Mr Man and 1st Credit

[Mr Man]

Hi!

I'm new to this site so hope I've done the right thing posting on this thread rather than starting a new one. I have received the same letter as Sara2 and I'm not sure how to deal with it.

I've always had lots of debt and I'm both employed and self employed. A few years ago The debt became unmanageable due to a unique set of circumstances and the start of the recession. For a while I was stupid and borrowed to pay borrowing etc. This ended with me putting my hands up and coming to agreements with all of my creditors except two (Halifax and Opus) which now, 4 years later, 1st credit have bought. The agreements I came to with my other creditors were very generous compared with what I could have offered according to the professional debt advice I received, and I have struggled for the last 4 years to keep up with this. I should be back on track in another 4 years.

Halifax agreed a plan to pay off my overdraft but then seemed to have many changes of heart and it became apparent that they didn't know what they were doing. Then Halifax/BOS sent me correspondence that enraged me,regarding a Credit Card I had with them. They sent a letter saying they were passing the debt to a DCA, with details of my debt, and INCREDIBLY about six other peoples debts, with full details of names, addresses, amount owed and account numbers. I sent a letter to their "Head of collections" recorder delivery, saying I wanted it sorted, and an assurance that my details hadn't been distributed around the country, and an investigation. I didn't even receive a response.

Opus also failed to correspond with me, and then started calling my elderly parents and leaving messages, even though I left home nearly 30 years ago, acting friendly and chatty and saying that they need to speak to me, do they have a number etc.

I have received very bad treatment from these two creditors and am loath to start paying 1st credit,4 years later, after my efforts to initially sort things.

I'm not sure what to do now. I don't want a CCJ , I assume the court would listen to my defence and take into account the arrangements I've made with other creditors, but would rather not get into this situation, and any advice would be greatly appreciated. 1st credit have mentioned the "passed to legal dept" and "credit bureau information" and a threat of "letter before claim" that Sara2 has received.

Thanks for reading and good luck to Sara2 and everyone else in similar positions. Any help that I can give regarding other dealings I've had I'm more than happy to do so.

Cheers!

[Undercover Elsa]

Re: Mr Man and 1st Credit

Hi Mr Man and welcome to AAD

How long since did you write to them regarding the receipt of other people's data?

To help us, to help you, please provide the following information for each account as they will need to be dealt with differently depending on type of account and date of commencement. (Just copy and paste the list below once for each separate debt, with the answers added)

• Type of account (credit card/loan)
  
  
• Date commenced (ideally before Apr 2007)
  
  
• Approx balance
  
  
• Date last paid (approximate date you last made a FULL payment)
  
  
• Are you on arrangement or not paying
  
  
• Status (default/in arrears/up-to-date)
  
  
• Account owner (who is writing to you, a DCA or the lender)

Elsa x

[Mr Man]

Re: Mr Man and 1st Credit

Hi Elsa,


Thanks very much for the welcome and your help. I’ve answered as best as I can below. Some facts are approximate but if you need more precise let me know and I should be able to get the info.


I sent the letter regarding other people’s data on 23 January 2013 (recorded) and it was signed for on 25 January 2013. There was no response and I sent a follow up letter on 4 March 2013 stating I would not send any more cash until I received a response. This was sent to the named individual who sent me the correspondence.


1st Credit have recently bought both debts, and sent correspondence to a property that I am linked with but don’t live at, hence me only just starting to deal with this.




OPUS


Type of debt : Credit Card


Date commenced : Original card was approx 1997 and was originally “Peoples Bank of
Connecticut”. Was later to become Citibank/Citicard and after that
Opus. I’m not sure of the date that it became Opus.


Approx Balance : £4000


Date last full payment : Not sure but I think summer 2010, an agreement was made after
that but in summer 2012 I received a letter saying “Thanks for
Keeping your arrangement up to date but we’ve decided to
terminate our agreement”.


Currently: Not paying


Status: Default (I presume)


Account Owner: 1st Credit

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Mr Man and 1st Credit

Ahhhh, so you had a Citicard that went to Progressive Finance (aka Opus)?

Did Citi close the card before the transfer to Opus or did Opus issue you their card? This is extremely important......

[Mr Man]

Re: Mr Man and 1st Credit

Halifax


Type of account : Personal overdraft


Date commenced : Approx 2005


Approx Balance : £4500


Date last full payment : Not sure how this works as there were no repayments as such. An arrangement was made with Halifax to not use the account and repay the overdraft at £50 per month. I stuck to this but then they denied knowledge of the arrangement in summer 2011. I think the account was closed and I started paying the £50 a month in summer 2010


Currently : not paying


Status : Default


Account owner : 1st Credit.






Thanks again for your advice!


x

- - - Updated - - -

No I never had an Opus card

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Mr Man and 1st Credit

Halifax


Type of account : Personal overdraft


Date commenced : Approx 2005


Approx Balance : £4500


Date last full payment : Not sure how this works as there were no repayments as such. An arrangement was made with Halifax to not use the account and repay the overdraft at £50 per month. I stuck to this but then they denied knowledge of the arrangement in summer 2011. I think the account was closed and I started paying the £50 a month in summer 2010


Currently : not paying


Status : Default


Account owner : 1st Credit.






Thanks again for your advice!


x

- - - Updated - - -

No I never had an Opus card

send 1st Credit the overdraft cca as per the link in my first post above....

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Mr Man and 1st Credit

Ok because you didn't get the opus card this means that Citi closed your account prior to the sale and wrote telling you it'd convert to a repayment account only, ie same APR but you only repay - you can't spend on it.

That means your terms stayed the same and didn't move to Opus terms, ie Opus changed Citi's terms after the transfer of the accounts to Opus. So you'd need to send a normal CCA Request really and opus will send theirs which is nothing like the original Citi terms. I know, I beat them via FOS and then told Opus to do one and never heard from them again. But then as I rightly proved, I never wanted to deal with opus and they messed up by not taking the DD so I didn't pay

Read here --> http://forums.all-about-debt.co.uk/s...-(ex-CitiCard)

[Mr Man]

Re: Mr Man and 1st Credit

Hi Never in Doubt,

Thanks for your advice :-)

I can't see the post you mention about the overdraft CCA. I've never sent a CCA (in fact never heard of them until now).

Not only did I not ask for Opus, i didn't ask for Citibank from Peoples Bank.

Shall I send a CCA for each account to 1st Credit then?

Thanks!

[Mr Man]

Re: Mr Man and 1st Credit

I've just tried to look at the template for a CCA and it says I can't log in, is it a different password for these templates? Thanks!

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Mr Man and 1st Credit

I've just tried to look at the template for a CCA and it says I can't log in, is it a different password for these templates? Thanks!

Read --> http://forums.all-about-debt.co.uk/s...-New-Templates

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Mr Man and 1st Credit

Hi Never in Doubt,

Thanks for your advice :-)

I can't see the post you mention about the overdraft CCA. I've never sent a CCA (in fact never heard of them until now).

--> http://forums.all-about-debt.co.uk/s...CA-Information

[Mr Man]

Re: Mr Man and 1st Credit

Hi!

Thanks for all of the advice I've received and your patience with questions that you get sick of hearing.

I haven't yet received letters before action yet for both of these debts. I returned home yesterday and half expected them. I do contest both of these debts for the reasons stated and am happy to fight them on UE, and not replying to my letter regarding other people's data on the overdraft, but part of me says to hang on to see if the "pre letter before action" on both of them was a bluff. They don't even have my correct address, it's by chance that I've recently received their bombardment of letters/threats. I don't mean bury my head in the sand, more a tactical wait and see game. Is it too late to send a CCa request after the official "letter before action"?

On another point, After some heavy hassle about a year ago, I came to an agreement with another DCA after the sent a Statutory Demand. I'm paying that now every month on an old Marbles account pre 2007 which is made up of a LOT of charges/fees. Can I send a CCA request regarding this even though I'm paying every month.

Thanks again for your help with these matters!

Mr Man

[Pixie]

Re: Mr Man and 1st Credit

. Is it too late to send a CCa request after the official "letter before action"?

No it isn't. I'd get one sent off asap.

On another point, After some heavy hassle about a year ago, I came to an agreement with another DCA after the sent a Statutory Demand. I'm paying that now every month on an old Marbles account pre 2007 which is made up of a LOT of charges/fees. Can I send a CCA request regarding this even though I'm paying every month.

Thanks again for your help with these matters!

Mr Man

Was this an actual statutory demand or just a threat. I seem to remember a dca (can't remember which one) sending out threats which were masquerading (for want of a better word) as actual statutory demands. Which dca was your SD from?

[Mr Man]

Re: Mr Man and 1st Credit

Hi Pixie,

Thanks for your interest, it was BW Legal and the creditor was Marbles.

[Mr Man]

Re: Mr Man and 1st Credit

I haven't had a letter before action off first credit yet, just wondering whether to wait to see if they send one before I send the CCA