Amex & Allied International Credit

[Jo Strummer]

Hi, hope this is the right area, I have hit problems with two credit cards, one I think I have resolved the other seems to be getting difficult. Amex have sold my card debt to Allied International Credit the outstanding balance is £11923.25 and they have included in that a £1644.59 referral fee.

 

I am self employed and so far, despite a truly horrendous 6 months with no cash coming in, avoided getting a ccj. AIG keep phoning me ( 3 times in 3 days ) asking me how I'm going to settle the debt. I have said I don't have the funds to clear £11K now but can pay £150 a month, they will not entertain this and have started saying they are going to take a second charge out on the property I own and all that. When I question why they won't take the £150 they just go back to asking the same question again and again "when will you clear the balance" and then when I keep repeating that |I can't but I can make a regular payment they say I am awkward and put the phone down. They have put the phone down on me twice now after asking me to call them. But they keep calling me!

 

Are there any obvious things I can do? If I could borrow a couple of grand would that get them off my back or do they just want the whole debt and will go the CCj route. Will I then not be back to making an offer of a monthly payment ie £150. I can't understand what they are driving at.

 

Any help/advice gratefully received.

[clutchingatstraws]

Hi Jo

 

How old is the debt and have you sent them a CCA

[Jo Strummer]

Well the credit card was being used by me up until Christmas, had the card about 4 years. Where do I find the CCA letter, I'll do that today and send it recorded delivery tomorrow.

[clutchingatstraws]

Look here

 

Creditors and DCAs - Letter Templates & Budget Planner

 

at template N for a letter to request CCAs

 

My thoughts are, and that the general advice is to have a good look at the various threads in this forum as they are a mine of information.

 

If you have come to some arrangement with the other account I would still CCA them to ensure they have the legal right to the money they claim you owe.

 

Consider SAR'ing both of them to establish how much of what they are claiming is made up of illegal charges.

 

As for borrowing more to pay them it is my opinion that if you start throwing chunks of money at them they just get more greedy and the only way to get out of a hole is to stop digging.

 

Will help where I can but please bear in mind that all of my opinions are mine and not neccessarily those of a judge.

 

That said without a valid Consumer Credit Agreement with all the prescibed items you may find that they cannot collect a penny from you.

 

By the way how old and for how much is the debt that you have made an arrangement on?

 

Good Luck

 

Cas

[Jo Strummer]

Look here

 

Creditors and DCAs - Letter Templates & Budget Planner

 

at template N for a letter to request CCAs

 

My thoughts are, and that the general advice is to have a good look at the various threads in this forum as they are a mine of information.

 

If you have come to some arrangement with the other account I would still CCA them to ensure they have the legal right to the money they claim you owe.

 

Consider SAR'ing both of them to establish how much of what they are claiming is made up of illegal charges.

 

As for borrowing more to pay them it is my opinion that if you start throwing chunks of money at them they just get more greedy and the only way to get out of a hole is to stop digging.

 

Will help where I can but please bear in mind that all of my opinions are mine and not neccessarily those of a judge.

 

That said without a valid Consumer Credit Agreement with all the prescibed items you may find that they cannot collect a penny from you.

 

By the way how old and for how much is the debt that you have made an arrangement on?

 

Good Luck

 

Cas

 

The other debt is with Lloyds I have just avoided the debtcollector route, and should I hope be ableto gig myself out of that, that was for £15K.

 

I also have a debt with Direct Line of Royal Bank of Scotland where I offered to pay £100 a month the original loan was for a car, 4 year agreement, got to the last year got 3 payments down and they have come after me. So overall debt of £15K got the debt down to £4.5K of which £3.5 is a balloon. I said to the court in my submission I could pay £100 a month and they have said they want £4919.45. Just received theJudgement for Claiant ( after determination ) it appears I only have 16 days to sort this before a CCJ. Which I really don't want.

[clutchingatstraws]

I can only suggest that you start a new thread for the CCJ title it

 

'Help 16 days to CCJ'

 

Put in as much detail as you can and I think one of the specialists will give advice.

[Jo Strummer]

I can only suggest that you start a new thread for the CCJ title it

 

'Help 16 days to CCJ'

 

Put in as much detail as you can and I think one of the specialists will give advice.

 

Thanks I'll do that.

[storm]

Allied International Credit will almost certainly not take you to court

 

I and many others on here have had dealings with them and they are pretty consistent, in the fact that their tactic is just to bully and intimidate people into paying the full amount.

 

Just send them the CCA and I doubt you will hear much more from them.

 

And tell them to stop phoning you

 

Obviously I can't guarantee it, but in my experience they will soon get bored and move on to someone else

[clutchingatstraws]

There you go jo the brains have arrived.

 

I didn't think to ask if the ccj was kosher or BS.

 

Post up all coms by scanning and let the guys comment.

[Jo Strummer]

Hello again, I seem to be going in circles with these muppets, so need some guidance. I am NOT trying to walk away from the debt I don't dispute it, I want to pay it off. I don't though have £11K sitting around doin nothing.

 

How can get some sort of sensible response out of these guys? What should I do they are saying they are going to call, don't really want that.

 

What should I do in the first few steps, the debt is not old, I have been in communication with Amex throughout.

 

Thanks people

[ScarletPimpernel]

Presumably you have now sent off your CCAs to these creatures. In the meantime...

 

In your initial post you mentioned that the amount being claimed included a 'referral fee', though it's not clear whether this was added by Amex or AIC. Either way, it provides grounds for you to dispute the debt.

 

Under OFT guidelines (both Amex and AIC are obliged to compy with these, as holder of consumer credit licences), no further collection activity can take place whilst a dispute is unresolved.

 

They will probably try to say that somewhere in the agreement it states that they can charge you for collecting - you then have more reasons to dispute - any such charges have to be detailed in the contract, and must not be disproportional; they must represent necessary and actual costs; if the charge was added by AIC then they have no contractual relationship with you. Of course, you need them to comply with the CCA so you can confirm it.

 

Under the OFT rules a DCA must pass on reasonable offers to pay to the OC - ask Amex to confirm whether AIC have done this.

 

If they are threatening Court action, they have a duty to mitigate, so remind them that you will bring to the Court's attention their refusal to discuss the offers you made based upon how much you could afford, and that the Court is unlikely to order payment other than by affordable installments.

 

Hopefully there's enough there to keep them busy for a few days.

[Jo Strummer]

Presumably you have now sent off your CCAs to these creatures. In the meantime...

 

In your initial post you mentioned that the amount being claimed included a 'referral fee', though it's not clear whether this was added by Amex or AIC. Either way, it provides grounds for you to dispute the debt.

 

Under OFT guidelines (both Amex and AIC are obliged to compy with these, as holder of consumer credit licences), no further collection activity can take place whilst a dispute is unresolved.

 

They will probably try to say that somewhere in the agreement it states that they can charge you for collecting - you then have more reasons to dispute - any such charges have to be detailed in the contract, and must not be disproportional; they must represent necessary and actual costs; if the charge was added by AIC then they have no contractual relationship with you. Of course, you need them to comply with the CCA so you can confirm it.

 

Under the OFT rules a DCA must pass on reasonable offers to pay to the OC - ask Amex to confirm whether AIC have done this.

 

If they are threatening Court action, they have a duty to mitigate, so remind them that you will bring to the Court's attention their refusal to discuss the offers you made based upon how much you could afford, and that the Court is unlikely to order payment other than by affordable installments.

 

Hopefully there's enough there to keep them busy for a few days.

 

Many thanks, I will action all that now.

[Jo Strummer]

Just had call from MR F at AIG, their legal dept apparently, said they would not be providing me with a copy of the credit agreement, I was surprised he said that, so I asked him to repeat it. Letter was dated 18th July and sent first class registered post, he did not deny they had received it.

 

I also sent an additional letter confirming that I had made offers to make payment which they ignored.

 

I have not sent the letter yet asking for a breakdown of the charges, should I do that now or wait to see if they respond to the request for the agreement?

 

Also do I have to copy in Amex on my correspondance with AIG?

 

Many thanks.

[alexskord]

have a look at my thread.Exactly the same situation with less money

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collectors-debt-collection/89067-alexskord-aic-can-you-5.html

[Jo Strummer]

Thanks, they keep putting the phone down on me at the moment so I'm gonna keep annoying them until I get some money in.

[Jo Strummer]

Been away a while but interested in anyones thoughts on these guys at AIC, I have now agreed to pay £300 a month, I have though got no correspondance from them or Amex, nothing showing what the balance is, what interest I am paying.

 

I have made the payment as I do not want to go to court at this stage and my financial situation appears to have stabilised and I hope to be able to clear the debt in the New Year.

 

 

What I suppose I am asking is can they just take a payment from me and not inform of where the debt is or if its growing. All the other cards that I have continue to correspond with me each month so I can see what is happening.

 

Thoughts anyone?

[Fuzzgin]

I would refuse to speak to them on the phone. There's advice about getting them to stop calling in various threads including letters you can send. I would have thought that this was in dispute if they have refused to send a CCA. If you've sent them a letter by recorded and a £1 postal order, they have a certain number of days to supply it and after that they break the law by pursuing you. It doesn't matter what they say. Good luck anyway.

[Jo Strummer]

Thanks for the response, they are not hassling me on the phone, I am more interested though in the informality they have bought to this, no acknowledgement of my correspondance, no details on the debt and just a phone call saying pay £300. Are they not leaving themselves open in some way for when I dispute this arrangement which I will be doing during the next 4-6 weeks.

[speedtrip]

mate I have been in same situation with AIC for months now, I am s/e too.

 

I had been paying them nominal amounts to keep them happy and trying to negotiate settlement. I counteroffered their offer and then they got a bit nasty. Then I found this site.

 

Given my position I CCA them, they have tried bullying, imtimidation, and lots of phonecalls but i stuck to my guns and they have not been able to produce the CCA, requested end august.

 

They have now gone quiet and Sechari, Clark & Mitchell are on my case so it feels like its been returned to Lloyds but still not CCA.

 

IMHO you have nothing to lose by requesting a CCA as it could take them months to find it ... if they ever do by which time hopefully your business will have turned around and you can settle if you are in a position to do so.

 

The older the credit agreeement the better as the less chance their is they will find it and without this they cannot legally enforce the debt.

[twofoot]

I'm surprised you have made any payment to the vultures. There are procedures in place that you should be following and would almost certainly put them against a brick wall. First is to CCA them and they must reply within a strict time limit. No CCA = No enforceable debt. Simple as that. There are many letters on here to suit every need. If you need advice just ask telling what you have done and where you are up to.

[Jo Strummer]

mate I have been in same situation with AIC for months now, I am s/e too.

 

I had been paying them nominal amounts to keep them happy and trying to negotiate settlement. I counteroffered their offer and then they got a bit nasty. Then I found this site.

 

Given my position I CCA them, they have tried bullying, imtimidation, and lots of phonecalls but i stuck to my guns and they have not been able to produce the CCA, requested end august.

 

They have now gone quiet and Sechari, Clark & Mitchell are on my case so it feels like its been returned to Lloyds but still not CCA.

 

IMHO you have nothing to lose by requesting a CCA as it could take them months to find it ... if they ever do by which time hopefully your business will have turned around and you can settle if you are in a position to do so.

 

The older the credit agreeement the better as the less chance their is they will find it and without this they cannot legally enforce the debt.

 

Cheers, for the encouraging words, don't if it helps but my debt with them is circa £15K and they asked me for £8K to settle in September, wonder how far they will go?

[Jo Strummer]

Just looking for further guidance here, AIC seem to have given up, never answered the CCA. Have now had a letter and a couple of calls from Newman Debt Collection Agents in Leeds say they are acting on behalf of Amex.

 

What should I be responding am I still disputing AIC as the prior agent or do I start a new process with Newman?

 

Does anyone have any experience of Newman?

[clutchingatstraws]

Jo

 

When you CCA someone and they do not supply it you are legally allowed to stop payment until they do so.

 

They are also obliged to supply you with a statement of the account from day one if requested so that you can see if any unlawful charges have been added.

 

If they cannot supply the CCA how do you know that they have the right to collect, I suggest that you spend some more time on the forum examining the way others deal with these situations.

 

A CCA to Newmans may be the opportunity to re-evaluate your position.

 

All The Best

 

Cas

[ScarletPimpernel]

As can be seen from my thread http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collectors-debt-collection/115262-scarlet-pimpernel-rma-2.html?highlight=pimpernel, AIC seem to have great difficulty understanding their legal and regulatory obligations. Hanging up on anyone showing signs of knowing more than they do is clearly their standard practice; given that this will be most people, one wonders why they bother picking up the phone at all.

 

It also appears that Amex are not well versed in the requirements of the CCA either.

[Jo Strummer]

Having read around a bit i going to do the "I'm rather bemused..." letter and see where that gets me. If of course I shouldn't be doing that please shout.

Many thanks