Back in the dark days of 2009 I ran into various debt problems, one of which was an RBS Visa Card with approx 6k of debt on it. I corresponded with RBS and had hoped to get into a debt plan arrangement (PayPlan or similar) but my income was so poor no one was interested. Of the half dozen or so companies I had to deal with RBS were the only folk seemingly willing to engage in a discussion.
Communication went back and forth. RBS sent a letter on 20/10/2009 stating the account was formally terminated and defaulted. After more correspondance they accepted a basic payment from me of £1.00 per month to be reviewed after 6 months. This carried on for a number of months until 28/10/11 when they wrote requseting an update on my circumstances. I replied updating them on my situation, fundamentally unchanged and advising that the ongoing payment was very difficult. This became a lot tougher when my business bankers (NatWest) shut down my business trading accounts. (A Long Story)
Things were very tough now and I essentially stopped paying the monthly minimum amount. I was expecting my business to have to fold as I was unable to process transactions so cash income was very poor. My partner works full time and my family helped out a little. I receievd a multitude of 'please contact us' letters until 5th May 2012 when RBS passed the details to Triton.
On 18/06/2012 I had a 'Payment Demand' arrive which I filed carefully followed on 13/07/2012 by 'Notice of Legal Proceedings' I filed this letter also. On 27/09/2012 I was contacted by Shoosmiths Solicitors, they had been passed the details by RBS. After another letter on 22/10/2013 from Shoosmiths I wrote back explaining that without confirmation from RBS confirming Shoosmiths involvement I would not enter into any communication. Shoosmiths acknowedged this and refered the matter back to RBS.
RBS then wrote 27/02/2013 confirming that they were passing my details to Direct Legal. Almost immediately the phone calls started. I will not deal with these agencies over the phone, it all has to be in writing, DL claimed a letter had been sent but it was not in fact received until a while later. When the letter finally arrived I responded on 25/03/2013 advising that I will look at the file and contact RBS. I also advised DL that I will not deal with them over the phone, everything in writing only so I can keep a proper track. DL advised that they would grant a period of 21 days for communication to take place but insisted on being kept in the loop and reserved the right to continue telephone calls.
I have finally had chance to review the file and put all this information in the right date order. What appears obvious is that I have not got a default notice from RBS, it is simply not here. I access my credit file through equifax and can see that the default was recorded but surely I should have received the actual paper notice?
I accept that I have unresolved business with RBS and that I stopped paying them, but under some pretty extreme circumstances last year with huge pressure from NatWest over the business accounts and ongoing work issues. I am self employed and always have been pretty much over the last 20 years. I would not be able to pay RBS any more than the aforementioned token, my income has stabilised and improved marginally and will hopefully grow again this year. My partner and I have a child (7) and we keep up with the mortgage and other essential bills, but we are not living an extravagant lifestyle.
So please can you tell me how I should approach this matter? I am absolutely certain the default notice has never been recieved so should I request this or get straight into an SAR notice or is another approach more suitable?
Thanks for your time.
Briefly my thanks to all on the forum. I have accessed at a number of different times and gleaned some very useful information and template letters from it that have, frankly, got me through a large amount of poo generated by card companies and the parasites that work off them.
Communication went back and forth. RBS sent a letter on 20/10/2009 stating the account was formally terminated and defaulted. After more correspondance they accepted a basic payment from me of £1.00 per month to be reviewed after 6 months. This carried on for a number of months until 28/10/11 when they wrote requseting an update on my circumstances. I replied updating them on my situation, fundamentally unchanged and advising that the ongoing payment was very difficult. This became a lot tougher when my business bankers (NatWest) shut down my business trading accounts. (A Long Story)
Things were very tough now and I essentially stopped paying the monthly minimum amount. I was expecting my business to have to fold as I was unable to process transactions so cash income was very poor. My partner works full time and my family helped out a little. I receievd a multitude of 'please contact us' letters until 5th May 2012 when RBS passed the details to Triton.
On 18/06/2012 I had a 'Payment Demand' arrive which I filed carefully followed on 13/07/2012 by 'Notice of Legal Proceedings' I filed this letter also. On 27/09/2012 I was contacted by Shoosmiths Solicitors, they had been passed the details by RBS. After another letter on 22/10/2013 from Shoosmiths I wrote back explaining that without confirmation from RBS confirming Shoosmiths involvement I would not enter into any communication. Shoosmiths acknowedged this and refered the matter back to RBS.
RBS then wrote 27/02/2013 confirming that they were passing my details to Direct Legal. Almost immediately the phone calls started. I will not deal with these agencies over the phone, it all has to be in writing, DL claimed a letter had been sent but it was not in fact received until a while later. When the letter finally arrived I responded on 25/03/2013 advising that I will look at the file and contact RBS. I also advised DL that I will not deal with them over the phone, everything in writing only so I can keep a proper track. DL advised that they would grant a period of 21 days for communication to take place but insisted on being kept in the loop and reserved the right to continue telephone calls.
I have finally had chance to review the file and put all this information in the right date order. What appears obvious is that I have not got a default notice from RBS, it is simply not here. I access my credit file through equifax and can see that the default was recorded but surely I should have received the actual paper notice?
I accept that I have unresolved business with RBS and that I stopped paying them, but under some pretty extreme circumstances last year with huge pressure from NatWest over the business accounts and ongoing work issues. I am self employed and always have been pretty much over the last 20 years. I would not be able to pay RBS any more than the aforementioned token, my income has stabilised and improved marginally and will hopefully grow again this year. My partner and I have a child (7) and we keep up with the mortgage and other essential bills, but we are not living an extravagant lifestyle.
So please can you tell me how I should approach this matter? I am absolutely certain the default notice has never been recieved so should I request this or get straight into an SAR notice or is another approach more suitable?
Thanks for your time.
Briefly my thanks to all on the forum. I have accessed at a number of different times and gleaned some very useful information and template letters from it that have, frankly, got me through a large amount of poo generated by card companies and the parasites that work off them.
Comment