Total MBNA confusion....

[standingupformyself]

Hi everyone...

I am totally out of my depth with this one... it is on behalf of a friend. I will post regularly with any updates and hope that loads of my knowledgable friends will subscribe and help us along the way:

 

I have a very good friend whose partner is suffering with a very rare and it appears un-cureable illness. He went from being having his own limited company to being home "on the sick" in a matter of weeks. He had no time to prepare and was not able to sort his finances out in time, consequently he has been fighting with all the various companies he owes money to for the past couple of years... some are a lot easier than others.

MBNA is one of the challenges.. I am trying to help, if I can. Fortunately he had PPI insurance with them, so you would think that they should have been easy !!! If only... after various months of wrangling with their insurance dept, in January of this year he received a letter from them, saying they were paying a lump sum into his account, which would cover the account until September of this year and he knew that the amount they stated would clear the account in full............. excellent they thought, that's one less problem to deal with.

However, out of the blue about 6 weeks ago they received a letter from MBNA stating that he owed over one and half thousand pounds and it was seriously overdue (you know the sort of letter, "let us try to help you, contact us and we can help you sort this out") He was puzzled but not overly concerned, as this must be a mistake. Apparantly not... To cut a very long story short they phone him and write to him regularly and they are adamant that he does owe them this money. Even though the money was paid into the account at the begining of the year, it was to cover until September and he still owed them the monthly interest and PPI payments.

He had not received one statement from them this year..... when he queried that, they said that their was a postal block on his address as they had been informed that he was not living there any more, even though they have his mobile number (which has been the same for some years) and have not tried to speak to him once about this. Funny how the letter demanding repayment arrived at his address though!

We sent a SAR to them at the begining of July, clearly stating that we did not just want a list of charges, we wanted the whole of the account information. Typically they just sent the list of charges. So when we queried this they sent another form to him, for ID (which we had already sent) and asked for the cheque all over again. I wanted to persue the 40 days from the first letter, but my friends decided to start the process again. We are on approx day 30 I think now of waiting for this information to come through.

The card is about 6 years old, and was initially a card opened up in a super market.

I dont think that the charges (even including the interest( will cover the debt. Besides that, I dont think that the debt should even exist, so if we decide to persue charges it will be nice for my friend to be able to have a windfall, rather than just a clear account.

I will keep you posted as things develop. I just wanted to start the story off and hopefully some of you will subscribe to my thread and be ready to give some valuable and much needed advice shortly.

Should we CCA them yet? or leave that for a little while? Also, should you receive terms and conditions for the PPI in the SAR? That would make very relevant and interesting reading I think.

Thank you all in advance

[Hopeful1]

Good grief, what a terrible thing your friend is having to deal with this, when he obviously has far more important things to think about.

 

I just thought all the way through that a complaint needs to be made. I would send for the CCA straight away. As soon as they don't comply, i'd make an offical complaint to them and then to all the relevant authorities. I am sure he would be supported because of the circumstances, it really is inhumane for them to harrass a person with such serious health issues.

 

Had he kept all the correspondence related to the PPI? I would imagine the PPI info would be with the agreement (what agreement i hear you cry). To be honest, in this situation, i would throw morals to the ground - no CCA = definitely no pay.

 

[rory32]

Do you know what type of PPI it is that was taken out?

[standingupformyself]

I did not know there was more than one sort? What are the examples and I will find out if I can. I beleive that the company was St. Andrews or something very similar

[standingupformyself]

MBNA phoned yesterday, my friends reminded them that they were waiting for SAR information and were not prepared to do anything with this account until this information arrived. The operator that phoned was not helpful towards them at all, although she did confirm that the SAR request had been received. My friend also told them that they were going to need more information too, and intend to request their CCA for this account. The operator asked why! Then the operator said that as they were not going to make a payment there was nothing she could do and the debt was going to be sold on....

Should we wait until the debt is sold on or should we send a CCA now?

[rory32]

It doesn't really matter, as when the debt is sold when you send the CCA request they just pass your request to the original creditor anyway. MBNA are pretty poor at keeping copies of the agreement anyway.

 

Link to PPI types is here http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/ppi/61081-ppi-some-notes-claimants.html

[standingupformyself]

The original SAR was sent off for on 4th July, so they are well and truly in default now. A letter arrived from MBNA a day or so ago, stating that unless a payment was made immediatly the debt was to be passed on.

[Hopeful1]

As we all know, you have to keep at 'em. It's not what your friends want at the moment though is it? I think the main point is, if your friend opened the card in a supermarket it is unlikely MBNA have a proper agreement. They will know this, but i think they just test the water with customers to see how persistant they are.

[standingupformyself]

Small update.....

 

CCA request sent last Tuesday (4th September) today is the 12th..... No reply there yet.....

SAR details still not received, posted recorded 21.7.07, so that is in default now since the end of August.

 

Today a letter received, very stiff paper Pink and Red warning signs all over it, explaining they are preparing to take this matter to court so please phone this number and acknowledge, also have your debit card handy! Also letter stating that Debt collectors may get involved that will not be nearly as nice and helpful as MBNA,

 

 

What should our next step be?

[rory32]

A copy of MBNA complaints procedure please.

[standingupformyself]

Excellent thought Rory.

 

Definately the next step... thank you

[standingupformyself]

SAR stuff arrived yesterday, CCA looks like an application form to me. I will scan it when I am back to work next Wednesday. but get this! He clearly ticked the box saying NO to PPI !!! So they took the monthly payments, they paid up on the claim, yet it wasn't requested!!!

 

on Tuesday we are going to go through all this paperwork with a fine tooth comb,

[empowered]

S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) stuff arrived yesterday, CCA looks like an application form to me. I will scan it when I am back to work next Wednesday. but get this! He clearly ticked the box saying NO to PPI !!! So they took the monthly payments, they paid up on the claim, yet it wasn't requested!!!

 

on Tuesday we are going to go through all this paperwork with a fine tooth comb,

 

Hi Mrs Standing! Yep, exactly the same scenario for me - amazing what they think they can get away with. My CCA was just a single side of an Application Form and no prescribed terms/conditions/interest etc etc!

with the insurance box clearly with an X in the no box! Go for it!

[standingupformyself]

What am I mulling over is....... if we calculate via one of the spreadsheets every penny paid to MBNA via PPI, with contractural interest.. this should add up to be a tidy sum....then claim this money back MINUS the payment MBNA have already made?? does that make sense or is it ridiculous?

[steven4064]

Hi SUFM

 

On what grounds would you claim it? (CI, that is)

[standingupformyself]

Because they charge interest on the monthly balance, which includes PPI insurance.... I am happy to be corrected here though

[steven4064]

The trouble is that would be classified as mutuality and reciprocity - that was the basis of http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/halifax-bank-bank-scotland/97691-contractual-interest-precedent-lost.html which he lost. If you read on in the thread you will find other grounds, in particular unjust enrichment. Advice is to go for that. GaryH posted some excellent stuff earlier on today - (post #361 on that thread)

[standingupformyself]

Thank you Steven. I will spend some time this evening looking over that thread..

Have had a good look through the CCA and it is not, it is definately an application, no credit limit, no interest rate etc.

The SAR stuff is quite tricky, cos they have not sent any statements at all, therefore it is impossible to find out what the balance was when PPI was paid into the account, MBNA phoned yesterday and my friend has asked for the statements as well, to be fair he only needs the last 18 months or so, the rest is quite clear from the spreadsheet of transactions.

[standingupformyself]

MBNA phoned yesterday saying the account is due to be defaulted at the end of the month..... we have asked again for CCA as only received application form, also asked for last 24 statements cos none were received and we need the breakdown of where this debt has come from... Strange thing is my friend informed MBNA they were taping the call, but the background noise was horrific, a pulsing noise rather like when a mobile phone signal is in the background, makes the recording rather hard to listen to in parts, was wondering if this was deliberate?

[standingupformyself]

statements still not arrived,

[standingupformyself]

statements still have not arrived. but today a letter was received from a DCA. my friends phoned them up and explained that this account was in dispute... the DCA chap was very pleasant (!!) and agreed that this was far from straightforward. He has been in contact with MBNA and has again arranged for the statements to be sent through to my friends... He also agreed with my friends comment, that on the face of it, this would be laughed out of court!!!!

 

I thought it might be a good idea if we SAR'd the Insurance company, St. Andrews.... what do you think?