BCW Debt Collectors Now Ringing!!!

[ruudvn10nic]

My husband received a letter from SC&M saying that legal action will be taken against him. I sent a letter to them which was kindly given to me by a forum member to say that they cannot take action as the account was in dispute. A collection agency called Buchanan Clark & Wells have phoned and my husband and myself have just had a telephone conversation with them - it seems Lloyds have passed the debt on to them and they are taking action against my husband and even though the account is in dispute the bloke from BC&W said we need to agree and make regular payments and if my husband is successful in court they will refund them. Needless to say I took hold of the phone and told them that he wont be paying a penny. They said that they will keep ringing if they dont come to an agreement with us!! We have been holding off submitting a claim due the the recent Lloyds win and have been reading through all the posts regarding this. I must say we are really panicking now and are considering getting a loan to just pay them off an get rid. Any advice welcome please!!!!

 

Thanks

 

Nic

[davethorp]

There are letters on this forum somewhere stating that you will only deal in writing. Send one of them for now and the phone calls should stop. If anyone rings say that you will only deal in writing and any further phone calls will be recorded and passed to the relevant authorities.

 

Don't let the recent victories put you off. They weren't fully prepared and didn't submit all the required evidence. As long as you read up on the process full on here you should be ok

[curlychic]

Here you go

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/37006-harassment-telephone-response-letter.html

 

I think it is disgusting that they act like this.

Good luck and keep us posted.

XxXxX

[davethorp]

Yep thats the letter I meant. Send one of them and they should stop. Remember to mention that you will be recording all calls regardless of if you possess the equipment to do this or not

[ruudvn10nic]

Thanks for your help but I have sent the harrasment letter 3 times now and it has had no effect!! I also told BCW to put everything in writing and yet they are still calling, leaving messages whilst we are at work. I am really loathed to pay them but dont want to be throwing more money at it with court costs (me and my husband will have to claim) if it ends up with a victory for them!

[davethorp]

Did you send it recorded? Things sent recorded tend to get "noticed" more as they cannot claim they never received it.

 

If you didn't I would send them a fourth one recorded. If they do ring up politely tell them that all calls are being recorded and you have told them that you will only deal in writing and then hang up.

 

If they keep ringing after that carry out the threat in the letter and report them to Trading Standards, OFT and OFCOM

[ruudvn10nic]

But they are taking action against him! We havent heard anything for two days and are worried that they have already started their action!

[ruudvn10nic]

Sorry to be a pain - I'm just scared of starting the court action x

[davethorp]

No problem. Lloyds actually claimed against me and I counterclaimed and won (just waiting for payment now) so I'm hopefully pretty up on what they may do.

 

It was a couple of months after I got the last letter from BCW or [problem] before the court papers dropped through the door so don't worry too much yet.

 

Have you actually started action against Lloyds yet? If so how far are you? And how much are you claiming? How much does your husband owe them? Is the amount your claiming greater or is the amount they are claiming greater? Is this debt just from a current account?

 

Sorry for all the questions but with the answers I should be able to help a touch more.

 

As I said above did you send the harassment letter by recorded. If not send another one recorded but just hang fire til you answer the questions above cos depending on answer you might be sending them another letter too

[ruudvn10nic]

Oooo rite - give me a mo and I'll reply to your questions. Thanks for this!!

[ruudvn10nic]

Right here goes.

 

We are at the stage where we should start court action (been putting it off)

 

Husband owes £818.05 (this is his overdraft plus interest they are adding interest on this every day!)

 

Husband is claiming £1,205.00. This is made up of bounced D/D's, S/O's and overdraft excess fee (we have left off the overdraft interest as advised on the boards)

 

It is from a current account

 

I didnt send the letters recorded :o !

 

He has had one letter from SC&M. We sent one back saying account in dispute etc (used a template letter from a forum member). Letter from BCW dated 25th May says failure to make repayment will end in litigation and the full balance will be due at that point.

 

I am also at court stage (no action taken yet)

 

They want £248.90 from me but in their last letter they said if I didnt reply they would demand the full balance owed which is £2,348.90 (overdraft plus interest). I am claiming £755.00 which is made up of bounced D/D's, S/O's and overdraft excess fees. Mine is also a Lloyds TSB current account. I have had no SC&M or BCW letter yet.

 

We would really appreciate your help on this one as we were close to looking at loans to just get rid of the whole mess but now you have spurred me on a bit!!!

 

Nic x

[davethorp]

The first thing for each of you to do (particularly yourself) is to apply for an account elsewhere if you don't already have one. Things (especially with Lloyds) can get very messy and you might need this parachute account to pay wages in and bills out of if Lloyds dig their heels in.

 

Your husband is in a slightly easier position as there is some £400 difference between his overdraft and what he is claiming. He should definitely start his claim IMO as even if Lloyds retaliate, once the dust has settled they still owe him.

 

I was in a similar boat but kept putting off claiming until the court papers from them dropped through. Lloyds claimed £312 off me but had taken £500 in charges so I counterclaimed for the difference and won. Since I counterclaimed Lloyds and [problem] went deathly silent. Your husband could do it this way round as well but it's probably easier and safer if he claims first. The worst that will happen is Lloyds could withdraw his overdraft and counterclaim for the balance owing. This is likely but will leave your husband £400 better off once the dust has settled.

 

You are in a slightly trickier position as your overdraft is very large and is a fair bit greater than the balance of the charges you are claiming. If you do proceed with this and Lloyds retaliate and demand repayment of the overdraft as looks likely you could be the one who ends up with a CCJ. Depending on the current state of your credit file, at this time it may not be worth the risk. Only you can decide that though and I'm not sure what would be the best option (one of the mods or admin might be able to help more). I know what I would do in your position but my credit file is a mess anyway and yours might not be so I'm not going to advise only to have it get you in a bigger mess. If you do keep the account with Lloyds going you will need to come to an arrangement with them to get back in your overdraft limit.

 

Regarding the calls from BCW get your husband to send another copy of the in dispute and no harassment letter you have already sent but send it recorded. He should be fairly safe to proceed to court but may want a parachute account first in case Lloyds TSB dig their heels in.

[ruudvn10nic]

Thanks so much for your advice. Sounds stupid but when we were typing the reply to you it dawned on us that I had no chance!!

 

We opened a parachute account ages ago and the Lloyds ones have remained open but dormant.

 

My credit rating is quite poor. No CCJ's just missed payments on credit cards etc. May have to look at getting a loan for my overdraft. We will defo proceed with husbands claim and I will get the letters prepared for him to sign. Do I send them to BCW?

 

I'll keep you posted - may need your help with the claim!!!!

 

Thank you sooooooo much!!

 

Nic x

[davethorp]

Yeah just send another "sorry account is in dispute, please stop harassing me" letter to BCW from your hubbie