Re: Distressing phone call from MBNA

[sunflower99]

Hi i am new to this forum .I found it by doing a search on MBNA bullying tactics as i now have severe fiancial problems and also have problems with being pestered at work and home by them.They have phoned my workplace a few times and told people who work there that they are are MBNA!So they are trying to hassle and embaress me at work.i have told my work colleagues to tell them i am not available! but i agree it is awful and totally out of order when they start to bully you at work! My husband who has a heart problem and at home all day also gets several calls from them! asking for me.At least by looking at this forum i realise now that it will be a wise tactic not speak to them.All these phone calls started because of one overdue payment which i cant afford this month.Another thing that happenend to show what a pathetic bank they are was that a few months ago from a geniune oversight on that occasion i missed of a payment of 30 pence! LOL and AS A result my huband got several phone calls at home from them trying to contact me and one day when i reached work my superviser said she had just a phone call at 8.00 am in the morning !I couident beleive it when found out that the problem they were so concerned with getting in touch with me was over an under payment of 30 pence! for goodness sake!i couldent beleive it and now i have severe fiancial problems with me finding it difficult to make my minimum repayments i see i from all your experiences of MBNA that life is going to be a bundle of fun dealing with **** like MBNA! What a life!

Edited September 2, 2008 by sunflower99

[MARTIN3030]

Welcome to the site.Please keep to your own threads.Have moved yours here.

[reduk054]

Hi Sunflower99, welcome!

Have you read this "sticky" about telephone harassment? (permalink)

You should not have to deal with their bullying tactics.

Red

[Fred Bassett]

Hi Sunflower, welcome to the MBNA fan club.

 

They really are the most difficult and awkward people to deal with so I sympathise with you.

 

I would advise you to do several things:

 

• As you've already worked out, NEVER talk to them on the telephone - insist on everything being in writing.
  
• Send off the telephone harassment letter - you can find it here: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/37006-harassment-telephone-response-letter.html
  
• Send them a letter called a CCA request. This is a request under the Consumer Credit Act for a copy of the original credit agreement. Essentially, this is the document that proves that you have an enforceable debt. It must contain certain terms and be in a specific format. If they can't provide this, then it puts you more in control of the situation. You have to send a £1 postal order and it is advisable to send this by recorded delivery. I can never find this template, so here's a copy of the one I sent them:
  

MBNA Europe Bank Ltd

PO Box 1004

Chester Business Park

Chester

CH4 9WW

 

2008

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

ACCOUNT NUMBER: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

With reference to the above agreement, I would be grateful if you would send me a copy of this credit agreement.

I understand that under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (Sections 77−79), I am entitled to receive a copy of my credit agreement on request. I enclose a payment of £1.00 which represents the fee payable under the Consumer Credit Act.

 

I understand a copy of my credit agreement should be supplied within 12 working days.

 

I understand that under the Consumer Credit Act creditors are unable to enforce an agreement if they fail to comply with a request for a copy of the agreement under these sections of the Act.

 

I look forward to hearing from you.

 

Yours faithfully

 

 

Once you get a reply, scan it and post it up on here (make sure you remove personal detals) and somebody will be along to help. I hope this helps you get started.

 

Good luck.

 

Regards.

 

Fred

 

[sunflower99]

Hi Fred .Thanks for advice about dealing with these bullying phone calls from MBNAi i will certainly be using that letter if they persist.At least coming across this forum made me feel slightly better as i know i am not alone in having these problems with MNBA and enjoyed reading some of the posts that people on here write about their unique ways of getting their own back on MBNA. and gave me a smile in spite of my grim circumstances Before i came across this forum i was feeling vey down and when they started calling my work place that was the last straw.Ive never taken any of these calls but it is awful being made to be scared of answering your own telephone!and now on top of this im being made to feel scared to answer work phone.It really is to much and i did suspect this behaviour is verging on illegal harresment.I do accept though that i have to bear responsibility for running up debts in first place.Things have been extra difficult for us these last five years as my husband had heart attack in sept 03 and has been unable to work and only gets incapacity benefit.We did get very depressed and i suppose we were tempted to use our credit card for everything including things we shouldent have bought to try and cheer ourselves up as my husband quite often felt very depressed and i found it difficult to say no either to myself or him and MBNA and other credit cards kept upping our credit.We kept saying to ourselves we will use this card one more time and then we must stop but trouble is we still never got to the stage where we stopped as life seemed so bleak.Now all our income goes on minimum reapayments and bills so we dont have any money left so i suppose we are in what is called the credit card trap.i dont earn much as i am a shop assistant.I am going to try and keep up minimum repayments as much as i can and try and get a second job to try and cope but there will be months when a credit card company will have to have a month missed as i cant pay them all each month.But that copy of that telephone letter will come in handy! Thanks again !

Edited August 27, 2008 by sunflower99

[Fred Bassett]

Sunflower, just remember that at the end of the day you can't pay what you don't have. In a way it doesn't matter how you got where you are now, nobobdy on here will criticise you for it because many of us are in the same boat. You haven't done anything criminal.

 

You might think that the worst thing that could happen is that MBNA take you to court. If that sounds frightening, don't let it be. There is a thread somewhere on here that describes what that would be like and it's not what you might think, it's essentially a civilised discussion around a table, not a criminal hearing - I will try and find it for you. There is every likelihood that MBNA will never take you to court in any case because they know full well that they will not get a level of payment acceptable to them, that is why they put the frighteners on.

 

Just hang in there because I promise you that if you stand up to them things will get better. It might take a while but it will happen if you are strong enough. There is also a thread on here about different strategies for dealing with these people, again I will try and find this because it contains some very good advice.

 

Take care.

 

Regards.

 

Fred

[mr.ton]

Fred is right Sunflower..MBNA are just trying to put pressure on you because they sense that you are "vunerable" with the greatest respect.

DCA's do that all the time - they dont bother with the likes of me & others on here who tell them to get lost & dont pay them a penny.

DCA's also threaten court all the time, but the fact is they dont like going near the places as they would get the minimum amount back in the maximum amount of time - the court would have to take into account all your essential outgoings inc: Bills,food,clothes,travel costs etc..all of which are classed as essentials - i know this coz ive been through the County Court system before

You are not on trial or anything, its all very informal & just sit round a table working everything out - there is no "guilty" or "not guilty" involved

DCA's are totally powerless & useless organisations that have no power/authority over you whatsoever - only a court has that, so unless the DCA is preparred to go through the court system then there aint a thing on Gods earth that they can do to you

[Fred Bassett]

Hi Sunflower, the post on dealing with telephone harassment is here: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/131475-dealing-dcas-phone-calls.html - unfortunately I can't find the one about going to court at the moment but I'll keep looking.

 

Regards.

 

Fred

[eastendboy]

Hi sunflower, only moral support, but listen to the people above and the advice is good. You are in the right place for help, and most people here will not desert you when you need there help the most.....

[sunflower99]

so far so good! I thin MBNA have given up for moment trying to phone me at work!I havent had any calls at work for a few days now! Fingers crossed!Though my husband said i got several calls at home but at least at home i can just ignore them and husband just says im out all the time!

[spiritgirl59]

Hi Sunflower

 

Subscribing to offer you more moral support. I am also a member of the MBNA fan club

 

Good luck! You've had ace advice from everyone so stand firm and don't let the bar stewards at MBNA get you down!

 

Love SG x

[sunflower99]

HI spiritgirl59l Thanks for moral support!So you have problems with MBNA as well.They certainly seem the worse bank for hassling people.They never let up do they! i just sent them a repayment of last months minimum monthly payment of £185 but they still keep hassling us for the extra charges and this months installment.The only good thing is they seem to have given up for moment bothering me at work but my husband who is at home all the time says somedays he gets at least one phone call a day from them and if he dosent answer it the phone rings several times When he does answer it they keep trying to get another contact number for me.My husband says that he is going to stop answering the phone as not being in good health he finds the calls extra stressful and very annoying as well.Trouble is that we are in so much of a fiancial muddle and in a complete credit card trap,If we pay all our minimum repayments on all our credit cards we have no money to live on ,In fact our outgoings now greatly exceed our incoming money,I am at a loss to know what to do or who to turn to advice for help with our debt problems.Someone at work said i should try citizens advice another person said i should approach one of those debt counselling agencies yet someone else said try and get a secured loan to at least pay of MBNA and make more money available from income to pay of other debts.I did wonder about citizens advice or debt agency but someone said that they will want to investigate how you got into debt and judge you!so that has put me off and i am terrified that they might say we have to declare ourselves bankrupt or something!Which would be awful I really dont know which way to turn or what to do to try and get ourselves out of this debt trap.

[palomino]

Despite your work colleague's comments neither CAB or agencies such as National Debtline criticise you.

I would suggest you talk to these people asap. I'm sure you will always find a friendly and helpful ear. If not then you can always hang up - but I'm sure you won't find that necessary.

 

Anyway give these people a call. National Debtline is on 0808 808 4000. Your local CAB will be in your local telephone book, although I've heard they only do things by appointment and with the current economic climate there may be a bit of a wait for one.

 

One thing to be a bit cautious about is that these people are there to try and help you pay your bills. They do not for instance challenge the validity of those bills (there might be illegal charges) or the enforceability of them (they are not interested in whether valid credit agreements are available). Just in how you can pay them.

So, keep visiting here to find out the rest of the story!

 

 

There are other organisations such as Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS), Eurodebt, Debtplan or Debt Advisory Centre but I've never tried any of these and can't recommend or not recommend them.

National Debtline, for FREE CONFIDENTIAL and INDEPENDENT ADVICE call 0808 808 4000

CCCS - Free Debt Advice from the UK's Leading Debt Charity

Debt help advice in the UK from EuroDebt for credit cards, loans, CCJ and money worries, IVA information.

Consumer Credit Counseling - Credit Card Debt Consolidation Loans

Debt Help & Advice - Debt advisory centre

[reduk054]

Hi Sunflower,

I would really like to agree with Palomino's advice. National Debt Line are really helpful, I have also found them very knowledgeable, and they certainly do NOT judge you in any way.

My advice would be to try and manage your own debts rather than some of the companies who manage your debt for you, echoing what Palomino says, as although I personally have no dealings with such debt management companies, a lot of CAG users have mentioned that they have steered away from them, for the reasons already stated.

What you need to bear in mind is that you must decide how much you have to spare to pay off your debts AFTER all living expenses. It would be worthwhile making a full and detailed lists of all of your income and outgoings (making sure that you take into account any payments which you make intermittently such as car tax, rather than monthly dds/standing orders). There is a template on the National Debt Line website to help you to do this.

Once you have worked out your amount to pay creditors (do not be unrealistic, again, you need to make sure that you have enough to live on), then you can write to each creditor, explaining your current situation, and offer to make them token payments. There is a letter on the NDL website as a template.

Paying something towards the debts you owe is better than nothing!

This way you are tackling your debts by being pro-active and honest.

Now I am not saying that your creditors are going to be necessarily happy, they want as much of your money as quickly as possible, but and it is a but, if any of the creditors took you to court, the court will only make you repay what you can REALISTICALLY afford.

Best of luck

Red

[spiritgirl59]

Sunflower, you have had great advice here from red and palomino - I would have said exactly the same to you.

 

The CAB and National Debtline will NOT judge you in any way whatsoever, I've used both of them myself in the past and they were really helpful.

 

The CAB will help you prepare an income and expenditure sheet and will then write to all your creditors advising them of how much you can afford to pay each of them, not how much the creditors want from you - which is an entirely different thing

 

In our case when we had done this the CAB ascertained that we could only afford to pay our Creditors £1 per month each at that time, so they wrote to each of them and told them so and the Creditors had to accept it. OK a couple of them (including MBNA surprisingly!) jumped up and down about it but there was nothing they could do. They cannot get blood out of a stone.

 

When MBNA continued to hassle us after the CAB had intervened, it was the CAB who wrote to them on our behalf and ordered them off our case, which did work at that time....although they have since come back but I now feel strong enough to deal with them myself.

 

Its very important I think that you do this because paying for your daily living costs and keeping a roof over your head comes way up the priority list to any creditors. Make an appointment and take all your paperwork with you, I am sure you will feel like a weight has been lifted off your shoulders after you've been

 

Love SG x

[sunflower99]

Hi Spiritgirl and everyone else on this thread thanks for all your advice and moral support you all have been life savers to me.and given me a bit more of an idea how deal with these bullying tactics by these banks.I logged onto here today feeling very down as though they seem to be leaving me alone at work for moment my husband said the phone was ringing several times for me yesterday as most debts in my name. my husband said that he can usually tell if it is a call center as he says there is a bit of a pause before person speaks when this happens he just puts phone down! but he was feeling very down with the amount of times phone keeps ringing and says he has given up answering it now and is seriously thinking about unplugging it though by doing that he is risking not allowing people who need to get through to him to get to him which is a worry.I said that he ought to start giving out his mobile phone number to people important ,so we were both very depressed yesterday.I am trying to pluck up courage to make an appopintment with CAB and thanks for reassuring me about them.I did use debt lines online calculator a few months ago where you give budget expenses on a calculater online and they give you an automated reply to your budget,It did not make very encouraging reading as i was told that after our houshold expenses bills and secured loan payments we were not left with enough to live on and therfore had no money left to offer creditors which was scary.I suppose though using an online tool like that not the same as speaking to a real person but that finding was not very encouraging we wouldent be able to get away with not offfering any money at all so was worried about this online advice and did not feel very encouraged to contact them by phone.

Edited August 27, 2008 by sunflower99

[spiritgirl59]

I did use debt lines online calculator a few months ago where you give budget expenses on a calculater online and they give you an automated reply to your budget,It did not make very encouraging reading as i was told that after our houshold expenses bills and secured loan payments we were not left with enough to live on and therfore had no money left to offer crediters which was scary.

 

Hi again Sunflower

 

It may be that what you have said above is the actual scenario once the CAB or National Debtline have worked everything out for you BUT if that is the case and they find you cannot afford to pay a thing after all your essentials have been paid, the creditors will have to accept that situation. I know exactly how you feel because I felt the same when we were told only to pay £1 to each of ours - I honestly thought none of them would accept it - but the CAB wrote to each of them and they all accepted the situation once they had a letter from the CAB and a copy of our income & expenditure form. So please don't worry about that if it happens. They cannot get blood out of a stone Sunflower - your living expenses and priority debts come first.

 

Palomino is right about the CAB not challenging the validity of the debts though, unlike what many of us are doing on here, because in my case when I challenged all 13 of them I managed to get 1 written off and several more sent packing due to dodgy paperwork - but from my own point of view if I were you I would start off with the CAB intervening to help you as I did, then when you feel stronger and more in control, it may be the time for you to challenge each creditor should you wish, and you will find all the help and advice you need on here.

 

The main thing is to make yourself and your hubby feel better and to be able to sleep at night without the constant worry of all this, so I would say the first port of call is one of the help agencies.

 

Good luck, and let us know how you get on.

 

Love & supportive cyber-hugs

SG x

[angel_1]

hello Sunflower and everyone else that has helped you so far

 

i have read your thread and i agree with everyone, i wished id had that kind of support when i started out in march of this year,id joined this forum way back then got myself reaquainted again -and yes mbna were and still are my worst nightmare and ive told them this on the phone!!!

 

However, i m a lot stronger now, ive got all on plans at the moment and after a very strong harrasement letter to mbna finally the telephone number from work was deleted by them and im not getting the calls now at home, i did change my mobile number as it suited me to go to a new tariff.

 

I also have had great help from national debtline and their advisors always helpful.

 

However, im now tackling the validity of the cca as most of my debts are credit cards and debs storecard. So now thats my next goal, you can have a look at my threads created by me if you wish especially the mbna as im still getting to grips but my letter is going out to them today for the DAta info and the cca copy, they have fobbed me off in the past so now im very suspicious so im insisting on it now and will follow it through with all the advice ive been given so far here

 

So as others have said, pls dont despair, we are here to offer you lots of support, its fantastic, i had to deal with a lot of the hassle early on but by may of this month was getting the support i really needed.

 

Good luck and lots of cyber hugs keep happy - ciao for now MAZ

 

will also subscribe just to check in and see how you are getting on

[sunflower99]

Hello Maz

Thanks for your advice and giving me some hope that there is a chance something can be done about these awful debts! Everyone has been brilliant on here.I owe money to five credit cards and am in a months soon to be two months arrears with three of them and my husband has got a Natwest credit card which he is in a months arrears in.I must admit until i visited your forum i dident think there would be any chance of some of our debts would be written off at all and that if we did we manage to come to any agreements over payments to crediters we would face a lifetime of stress and misery being in constant debt and the worry of countinual hassle from credit card companies.All your responses have given me a glimmer of hope .To be honest my husband and me were getting so depressed over our fiancial state that we were both getting to hate life and wish we were not around anymore especially my husband as he already feels bad that his health stops him from going out to work and though it is not his fault i thnk he feels guilty that he cant go out to work to help pay of credit cards.I keep telling him i dont want him to as i know that he would make himself worse and it would kill him if he attempted to go back to work and even the jobseeker plus people who are known for their bullying tactics in trying to get people back to work quickly backed off when he was summoned to their office for one of their why are you not working interviews,The woman there very quickly realised realised that she couldent bully him into going back to work when he had a bad angina attack and breathing difficulties during interview she was making him so angry and stressed.i think she was worried that he was going to have a heart attack in the office and that she was concerned that there would be a bad report about the local jobseeker plus office driving a man to heart attack.when he got like that she bundled him out of building with a pile of forms for claiming Disability Living Allowance,So i am extremley grateful to everyone here that you have given me and my husband some hope and moral support. Good luck and cyber hugs to you too!

[angel_1]

hi Sunflower and hubby

 

thanks for your post and your thanks to everyone so far too - we all do appreciate it im sure but the main thing i want to do is to make you feel less despondent and gain the knowledge you need to tackle these debts within the law and not to be bullied by anyone in life

 

so pls keep reading the info on this forum and ask away any questions we will answer them and if not will find out from others for you

 

pls keep positive and have a fun day okay ciao for now MAZ

 

ps off to the incapacity meeting, at the dss, now. catch up laters

[sunflower99]

Hi everyone! Thanks again for all your support and advice!I am thinking about makeing an appointment to see citizens advice soon as it seems from everyones opinion that they seem to be very helpful.I am going to try and wait till october though as i think by October there are some good thing going to happen! One unsecured loan to NatWest gets paid of in september which frees us up from £120 a month and a Life insurance linked savings plan for me which i shouldent have really kept up when things got so bad but as it is gave me a bit of peace of mind and was so near to maturing and apperently i was told i would loose a lot of bonuses from it if cashed in early and as it only had a few months to go and there was not a huge monthly payment on it i am trying to keep it on until it matures in October.This sum will give us two thousand i think ! .This amount will not do much to clear much debt as we owe well over that to credit card companies and it will only clear our overdrafts for a while but at least it will be a slight help to us.I thought if i waited till october our fiancial situation would look very slightly better if we wait till then to ask for fiancial advice and we would have a little more money to include in our budget when calculating our bills. I would like to take Fred advice about writing a CCA letter to MBNA eventually when we have got a new printer and scanner that works! as i understand from some previous threads that it is always best to send printed unsigned letters to these credit card companies as some try to copy and paste your signature to be used on agreements you have not signed?I was very shocked when i saw that advice and it just shows what lengths these banks go too! Being on this forum has been a real eye opener!I was wonering how this CCA Letter affects MBNA? As i am not very knowlegeable about these matters! How does it give me an advantage over MBNA?Do they often send out dodgy agreements to their customers which can not be enforced?If that is so that would be great! As being such a horrible bank they derserve all the weapons i can throw at them! LOL

Edited August 21, 2008 by sunflower99

[sunflower99]

My friends at MBNA have started trying to get through to me at work again!Luckily everyone knows that i dont take any calls from them and dont put call through to me,My husband said that the phone was constantly ringing all day ,In the end he unplugged it.I think i will have to send them a telephone harrasemment letter.I spoke to soon saying they had stopped bothering me at work!

[emmaf01]

Hi Sunflower

 

I have a suggestion about your husband's DLA application. I would suggest he goes to a local council welfare rights officer, who would fill in the form for him, using all the right lingo that the DLA assessors need to see to tick their boxes. The DWP terrify me, but my welfare rights officer handles all my forms for me now and I got DLA first time because of him. He also handled my IB appeal and got the decision overturned.

 

That way you could get some much needed extra income and your creditors can't touch it because the courts count it as protected income.

 

By the way the telephone harassment letter can really work. The phone was ringing morning noon and night and I couldn't answer it anymore. Now all is peaceful.

 

Good luck.

[sunflower99]

Hi Emma Thanks for your advice! However when we did apply for Disability Living Allowance and got it rejected a couple of times i did contact our local citazens advice and got it referred there to someone called a benefits specialist but i am afraid to say she was completly useless!I e mailed her copies of all our letters we had written to DLA unit and she came to visit my husband at home to discuss claim,I spent hours composing letters to send DLA unit which i think fully explained all the health problems of my huband and how they affected his mobility mental and physical health and fully answering all the arguments they kept putting foward as to why he was well in my opinion being denied it unfairly and illegally!I took advice from online research and explained how his heart problem and other health problems affected his life and ability to get round!I mentioned the fact that he gets severe angina/chest pains often after only a few minutes of walking and that he cant use GTN spray because he gets severe disabling headaches where he is unable to do anything for several hours and that makes his angina and walking more dangerous i told them about hospital tests that showed that his stress test results showed that his heart showed dangerous changes after only two minutes of exercise i told them that he often felt faint and dizzy during walking and exerting himself in anyway and that increased chances of him having falls and hurting himself.i mentioned the fsct that all his heart medications gave him horrible side effects such as giving him worse headaches and iritable bowel syndrome i mentioned the fact that circulation problems from heart problem made him have permenantly numb cold feet and affected his memory The list goes on!The DLA during last appeal wrote back and very stuipidly told my husband that angina when walking and not being able to use GTN spray was not a problem to him as he could stop and rest till attack finished! I immediatly wrote back to them and said that if he did that when he would never get home for several hours ! and would probably end up collapsing outside as angina comes back after him walking a few minutes and ! What a stupid argument!Anyway the benefits rights benefit woman was useless she ignored these reasons and said on tribunial form that my husband should get DLA because we had fiancial problems and we needed the money!Which was a stupid thing to put! she did not put down my husbands health problems as a reason which she shold have donne!DLA is not dependant on a persons fiancial state! LOl it is not means tested and is given to people rich and poor and the decision to award it is based on how a disability affects a persons ability to get around and cope!That citazens benefits woamn was useless!She completly ignored my reasons! I couldent beleive it!

[emmaf01]

The local council welfare rights officer is (generally) part of the social services department of your local council. They only deal with claims and appeals for benefit and are highly trained and experienced in this field. They will talk with you and are specialists at using the magic words which have to be used to get DLA. In my case, my WRO talked to my consultant to get info and made sure his letter was expressed in terms the DLA and IB would understand! I did nothing apart from tell him who was treating me and for what.

 

I would never suggest a normal person deals with DLA applications or appeals, as the DWP can sometimes seem to use any excuse to turn down applications. Just because you've been turned down before doesn't mean that, with the right help, you can't be successful now. Your husband is disabled and needs help- why shouldn't he get it?