Hello All

[Uphill]

Hello All,

I am just posting quickly here to introduce myself, like many people on this forum I too have been struck by debt, through the willingness of the banks to lend me more than my means and through my own stupidness over the years.

That said I have always tried to clear my debt and met all my payments until the bubble burst and my interest rates went from the manageable 12-19% to upto 34% - when my month balances were going up despite making increased payments. Things got to extortionate levels so I decided I couldn't starve anymore and tried negotiating with a couple of credit card companies, to explain my circumstances - however being met by script reading foreign call centres, I started to lose faith in the system and stopped busting my guts and stopped making payments for a while.

Now several years on those debts have been sold onto the Leeds Lowell Lifes.

So I will in the next few days be posting about my situation with them and seeking advise.

So its nice to be here, hopefully I will learn a lot and be ables to better understand my situation and how to deal with it.

:yo:

[labman]

Re: Hello All

Hi Uphill - your user name reminds me of a rather pleasant village near where I used to live at one end of Weston Super Mare.

It sounds as though your debt is all run of the mill, but when you post, it would be really useful if you could list the Original Creditor, the sum owed, the date of the agreement, who owns it now, etc....

Now you're in the mood to sort things out, make sure everything is put down. You are far from alone on this site. I've been there owing way more than I could afford to pay back, but I'm still here, and I haven't had to go to a court other than for jury service.

Depending on what you post about your debt will depend on what suggestions you get for your options.

Good to have you here at LB! :beagle:

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Hello All

I am just posting quickly here to introduce myself, like many people on this forum I too have been struck by debt, through the willingness of the banks to lend me more than my means and through my own stupidness over the years.

That said I have always tried to clear my debt and met all my payments until the bubble burst and my interest rates went from the manageable 12-19% to upto 34% - when my month balances were going up despite making increased payments. Things got to extortionate levels so I decided I couldn't starve anymore and tried negotiating with a couple of credit card companies, to explain my circumstances - however being met by script reading foreign call centres, I started to lose faith in the system and stopped busting my guts and stopped making payments for a while.

You're not alone, I had the same experience as you, MBNA increased the rate to around 34% and that's when I stopped paying them. I had that card for 15 years without a single missed or late payment and they refused to listen. It was at the time we were all struggling and the BoE lowered interest rates close to zero in order to stimulate the economy, yet they increased them just to line their pockets. As it happens, they were unable to locate a copy of my agreement and I haven't paid them since Jan 2010. :marchmellow::marchmellow::marchmellow:

Now several years on those debts have been sold onto the Leeds Lowell Lifes.

So I will in the next few days be posting about my situation with them and seeking advise.

It would be useful if you told us a bit more about those debts. If they are loans and/or credit cards and you took them out before April 2007, I would suggest sending a s.77-79 CCA request for each one of them straight away. The Low Lifes can be very nasty and like to issue statutory demands, so it's always best to be one step ahead of them. :thumb:

Below is the CCA request letter, which should be sent recorded delivery with a £1 PO and signed using a computer font rather than your real signature.

Dear Sirs,

Account or Reference No.:

I hereby formally request a copy of my Consumer Credit Agreement, pursuant to s.77-79 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (CCA1974).I require you to provide me with a true copy, or reconstituted copy of the credit agreement relating to any account you deem to be mine, together with any other documentation the Act requires you to provide. I expect you to comply fully and properly with this request, within the statutory time limit (12 + 2 days).

If it is your view that you are not the creditor, s.175 of the CCA1974 applies in the case of a simple assignment, and places a duty upon you to pass this request to the creditor. In the case of an absolute assignment, you are a creditor as defined by s.189. If you contend that you purchased the rights but not the duties of any agreement, you are reminded that s.189 of the Act is clear that an assignment is of both rights and duties. Your attention is drawn to ss.5(2), 3(b), 6 and 7 of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPUTR).

In line with recent OFT Guidance (issued Oct 2010) surrounding Unenforceability, I presume you're aware that the OFT has stipulated that 'sections 77-79 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 outline the information creditors must provide to debtors under fixed-term, running account & Hire Agreements'. This simply means that under these sections a debtor can pay £1 to get:

• a copy of their agreement
• copies of some of the other documents mentioned in their agreement
• a statement of account

If this information is not provided within 12 working days the debt becomes unenforceable. This means a creditor cannot:

• make the debtor pay the debt before they're supposed to
• get a court judgment against the debtor

So, in line with the OFT Guidance, and the Consumer Credit Act, please find attached my £1 payment, which is the statutory fee - note that these funds are not to be used for any other purpose. If you are unable to comply fully and properly with this request, you should confirm this in writing at the earliest opportunity, and certainly within the statutory time limit for compliance, and return the fee and then remove the incorrect entry from your systems.

Yours faithfully,