Stop payment plan or carry on?

[wobbles1914]

Hiya all.

 

In a nutshell there are two credit card accounts that I defaulted on and are "in the hands" of a DCA. CC1 was £2000 and is now £1300. CC2 was £2000 and is now about £1800. I pay around £100 per month on each. After having my eyes opened on this site I decided to CCA the DCA for both accounts.

 

Received a reply 8 days later with the following opening paragraph (looks like a template letter):

 

"Thank you for your request for a signed copy of the relevant agreement under the Consumer Credit Act. We will contact our client and request the relevant information and ask that it be provided as quickly as possible".

 

My CCA also included a request for a deed of assignment. No reference is made to this in the letter, so it appears that they are an agent for the debt and have not bought the debt.

 

My ultimate game plan / end game for these two debts would be to make "full and finals" which are mutually agreeable between me and the original creditors but also get them to throw in default removal as a freebie. I know that the chances of them agreeing to this are slim

 

Questions are:

 

1. As the DCA appears not have the original agreement should I cease my payment plan (account in dispute, I have no contract with you, etc) so that I can engage directly with the creditor again and make an offer? Or will this lead to the (fairly) compliant DCA getting aggressive and threatening court, CCJ, etc?

 

2. I also CCA'd the original creditors at the same time as the DCA and have not heard a dickie bird so far (8 working days). IF they both draw a blank (wishful thinking I know) is this the time to say, "This amount is unenforcable, however I would consider making an F&F under these terms i.e default removal, as you cannot produce a valid agreement".

 

Any thoughts?

 

Wobbles

[dx100uk]

yep good moves both

thats exactly what i am doing at the mo for 4 a/c of the o/h's

 

i am working out total for each, removing the charges & offering 75% of that as a F/F.

 

i'll let you know

 

dx100uk:D

[dx100uk]

you might find these useful too!

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt/20758-creditors-dcas-letter-templates.html

dx100uk

[MinnieMouser]

i am working out total for each, removing the charges & offering 75% of that as a F/F.

 

 

Why 75%? Why not start at say 30% and negotiate from there?

 

MM

[wobbles1914]

thx dx & MM!

 

When I finally receive the SAR information I will have an idea of how much is left and what will be appropriate.

 

The key aspect for me will be default removal so negotiation will be the name of game.

 

Wobbles

[Shanks]

Hi Wobbles1914, I would have thought that if they cannot supply the requested agreements then the debt becomes unenforcable and if so, no settlement payment wil be necessary. I would also question if this is the case that they should, although probably not without arguement, remove the default anyway.

 

This post has some interesting information on this topic. http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/word-banks/9349-removal-default-notices-credit.html?highlight=remove+default

 

Whatever happens, if you do go for a f/f settlement take MM's advise and start much lower than 75%. I took this option on a few debts a while ago and never paid more than 50% of the outstanding amount on any of them.

 

Good luck

[lolly371]

shanks. you are right that if they cannot provide the agreement the debt becomes unenforcable, but only until they can provide it. some people seem to be making offers just to know for sure that the debt is at an end. it is also a moral issue to be made by each individual, as although the debt is unenforcable, the debt does still exist, and therefore morally is down to you to pay it.

[Shanks]

Very fair comment lolly371, there is clearly a moral issue to be considered here and in a lot of the topics discussed on this board. I certainly don't want to appear to be of the opinion that we should always strive to avoid payment at any opportunity of due debts.

 

However I am acutely aware of the immoral and sometimes borderline illegal methods that some of these DCAs and other agencies use to extract money from people who simply cannot afford to repay the amount requested. In some of those cases it may be beneficial to demonstrate and remind the company involved that some polite and reasonable negotiation would be a better approach to take otherwise they may lose the lot, even if it is your intention to settle the debt.

 

Cheers

[lolly371]

i completely agree, shanks. i just wanted to clarify for wobbles benefit, simply because i have been having similar problems myself and there can be quite a lot of conflicting advice on the subject.

i'm pleased to see we are singing from the same song sheet- i would hate to cause offence to anybody.:grin: