I moved this from Woolwich section as I read on another thread that this section is not read that much ! But no-one seems to be reading here either !! Anyone some tips please...

HELP - I need some aid in drafting a complaint letter. In 2008 I had got into problems with paying my mortgage. I was paying something monthly but never the full amount. By December 08 I was in a really bad situation and received threatening letters from Woolwich and was really panicing . Fortunately my luck turned - within a couple weeks Opportunities arose that would enable me to not only pay the full amount monthly, but also to repay the arrears within the first few months of 2009. From mid Jan 09 I rang Woolwich regularly and made large debit card payments over the phone. Each time I kept them informed as to when the next chunk of money would be coming in. The men on the phone told me I was the only one that had such arrears that was sorting the situation so quickly and efficiently. However, the problem was that - because the interest rate had reduced -Woolwich considered me to be more months in arrears that I was when I first went in to arrears. This meant that, say I had been 3 months in arrears @5%, with the interest rates reducing to 1%, Woolwich considered me to be more than 6m in arrears That said, I remained positive and by the end of April I could see that I would have cleared my arrears by mid May. I rang Woolwich, made a payment and again told them this situation. However, a few days later I received 2 letters. One from Woolwich saying my account had been passed to solicitors to commence repossession and they were charging me £100; the other from the solicitors. The letters were dated 1 day before my last conversation with Woolwich. I was furious. I wrote to Woolwich immediately, advising that Woolwich could see all the payments I had made in 4 months, that I had advised on each call that the arrears would be cleared by Mid May, and that when I had rung the day after this letter was allegedly written, the person on the phone made no mention of it. By mid May I had cleared the arrears. And kept up payments since. From June onwards, each month I rang to make the mortgage payment, I advised that I was still waiting to have a reply to my letter. Each time the man said he would ensure that happened - it never did. But also - each time the man said that there was an extra charge on my account (the £100 solicitors letter charge which I had refused to pay) and that because it had not been paid, Woolwich was adding a £40 charge each month it was not paid. Each month, I demanded a reply to my letter and it never came. Finally in Dec 09, because of info gleaned from this site, I told the Woolwich that I thought they had to reply within 10 days to a letter - so why had it already taken more than 6 months ? I then got a letter from the man I had originally written to. His letter told me that the £100 charge was legitimate and it was to stand and that because it had not been paid I now had 7 months of £40 charges - £380 - and this would continue to increase by £40 until it was paid..... So how do I argue this ? Obviously if he had replied within 10 days all these months of £40 charges would not have been incurred. Given that I had regularly informed them of the plan to clear the arrears, and was obviously clearing them, they should never have sent it to their solicitors. I am incensed and wish to write a strong letter demanding all charges are withdrawn. Can someone point me in the right direction - PLEASE.

HELP - I need some aid in drafting a complaint letter. In 2008 I had got into problems with paying my mortgage. I was paying something monthly but never the full amount. By December 08 I was in a really bad situation and received threatening letters from Woolwich and was really panicing . Fortunately my luck turned - within a couple weeks Opportunities arose that would enable me to not only pay the full amount monthly, but also to repay the arrears within the first few months of 2009. From mid Jan 09 I rang Woolwich regularly and made large debit card payments over the phone. Each time I kept them informed as to when the next chunk of money would be coming in. The men on the phone told me I was the only one that had such arrears that was sorting the situation so quickly and efficiently. However, the problem was that - because the interest rate had reduced -Woolwich considered me to be more months in arrears that I was when I first went in to arrears. This meant that, say I had been 3 months in arrears @5%, with the interest rates reducing to 1%, Woolwich considered me to be more than 6m in arrears That said, I remained positive and by the end of April I could see that I would have cleared my arrears by mid May. I rang Woolwich, made a payment and again told them this situation. However, a few days later I received 2 letters. One from Woolwich saying my account had been passed to solicitors to commence repossession and they were charging me £100; the other from the solicitors. The letters were dated 1 day before my last conversation with Woolwich. I was furious. I wrote to Woolwich immediately, advising that Woolwich could see all the payments I had made in 4 months, that I had advised on each call that the arrears would be cleared by Mid May, and that when I had rung the day after this letter was allegedly written, the person on the phone made no mention of it. By mid May I had cleared the arrears. And kept up payments since. From June onwards, each month I rang to make the mortgage payment, I advised that I was still waiting to have a reply to my letter. Each time the man said he would ensure that happened - it never did. But also - each time the man said that there was an extra charge on my account (the £100 solicitors letter charge which I had refused to pay) and that because it had not been paid, Woolwich was adding a £40 charge each month it was not paid. Each month, I demanded a reply to my letter and it never came. Finally in Dec 09, because of info gleaned from this site, I told the Woolwich that I thought they had to reply within 10 days to a letter - so why had it already taken more than 6 months ? I then got a letter from the man I had originally written to. His letter told me that the £100 charge was legitimate and it was to stand and that because it had not been paid I now had 7 months of £40 charges - £380 - and this would continue to increase by £40 until it was paid..... So how do I argue this ? Obviously if he had replied within 10 days all these months of £40 charges would not have been incurred. Given that I had regularly informed them of the plan to clear the arrears, and was obviously clearing them, they should never have sent it to their solicitors. I am incensed and wish to write a strong letter demanding all charges are withdrawn. Can someone point me in the right direction - PLEASE.

I would think this is really not worth your time and effort in making a claim against them. As I said, tell them you will still take the rooms and use the next 8 months to sell them on to someone else. Easiest solution and you do not lose any money. Where is the hotel b&b ? In a city in the UK ?

Actually there is another solution. You could call their bluff and say you changed your mind and still wish to keep the room. They cannot then say you cancelled and they have already re-filled the room, 8 months in advance, without then refunding you the money. Then, if you really want to make all the money back - you can then offer "your" room out on craigs list or a-n-other site geared to whatever event is on at the time of your booking and get all your money back - even the 24h bit.... Just a thought.... After all you do have 8m to find someone to take the room.

Check out Toymakers threads on Egg. You may find that you can send one of his template letters to dlc and to Egg because their agreement with you might be unenforceable.... Read the threads and ascertain if his comments (and others) relate to your own circumstances. dlc constantly hounded me too. Then I wrote them a nice template letter and they passed the account back to egg and never heard from them again. Although I did then get Arc and Trevor Munn on my back !! But 1 year and quite a few letters later, egg have put my account on hold. I am waiting to see what happens in about a month's time.

Thanks, So, if they "unlawfully rescinded", where does that leave me and the debt, Mbna and Link ??

hello again I have today received a letter from Link: You have recently made a request under sect 77/78 for copies of various documents. As you are aware Link Financial purchased your debt from mbna on xx/09 and as such we do not always hold this documentation. We have requested a copy of the Agreement and the most recent terms and conditions your account was operated under from mbna 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. Firstly, the date they admit they bought the debt was 4 days before mbna had given me to pay the arrears. Surely mbna should not have sold it before the date they gave me to pay ?? And what benefit is this to me ? Secondly, they say they have "requested most recent t&cs my account was operated under". Shouldn't they be sending the t&cs that referred to my account at set up ?? Rather than at cancellation ? Can someone advise on this ? Thirdly, have others had such letters from Link ? And how does this normally pan out ? And one last thing - Link failed to respond to my request for S78 within the Statutory Time of 12+2. They should have responded start December. Is there any action or complaint I take, despite them responding to my 2nd request ? Thanks...

But I guess it shuts up TM & Arc for the next few weeks ! So guessing that they wont see I have a complaint at all... What would be the next step ?

HI I just got a reply from Egg !!! "W'eve received your complaint" We are sorry you have had reason to complain and this letter is to acknowledge receipt of your complaint. This has now been passed to one of our Customer Relations Advisors who will carry out an investigation and, if necessary, contact you to discuss your complaint in more detail" They then ask me to log on and check all info is correct. They also say "should we be unable to resolve your complaint to your satisfaction within 8 weeks of receipt we will contact you again and explain the reasons why. blah At the end of 8 weeks you can exercise your right to take your complaint to the FOS or sooner if you have received our final response Typically you have 6 months from the date of our final decision to do this" Is this a regular letter ? I kinda think so. But interested to hear back from others.

I would take your name off every post. Caution is best - never know who is reading....

I have tweeked various templates and come up with the below to send to Link. If I have got anything wrong please could someone advise soonest as I intend to print and post this afternoon. I have not heard a thing from Link since I sent my S78 request a couple months ago. Re: My request under s78 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 ACCOUNT IN DISPUTE I made a formal request, dated xx/09, sent by Special Delivery, for a true signed Agreement for the alleged account pursuant to the Consumer Credit Act 1974, S.78. Link has failed to comply with my request, and as such the account entered default on xx/2009. The Act demands that I be supplied with a true copy of the executed Credit Agreement that exists in relation to the above account; that it contains all of the prescribed terms; all other required terms and statutory notices; and signed by both parties, as defined in section 61(1) of Consumer Credit Act 1974 and subsequent Statutory Instruments. If the executed Agreement contained any reference to any other document, you are also obliged to send me a copy of that document. A full statement of this account should also have been sent to me detailing all debits and credits to the account I may ask for all this on demand providing that a fee of £1.00 is paid. This fee was sent with my original letter, dated xx/2009. Upon receipt of the original request the specified account legally entered into disputed status. As you will know, under the Consumer Credit Act 1974, a judge is not permitted to make any enforcement order unless the creditor can provide a true signed copy of the original Credit Agreement. This means that, unless you can produce such an Agreement, this alleged debt is not enforceable in law. You have failed to comply with a lawful request for a true, signed copy of the alleged said Agreement and other relevant documents mentioned in it; failed to send a full statement of the account; and failed to provide any of the documentation requested. You will also be aware of the Office of Fair Trading's guidelines on debt collection. Examples of Unfair Practices are as follows: 2.8 (i) - 'Failing to investigate and/or provide details as appropriate, when a debt is queried or disputed, possibly resulting in debtors being wrongly pursued', (k) - 'Not ceasing collection activity whilst investigating a reasonable queried or disputed debt'. Thus, any legal action you pursue will be considered as both unlawful and vexatious and I shall counterclaim that any such action constitutes unlawful harassment. The lack of a credit agreement is a very clear dispute and as such the following applies: - You may not demand any payment on the account, nor am I obliged to offer any payment to you. - You may not add further interest or any charges to the account. - You may not pass the account to a third party. - You may not register any information in respect of the account with any credit reference agency. - You may not issue a default notice related to the account. Please note you may consider this letter, as a Statutory Notice under S.10 of the Data Protection Act 1998, to cease processing any data in relation to this account - with immediate effect. This means you must remove all information regarding this account from your own internal records and from my records with any credit reference agencies. Should you refuse to comply, you must, within 21 days, provide me with a detailed breakdown of your reasoning to continue to process my data. It is not sufficient to simply state that you have a ‘legal right’. You must outline your reasoning in this matter and state upon which legislation this reasoning depends. Any such attempts to share my data, without my consent, will be met with a complaint to the Information Commissioners Office. Should you not respond within 21 days, I expect this to mean you agree to remove all such data. The time limits, which are laid down in the Consumer Credit (Prescribed Periods for Giving Information) Regulations 1983 are clear. You must supply an executed Credit Agreement within 12 working days of a proper CCA request. If you fail to comply with a legitimate request the account enters a default situation. You entered into a default on xx/2009. I am now giving you a further 7 days, from receipt of this letter, to contact me with your intentions to resolve this matter which is now a formal complaint; otherwise your conduct will be reported to the Office of Fair Trading, the Financial Ombudsman and Trading Standards. Any investigation undertaken by them may affect your ability to hold a consumer credit license in the future. Take further note that continued telephone calls, after the receipt of a request not to call, may constitute a criminal offence under Section 127 of the Communications Act 2003. Communicate in writing and ONLY in writing; your telephone calls will NOT be answered. To sum up, I will not be making any further payments to you until you provide me with the documents I have requested. Should you not have any signed Credit Agreement in relation to this alleged debt, please confirm this in writing to me. And return the £1.00 fee. I look forward to your written reply. Yours faithfully,

Thanks dd, It's not that I am really scared by this tactic, it is just how to respond properly to get rid of them because they just do not listen ! I like the approach of Toymaker which is to keep ask them the same questions of how they can terminate an agreement which is not in default whenever they want and how they can chase a debt whilst the account is in dispute. But they aren't answering and keep threatening. So I am wondering out of all these letters that one can send, which is the best one to get them to stop threatening me ??? I mean, I have already threatened them myself with complaints to various governing bodies. I wasnt inclined to go the S.78 cca request route, but maybe I should ? I'm cold, got a headache (too many late nights on this silly computer) and want to just put my feet up infront of a roaring fire watching a non-thinking old movie for once without having stuff like this niggling away at the back of my brain... grrrr

ok - Now I quite sincerely say that my blood is boiling !! I just this morning received another letter from Arc, dated 7/1/10 : We note that the above amount remains outstanding. We are writing to inform you that we have conducted a Land Registry Search on your address and understand from this that you own the above property. Therefore our next course of action will be to instruct our solicitors, TM, to issue a CCC against you. If the debt remains unpaid and our client obtains judgment against you, we will then be instructed to enforce the judgment by obtaiing a Charginf Order against your property to secure this debt for our client. Once a CO has been obtained you may not be able to sell or remortgage your property without clearing this debt in full. However, even at this late stage, our client has asked us to give you one final opportunity to settle this matter before it goes to court. We can offer you a substantial discount off this debt, if you contact us within the next 14 days with a mutually acceptable offer of a one-off payment as a short settlement. If you do not contact us within 14 days of this letter to make an offer of settlement, this matter will be passed for further action without any further notice to you." So, quite clearly our letters have crossed in the post. And quite clearly they have ignored my previous letters. I guess others have had such letters from Arc ??? So now what do I do ? Do I wait for them - or Egg - to reply to my letters sent yesterday ? Do I carry out my complaint threat and complain to OFT etc ? And is there a complaint template for the OFT etc? And just for safety's measure should I now send the lengthened "Alisindebt" template ? Any and all advice most welcome !!

Did you sign the original Agreement in 04/08 ? Or before this ?

HI See my thread: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/halifax-bank-bank-scotland/232368-urgent-help-needed-halifax-new-post.html Do not answer these calls. If by mistake you do, just hang up.... Don't worry about them either. Just make a note in your Halifax file of the dates and times they called When was your card taken out ?

thanks Vint. Will tweek and try to post today/tomorrow.

And is it 12+2 days ; ie 14 days ? or 12+2 working days ; ie 18 days ?

I have been searching the templates for a letter to send Link. A template for: When a dca does not send s.78 details as requested and how they can't enforce the debt now and need to return the £1 fee and return it to mbna" Where do I look ?

Thanks Alisindebt. I have just sent the above post #958 "template" letter to Egg, courtesy of Toymaker + tweeks. I also sent this abridged version to Arc: Please be reminded that I asked you in writing, as per my letter dated xx, to desist from making telephone calls to me. For the interest of clarity, this also includes sending text messages. For further interest of clarity, I re-enclose a copy of this letter dated xx. You have failed to provide a written explanation of your conduct within the statutory time period. I will now make a formal complaint against Arc to the OFT and FOS for the purpose of invoking financial sanctions and of having your trading license revoked. I will also remind you, as per Arc’s letters of xx and xx, that Arc requested I deal directly with Egg. I have re-addressed my complaints/issues to Egg in a letter, dated xx, and sent it to Egg by recorded delivery. I reiterate / confirm to Arc that I will only communicate with Egg and by written correspondence. I guess you are trying to tell me that I should have sent your template letter . Oh well. Lets see what happens with these 2 letters and maybe then I have to use yours... I am very fed up of spending hours on such issues, but I am aware of the benefits - which is why I do knuckle down. Just sometimes at 1am, knowing I have to get up by 8am, I have a wave of melancholy

How about this to Arc, as per Alisindebts idea.... Re: Egg Card # I do not acknowledge any debt to your company. With reference to the above account, I request that you send me a true copy of this credit agreement before I will correspond further on this matter. This is my right under the legislation contained within section 77 (1) and section 78 (1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. Upon request, I am entitled to receive a copy of my Credit Agreement. Your obligation also extends to providing me with a Statement of Account. I enclose a £1 postal order - the statutory fee payable under the Consumer Credit Act. I understand that you should reply within 12 working days from the date of this letter. 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. Also, since you are a Debt Collection Agency, I would also ask that you supply a signed true copy of the executed Deed of Assignment for the above referenced agreement. This is an obligation, whether you are the original creditor or not, under s.189 of the CCAct 1974. For the sake of clarity, may I also draw your attention to s.175 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 “Where under this Act a person is deemed to receive a notice or payment as agent of the creditor or owner under the regulated agreement, he shall be deemed to be under a contractual duty to the creditor or owner to transmit the notice, or remit the payment, to him forthwith.” In summary, I require you to provide the following documentation before I correspond further: 1. The true copy of original signed executed Credit Agreement 2. The full Statement of Account 3. A copy of the executed Deed of Assignment from EGG and Arc 4. A Fair Processing Notice. As you are aware, an improperly documented and customer signed Credit Agreement is totally unenforceable under the CCA and therefore is a complete defence to any court claim that is issued. Take note I will vigorously defend and contest any legal action you may contemplate. Further to the above, please ensure any contact by Arc is made in writing. Telephone calls/texts and personal visits will not be accepted and viewed as harassment. I look forward to hearing from you within the statutory time limit.

Actually Pumpy I have not replied at all yet. But I have had another telephone call/answer phone message asking me to call Arc.... This, despite telling them not to contact me by phone or I will report them. I am still trying to decide best action. I think that I will 1) write to Egg - re-advising account in dispute as of x date and asking them the same question that Arc failed to answer about how they terminated my account which was not in default, and why if my acc was in dispute that they have passed my details on to dca etc etc. and 2) copy the same letter - again - to Arc and repeat all the same threats. It is all quite draining though. The same letters from me again and again. And they never respond correctly and still keep sending threatening letters/texts.... And so many other issues to deal with too...

Now I am really angry with ARC. On 19th I specialed - for the 2nd time - to Arc and TM letters stating that I will only communicate with Egg (as per template letters above). And guess what - Today I just received a text from Arc . I have never spoken to them, never given them my mobile #, and catagorically told them never to contact me again. They have blatantly ignored my letters and threats to report them. Their text reads: "Hi xxx. Its Jo again. You must call me URGENTLY to stop further action on your account. Call me on xx and quote ref#..." LizS - any further thoughts on this ??? I sent your threatening letter and it doesn't seem to be working What do I do now ? Anyone else had this message ?

see post#40. And maybe read from the start this thread. Have mbna sent a claim form to you ? Or are you about to send in a Claim against them ?

I would suggest reading lots of other threads on Mbna on here to gauge where you stand. Perhaps your cca is unenforceable ? When was it taken out ? And is it for a lot ? £75/m seems very high if you are a student in debt.... I would do a lot of research here (late nights getting sucked into other's struggles, battles, and victories) and hopefully you will get advice and then be able to decide best route forward for yourself.