Can refund of PPI premiums and interest be forwarded directly to a collection agency?

[Brenda]

I was recently approached in writing by Monument inviting me to write to them if I thought I may have been incorrectly sold a Payment Break Plan.
Although this all happened in the early 2000's I had a recollection that this may have occurred and asked that they check. To cut a long story short they offered compensation of £2,332.
Some years ago I got into financial difficulties and Monument assigned my account to the Lowell Group and they are insisting that the monies must be paid directly to them. I doubt very much that Lowell paid anything like £2332 to acquire this account. I also have other creditors and, had, the monies been paid directly to me then I could have shared it with them all. It almost looks as if Monument is making a preferential payment to just ONE of my creditors.
Monument's letter is a classic - no liability on our part etc etc and this is a goodwill gesture on their part blah blah blah
If Monument have assigned the account to Lowell should that not be the end of their interest in it? Is there anyone with legal knowledge in this area who can comment?.

[dogtired]

Re: Can refund of PPI premiums and interest be forwarded directly to a collection age

Hello [MENTION=97303]Brenda[/MENTION]
Several years ago I had two PPI claims via the FOS.
One I got the full amount ( however that did not stop them claiming outstanding amounts and passing it round DCAs but that's another story!)
The other had been " bought" by Cabot and the £800 alleged remainder was passed to them.
Both these cards were originally BOS cards. @Nem what do you think?

[dogtired]

Re: Can refund of PPI premiums and interest be forwarded directly to a collection age

:bump:

I was recently approached in writing by Monument inviting me to write to them if I thought I may have been incorrectly sold a Payment Break Plan.
Although this all happened in the early 2000's I had a recollection that this may have occurred and asked that they check. To cut a long story short they offered compensation of £2,332.
Some years ago I got into financial difficulties and Monument assigned my account to the Lowell Group and they are insisting that the monies must be paid directly to them. I doubt very much that Lowell paid anything like £2332 to acquire this account. I also have other creditors and, had, the monies been paid directly to me then I could have shared it with them all. It almost looks as if Monument is making a preferential payment to just ONE of my creditors.
Monument's letter is a classic - no liability on our part etc etc and this is a goodwill gesture on their part blah blah blah
If Monument have assigned the account to Lowell should that not be the end of their interest in it? Is there anyone with legal knowledge in this area who can comment?.

[Kati]

Re: Can refund of PPI premiums and interest be forwarded directly to a collection age

tagging [MENTION=48934]Debt Camel[/MENTION] xx

[enaid]

Re: Can refund of PPI premiums and interest be forwarded directly to a collection age

Hi, having looked around for a definite answer to this I have emailed the FOS, hopefully they will reply soon and with a proper response we can all work with.
Up to now I have read, yes ,no, it all depends on the contract, or it all depends if they have sold or are just collecting for the lender, but nothing definite as yet that you can use.
So if you can hang fire I will post the response as soon as I get it.

[enaid]

Re: Can refund of PPI premiums and interest be forwarded directly to a collection age

Reply so it's just now waiting

Hello

Thanks for getting in touch.

We’ve received your email and have set up a case for you, your reference is 18924659.

This has been passed to our customer contact team who will be in touch with you soon to let you know if and how we can help and answer any questions, hopefully within 14 days.

If you need any help in the meantime, please feel free to give us a call as this is the quickest option – please remember to quote your case reference.

Our helpline number is 0800 023 4567 (Freephone) and we’re open Monday to Friday 8am-8pm and 9am-1pm on Saturday.

Kind regards

[Debt Camel]

Re: Can refund of PPI premiums and interest be forwarded directly to a collection age

As far as I am aware, it depends on the terms the debt was sold under - for example there may have been a term which enables the original creditor to buy it back. It is, I am afraid, a pretty normal procedure for a PPI refund to be used to pay a balance with a debt collector.

[enaid]

Re: Can refund of PPI premiums and interest be forwarded directly to a collection age

So would those terms ahve to be in the assignment paper work or the original agreement?

[Debt Camel]

Re: Can refund of PPI premiums and interest be forwarded directly to a collection age

They would be part of the commercial agreement when the debt was assigned.

[enaid]

Re: Can refund of PPI premiums and interest be forwarded directly to a collection age

Response,

Dear Sir/Madam

Thank you for getting in touch with us about your payment protection insurance (PPI) complaint.

Before we can look into this, we need some more information from you. Please can you send us the following:

• a completed and signed PPI questionnaire
• a completed and signed complaint form
• a copy of the financial business’s final response

I’ve attached a copy of the complaint form and PPI questionnaire for you to complete.

Once we have this information we’ll be able to progress your complaint further.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

Yours sincerely.


So I have replied
I have not made a PPI complaint, I have just asked a question that I hoped you could give me the answer to. The question was If a debt has been sold on to a DCA can the PPI reclaimed from the original lender be offset against the debt now in the hands of a DCA.

[enaid]

Re: Can refund of PPI premiums and interest be forwarded directly to a collection age

A very comprehensive reply to my simple question,

Dear Sir/Madam

In regards to your question any compensation received from your PPI claim will be passed onto the DCA to pay off the debt.

I hope this information has been helpful.

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Yours sincerely

[enaid]

Re: Can refund of PPI premiums and interest be forwarded directly to a collection age

I am dubious about them asking to explain this then.

the account from which the firm transfers the money - and the account from which the money would otherwise have come - must both be held with the same firm

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/40/40_setoff.htm

[Debt Camel]

Re: Can refund of PPI premiums and interest be forwarded directly to a collection age

I can't guarantee you couldn't get a result by challenging the write off. But if you did, a possible next step for the creditor would be to inform the DCA who would then go for a CCJ and possible an order to attend court for questioning to find out what you have done with the PPI refund.

The debt with the DCA needs to be repaid. Claiming PPI will almost certainly have resent any statute barred clock. A partial write off of the outstanding debt is a good result, not a bad one.

[enaid]

Re: Can refund of PPI premiums and interest be forwarded directly to a collection age

Thanks DC. I do understand what you are saying but the two different statements both from the FOS are imo contradictory to say the least. If a DCA is collecting on behalf of the original lender then yes by all means offset. If the debt is sold and therefore no longer anyhting to do with the original lender then I can not see how they can offset going off their own rules.
I know it was mentioned about buying debts back to be able to cover this, but am sure there must be loop holes in that somewhere.

[charitynjw]

Re: Can refund of PPI premiums and interest be forwarded directly to a collection age

My twopennerth.

Assignment of a CCA agreement gives the assignee the benefits of the agreement (ie payments due, the right to sue etc.), plus the statutory burdens (S77-79 requests etc.).
Imho, any issue re PPI remains between the original creditor & the debtor, and this appears to be clear as it is the original creditor who obliged to pay if missold.
Jones v Link Financial (2012) offers a pretty good starting point for assignment of CCA agreements.
http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/QB/2012/2402.html