Tweet
Have been slowly progressing down the CCA/SAR route with a variety of lenders since last June. Initially this was just in response to their complete unwillingness to give me some flexibility during a difficult 6 months - for many years I had been a high-earning, regular bill-paying customer, then I started my own business and had a bit of a cashflow nightmare in 2010. Now all is (fairly) well - and I am reasonably solvent again - I'm continuing more in protest at their appalling behaviour (to me and to others) than out of necessity. I was formerly a barrister (though not in any field related to finance) and I am simply staggered by how lenders and DCAs routinely ignore or misrepresent legislation and regulation in order to terrify normal working people (and those unable to work through no fault of their own) into giving what they cannot give. it is no better than sharking and - as so many people have said on this site and others - the moral argument is lost.
I am at the point now of having received CCA data and or SAR data from most lenders. As I progress to the next step with each, I will post a potted history here. First up will be those charming people at MBNA.
Added on 01.02.2011
Perhaps I should be clearer: the only debts I have are unsecured CC debts. And I don't have a mortgage or a property to charge against - everything I own is tied up in my business. My initial goal with this was 6 months of breathing space. When that became impossible, I fell upon UE as a viable alternative. Now that I am knee-deep, though, my ideal scenario now is to reach a point on the UE debts where the OC will accept an F&FS in exchange (if possible) for cleaning my down my defaults, etc.
There is also a pretty high chance I will be leaving the UK permanently (new work) in May/June, so ideally I'd like to have things in order by then - either F&FSs all round or else back to plan A.
Added on 02.02.2011
Maybe it is worth adding more about me. Like everybody here, I've had my ups and downs, good fortune and bad. I grew up in a very average council house in a large family with a single Mum doing lots of menial jobs to make ends meet: free school dinners, TV meters, locks on the phone - you get the picture. I went to a bog standard comp and was fortunate enough to do well and proceed to a good university and then become a lawyer. But I've had my bumps, too: I've almost bankrupted twice - firstly, at 25, due to a ridiculous family feud and then, secondly, a few years ago as the result of a failed business project. So I'm fairly sanguine, but not smug in any way, about my cashflow crisis of last year and dealing with the UE panto.
All this is to go some way to explain that I'm not some toff fallen on had times or else the cliche of the "virtuous" insolvent. I don't judge anyone on the circumstances that led them here or why they are going down this route. As far as I am concerned, all moral and ethical arguments over a debtor's obligation to his debt, even if they are valid, come a very, very long way behind the current debate on licensed lenders' obligations to society and to the individuals they purport to serve. So if I can in some small way remind them of their obligations by attempting to resolve my own financial difficulties, then so much the better.
I am at the point now of having received CCA data and or SAR data from most lenders. As I progress to the next step with each, I will post a potted history here. First up will be those charming people at MBNA.
Added on 01.02.2011
Perhaps I should be clearer: the only debts I have are unsecured CC debts. And I don't have a mortgage or a property to charge against - everything I own is tied up in my business. My initial goal with this was 6 months of breathing space. When that became impossible, I fell upon UE as a viable alternative. Now that I am knee-deep, though, my ideal scenario now is to reach a point on the UE debts where the OC will accept an F&FS in exchange (if possible) for cleaning my down my defaults, etc.
There is also a pretty high chance I will be leaving the UK permanently (new work) in May/June, so ideally I'd like to have things in order by then - either F&FSs all round or else back to plan A.
Added on 02.02.2011
Maybe it is worth adding more about me. Like everybody here, I've had my ups and downs, good fortune and bad. I grew up in a very average council house in a large family with a single Mum doing lots of menial jobs to make ends meet: free school dinners, TV meters, locks on the phone - you get the picture. I went to a bog standard comp and was fortunate enough to do well and proceed to a good university and then become a lawyer. But I've had my bumps, too: I've almost bankrupted twice - firstly, at 25, due to a ridiculous family feud and then, secondly, a few years ago as the result of a failed business project. So I'm fairly sanguine, but not smug in any way, about my cashflow crisis of last year and dealing with the UE panto.
All this is to go some way to explain that I'm not some toff fallen on had times or else the cliche of the "virtuous" insolvent. I don't judge anyone on the circumstances that led them here or why they are going down this route. As far as I am concerned, all moral and ethical arguments over a debtor's obligation to his debt, even if they are valid, come a very, very long way behind the current debate on licensed lenders' obligations to society and to the individuals they purport to serve. So if I can in some small way remind them of their obligations by attempting to resolve my own financial difficulties, then so much the better.
But the nice thing is that as soon as you send a Niddy letter they just close their file and send it back to Try-it-on. 
Comment