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Bit of a long thread - I've tried to keep it as short as I can though:
Due to a change in circumstances over the past year or so, I've not been able to keep up with credit card repayments. I've taken advice from Stepchange and I am working with the creditors to find a solution. However, 4 of the creditors just don't seem to be engaging or are going back on their word.
I wondered if someone could give me their insight / thoughts into the info below. I’ve already asked this on a debt forum but thought I’d see if there any legal experts in here that have a take on it.
I'll put a bit of background and then at the bottom put my queries:
Santander:
I contacted them December 2019 after speaking to Stepchange.
I explained the situation and then wrote to them Jan 2020 asking for a payment suspension for up to 12 months until I could get my finances sorted. I received a letter from them agreeing to the plan.
At the beginning of March I get a phone call from them asking for payment. I explained I'd already contacted them re this. The operative looked at the file, agreed that they had said yes to the suspension, apologised for call and said she'd put a note on the file to stop any further calls asking for payments. She also said she would get someone from the recoveries teams to contact me regarding the payment suspension.
The very next day I get another call asking for payment. Again, I explained the above and the lady apologised for ringing.
End of April I've not heard anything from them (even though I was told someone would ring me back about the payment suspension) so I wrote to them again. I then get another 2 letters saying they've agreed to the payment suspension.
That's great, except end of July I get a letter from a debt collection agency (Westcot) saying that Santander have passed my file onto them and that Santander should have contacted me prior to this to let them know they were passing the info on (which they hadn't).
I wrote to Santander complaining and to cut, what is already a long story short, they admitted that agreeing to the payment suspension was an admin error (even though they agreed to it 4 times!!!!), they should have written to me before sending the file onto the debt collectors (another admin error) and offered me £75 for the trouble. I have since sent a complaint into the FCA regarding all of this.
I have also told Westcot this and, to be fair, they have been very understanding and put the account on hold until I have heard from the FCA.
TSB:
I contacted them (via letter) Feb 2020. Explained that I'd been in touch with Stepchange and that I was asking for payment suspension.
No reply.
I wrote to them again in April asking for someone to get in touch with me to go through my options because I was struggling to keep up the repayments, talk about payment suspension etc etc.
They did reply in June saying they’d looked into my complaint (I hadn’t raised a complaint at that stage) and saying that they wrote to me previously advising that they had put my account on hold for 30 days. Therefore, my complaint (again – I hadn’t made a complaint) was not upheld. However, in this letter they did not address my concerns re lack of them offering help or any mention of payment suspension. Not even a "sorry we can't offer a payment suspension, but we can offer you this....."
I contacted them yet again in June, explaining the above, asking for someone to contact me, asking for help and pointing out that my initial letter wasn’t a complaint.
.
No reply.
Following default notices (which I understand they have to send and I have no problem with) I wrote to them for a fourth time at the beginning of Sept reiterating all of the above and asking for someone to contact me asap.
Nothing, until end of September when I get a letter from them saying that because I haven't been in touch (!!!!!) and we can't find a way forward, they have passed my details on to a debt collection agency (Westcott Services).
I sent an official complaint into TSB, which they responded to via Westcott Services. All the response was, was the letter dated June from TSB. I emailed Westcott back saying that TSB still haven’t addressed my complaint from September 2020 and TSB have not contacted me following the 3 letters I had sent to them (1 in June 2020 and 2 in September 2020).
MBNA:
I phoned them in Jan 2020 to talk through the problems I was having paying the amount owed each month and the advice I had taken from Stepchange.
The person I spoke to said they’d give me 30 days breathing space to see if my situation was any clearer within that time. It wasn’t
After the 30 days, I wrote to them asking for a payment suspension or asking for other ways forward.
I didn’t hear anything from them until April when I had a telephone call from them. The person I spoke to told me the next steps – default letter etc. She also said that MBNA knew that I couldn’t pay anything at present, they’re not expecting payment and that I didn’t need to contact them until my situation was clearer.
I then get a letter from Link Financial in Sept saying that they were dealing with the account. Enclosed with Link’s letter was a letter on MBNA paper addressed to me saying that they were passing my file onto Link Financial. This was sent with the letter from Link and not before to tell me they were passing the debt onto Link to deal with.
I wrote to MBNA and Link in September asking for several concerns to be addressed and I asked for a copy of the transcript with the telephone operative that told me not to contact them until my situation had changed.
I have had no reply from MBNA but Link did write back to me and unfortunately they have not even attempted to answer several key questions raised. They did say that MBNA couldn’t provide the chat transcript as the file had been passed onto the Debt Collection Agency which I have asked for an explanation as to why they can't. I have written back to Link asking them to reply to my previously raised concerns.
Halifax:
Spoke to them in Jan explaining the situation and I was given 30 days breathing space.
I then wrote to them saying situation still the same and can they look at payment suspension (as per Stepchange).
No reply to the above so I tried to ring them.
I went through their telephone options and got a message saying no one was free to help so can I ring them back?
I decided to write to them again explaining all the above asking for payment suspension / what they can do to help / can someone contact me and I heard nothing back.
Same day I received the letter from Link telling me they were now dealing with the MBNA account in Sept (MBNA and Halifax have the same owners if I’m not mistaken) I get a another letter from Link Financial regarding the Halifax account. As with MBNA there was a letter included on Halifax headed paper saying they were passing it over to Link.
Again, this was the first I had been told about it and nothing before the letter from Link.
Queries:
I’ve tried to engage with the creditors, kept them informed, asked for help. I do want to pay the money back, so my questions are:
What duty of care do credit card companies have towards their customers when the customer contacts them and asks for help?
What can someone do if they’re trying to engage with creditors but don’t get a reply (TSB, MBNA, Halifax)?
Does a credit card company need to engage with a debtor and try and find ways forward before passing the file onto an external agency? I know we’re in difficult time what with Covid-19, but the only contact I’ve had with them are the standard letters they send out.
What can someone do when they are getting calls from a creditor even when the creditor has said they won't call them? I could say it's harassment I suppose.
My understanding is that a creditor is meant to inform the customer before they pass the file onto a debt collector / debt management agency.
Santander didn’t tell me at all and MBNA and Halifax had the letter put in with the letter from Link. There was nothing from the creditors before Link letter. What can someone do when they only find out that their debt has been passed on when they get a letter from the collection agency? Is this harassment too?
What if there is a breakdown in trust between the debtor and the debt collection agency? I have my doubts that Link Financial will give me the complete truth and will tell me one thing when MBNA / Halifax will tell me another. If that does happen, what can I do and I can refuse to deal with Link if they are shown to be lying? Can I request another debt collection agency deals with the case?
What can someone do if they are given false information or the creditor goes back on what they offered? Santander (4 times) said they had agreed to the payment suspension and in the end said it was a mistake.
We all make admin errors, and that’s fine – errors happen, but to do it 4 times and let it run on for 9 months is totally wrong.
MBNA told me I didn’t have to contact them, but then they pass my details on to Link because I’ve not been in touch.
I want to just come to some sort of arrangement to start to pay the debts back – even if it’s just a token payment whilst I get my finances sorted. But I don’t want to agree to that if the credit card companies haven’t followed correct procedure or not engaged when they should have done
Sorry for the long post and I really appreciate any help given.
Due to a change in circumstances over the past year or so, I've not been able to keep up with credit card repayments. I've taken advice from Stepchange and I am working with the creditors to find a solution. However, 4 of the creditors just don't seem to be engaging or are going back on their word.
I wondered if someone could give me their insight / thoughts into the info below. I’ve already asked this on a debt forum but thought I’d see if there any legal experts in here that have a take on it.
I'll put a bit of background and then at the bottom put my queries:
Santander:
I contacted them December 2019 after speaking to Stepchange.
I explained the situation and then wrote to them Jan 2020 asking for a payment suspension for up to 12 months until I could get my finances sorted. I received a letter from them agreeing to the plan.
At the beginning of March I get a phone call from them asking for payment. I explained I'd already contacted them re this. The operative looked at the file, agreed that they had said yes to the suspension, apologised for call and said she'd put a note on the file to stop any further calls asking for payments. She also said she would get someone from the recoveries teams to contact me regarding the payment suspension.
The very next day I get another call asking for payment. Again, I explained the above and the lady apologised for ringing.
End of April I've not heard anything from them (even though I was told someone would ring me back about the payment suspension) so I wrote to them again. I then get another 2 letters saying they've agreed to the payment suspension.
That's great, except end of July I get a letter from a debt collection agency (Westcot) saying that Santander have passed my file onto them and that Santander should have contacted me prior to this to let them know they were passing the info on (which they hadn't).
I wrote to Santander complaining and to cut, what is already a long story short, they admitted that agreeing to the payment suspension was an admin error (even though they agreed to it 4 times!!!!), they should have written to me before sending the file onto the debt collectors (another admin error) and offered me £75 for the trouble. I have since sent a complaint into the FCA regarding all of this.
I have also told Westcot this and, to be fair, they have been very understanding and put the account on hold until I have heard from the FCA.
TSB:
I contacted them (via letter) Feb 2020. Explained that I'd been in touch with Stepchange and that I was asking for payment suspension.
No reply.
I wrote to them again in April asking for someone to get in touch with me to go through my options because I was struggling to keep up the repayments, talk about payment suspension etc etc.
They did reply in June saying they’d looked into my complaint (I hadn’t raised a complaint at that stage) and saying that they wrote to me previously advising that they had put my account on hold for 30 days. Therefore, my complaint (again – I hadn’t made a complaint) was not upheld. However, in this letter they did not address my concerns re lack of them offering help or any mention of payment suspension. Not even a "sorry we can't offer a payment suspension, but we can offer you this....."
I contacted them yet again in June, explaining the above, asking for someone to contact me, asking for help and pointing out that my initial letter wasn’t a complaint.
.
No reply.
Following default notices (which I understand they have to send and I have no problem with) I wrote to them for a fourth time at the beginning of Sept reiterating all of the above and asking for someone to contact me asap.
Nothing, until end of September when I get a letter from them saying that because I haven't been in touch (!!!!!) and we can't find a way forward, they have passed my details on to a debt collection agency (Westcott Services).
I sent an official complaint into TSB, which they responded to via Westcott Services. All the response was, was the letter dated June from TSB. I emailed Westcott back saying that TSB still haven’t addressed my complaint from September 2020 and TSB have not contacted me following the 3 letters I had sent to them (1 in June 2020 and 2 in September 2020).
MBNA:
I phoned them in Jan 2020 to talk through the problems I was having paying the amount owed each month and the advice I had taken from Stepchange.
The person I spoke to said they’d give me 30 days breathing space to see if my situation was any clearer within that time. It wasn’t
After the 30 days, I wrote to them asking for a payment suspension or asking for other ways forward.
I didn’t hear anything from them until April when I had a telephone call from them. The person I spoke to told me the next steps – default letter etc. She also said that MBNA knew that I couldn’t pay anything at present, they’re not expecting payment and that I didn’t need to contact them until my situation was clearer.
I then get a letter from Link Financial in Sept saying that they were dealing with the account. Enclosed with Link’s letter was a letter on MBNA paper addressed to me saying that they were passing my file onto Link Financial. This was sent with the letter from Link and not before to tell me they were passing the debt onto Link to deal with.
I wrote to MBNA and Link in September asking for several concerns to be addressed and I asked for a copy of the transcript with the telephone operative that told me not to contact them until my situation had changed.
I have had no reply from MBNA but Link did write back to me and unfortunately they have not even attempted to answer several key questions raised. They did say that MBNA couldn’t provide the chat transcript as the file had been passed onto the Debt Collection Agency which I have asked for an explanation as to why they can't. I have written back to Link asking them to reply to my previously raised concerns.
Halifax:
Spoke to them in Jan explaining the situation and I was given 30 days breathing space.
I then wrote to them saying situation still the same and can they look at payment suspension (as per Stepchange).
No reply to the above so I tried to ring them.
I went through their telephone options and got a message saying no one was free to help so can I ring them back?
I decided to write to them again explaining all the above asking for payment suspension / what they can do to help / can someone contact me and I heard nothing back.
Same day I received the letter from Link telling me they were now dealing with the MBNA account in Sept (MBNA and Halifax have the same owners if I’m not mistaken) I get a another letter from Link Financial regarding the Halifax account. As with MBNA there was a letter included on Halifax headed paper saying they were passing it over to Link.
Again, this was the first I had been told about it and nothing before the letter from Link.
Queries:
I’ve tried to engage with the creditors, kept them informed, asked for help. I do want to pay the money back, so my questions are:
What duty of care do credit card companies have towards their customers when the customer contacts them and asks for help?
What can someone do if they’re trying to engage with creditors but don’t get a reply (TSB, MBNA, Halifax)?
Does a credit card company need to engage with a debtor and try and find ways forward before passing the file onto an external agency? I know we’re in difficult time what with Covid-19, but the only contact I’ve had with them are the standard letters they send out.
What can someone do when they are getting calls from a creditor even when the creditor has said they won't call them? I could say it's harassment I suppose.
My understanding is that a creditor is meant to inform the customer before they pass the file onto a debt collector / debt management agency.
Santander didn’t tell me at all and MBNA and Halifax had the letter put in with the letter from Link. There was nothing from the creditors before Link letter. What can someone do when they only find out that their debt has been passed on when they get a letter from the collection agency? Is this harassment too?
What if there is a breakdown in trust between the debtor and the debt collection agency? I have my doubts that Link Financial will give me the complete truth and will tell me one thing when MBNA / Halifax will tell me another. If that does happen, what can I do and I can refuse to deal with Link if they are shown to be lying? Can I request another debt collection agency deals with the case?
What can someone do if they are given false information or the creditor goes back on what they offered? Santander (4 times) said they had agreed to the payment suspension and in the end said it was a mistake.
We all make admin errors, and that’s fine – errors happen, but to do it 4 times and let it run on for 9 months is totally wrong.
MBNA told me I didn’t have to contact them, but then they pass my details on to Link because I’ve not been in touch.
I want to just come to some sort of arrangement to start to pay the debts back – even if it’s just a token payment whilst I get my finances sorted. But I don’t want to agree to that if the credit card companies haven’t followed correct procedure or not engaged when they should have done
Sorry for the long post and I really appreciate any help given.
