Barclaycard - nasty letters. What to do?

[betty101]

Hi there,

Really happy to have found this site and hope to get some help.

We've managed to get into debt with Barclaycard. Got two cards and approx. £12k on each one. (Long story - ill wife etc)

The cards are in my fathers name (in his 60s).

Since March this year we were unable to keep up with the payments as reduced income. Buried head in sand.

Now Barclaycard have sent letters saying that 'a default has been registered on your account you now need to pay your balance in full'. Letter says it is passed to the recoveries team and threatens to offset from other accounts, and if we don't pay to pass over to DCA.

Credit file says 'delinquent accounts' and marked as 6 at the moment.

My father owns his own home and banks with Barclays. The letters have stressed him out a lot.

What can we do? What are our options?

Many thanks in advance!

[Disastra]

Re: Barclaycard - nasty letters. What to do?

Hi Betty, hang in there. Although I can't offer specific advice I will say that the guys and gals here are very knowledgeable and helpful, if busy Someone who knows will be along soon to help.

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Barclaycard - nasty letters. What to do?

First, they should get a new account elsewhere for their banking as Barclays will offset the debt and dip into their bank accounts / savings etc.

Any idea how old the debts are and are there any others or just 2 Barclays debts?

[betty101]

Re: Barclaycard - nasty letters. What to do?

Thanks for getting back to me :0)

I think one of the cards (Gold) goes back many years - prob over 10 yrs. The other (MasterCard) prob around 5 years.
How can I check?

Other debts - he has two loans (Barclays and Amigo) both being repaid as agreed and up to date.

Thanks again

[MrsD]

Re: Barclaycard - nasty letters. What to do?

I think the first thing has to be a new bank account, this will stop Barclays dipping into his accounts to take missing payments (YES I am afraid they can).

It sounds as if they have registered a default with the CRAs which will stick there for at least 6 years, trashing your father's credit record.

Not as bad as it sounds because it will only be his not yours as well. You need to have a good look around the forum and particularly have a read up in the UE section so that you (and your father) understands what is involved.

Ideally your father should post himself and work out what he wants to do but the time for any kind of instant fix sounds like it has gone and he should be aware of that. But it is only money and Barclays don't own any of you and you can have a good life without credit, most of us on here, are doing just that.

Get the bank sorted first as yor father needs to know th money is safe then decide what you are going to do.

[nightwatch]

Re: Barclaycard - nasty letters. What to do?

agree with all the above, get a new account sorted so any income is safe, then we can take it from there to hlp with what ver you decide to do . x

[betty101]

Re: Barclaycard - nasty letters. What to do?

OK thanks - will have a read up on the UE section.

Should he contact Barclaycard meanwhile and offer token payments to buy some time? Should he ask them to freeze interest etc?

Or are there implications of getting in touch?

Thanks for all the help so far. Much appreciated.

[MrsD]

Re: Barclaycard - nasty letters. What to do?

you need to decide what you are going to do, your father should read up on everything, personally I would send a CCA request but you need to be aware of all the implications of missed payments and act to safeguard your father's income. If BC have already defaulted you, I would just hang fire with payments until you are sorted out, no point in prolonging the agony. Bearing in mind that if you are paying a token amount, you are just prolonging the agony, so get a new bank account sorted, then get your father to make a decision about UE, if he wants to look at UE, you need to send off CCA requests to whoever is writing to you at the moment.

[betty101]

Re: Barclaycard - nasty letters. What to do?

Thank you Mrs D

Can he do both? i.e. make token payments and explore UE?

He is thinking of making a token payment to get them off his back or setting up a low repayment plan. Are there any downsides of this?

He has successfully applied for a basic bank account (5-7 days to get details in post) but worried about 'setting off' meanwhile as got payments coming into the account, so would getting in touch reduce the chances of this? And if so at what cost?

Many thanks

[MrsD]

Re: Barclaycard - nasty letters. What to do?

no point in making payments if you are going for UE, every payment sets back your SB date by a month.....................it's an admission everytime.

I did this and as soon as I had the new account number I moved all incoming payments across, some banks will do this for you if you are switching. It's a bit of a race really and you really can't call which ones they are going to take, could he not transfer any money sitting there to the new account? They can't put you into overdraft with the right of set off.

I wouldn't be talking to them, they will only pressure you into making payments, that is what they are there for.

[betty101]

Re: Barclaycard - nasty letters. What to do?

Excuse stupidity - but what is an SB date? I'm a newbie

And when you say prolong the agony? Happy for someone to spell it out for me as I'm a bit confused.

If he doesn't want to go down the UE route then is the other option to just accept that his credit file is ruined, and try and negotiate with Barclaycard to freeze interest and accept low monthly payments?

Cheers again

[MrsD]

Re: Barclaycard - nasty letters. What to do?

statute barred - SB

for a debt to be SB you need not to acknowledge it or pay it for 6 years in England and 5 years in Scotland

to find out if it can be fought on UE terms, you would need to send our CCA request form to the creditor, once they have provided paperwork (or not) then we can see if the debt could be enforced.

it's a long way and you need to do a fair amount of work yourself as well as keep immaculate records but it can be done. Just read this http://forums.all-about-debt.co.uk/s...-now-SIX-years for some real life examples

If he doesn't want to go down that route, you are still better getting a CCA request off, you could then have a better position to negotiate from for reduced payments and cessation of interest, but there are no guarantees either way that it will stay out of court. We have good legal people here if it does go to court