RW&Co Ltd Settlement Help!

[symeon]

Hi, just wondering if anyone could help.

 

I received a letter from RW&Co dated 29/03 which says:

 

SPRING CLEAN YOU FINANCES

 

Clear out the cobwebs of you finances by paying just 10% of what you owe!

 

To clear this debt once and for all we will accept 10% of you debt on settlement, and we will then update your credit file accordingly.

 

This is a genuine ONE OFF opportunity to rid yourself of this debt. We may even agree for you to pay the settlement sum by up to 6 instalments.

 

THIS OFFER IS ONLY VALID UNTIL 20TH APRIL

 

 

 

I calculated the 10% of the debt and divided it into 6 amounts to be paid over 6 months. I then sent a letter to RW&Co with a PO for the 1st of the 6 instalments and a copy of the letter they sent me.

 

I sent the 2nd instalment 15/05 and received two letters from RW&Co this morning 21/05 the first one dated 17/05 saying:

 

 

 

We are in receipt of your payment of £**.**

 

Although we have credited this payment to your account the balance above (full amount) is still outstanding and requires immediate payment.

 

We may have previously allowed you to pay by instalments but your failure to pay on time has resulted in that arrangement being withdrawn.

 

 

 

The second letter is dated 18/05 so this is the letter I am taking as being the correct status of my account as it is a later date than the one above :

 

 

 

We refer to your offer to pay a sum in settlement of your liability for your account. We confirm your offer is accepted, provided you pay on time. We have reduced the amount due to the sum you agreed to pay.

 

YOUR FIRST PAYMENT OF £**.** MUST BE PAID TO US BY THE: 16/06

 

THE SECOND PAYMENY OF £**.** MUST BE PAID TO US BY THE: 16/07 and then you must pay £**.** by the same day each and every : Month.

 

If you fail to honour this arrangement, the original amount due will become payable in full. Please note our client may pursue other parties to the account for the balance remaining after your liability has been settled.

 

 

 

It is the last paragraph which is confusing me: Please note our client may pursue other parties to the account for the balance remaining after your liability has been settled. How can this debt still be pursued when RW&Co said in their first letter quote "To clear this debt once and for all we will accept 10% of you debt on settlement, and we will then update your credit file accordingly".

 

Can anyone help PLEASE!

[Curlyben]

Well I'd copy the first letter and send it along with ALL of your payments to "remind" them of the arrangement.

Also send a breakdown of how you are going to pay these installments, updated each month.

 

What you are receiving is their standard template letters.

 

One question does come to mind, did you confirm this payments arrangement with them for the 10% amount ?

 

Ps I see you found the Post Thread button

[symeon]

I forgot to mention the following in my first post (oops):

 

The first payment I sent to RW was by cheque with this covering letter:

 

Please find enclosed a copy of a letter you recently sent to me and a cheque for the amount of £**

 

To whom it may concern;

In order to clear the mentioned debt I approached my parents for help, who have agreed to pay the amount over the 6 months period you mention in your letter. Please find enclosed a cheque for the first instalment and each month I will either write another cheque or set up a standing order once you supply me with these details.

Please write back ASAP if my offer is accepted and acknowledge the debt will be completely settled and credit file updated accordingly after the sum of £**is paid to you.

 

However, the cheque was returned to RW due to a bank error (and it was the banks fault! ), I then received this letter dated 24/04:

 

 

NOTICE OF DISHONOURED CHEQUE

 

Your recent cheque sent in payment has not been honoured by your bank.

 

You must make the full payment IMMIDIATELY, by sending Postal Orders, Bank or Building Society Draft or cash to replace your dishonoured cheque. We will not represent your original cheque. To tender a cheque knowing it will not be paid by your bank may represent a criminal offence.

If you fail to pay BY RETURN, then further action may be taken.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I then sent the payment again by PO on 27/04 which RW received on 30/04 with this covering letter:

 

 

27th April 2007

Please find enclosed a copy of the letter you recently sent me.

To whom it may concern;

As requested I have enclosed a postal order for the amount of £** to replace the recent failed cheque, please supply a receipt and possible bank details so I can set up a standing order for the further 5 payments.

 

 

I heard nothing from them until I received this letter dated 03/05:

 

 

WHERE HAVE WE GONE WRONG?

 

 

In relation to the above debt, we have sent you a whole series of letters, we have tried to telephone you, and our local Representative has repeatedly called at your address – all with no success.

 

 

We require full payment but this may not currently be within your means. We want to reach a satisfactory settlement for you. We are prepared to take into consideration your circumstances and any possible problems you may have – but we must hear from you.

 

WE NEED YOU TO RESPOND – IF WE ARE TO HELP YOU

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I then sent the second PO payment on the 15/05 which RW received 16/05 with this covering letter:

 

 

Please find enclosed a postal order for the amount of £** and a copy of the original letter regarding this matter.

 

To whom it may concern;

Please accept my 2nd of 6 monthly payments of £** to clear the debt of £**, as agreed in the enclosed letter.

Upon cashing the postal order you agree to the following:

1) The debt being totally cleared after the remaining balance of £** (£** minus 1 previous payment of £** and this payment of £**) be paid over the remaining 4 months.

2) Update my credit records showing that the debt has been settled after the 6th payment to clear the debt of £** has been made.

 

 

I don’t know if the cheque issue caused any problems but from the letter dated 18/05 from my first post, they seem to have accepted the settlement offer. What my worry is; if I settle the account with RW, will the original creditor still be able to pursue me for the outstanding debt if they are not happy with the settlement made with RW?

[symeon]

Ps I see you found the Post Thread button

 

 

Thanx for your guidance, think I would have been there all day otherwise!

[symeon]

I don’t know if the cheque issue caused any problems but from the letter dated 18/05 from my first post, they seem to have accepted the settlement offer. What my worry is; if I settle the account with RW, will the original creditor still be able to pursue me for the outstanding debt if they are not happy with the settlement made with RW?

 

 

Any advice would be appreciated.

[symeon]

Anyone ? ? ?

[PriorityOne]

I'm not happy with this bit....

 

Please note our client may pursue other parties to the account for the balance remaining after your liability has been settled.

 

They have not mentioned anything about it being a Full and Final settlement and therefore, have left the door open for you to be pursued in the future. Unless they are willing to accept your payments as a F&F... then there is no guarantee that this will go away.

[PriorityOne]

Symeon... have you considered sending a CCA request ? What is the loan for and how much is still (allegedly) outstanding on it ?

 

It seems odd that a DCA would agree to accept a "once and for all" (but not F&F ? ) payment of 10% .... they are not generally known for being so considerate.

[symeon]

Hi PriorityOne,

 

When I received the letter, I didn't know anything about the CCA so I just replied to them with the first payment of the 10%. I've only found out about the CCA recently from this site because of another problem I had.

 

The debt is for an 'ex barclaycard' account and the amount outstanding is for £3,053.15. Their offer for settlement was for £305.31 and they said the debt would then be settled and my credit file updated accordingly.

[PriorityOne]

That sounds too good to be true actually... especially when there's no mention of Full and Final settlement...

 

I would be inclined to send off a CCA request (rec. delivery)..... does anyone else have any thoughts ?

[symeon]

I also thought it sounded too good to be true when I received the letter, but as I didn't know of my rights, I replied with payment to them. I have already sent them 2 payments which they have deducted form the £305.31. The other payment is due by 16/06. If I were to CCA them, would this affect the offer if it is genuine?

[rory32]

I would concur with priorityone.

 

Also when was the last time (before you started paying them on the 10% offer) that you had acknowledged the debt. I assume you are in England/Wales so acknowledgement means making an offer of payment or paying. In Scotland you can only acknowledge a debt by paying it.

[symeon]

I have NEVER acknowledged any debt to RW and I have never spoken or corresponded with them unil now. I have always igonored their letters (hoping they'de go away). I hadn't heard anything from them for months until I received the 10% offer. :o

[rory32]

Sorry I obviously wasn't clear. What I meant was acknowledgment to either the DCA or the OC - I think you said this was Barclaycard.

[trickytrish]

I think I'd be tempted to go the CCA request route too if they dont come up with it its unenforcable and then you dont have to pay till they do come up with it,

 

I owe RW and co for a catologue debt but they have failed to come up with the CCA but it still has'nt stopped them chasing me and threatning court action they've been reported to the relevent people tho,

 

good luck tho whichever you decide to do

[symeon]

Ok sorry rory. Not sure, but I think it would be about 3 years ago.

[symeon]

Thanx tt.

[rory32]

Okay just wanted to know whether it was statute barred or not. Obviously it isn't - you often get made these sort of offers when a debt is very near to, or has already become statute barred and they hope that the debtor doesn't understand that.

[symeon]

I really hope their offer is genuine and I've not just fallen for their trap. :-?

 

Was hoping someone would just say it was ok but it's looking like it isn't.

 

Wish the world would just swallow me up!

[diskmandave]

I really hope their offer is genuine and I've not just fallen for their trap. :-?

 

Was hoping someone would just say it was ok but it's looking like it isn't.

 

Don't know how I missed this, I usually smell RW&C threads coming outta the back of my computer as soon as I walk in the door!

 

I would certainly CCA request them, it's far too good not to smell of anything! 90% off, off a £3k debt sounds like something's very wrong. As for the bit about pursuing other parties, i've had that guff, if no-one else signed the original agreement who else is there to pursue (next doors cat?) ?

 

Having just re-read this 'cause it's strange I just realised they aren't the OC! Moorcroft do this trick and then send the account back to the OC to chase, happened to a good friend of mine back in March, knocked him 33% off to pay there and then on the 'phone, he did so with the help of Mum's CC and next minute RBoS are on the 'phone wanting to know when he would be able to pay the remainder, they protested but were basically told to prove it.

 

As for not acknowledging the debt, you did this when the 2nd cheque was honoured.

 

Have a read of my RW&C thread and see what you're up against, I wouldn't trust them as far as I can throw me!

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collectors-debt-collection/71386-diskmandave-robinson-way-co.html

 

Good luck, regards, Dave.

[symeon]

Thanx Dave, will take a look.

[symeon]

If I do CCA them, do I still carry on paying the mothly instalments?

 

I didn't pay by cheque because of the first problem so I have made payments by PO. However, they didn't return the 'faulty' cheque to me which has my signature on so they have proof its me that is paying.

 

Just need to win the lotto then I could sort it all!

[trickytrish]

if you do CCA them they have 12 +2 (2 days for postage) to supply the cca if after the 14 days they hav'nt supplied the agreement you can then stop the payments, has its unenforcable

 

if after the 14 days and then a further month they still dont comply with the cca they have then commited an offence If i've got that wrong I'm sure someone will correct me,

 

hope that helps

[symeon]

Sorry if I seem to be going on a bit, but what my worry is, is if the offer is genuine and I CCA them, then they could decide to withdraw the offer when in 4 months (if I continue paying), the debt could be cleared.

 

However, it would only be settled if their offer is GENUINE! Why did they have to complicate things by saying other parties could still pursue the debt.

[rory32]

Please note the 12+2 days are working days.

The 30 days are calender days.

 

If after the 12+2 working days they haven't supplied the copy of the agreement they are in default. As trickytrish says at this point you can now withhold payment until a copy of the agreement is produced. They also can no longer lawfully pursue you for this debt until they produce the agreement.

 

If after the 30 calender days they have still not supplied a copy of the agreement a summary criminal offence has been committed. However if you wish to report them for this you must do within 6 months of the offence. After this period it is statute barred.