Help when dealing with DCA's needed please

[keep the wolves away]

Hi, I am hoping someone can give me some advice. I have a few credit card debts (A&L total £2,400 & RBS £1,100) which were taken out in 2006.
I'll start with the A&L one first. I received a few letters from different DCA's (Apex, Bryan Carter & Fredrickson International) all of which I ignored due to the volume of abuse they were giving me & the fact that I couldn't pay them anything, hoping they would go away, they did, for a while. Fast forward 1 year, I am in a better position to pay off my debts so this one comes back in the form of Link Financial. I agreed by telephone to pay them £30 a month which I have been doing since Jul 2009 (the balance is now £1,298) They sent me a letter last month telling me that as they were aware, my financial situation has changed (they said they had been notified by a UK credit reference agency) so they would like more money monthly now from me or else they will be taking further action to recover it.

Now I was annoyed at this because I have never missed a payment to them in the 2 years this has been going on. I have received texts & cheeky phone calls (the same day payment was due) telling me my payment that month hadn't gone through but when I argued back with them & said it had, they said just to ignore the text because their system hadn't updated.

Now first things, I never received a letter of assigment from them, I didn't think I needed to as I owed the money & was now in a position to start paying it back. Having read the sites, I now realise I should have asked for proof. Having read sites telling me how little these DCA's pay for the debt (I have paid them over £1,000 already) I guess I panicked & just wanted to start clearing the balance on the debt. So armed with knowledge I sent them a CCA request 3 days ago (recorded signed for) I have tried to read as much as I can about the what if's when I get this or not. I am awaiting something from them. I am not denying the debt but I put on my CCA request that my account was in dispute (I have sent a SAR to A&L to reclaim my charges & take this off the balance) & asked Link to stop taking payments until they send me the details I requested. Reading other forums, I know Link are not going to make this easy so it would be great to know what my next step would be.

Any advice as to what to do next please, would be very much appreciated.

Regards the RBS debt. This is from April 2006 & has now been handed over to AIC whom I also sent a CCA to 3 days ago, marking it Account in dispute/ I do not acknowledge any debt to you. Depending on what advice I get from someone knowledgeable on this forum, I will apply the same as steps as Link.

Was this the correct procedure to follow?

[mr.ton]

Re: Help when dealing with DCA's needed please

I agreed by telephone to pay them £30 a month which I have been doing since Jul 2009 (the balance is now £1,298) They sent me a letter last month telling me that as they were aware, my financial situation has changed (they said they had been notified by a UK credit reference agency) so they would like more money monthly now from me or else they will be taking further action to recover it.

Stay off the phone to DCA's- everything in writing only.
Its not up to them how much you pay and when - you are the boss of them not the other way round. If you offer £1 per month then tough on them if they refuse it.
The DCA's & CRA's are a grubby little set up amongst themselves and need to be clamped down on.
Will cost them to take you court anyway so wouldnt be worth their while.

[frisp]

Re: Help when dealing with DCA's needed please

They're bluffing just don't talk to them. Ask them to remove your number next time they call. Keep paying at the rate agreed

[Crispybacon]

Re: Help when dealing with DCA's needed please

They sent me a letter last month telling me that as they were aware, my financial situation has changed (they said they had been notified by a UK credit reference agency) so they would like more money monthly now from me or else they will be taking further action to recover it.

Usual greedy behaviour from Link Financial. Did they actually state that your financial situation has changed for the better?!

For all they know it could have changed for the worse, your outgoings for example would have gone up, especially with increases in fuel, petrol and food costs over the last 2 years.

You could have taken this line, "actually YES my financial position has changed, I am no longer able to afford £30/month but can now only afford £15. I hadn't got round to dealing with this yet but as you've called.........."

As has been mentioned, if £30/month is the maximum you can afford then keep paying it. Are you paying by DD or Standing Order. If by DD then you need to keep an eye on your online banking and make sure the cheeky ****esters don't change it (as they have been known to do).

Don't let them bully you into paying more than you can afford. If £30/month is all you can genuinely manager then let them take 'further action'.

It is unlikely they will take the risk of taking a debtor to court who has kept to an agreement and chance being awarded a LOWER monthly repayment.

Personally I wouldn't stop paying them until you know the situation with your CCA simply because to do so would be seen unreasonable if (in the unlikely event) things got to court.

If they default on your CCA request you can, at that point, dispute the debt and cease payments, but this can be a risky strategy and I would advise you to get legal advice at that point (Watsons solicitors are the firm that went up against Link I believe so they would be a good place to start!).

Best

Crispy

[keep the wolves away]

Re: Help when dealing with DCA's needed please

Thank you Mr Ton, Frisp & Crispy for your great advice. I sent a DPA letter with my CCA request, asking them to stop ringing me & put everything in writing only to me. I probably could pay them a bit more a month but after reading posts about fellow debtors requesting CCA's, I thought maybe I had been too quick to start payment to a shark organisation such as Link. Unfortunately it is by dd but luckily, I think, my payment came out the same day I sent their letter so that keeps me in the clear until the start of next month, which is when the proverbially s**t will hit the fan as I hope to have received my CCA by then. I am not sure if you know the procedure during take overs but A&L handed my account over to Legal & Trade back in 2008/9 ( I received a letter from A&L telling me this) Since then it has gone to 3 others who just send me letters chasing the debt. Is there something called a Notice of Assignment or Assignment of Deeds that has to be sent to a creditor to inform them. I have read as much on the forums as I can so that I am a bit prepared for what comes back. It is really a minefield because hearing of dodgy cca's etc is a bit scary. Thanks to all of you for your help. I will post up if/when I hear something back.

[keep the wolves away]

Re: Help when dealing with DCA's needed please

Hi there folks.

Received a letter from Link, dated 5th August 2011(3 days after I sent my CCA request) It reads as follows:
"You have recently made a request under Section 77/78 for copies of various documents."
As you are aware, Link Financial Limited purchased your debt from MBNA Europe Bank Limited on 20th February 2008 and as such we do not always hold this documentation. We have requested a copy of the agreement and the most recent terms & conditions your account was operated under from MBNA Europe Bank Limited and look forward to sending this to you in the near future, however please be advised that this can take up to 30 days to provide

Yours sincerely

Link Financial Outsourcing Limited.


Ok, first question if they purchased the debt does this not mean they should have all the documentation.
Secondly, do I wait the 12+ 2 days to see what they come up with, then send them the 'failure to supply cca letter'

Part 2, next post is the other pain in my a** AIC

[keep the wolves away]

Re: Help when dealing with DCA's needed please

Sent 'Account in Dispute/I acknowledge No Debt To You' letter to Allied International Credit for a RBS card asking them to send my CCA.
Received a letter back yesterday telling me my account is no longer with them & to please contact our client Arrow Global Directly.

When I received a letter in Feb 2011 from Arrow Global telling me the RBS has assigned all of its respective rights, title & interest in respect of this account to Arrow Global & for me to make any payments & future correspondence to Allied International Credit.

Now I am confused because I read somewhere they are the same company.

They were very honest in returning my £1 postal order back though (not much use when it has their name written across it)

What should I do? Are they deliberately giving me the runaround here.

[frisp]

Re: Help when dealing with DCA's needed please

Write to Arrow Global and IAC thanking them for the return of the £1, inform them that you still require the information you requested, that you are assuming they will now do this free of charge, that should the data not be received within 40 days threaten to stop paying them and that you'll initiate complaints to the FSA, OFT and your local trading standards.

Further that should they not delver the documents you requested that you will submit a subject access request under the DPA.

If you should decide to stop paying (don't know for sure whther this is permissable under OFT guidance) you must set aside the monies you would be sending for the day that they finally come up with something.

good luck keep asking and don't take no for an answer

[keep the wolves away]

Re: Help when dealing with DCA's needed please

Hi Frisp

Thank you for your prompt reply. I haven't actually made any payment to AIC/Arrow Global yet as I felt I would only start paying them if & when they send my CCA.

To whoever has the true copy of my CCA (the golden ticket) will be who I pay the money to but it is very annoying when I am trying to track down who actually is the DCA looking after this & following their instructions on the letter which they then contradict.

I might be best to send a SAR to RBS & just forget about the baboons (sorry wildlife for insulting you) in AIC/Arrow Global.

[Caspar]

Re: Help when dealing with DCA's needed please

Hi there folks.

Received a letter from Link, dated 5th August 2011(3 days after I sent my CCA request) It reads as follows:
"You have recently made a request under Section 77/78 for copies of various documents."
As you are aware, Link Financial Limited purchased your debt from MBNA Europe Bank Limited on 20th February 2008 and as such we do not always hold this documentation. We have requested a copy of the agreement and the most recent terms & conditions your account was operated under from MBNA Europe Bank Limited and look forward to sending this to you in the near future, however please be advised that this can take up to 30 days to provide

Yours sincerely

Link Financial Outsourcing Limited.


Ok, first question if they purchased the debt does this not mean they should have all the documentation.
Secondly, do I wait the 12+ 2 days to see what they come up with, then send them the 'failure to supply cca letter'

Part 2, next post is the other pain in my a** AIC

Yes they should have all the documentation and they need a copy of the original agreement and terms and conditions on the same page if they are to be able to take this to court. By law they have 12+2 working days to reply, but TBH it's not worth fussing over a couple of days over if you know they're sending them.

If they don't supply a CCA (it doesn't have to be the original to comply with a S77/78 request) then you can place the account in dispute.

However, in an ideal world BEFORE you do any of this (too late for these, but not if you have other debts) you should send them a Prove It letter asking them to prove their entitlement to collect the debt from you and that you owe it. I tend to follow the same tactic as Curlyben (well - I nicked it from his advice lol) to totally ignore the first letter. On receipt of a second letter, if there is one, then send a prove it letter, then CCA request, into dispute etc....

While nobody would preach debt avoidance, it is only right that anyone pursuing these debts should prove their right to do so. Until they can do that, then in my opinion you have very little to say to them.

As above absolutely everything in writing "for the avoidance of doubt." If they do phone, refuse to go through security and tell them straight, sorry, if you have anything to say to me please put it in writing. Goodbye.

[Caspar]

Re: Help when dealing with DCA's needed please

Ktwa! I've got the same going on with Arrow Global. I was told by Arrow Global only to deal with company x as they had done an absolute assignment of the debt to them. Company x then told me to deal with Arrow Global. I just wrote to Comapny x saying the orginal creditor had sent me a valid Notice of Assignment in Absolute and that I would only deal with them. If they did not want to deal with me I was happy with that.

Sometimes it's a case of playing them at their own game. If they realise that you understand the difference between an equitable and an absolute assignment and that you have a good understanding of your rights they will soon start to dance to your tune rather than try to get you to dance to theirs!