In a mess head spinning.

[snudgerchops]

Hi All,

Firstly my apologies if I have posted this in the wrong place.

Sorry if this is a bit long but it's difficult to know where to start, please bear with me. I lost my job last week so I am now unable to make payments to my creditors as arranged by the CAB some time ago. I have been visiting debt advice sites for about a week now and the more I read the more I get confused. The whole thing is really getting me down. Details below:

1. I was made redundant about three years ago, defaulted on an Egg loan, was making token payments of £1 per month, this increased to £120 when I found a new job, have been paying this amount for two years. The debt was assigned to Britannica Recoveries - Arrow around June time last year, I continued to pay them the £120 per month that I was paying to Egg. Debt was originally for £12500 it's now reduced to £7500. The egg loan started on the 24/04/2006. (I have checked this info on my Experian credit report).

2. At the same time I defaulted on an MBNA credit card. They continued to apply charges and failed to respond to letters from the CAB requesting them to stop. The debt was then sold to VIL/Experto Credite. I only started making payments to them 7 months ago for £45 per month. Debt currently stands at £4300. (I have checked this info on my Experian credit report). Account was opened on the 20/02/2003.

3. Barclaycard, was making token payments of £1 per month increased to £110 per month when I found a job. They also applied charges etc at the beginning but stopped after the CAB wrote to them, however they started charging interest again in May last year at 0.251%. This does not show as defaulted on my experian credit report the word "satisfactory" is used instead. Account was opened on the 16/01/2004.

I have informed them all by phone that I have lost my job and cannot meet the payment this month and the CAB are writing to them with a token offer of £1 per month and will include my IE report along with it.



I am a little confused about CCA and SAR. What exactly do these do? Could they help me reclaim charges etc? Will it show me my old statements and charges etc? Do they apply to loans or is it just credit cards? Should I send a request to MBNA or to Experto who now own the debt? I am really sorry for all the questions but my head is spinning and as helpful as the CAB are they are too busy and have suggested that I undertake this myself.

A few final points.

I never had PPI.

I live in Scotland and sometimes the law is different, any advice on letters greatly appreciated.

My Father retired in January and has offered me £5000 to approach my creditors, would Barclaycard entertain this as I have not defaulted or should I spread it between Experto & Britannica/Arrow?

I did phone Britannica/Arrow who offered to reduce the debt by 40% as did Experto.

Sorry again for all the questions, any help or advice would be warmly welcomed.

Thanks
Snudgerchops.

[Deepie]

Re: In a mess head spinning.

& Welcome to AAD can you just give us a bit more info then we can get a better picture

• 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)

[Undercover Elsa]

Re: In a mess head spinning.

Hi Snudgerchops,
Welcome to AAD!!
As above, if you could give us a breakdown of each debt in that format it will give us a base line to work from so we know the best way to approach each debt.
The CCA request (Consumer Credit Agreement Request) helps to establish whether they hold an enforceable agreement, so you'd need to do this for each one. Creditors are far more likely to do a low F&F deal if they haven't got the paperwork right.
SAR or Subject Access Request is for all the data they hold on you, so is useful in assessing charges for reclaiming etc. Usually we only go this route if it will totally wipe the debt or to negotiate a reduction in F&F if the agreement is enforceable.
Looking at some of yours there's a good chance some may be unenforceable. If they are it's up to you then whether you either stop paying and wait for them to become Statute Barred in 5 years (section 6 of the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973) or use it to negotiate a low F&F.
You'll get lots of help on here all along the way, it's a very friendly forum so don't ever be afraid to ask if there's anything you're not sure of.

kind regards,

Shep x

[snudgerchops]

Re: In a mess head spinning.

• 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)

[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the welcome. Hope below is ok.

1. MBNA credit card. Agreement date 20/02/2003.
Assigned to Experto Credite. Was in a payment plan for £45 per month, been paying for 7 months, last paid 1st of Feb arranged by CAB. Total debt £4300. Status is default on Experian with DCA as owner. Now offered token payment of £1 per month via CAB.

2. Egg Loan. Agreement date 24/04/2006.
Assigned to Arrow Global June last year. Was in payment plan for £120 per month had been paying for over two years. Last payment 1st of Feb. Total debt £7500. Status is default on Experian with DCA. Now offered token payment of £1 per month via CAB.

3. Barclaycard credit card. Agreement date 16/01/2004.
Still with Barclaycard. Was in payment plan for £110 per month. Last payment 1st of Feb. Total debt is £8500. Still owned by Barclaycard listed as "Satisfactory" on Experian.

Hope this is okay.

Thanks in advance.

[Pixie]

Re: In a mess head spinning.

Hi snudgerchops and welcome to AAD.

Like the others have said, we're a very friendly forum and we've all been in the position where our heads were spinning.

To find out what we mean by unenforceability and what it might mean to you have a read of allaboutFORUMS - View Single Post - Help with Unenforceability and UPDATED - A Full Guide to Unenforceability - allaboutFORUMS

It all sounds complicated at first but it isn't. There are lots of people on here to help you, not least Niddy (Never-In-Doubt), the forum owner and unenforceability genius.

Ask any questions you like. We're not going to bite your head off or tell you that "you borrowed the money so you should pay."

Good Luck.

[Pixie]

Re: In a mess head spinning.

The debts you've listed are all pre-2007 so could very well be unenforceable.

Send Our Templates | Unenforceability Templates | CCA Request to each one recorded delivery, signing digitally and enclosing a £1 postal order.

[Pixie]

Re: In a mess head spinning.

Oh - and I'd stop paying them.

Further info on what it means when we say 'sign digitally' Site Resources | Template Resources | A Guide to Signing Digitally

[snudgerchops]

Re: In a mess head spinning.

The debts you've listed are all pre-2007 so could very well be unenforceable.

Send Our Templates | Unenforceability Templates | CCA Request to each one recorded delivery, signing digitally and enclosing a £1 postal order.

Thanks for the help can't beleive how quick you guys are. I can feel the pressure lifting already.....

Just to confirm: Do I send the request to the DCA'S or the original lenders? Sorry if that's a dumb question.

Thanks again.

[Deepie]

Re: In a mess head spinning.

Thanks for the help can't beleive how quick you guys are. I can feel the pressure lifting already.....

Just to confirm: Do I send the request to the DCA'S or the original lenders? Sorry if that's a dumb question.

Thanks again.

the last pearson to contact you......

[Pixie]

Re: In a mess head spinning.

Sorry if that's a dumb question.

There's no such thing as a dumb question - except for one you don't ask!

Good to hear that you can feel the pressure lifting already

You can lift the pressure even more by having a look at some of the other parts of the site. There's nothing to stop you having fun even if you're in debt!

[snudgerchops]

Re: In a mess head spinning.

Hi All,

Wondering if anyone could advise?

My Experian credit rating is 996 - this amazes given that I have two defaults, one with each of the debt collection agencies.

Question is, next to the default is the number 8, does this relate to the number of late payments with the original creditor? The reason I ask is because I have never missed a payment to the DCA'S.

But more importantly if after I have gone through the 'cca' process and do reach a F+F settlement will this default be listed for a further six years or would it date back to the original default date which was about two and a half years ago?

Only asking because I have a mortgage and I am not on a fixed rate.

Thanks in advance again.

[snudgerchops]

Re: In a mess head spinning.

Only one default should be recorded per account - usually around 3 months after breaking your agreement (not making the agreed min payments) and will drop off 6 years later regardless of whether you pay something or not.

The CCA process is meant to tell you if the debts are enforceable or not. You would only consider F&Fs on any that turn out to be enforceable.

Thanks flower - so in essence this should only show for a further 2.5 years? I'm in Scotland and I'm sure i read it's 5 years in Scotland but I could be wrong - I am quite a lot of the time. LOL

Thanks again

[swanfan]

Re: In a mess head spinning.

Thanks flower - so in essence this should only show for a further 2.5 years? I'm in Scotland and I'm sure i read it's 5 years in Scotland but I could be wrong - I am quite a lot of the time. LOL

Thanks again

No you're thinking of statute barred which is 5 years in Scotland.

A default stays for 6 years on a credit file.

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: In a mess head spinning.

No if you never paid then statute kicks in after 5yrs. Defaults stay for 6.

However lenders only consider the last 3yrs credit profile thus your score may well be high because the entries are already 3+ years old.

Oh, hi by the way. Hope you like it here

[snudgerchops]

Re: In a mess head spinning.

No if you never paid then statute kicks in after 5yrs. Defaults stay for 6.

However lenders only consider the last 3yrs credit profile thus your score may well be high because the entries are already 3+ years old.

Oh, hi by the way. Hope you like it here

Hi to you too - I'm loving it here. Relief at last!