Sainsburys Credit Card

[McGinty]

Hi Folks, I need a little advice on this card please. It has been bobbing about for a while with various agencies chasing the alleged debt of £3466.33. Over the years I have managed to fend them off but Shoosmiths are now on to it and they seem a different kettle of fish, threatening court action. I have made an offer of £850 which was put to Arrow Global, who now own the debt, but it has been refused and they made a counter offer of £2946.38. I have pointed out that the total has been inflated with charges and interest etc. The account was opened on 23 of March 2007. I was going to make another offer of £1000 but I would like some proper advice before doing so. Thanks, McGinty

[charitynjw]

Re: Sainsburys Credit Card

Hi McGinty

How did you make your offer? Without Prejudice? Verbally or written?
How long since you last paid anything into the account or gave written acknowledgement? (Apart from the recent offer).

[nemesis45]

Re: Sainsburys Credit Card

Hi,

Have you made a CCA request for the agreement for this card? Which card was it? There's a template at the top of the Court claim page for this. a £1 statutory fee to pay, use a postal order marked "for statutory fee only" send it to Arrow Global by signed for post.


When was the account defaulted? A credit file check will give and indication. ( Noddle is free online).

The settlement figure seem a little odd.

You have admitted liability for this debt by making the offer of payment.

Get the CCA request sent off asap Arrow has 12 +2 working days to comply.

nem

[McGinty]

Re: Sainsburys Credit Card

Hi, I made the offer in writing and i didn't include 'Without Prejudice". The last payment was made in December 2014 via a DMP. I am not in a DMP any more as the chap retired.

[Amethyst]

Re: Sainsburys Credit Card

Before (or with) making a further settlement offer I would send a CCA request, - they can't comply immediately and may incline them towards accepting your counter counter offer (£1733 ?)

[McGinty]

Re: Sainsburys Credit Card

Thanks. I have made a SARS request and received a copy of the agreement and all the bumph that goes with it so I don't think it worthwhile doing a CCA? This account must have been defaulted way back as it is not on my credit file. When you say the settlement appears odd, can you elaborate please?

[McGinty]

Re: Sainsburys Credit Card

Thanks Amethyst. As stated, in the past I have made a SARS request. and received a copy agreement and history of payments etc. The alleged figure has been balooned by £12 late payment fees and I think the true figure should be closer to £3k. Are you suggesting a counter offer at that level?

[Diana M]

Re: Sainsburys Credit Card

I have made a SARS request and received a copy of the agreement and all the bumph that goes with it so I don't think it worthwhile doing a CCA

A SAR and a s.77-79 CCA Request are different things.

The SAR goes to the original creditor who is obliged to send you all information they have on file about you. A debt purchaser doesn't necessarily have access to all that information.

A s77-79 CCA Request has the potential to afford legal protection from enforcement of the debt in court if the current creditor fails to comply.

Send the CCA Request with a £1 postal order to Arrow asap with a copy of it to Shoosmiths to keep them in the loop.

Arrow will probably write back to say they don't "envisage" themselves as the creditor and return your postal order. Don't let that deter you because the letter will probably also say they've asked the original credit to send them the paperwork.

Di

[Amethyst]

Re: Sainsburys Credit Card

No, You have already made an offer, they have countered with a £2900 odd offer, and you were talking about countering that with an extra £1k on your original of £850. If you send a CCA request it may well put you in a position whereas they may be more inclined to accept an offer of around 50% ( so £1733 ).

The CCA request has legal implications, more so than a SAR. It may ask for the same document ( the agreement ) you have requested in the SAR but the legislation around the consumer credit act says , basically, if they can't provide the agreement following a formal CCA request, they can't get a judgment against you. Have a read of section 78 of the Consumer Credit Act ( para 1 and para 6 ).

So if they don't have the agreement, and you make a 50% offer, then as they paid 10-20% for the debt, they still make a decent profit out of you, and don't have to trail about finding the documentation. It's a tactical thing really. They might just say no and go to court, but they will have to produce the document then, and pay the court and hearing fees.

( Sorry crossed with Di, we must have been typing at the same time, just me more slowly lol)

[Diana M]

Re: Sainsburys Credit Card

chasing the alleged debt of £3466.33. Over the years I have managed to fend them off but Shoosmiths are now on to it and they seem a different kettle of fish, threatening court action. I have made an offer of £850 which was put to Arrow Global, who now own the debt

By making an offer you've indicated your willingness to settle and have also admitted that you owe the debt.

If Shoosmiths are threatening court action (have you been sent a Letter Before Claim with a deadline for response?) they may/may not be tempted to issue proceedings to put pressure on negotiations.

That's why sending a CCA Request may help your current situation since your account was opened before April 2007 according to your first post.

I don't know what Sainsbury's sent in your SAR purporting to be you credit agreement, but did they send you the Ts & Cs which in some cases were printed on the reverse of the application and not always retained in their archives?

Wait to see what Arrow send you in reply to your CCA Request in order to regain your bargaining power. Unless you really want to pay now to get things over and done with.

Di

[McGinty]

Re: Sainsburys Credit Card

Thank you Di and Amethyst so much for this. I am obviously trying to get the lowest settlement figure possible. Shoosmiths gave a 14 day response time in one of their previous letters which I complied with in making the offer. The said if there was no response in that period they would issue court proceedings. I don't know if this constitutes a letter before claim or not? The copy agreement I was sent was signed 17th March 2007. There are no terms on the back of the form but are in an attached paper and quite likely terms which may or may not? have applied at the time. I will post the CCA request tomorrow and send a copy to Shoosmiths also. This is the letter I have sent Shoosmiths;

In response to your letter dated 21st September 2016 I want to make an offer to settle this debt. The offer is £850 for a full and final settlement. The alleged amount owing is far greater than the original debt. This is due to missed payment fees, admin fees and interest fees etc. I am now receiving my pension and this is the maximum amount I can afford and family members are helping me with this. The offer is made conditionally in that I will need confirmation in writing of your acceptance and also that the rest of the debt is wrote off and not pursued by Sainsburys or any third party.

If you do not accept my offer then I will have no option other than to contact Stepchange Debt Charity for their guidance in this matter. I prefer to have contact in writing only please.

Hope I haven't tripped up any more with this! Mc

[charitynjw]

Re: Sainsburys Credit Card

Hi Mc

Did you enclose the £850 with this? (I'm guessing not, but best to clarify).

[Diana M]

Re: Sainsburys Credit Card

If you do not accept my offer then I will have no option other than to contact Stepchange Debt Charity for their guidance in this matter.

. . . Hope I haven't tripped up any more with this! Mc

I don't see any reason for you to think you've tripped up with that letter unless the debt was on the brink of becoming Statute Barred in which case your offer would have formally acknowledged the debt. When did you last make a payment towards the account?

If that's everything you said in your letter then you didn't give them a deadline for accepting your offer so you can either leave it on the table or withdraw it if they can't comply with your CCA Request.

If your credit agreement turns out to be unenforceable then Arrow should kick themselves for not biting your hand off when you made your offer last month.

I don't suppose your threat of contacting Stepchange if they didn't accept your offer would have scared the living daylights out of Shoosmiths Solicitors Are you currently in a DMP with them?

Di

[McGinty]

Re: Sainsburys Credit Card

The last payment was made in December 2014 via a DMP. The guy running that business retired at that point so I started to deal with my debts myself. I am not currently in a DMP. The intention was to make Shoosmiths realise that Stepchange was a possible option. Obviously going down that road would leave them with very little-certainly less than £850.
After what period does a debt become statute barred? Thanks again. Mc

[charitynjw]

Re: Sainsburys Credit Card

Hi Mc

I would agree with [MENTION=87380]Diana M[/MENTION] & [MENTION=55034]nemesis45[/MENTION] in that it would appear that you have acknowledged the debt in writing.
Hence my post (#2).
That usually means that the SB clock is reset to the beginning (ie 6 years from the acknowledgement).