pay and treat this as a black mark against me?

 

Ive never not paid them - but I am truly getting nowhere with it!

 

Ive read lots of posts about MBNA which has scared me a bit - they told one client to go sell her clothes!

Any advise would be great,

 

You need to get them to sell the account, to ANYONE!!!

(Probably Wescot Credit Services.)

 

You'll get nowhere whilst the account is still with MBNA!

(And, yes! They'll advise you to sell your Mothers clothes off her back!)

((Which is completely illegal!))

 

And to do this, you need to stop paying them and maybe go down the route of either CCCS or National Debtline!

 

Don't pay them another penny!!!

 

Good luck, regards, Dave.

[pixiepixie]

You need to get them to sell the account, to ANYONE!!!

(Probably Wescot Credit Services.)

 

You'll get nowhere whilst the account is still with MBNA!

(And, yes! They'll advise you to sell your Mothers clothes off her back!)

((Which is completely illegal!))

 

And to do this, you need to stop paying them and maybe go down the route of either CCCS or National Debtline!

 

Don't pay them another penny!!!

 

Good luck, regards, Dave.

 

Oh my god! Is it really this bad - they are this bad to deal with. I thought any reputable company would look to help their customer and try and retain them. I dont want to stop paying them - just need a bit of a hand to make some headway, is this really the only way out?

 

If I stop paying them wont I then be blacklisted and people will start door knocking me and possibly bailiffs?

[MinnieMouser]

Will putting the debt in dispute by hinting at starting a claim for a charges refund encourage MBNA to sell the debt on?

[diskmandave]

You can do what MM suggests and bang them with a charges claim which might knock a couple or three £K off the debt and then maybe start paying off say 10%/month to get it down without "a black mark".

 

What do you really want from this? Trust me! MBNA will not give up their cushy monthly payments without a fight... Everything that u've read about them is true!!!

[pixiepixie]

Hiya - is just to pay the damn thing off without getting blackliswted. It just seems wrong that ive been paying this for years - ive surely paid back what and i owed - and some.

 

ok - how do i word my letter - i really dont want them sending the heavies round.

[djdave]

I would firstly send them the SAR request along with your tenner to get a full list of all unlawful charges over the last six years. They might get stroppy with you but cannot lawfully refuse your request.

 

Reclaiming your charges isn't the simplest process in the world but yesterday Barclays offered me >£1600 so it can and does work!

 

Meanwhile make sure all your dealings with MBNA are in writing. Experience says if they accept a lower payment over the phone, the next month you'll be charged for not paying enough and they'll have no record of the lower offer

 

And don't worry about the "heavies". The worst they can do without a court order is send debt collectors round. They're not baliffs, they've got the same legal powers as your paperboy.

[pixiepixie]

I would firstly send them the SAR request along with your tenner to get a full list of all unlawful charges over the last six years. They might get stroppy with you but cannot lawfully refuse your request.

 

Reclaiming your charges isn't the simplest process in the world but yesterday Barclays offered me >£1600 so it can and does work!

 

Meanwhile make sure all your dealings with MBNA are in writing. Experience says if they accept a lower payment over the phone, the next month you'll be charged for not paying enough and they'll have no record of the lower offer

 

And don't worry about the "heavies". The worst they can do without a court order is send debt collectors round. They're not baliffs, they've got the same legal powers as your paperboy.

 

Hiya - stupid question - whats a sar?

[djdave]

Subject Access Request, you'll find the template letter.. erm, somewhere.

 

It's your right under the Data Protection Act to see all the information a company holds about you, including statements. They've got 40 days to comply with it, otherwise you can complain to the Information Commissioners' Office.

[pixiepixie]

Hija DJDave - ok thanks. i'll have a look round the website for one!

 

thanks again

[djdave]

Found it:

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/516-1-data-protection-act.html

[pixiepixie]

thank you!

[yaffsimone1]

I thought MBNA were a reputable company too! Dont believe a word they say, they will tell you allsorts. I had them threatening to take me to court under Amercian Law because apprently they are an American Bank and our British law doesnt stand for nothing. I have had them telling me to get a loan to pay my card off, borrow from my partner, my mother. Im sure there are laws about creditors encouraging you to get yourself more into debt to pay thier debt off! I even arranged a payment arrangement agreeing to thier figure (which i couldnt afford) they phoned me up two days later and said it wasnt enough! Anyway ive sent the CCA and the SAR to put the debt into dispute and i am trying to claim the charges back. I have never said im not going to pay i just wanted my payments reduced to an affordbale figure, but as with all creditors they wanted thier cake and eat it, so now for the time being they are not getting a penny. Thier greedines will come back and bite them on the bum!

 

There is a good point i have found in one of the templates here regarding Civil Procedure Rules:-

 

The commencement of legal proceedings under such circumstances could be counter to the ‘Overriding Objectives’ of the new Civil Procedure Rules. You will be aware that the Overriding Objectives underpin everything the court does. Moreover, paragraph 4 of the Protocols Practice Direction states that in cases not covered by an approved pre−action protocol, the court will expect the parties “to act reasonably…….. In trying to avoid the necessity for the start of proceedings.

I am going to throw this at all of them.

[pixiepixie]

god they sound absolutely awful. ok - i'll write them a letter and send them a sar from the link.

 

i feel really nervous about this - but at this rate i'll still be paying them when im 70!

[ladybird17]

Can I suggest that when you do the SAR, you enclose a copy of your driving license. MBNA use appallng stalling tactics, and will write to you on about day 30 asking for ID. So you have pre-empted this. Also, in your SAR letter, add that the £10 is for them to supply you with your details, and that the £10 is not to be used for any other purpose. (Otherwise they will write back and send you a few details, say aren't they nice for doing this, and they haven't charged you & will have credited the £10 to your account).

 

The send a letter requesting a COPY OF THE ORIGINAL AGREEMENT.(Under the terms of the Consumer Credit Act 1974) This costs £1 - and you should add the same sentence as above to ensure that you get it. They have 12 days (+2) to comply. If they don't the debt at that stage becomes unenforceable. If after a further calendar month, they still haven't sent it to you, they have committed a criminal offence. And then you have further options open to you.

Send all letters recorded then you can track on Royal Mail website.

 

When I say the debt is unenforceable, it still remains a debt, but can only be enforced through the courts. And this hinges as to whether they can supply a copy of your original agreement.

[ladybird17]

yaffsimone - that's a new tactic - MBNA now then seem to think that American law applies to UK citizens in the UK!

Cool -so presumably they pay your costs for a few days in New York for your case to be heard - and given the recent shennanigans on Capitol Hill about credit card charges, I don't think they're doing so well out there either. MBNA was recently acquired by Bank of America who thouht they could come in & clean up over here - and instead - they got us!!

[djdave]

Excellent advice there.

 

MBNA use appallng stalling tactics, and will write to you on about day 30 asking for ID.

While I agree with you, MBNA are not allowed to stall, and if they require proof of ID that's their problem: the 40 day clock is still started from date of receipt of your SAR. Failure to comply = complaint to the ICO.

 

But yes, there's no point giving them even the slightest way of attempting to wriggle out of their obligations.

 

If you're going to send any proof of ID, personally I'd write COPY over it in thick pen which overlaps the signature.

[ladybird17]

djd - "MBNA are not allowed to stall"..........neither are banks "allowed"to charge unlawful penalties..........nasty people are not "allowed to mug little old ladies, ....drivers are not "allowed" to use hand held mobiles whilst driving......

but all this still happens - don't think the "allowed" bit enters into it. They do, end of story!

[djdave]

Oh I quite agree, and there's no point making life hard for them. All I'm saying is that if they do use pointless delaying tactics, the ICO would be very interested...

[ladybird17]

Oh yes, absolutely agree, all more grist to the mill!

However, it annoys me beyond description when they resort to all these underhand tactics either to give themself more time as they can't find what you have asked them for, or to intimidate and prolong in order to put you off, or just in the hope you will go away and then won't have to cough up the dosh!

[pixiepixie]

i'll let you know how i get on - ladybird17 - have you dealt with mbna - it sounds like you have.

[ladybird17]

oh yes. Thereis a huge MBNA fan club on this site. If you use the seach facility in the blue tool bar above, and type in MBNA Europe then you can read ALL about them. We are actually in the process of putting in a mass complaint to the FSA about MBNA. I will find the link and post it up on here.

[ladybird17]

This Is Vital - Fsa Mass Complaint

[beancounter]

Recent experience has taught me NEVER to have anything to do with American banks they only care about the bottom line and cause untold misery. I agree that you will get nowhere until they sell the debt on. Ours was sold to to Westcot and in the end Westcot wrote the whole lot off. My advice would be not to try and get the charges back from MBNA. Wait until the debt is sold on. The new owner will not want to defend MBNA's charges in Court and you should then be able to negotiate a reduced settlement figure with them.

[diskmandave]

From experience...! If you want to get rid of this once and for all...

 

You need to get MBNA to sell this account on to a DCA. Usually, it's Wescot Credit Services. Wescot are generally o.k. as long as you're honest with them. After that, settle into a payment regime with them and then send the SAR to MBNA. Do the charges thing, this should be a healthy chunk off the full amount. Then you can CCA request Wescot and if they come up trumps with an acceptable copy of an agreement you can start to pay it down!

 

I might add... If you SAR or CCA to MBNA, they will provide acceptable legally binding agreements.... This is why you need to get the debt sold on!

 

In short... You've got to get this debt sold on, do the charges thing, get a nice refund and then start paying it off at say, 10%/month.

 

Reading between the lines, this is what I think you want to do!!

 

Good luck with it, best regards, Dave.