UE - SIX Years On!

[Susie]

Bought across tidily and looks like it sort of makes sense. Will add to it as and when something happens.

Lloyds card £5k
Taken out 2002/03
CCA request sent 12th July 2010
No reply as yet, get ocasional phone calls but nothing much now


Cap 1 card £4k
Estimated start 2004
CCA request sent 12th July 2010
6th August reply receiced with a reconstituted agreement/copy of the Application certificate that has a bit of a credit agreement at the bottom where I signed.
Get maybe one call a week


Mint card 2k Account closed after interest rate rise.
Taken out Jan/Feb 2005
CCA request sent 12th July 2010
29 July reply with application form and reconstituted agreement - unsigned
Very quiet!!

MBNA (now sold to Experto Credite)
Taken out end of 2003
CCA request sent 12th July 2010
29th July reply received, reconstituted agreement with no signature.
occasional call but pretty quiet

Eggie (now with DLC)
Taken out April 2003
Default notice (1st Feb) and the account has been terminated (2 March)
CCA request sent 12th July 2010
Silence is golden!!


!

I think it is now safe for me to join this thread to post a very happy update of the above, its on my diary as well, but I thought it would be good to update here as well,

Lloyds confirmed no agreement, and it is also well and truely SB now, .

Capital 1 is well SB, there was a slight scare in 2015 when it went to DRysden Fairfax, but they got a LBA template, and went away again

Mint is well SB

Those are all with Cabot, so when I next get anything from them I will just write back and say SB go away

MBNA, I stupidly had a panic in 2012 when I could not get on here and sent a letter that was not a template. There was an outside chance that it could with some imagination have been taken as me confirming the debt, so I have been sitting on my hands and trying to keep very quiet, and hoping they forgot about it. That was in September 2012, so this is now SB and is with PRA who have been suprisingly quiet, but if they crawl out and send anything they will also be told SB go away. I wish I had realised that it was September that MBNA was certain as I would have been able to sleep without worrying about a last minuts claim form dropping through the door earlier.

Egg was sorted out in a very favourable f&f paid by a friend just before it got passed to Barclays, as that was iffy at the time with regards to the likelyhood of winning in court and the chance of winning.

I really cannot thank Niddy, enough for setting up this forum, and everyone on here for being there to help, give moral support, or try to make me laugh through this journey.
You are all fantastic, and a huge THANK YOU to every one of you. I will still be coming here and reading, and I hope to be seeing more people posting this sort of news as their debts cross the finishing line.

[Enforcer]

Thanks to Niddy & this forum many of us have now gone past the statute barred date. Same as you, I really cannot thank Niddy enough, particularly with the bespoke letter that he wrote for the FOS when I was really struggling to fight Barclaycard. Keep up the good work.

[cymruambyth]

Well done. Please keep posting to help and reassure others.

[5corpio]

Thanks to Niddy & this forum many of us have now gone past the statute barred date. Same as you, I really cannot thank Niddy enough, particularly with the bespoke letter that he wrote for the FOS when I was really struggling to fight Barclaycard. Keep up the good work.

That is Great 'News' welcome to the land of freshness and rebirth of starting anew - well done to the to Forum providers

[Joanna Connolly Solicitors]

I’m bumping this thread to encourage new members to see that there is a light at the end of the tunnel if you follow the AAD process.

It may seem daunting at first, but it will be worth it

Di

[The Tech Clerk]

this site is a move on from another we had prior

[Joanna Connolly Solicitors]

Niddy set up this forum in 2010 - it will be 10 years old this summer and growing from strength to strength.

Debt purchasers continue to be defeated on an almost daily basis when the paperwork is either not available or flawed in some way making the debt unenforceable in law.

I joined AAD almost 10 years ago and all the debts I had then (as a direct result of the Credit Crunch) have either become Statute Barred (in 2017) or the debt owners have been beaten in court (my preferred conclusion ).

Every single one was unenforceable too.

Anyone reading this thread who has also reached Statute Barred status please add a post to help the next generation of debtors see that there can be a way forward.

I’m bumping this thread to encourage new members to see that there is a light at the end of the tunnel if you follow the AAD process.

It may seem daunting at first, but it will be worth it

Di

[cymruambyth]

I started dealing with our debts before AAD and had a couple of major problems! Since joining I have cleared every one, either through becoming Statute Barred or court -actually it has been pre court due the excellent work of Jo Connolly Solicitors who work with members of AAD.

Like Di, mine were also all unenforceable despite what the DCAs told me!

[nightwatch]

WE, that is the Royal we, meaning I did all the work to get us out of the mess hubby got us into. Started our self managed DMP in 2002. I had been working for a DMP company (SORRY) so knew how to go about asking for reduced payments.
Happily paid ammounts based on what we had left at the end of the month, then Mum started with dementia little things at first so I could still work part time, then younger brother had a breakdown, later sadly took his own life, work for me went through the window.
informed all companies that payments would reduce, most understood, some sold them on to DCA's, some were ok but one, 1st credit, (who i believe is now Intrum, but they haven't told me) were utter sh1t, this was around dec 2010.
I went searching the web to see if I could find anyone to help with 1st, Came accross Niddy and AAD and the rest is history,
All but one was UE, but blagged it and now all are SB.
A journey well worth taking.

[Joanna Connolly Solicitors]

WE, that is the Royal we, meaning I did all the work to get us out of the mess hubby got us into. Started our self managed DMP in 2002. I had been working for a DMP company (SORRY) so knew how to go about asking for reduced payments.
Happily paid ammounts based on what we had left at the end of the month, then Mum started with dementia little things at first so I could still work part time, then younger brother had a breakdown, later sadly took his own life, work for me went through the window.
informed all companies that payments would reduce, most understood, some sold them on to DCA's, some were ok but one, 1st credit, (who i believe is now Intrum, but they haven't told me) were utter sh1t, this was around dec 2010.
I went searching the web to see if I could find anyone to help with 1st, Came accross Niddy and AAD and the rest is history,
All but one was UE, but blagged it and now all are SB.
A journey well worth taking.

What a powerful post

Untypically I'm not sure what to say in response except thank you for sharing your story nightwatch.

Di x

[5corpio]

Bumping <<< i also regular UE subscriber and that decision i made 10 years ago was the best thing in my life that i done at https://all-about-debt.co.uk/ first 6 month was a hurdle then everything was plain sailing.

Thanks troops

[Joanna Connolly Solicitors]

also regular UE subscriber and that decision i made 10 years ago was the best thing in my life that i done at https://all-about-debt.co.uk/ first 6 month was a hurdle then everything was plain sailing.

Thanks troops

And thank you for all your news Blogs over the years (there have been 3,763!)

I'm thrilled to see them back on the forum today

Di

[PlanB]

Hello

Every now and then I bump this thread because the first post is a powerful statement similar to how new members feel when they join the forum today even though it was posted exactly ten years ago.

It has a Happy Ending too.

I hope your journey also ends happily although there will be bumps along the road, but forum members will help and support you through it.

One year on...

To-day May 11th is exactly 1 year since I sent off for my first CCA and began my UE journey.

When I started the journey I was in credit card debt to the tune of £130K, I won’t go into detail about how I allowed myself to end up in such a desperate financial position, if you are interested you can read a little of my story at the beginning of my diary.
By March of last year, I had reached a point where I was in such despair that I could not function properly; I was verging on the brink of becoming mentally unstable, so much so I even contemplated suicide at one particular low point.

I was paying back £30K per year to service my credit cards, and with the continuing growth in interest charges, I was getting known where fast, in some cases the outstanding balances increased even though I was paying more than the minimum monthly payments. I realised it could not continue, I was robbing Peter to pay Paul, paying credit cards with credit cards, and also draining my business of much needed cash flow.
I had worked hard to try and build a reasonable business and looked forward to the time when I could enjoy the fruits of that hard work as I grew older. But all those dreams looked like falling apart, going bankrupt, losing my home and business now looked a real possibility.

I didn’t bury my head in the sand when I realised how bad my finances had become, I tried to think of positive ways to deal with the situation, I started by contacting all my card creditors, and explained my unfortunate financial position, I asked for help by way of freezing interest on the accounts, and agreeing a fixed monthly payment so I could at least start to reduce the debts.

All my pleading fell on deaf ears, not one of them was interested, it seemed help wasn’t in their remit, in fact all my letters seemed to achieve was credit limits got immediately reduced to what the card balance was, or in some cases, below the balance which put my account in arrears and resulted in interest overcharges, some creditors also increased the interest charges. I had certainly succeeded in starting the alarm bells ringing even though at that stage I wasn’t in arrears with any of the accounts.

I did contact a debt management company, following a one and half hour phone call one Sunday evening with a “councilor” I had the feeling it wasn’t going to be the right direction for me, it would appear the “management company” would be the real winners in taking the lion’s share of any payment plan they arranged with my creditors, promises of getting my debts written off after a couple of years of payments and my credit file would still be intact, was just too good to be true, so I quickly put an end to the suggestion of going down that route.

So what now? I thought ok maybe one of the free debt advice charities can offer me some sort of help or even negotiate with my creditors to persuade them to accept a payment plan. While researching this possibility I came across “another site” and on the forum there, I started to read threads from people
who, in varying degrees had also found themselves in a similar position to me, (and there was me feeling sorry for myself, the only one in the UK who had serious debt problems)…NOT!

It was while reading thorough the various threads that I came across a lady, with the user name “mouseanne” Little did I know when I first started to read her thread, how this was going to change my life. I only read a few of the posts to start with, but something drew me back to mouseanns thread, and I spent a good few hours reading her story from the very first page. She was receiving advice from a few different members, but one stuck out more than the rest, “Niddy”! Who was guiding mouseann and discussing the unenforceability of many credit card agreements, in particular many flawed ones were issued around the dates that many of mine began.

This was my first introduction to UE, I had never even heard the term used before.
Could this be for me? I began to think very carefully about it, could it help me? what about the moral implications,

I had always believed you had to pay back what you owed, In fact I suppose I still do, but then I thought, ok I have used credit card money, but they have had the capitol back and profit on the loans over the years, they had me well and truly on the hook paying back the outrageous interest charges each month, they didn’t care about me as a person in trouble, they don’t want you settling your debts, they just keep squeezing until there is nothing left to squeeze out.

When the banks made a mess of their finances while continuing to pay themselves massive bonuses, they simply went cap in hand to the government for a bailout plan. Where can the man in the street go for his bailout plan? No where! So do I feel I am doing something morally wrong, no not any more? This is my life, the only one I have got, and I don’t have a lot of it left at my advancing years.

So here I am on the UE journey. I have not paid one single payment to any of my credit card accounts since March 2010. When I started out on this journey I didn’t really know what I was letting myself in for or how things would turn out, I still don’t know what the final result will be.

In the months since I stopped payments, first I had the general “must bring your account up to date” letters from my creditors, this then progressed on to chaser letters from DCA’s. Some of my creditors have closed my accounts and now leave it to DCA’s to chase me for money. As the months have gone by, the letters have reduced significantly. I have received a number of CCA’s from my creditors, most of them have been deemed UE, and to date I have not had any court action taken by any of them.

I continue to respond to DCA threats with the help of our mentor, the site owner, Niddy and his excellent template letters, which up to now usually stops them in their tracks and they pass the debt back to the original creditor, who in turn pass it to another DCA in the hope they can get better results. It is an endless task of letters going back and forth, but that is a tiny inconvenience to put up with. Although it can never be taken too lightly it is almost like a game dueling with the DCA’s.

One year on I still have £130K of debt (more with added interest). But at least I am fighting back now, and in a much better place mentally and physically.

As I said earlier, I don’t yet know what the final result will be, yes my previous good credit rating is now in tatters but, a year on I have managed to function without the need for credit, in fact I was pleasantly surprised as how well you can do without credit when necessary. And I have no regrets whichever way it turns out, I believe I have taken the right route, if at the end of the day I end up having to pay half of the original debts, it will be a fantastic result.

I’m not endorsing the UE route is for everyone, you need to look carefully at your own situation, and think long and hard before embarking on it. But if you do decide it is for you, then you have found the right place to help you guide you through the process.

This forum now plays a major part in my life, I have made many new friends, ok mostly on line friends, but that is irrelevant, I still consider them friends, not only do we come here for financial guidance, you will find an answer to almost anything here if you ask, and it is also a great place for socialising, somewhere to come and get away from the day to day routine for a while. Long may it continue.

Thank you for reading my story, and thank you Niddy for your invaluable help, and giving us this platform to express ourselves.

Di

[Warwick65]

I came to the party a little late, oh how I wish it wasn’t so as I spent five years paying back nearly 300 a month to my creditors. Soon after I started my UE journey all the defaults fell off my file so what did I do? I took out more cards and more debt.

Anyway now all my debt is statute barred , even the mini credit one which caused me no end of anxiety with their criminal fees and threatening letters. After a rather angry letter where I think I told them to go and multiply with themselves I postponed the date that became SB.

5th May this year I officially became statute barred - no one can touch me. And the one threat I had led to a message to Di that I think just said HELP I have a claim and that was sorted. Very grateful to Di and a ‘very nice man’ who was with me in court.

[Susiebling365]

Thanks for bumping this diary, AAD is a sanctuary for many who fall prey to these financial vultures ,The diary is an inspiration for those who need to take the plunge and keep going. The genuine people will survive.!