Hey guys, A quick run down of the history of this situation: - Started employment in January 2013 at a relatively new web development company - Began going downhill and it had an impact on my mental health - Fought on, but resigned in October 2013 - giving extra notice up until the last working day of December - Four weeks later I was taken ill, informed my Project Manager and within 2 hours I received an email that said I'd been a brilliant employee but as of immediate notice my employment was terminated. This was allowed as I had worked my 4 weeks notice. --- I immediately contacted ACAS and pointed out my contract stated a minimum notice period of 6 weeks, and was informed this was unlawful dismissal.I calculated holiday leave and ensured this was paid. I informed my previous employers that ACAS were interested in the timing of my dismissal with regards to my health, that they felt there were grounds for action for Unlawful Dismissal, and that I was due holiday leave. After a very quick change of tone in the emails I backtracked, out of sympathy as the company has gone down the drain with everyone leaving, and informed them I really didn't want to cause any harm - I enjoyed working there and liked everyone as colleagues and as friends. As such I was going to overlook the dismissal issue and presume it was done in my best interests, and that by paying me up to the end of the month they were paying my holiday leave off anyway. (I was nice. Possibly wrongly, but within 4 hours of them telling me I had no job - I had an offer for the next week.) I then asked for reference(s), preferably one from each director; and highlighted the fact I had hardly received any payslips throughout the 10 months I was employed there. I also requested my P45 - they promised this would be done ASAP. --- The next week I still felt like I'd been dumped on, and was rather annoyed to see that despite starting a new job - and despite the fact that they had terminated MY employment with NO notice - I had emails and missed calls; asking for assistance on a project! If they gave me the grace of ONE DAY then they would've got all my handover documentation. It wasn't a malicious decision, but I thought it was best to not answer the calls during my new office hours - and I genuinely felt uncomfortable about assisting them voluntarily. (I had signed a Non-Compete Agreement with the new company after all...!) Unfortunately, as I had followed their instructions to the letter and returned the company macbook pro in the state I received it - newly formatted, there was nothing to be gleaned from this device either. It was after receiving the macbook pro that they stopped all communications. I know full well that there was no data on the machine, so there is nothing that would've reflected badly on me. Had I not formatted it then the only things that could've reflected badly would've been job posting bookmarks anyway. (Besides, it had an encrypted home directory and I never shared my passwords.) Over the next few weeks I realised I still had access to client data, so removed my access to any of it - this was a concern of mine when I realised some of the people who still had access to the data hadn't been involved in the company throughout my whole time there. Knowing this was probably an issue as per the DPA.. once again, I felt uncomfortable, but wanted to leave on the best of terms - so turned a blind eye. -- It's now week 7 and I have received nothing from them; they have, to put it bluntly, shirked their responsibilities and broken their promises. I feel like an idiot for being nice and feel as though my (attempted) act of kindness just gave them an excuse to try and take liberties. Any ideas of where to go next? I'm on a business trip to Sweden for two weeks soon, and want this sorted out as soon as possible really. It's worth mentioning that I have recently cleared my finances out and I'm saving for a deposit on a flat with my girlfriend: but of course, I have no proof of income beyond a December payslip. Additionally, I'm being taxed heavily (according to my new employer, although I didn't notice anything) due to submitting a P46 and not a P45. Annnndddd lastly, I needed two references before I even started this job; but it appears my work has been reference enough - however I am aware that this could crop up in the next two months during my probationary period and cause me issues if they then request them. I'm thinking of emailing them both (read; the other directory too; who poured inheritance in to this venture - just to see it wasted away by some curious decisions that he refuses to get involved with) and informing HMRC tomorrow. (Although I was waiting 30 minutes last time I tried to ring HMRC...!) However I'm beginning to consider whether it may be worth scraping the niceties and bringing up the Unlawful Dismissal and the health issues once more; I let them go in order to save a good friendship and so as to help keep some life in that company: but I've achieved nothing. Sorry for a bit of a rant, thought it best to try and explain as much as possible! Cheers guys!

Do I have to provide them with anything though? If I make an offer to pay, and I think even a court would agree that if I pay £60+ a month it's a fair amount for a debt that is relatively small amount* at £400~, then surely they can't say "No, we wont accept that money until you give us an insight in to your personal finances."? Essentially I'd be offering them payment that I can afford comfortably, will shift the debt off in a reasonable timeframe without any undue stress on my part. Whereas I fear I could give them more information and they could really push to cause me hassle, I guess in reality I just don't want to give them anything I don't have too - not just money, but information about myself. *I say for a relatively small amount, but I'm still concerned that they're going to add lots of fees and interest on from what I've read about these guys. In fact, the more I've read the more I'm considering fighting them and seeing just what they have - they do seem like one of the ****miest DCA's around.

Was stupid and took out a Wonga loan to get through a dodgy month about 18 months ago; according to my credit file the original balance was £205. It defaulted at £450~. Wonga passed this on to Moorcroft whom sent a few letters, tried to ring, gave up and went quiet. (This was around 9 months ago) Well, I've just had a missed call (or did at 0812) from a number that is registered as MacKenzie Hall. They've tried to leave a message but I know it's going to be a computer voice telling me to ring them, so I haven't even bothered listening to it yet. I'm fairly sure this is going to be about the above account though. I've done a little research and can see these are unscrupulous turds. There's a thread in this very sub-forum for around 2 weeks ago where someone has uploaded their threat-o-gram, and I'm trying to get a feel for how MH work. I'm just musing at the moment but: Threatening to issue new defaults (and actually doing so) I wouldn't mind them doing this; as I'm not trying to gain any credit - and were they to try this I would fight to have it removed and would demand financial redress. Would also make a nice complaint to the OFT/ICO. Adding a whole lot of interest This is a bit of an issue; I don't mind paying what I originally borrowed (£200) - but I refuse to pay for any of their trumped up charges or fees. Using "Meritforce" (?) as a doorstep collector I know they have no powers, but living in a block of flats it not only has the potential to be embarassing - I also don't live alone, and refuse to allow them to subject anyone else to their idiocy. Harassing phonecalls Meh. At one point I was getting around 15+ phonecalls a day from 3 or 4 companies, this isn't anything I'm unable to ignore! Considering this, after they make first contact proper, I assume it may be a good idea to inform them that: All correspondence should be kept in writing (be it electronic or hard) there is no convenient time for a doorstep collection, any attempt to send someone will be taken as a form of harassment and the police will be called Now this very debt is my last one, and it's one I would love to see cleared off - even though it's been defaulted already and it's from a PDL; it would mean quite a lot to see the £0 on my credit file. However, I object to paying off their interest fees and other charges - I honestly do not mind paying off what I actually owed. (Even though it does leave a bad taste in my mouth knowing that even if I paid off what I owe that will be primarily be profit for these crooks - but if that's the price I pay for a £0 and some satisfaction then be it.) Is there anyway I can pre-empt their exuberant fees, bearing in mind this account has indeed defaulted 18 months previously? Lastly, I'm also aware that they have a nasty penchant for refusing payment plans - I remember from previous dealings with another DCA (Cougar.) that simply quoting the OFT guidelines for the collection of debts, there was a good bit in there about accepting payments, and it got them to shut up. I'd be looking at £60-£75 p/month, which I think is actually a very good offer. Knowing they don't like to be told how much they can have though, am I right in saying that only a court can order a breakdown of incomings/outgoings? (Sneakily, when I paid Robinson Way £150 and told them they would have £75 the next month - for an account totaling £225, they asked me to complete paperwork to "ensure you are able to afford these payments".. ignored obviously.) Now forgive the brain dump here; I'm just planning where to go next. Have I missed anything, or is there anything I should know about the pondlife who will be harassing me over the coming weeks?

A big thanks to everyone who has replied! Just a quick update, after being very busy for a few weeks - I've just got off letters to the address mentioned above. I shall keep you guys updated with any responses. Lastly, and although this was strictly unintended.. it does mean that they will most likely have put their claim in now. I would be very interested in finding out if they did claim for the services they provided me with..! I guess I'll never know...

Ah I got all this from the "mini statements" contained in my SAR response, I think I have all the data that would be contained in the statements actually! Just no clues as to what this payment adjustment is..

Ah, Not the greatest - only around £250 of fees using the compund interest up until the date of default. (Add another £100 on if I did interest till today, but AFAIK it should be till the date of account closure?) One interesting thing did jump out; this is in October 2012 - 3 months after the account was defaulted. 12/09/2012 Interest Adjustment -£2.11 24/09/2012 PAYMENT ADJUSTMENT £60 02/10/2012 PAYMENT ADJUSTMENT £60 19/09/2012 PAYMENT RECIEVED -- THANK -£60 26/09/2012 PAYMENT RECIEVED -- THANK -£60 Totals: £122.11 (PAID IN) - £120.00 (PAID OUT) If I understand this correctly, I paid £120 in two installments of £60 - then within 1 week of making such a payment they both cancelled out by "PAYMENT ADJUSTMENT"s. I have no idea what these actually are, nor why they were applied after the account had defaulted. One theory I have, is that at that point in time I was unaware the account was under default - and I remember making these payments through my online banking. (Will get backdated statements online to confirm) I do remember posting on here saying I had a feeling that "my money has just vanished in to their account". So at this point in time it is perhaps that the account was under Cougar Financial Services, so Capital One didn't credit it to my account correctly. (Cougar were seemingly acting on behalf of Capital One, judging by my payment history being continued through to Cougar on these statements) Surely they couldn't just eat them up like this though! I'm guessing these should most certainly be queried..!! I would put them on the spreadsheet with interest, alas as the account was in default there seemed to be no interest charged at this point.

Account background: Account fell in arrears, defaulted in July of 2012 and was passed to Cougar Financial Services. Was paid off in full by early September 2013. I had moved house during the time I fell in to arrears. I'm looking to claim back charges, although I think removal of the default is going to be impossible. A few interesting things from the SAR though... 1. Payment Protection Insurance. Incredibly, they haven't even tried to hide their conduct here. On the CCA they sent as part of my SAR I noticed that the PPI checkbox was not ticked. I then dug in to their screen dumps and saw one that clearly had: PPI Required? [ No ] PPI2 Required? [ Unanswered ] 2. The CCA itself Doh! If I had requested this before paying the balance off in full I may have had some luck. It's unsigned - not a signature, nor a tick on the whole document. If I'm right this means there was no legally binding agreement, but I'm fairly certain that by paying it off I've entered some form of legally binding agreement. So this couldn't even help with the removal of the default.. which, I think I'm out of luck here. 3. The Default Notice, Statement of Default They had also included several documents regarding the default itself, only one is readable though (Statement of Default), the other two documents (Notice of Sums in Arrears and a letter dated 5 days previous) are unreadable due to huge font sizing, small lineheight and text overflowing off the page.. I was surprised to see they had actually sent me a copy of the default notice however! Although they had sent it to an address which I no longer resided at.. 4. Sum of charges with Interest Still got to do the good stuff and the calculations.. So with regards to PPI - banged to rights and no defence there? The CCA - could it be argued I didn't actually give them permission to contact the Credit Reference Agencies due to lack of valid CCA? I doubt it though, but surely an unsigned CCA could be of some use even now the debt has been settled? As for the default notice, not a lot to be said I guess!

Yeah, I thought as much. I was just pondering as to whether reminding them that they have an obligation to ensure that they are collecting from an account with accurate data may force someone to mysteriously act upon your requests for a CCA - or even respond to your letters. It is of my view that this affects you specifically because it would appear (from your actions) that you've tried to verify their claims by issuing a CCA request, by not responding to you they have failed to give you any real evidence regarding the accuracy of their data. I would merely view my proposed letter as a way of saying "Until you prove to me that what you're saying is correct, I think you should shut up.". Perhaps CCA'ing Capital One as the original creditor would be a better option than the DCA's, as I doubt they'll have a copy of it personally - but I should hope that they would liase with Capital One as the OC and request a copy; once again - under their obligation to ensure all data is accurate. Presumably it's payments CapOne don't want to deal with. I will state though, I made the mistake of paying Capital One one or two payments of £75 before I knew that they had passed my account to a DCA - and that money was never to be seen again. (I'm hoping to deal with that at the moment, but it's looking a bit tricky) I will re-iterate though, this is perhaps my (rather limited) view on this! Personally I'm not too surprised about Cougar, when dealing with them previously they were a complete shower of shi....! Who regularly switched between "Cougar"/"Credit Solutions"/"Power2Contact" depending on how desperate they were. They did however offer my first payment proposal, but that may be because I came out and said that it was the only offer I would consider.

Apologies if I've missed anything whilst skimming this thread! However, would it be worth drafting a letter to all parties involved, or maybe just Fredrickson Intl, quoting the OFT guidelines for Debt Collection Agencies. (The correct title of the document I can't remember at the moment) It does however set clear requirements for collections activities to cease whilst they ensure the accuracy of their data. I can post up parts of a letter I recently sent to a DCA (STA International) that was pretty successful; all I stated was that: I was informing them that the data they held about me, and my account, was potentially incorrect; as such, they were required to cease all collections activity if they were to be following OFT guidelines and weren't going to be using unfair practices. I wished to have all subsequent contact to be conducted in writing (as per OFT guidelines); although until they had confirmed (and could evidence) the accuracy of their records, I wanted all contact to be with the original creditor and not me. Any further contact other than an acknowledgement, in writing, would be regarded as a failure to comply - and I would be reporting them to the OFT for breaching the relevant (and quoted) guideline(s). This may be a bit heavy handed, and be regarded as a bit of an escalation, so perhaps someone more knowledgeable than I could confirm whether this sounds like a good idea. I will say though, that I got quite an apologetic letter from the DCA I used it against. If others agree with this line then I'll post up an edited version of my own letter - along with quotations to the relevant guidelines. Good luck.

Lovely, thanks. I shall get a letter off to them just to be on the safe side. I may have evidence of the policy through some SAR's that I sent recently actually - so I may hold off as I should receive a response within the next seven days. I would assume, and hope so, alas I don't have much trust to be quite honest! It's interesting that you've said that though, as I would've expected to have received one now then. I may just fire them a letter to be on the safe side - pending the results of checking the above SAR.

Does anyone know what occurs if you've since moved? I think I was sold a policy through a CC about 3 years ago, but i've since moved and closed that account down.

Have you got any of your statements too hand, or do you know if you're currently paying for Repayment Option Protection? If so, this is set to cover these exact circumstances - and should allow you to freeze your account + interest for up to 24 months. Don't rely on Vanquis to inform you regarding this; ask them. I was personally passed on to Impact two or three times during the course of a similar situation; and never once did they remind me that I was paying ROP for added protection! Impact is part of Vanquis, the capital letter logo? That's just a scare tactic, ignore it - you're still dealing with Vanquis. As for the "Defaulted on 3 month payments" - remember this is not a traditional default, these are late payments. AFAIK - when you actually default you will know because you'll get a proper default notice, and you're account will probably be passed off to a third party DCA. (I'm not too sure who Vanquis use) If I was you, I would: Ask them if you have Repayment Option Protection, if so, see if you can try and get them to start that off. Dispute the amount, ask for clarification regarding the two different amounts. Ask for a full explanation/breakdown of costs and charges Offer to provide some token payments if you do not have ROP. Whilst it's a good idea to keep everything in writing, I would personally ask about ROP by telephone - but ensure that that is all you talk about - if they try anything else then just politely say "That's all, I'm not prepared to talk about this by phone, Goodbye." - and hang up. Purely because the ROP may provide you some protection immediately - even if it does though, I would put it in writing with details of your conversation and confirm that you're hereby utilising the cover of the ROP. Additionally, if you're making payments for ROP and they say you can't use it? Could open a bit of a can of worms. I say offer to provide some token payments as this could help you out in the long run. (By keeping up some form of agreement and avoiding a default proper.) I've just finished dealing with Vanquis, and I'll give them one thing - when I was firm on the phone with them they did actually listen. I made it clear I wasn't bothered about their Impact scare tactics and knew it was the same people. As for in writing? I've found a lot of places begin to treat you a little bit more seriously...! In my case though, I only understood I had ROP when I submitted an SAR - around 2 months after closing the account. Needless to say, I was very angry to see no one had ever mentioned this when they harassing me and sending me demands! Furthermore, I hadn't spent a penny on my account for 14 months, yet paid them £1000! (I should add that I had cleared the card off, but forgot about it and this situation was purely their late fees/ID Protection/ROP/Interest..!) So if you can get that interest frozen then do it! Good luck

Drafted up a letter. I pointed to the transaction history for the past 18 months as a "clear example of the consequences of Vanquis' aggressive and unfair nature regarding charges", and largely based the the demand upon a template from here. I also offered a reduction of 8% on the interest of ROP and ID Protection payments if they complied within 14 days, after which I would be begin a claim for the full amount. I have also pointed out the inconsistencies in the SAR, and how there's evidence in a one line memo that they contacted me during this period - but in the full history there are no such notes from this period of time. Should this inconsistency not be explained, I will be taking this to mean they have not satisfied the full requirements of the SAR (as per the ICO's Subject Access Code of Practice". Furthermore, I moved during this time and there is no acknowledgement of the contact I made to change address. I also expect clarification regarding this within the next 14 days. I approached the subject of the ROP by expanding upon four key points: Under no point during the financial hardship that I encountered was I reminded that I held this policy, nor was it ever suggested that I use it. (In fact, I was passed to Impact on more than one occasion) Ergo, The conduct of Vanquis during this time effectively rendered the protection that ROP afforded me as useless. The charges that I have found match neither of the available plans, even with interest and/or charges removed. As my status had changed (Vanquis were aware) yet the payments stayed very similar - it is possible that the plan I was paying for didn't even cover me large periods of time. I feel this was mis-sold; I wasn't really informed about what this is. It is only during my subsequent research after my SAR that I truly found out what it was supposedly for. If they dispute this then I would like evidence regarding the explanations provided to me at the time. Regarding the ID Protection, I stuck along similar lines and pointed out that the risk of ID theft was overstated to me at the time and there was no check that I didn't have any pre-existing cover for such an event. Furthermore, the benefits of the cover were also overstated. Got the calculations sheet to add in to the mix too, so we'll see how this goes!

Yeah, I always figured that the interest would rack up pretty badly - but only seeing it like that has opened my eyes. The worst thing is - I did pay it off in full at the end of when I was using it! It would appear a combination of the CPP/"ID Protection" being classed as a £6 sale, then a subsequent late payment being added on whilst I was moving has actually caused this whole mess. I actually added up all my calculations above for the charges I calculated, and they add up to £1011. That suddenly seems a lot fairer and smaller now having looked at what I actually spent and paid back! (You could add the credit limit, the total spent, and what I want back up - subtract it away from what they charged me, and they'd still have a profit!) haha, I understand Capital One are meant to be really difficult. Truth be told I'm viewing this as a bit of practice - as I have paid off a Capital One account that was actually defaulted, but was in a very very similar state to this. So I'm trying to see just how I can get these charges back, how I can argue about the charges - in the hope of doing it to CapOne. I would love to be able to get the default removed as it was all their own charges, the card hadn't been used in a while - and it was just a similar situation all around, however having read someones thread on here about attempting similar I don't think I'll hold my breathe on that one.

Wow... Just been doing some further analysis of the figures. The last time I used the card was in January 2012, after this I never used it and I paid it off fully in August. The total I had paid in to the card during this period of inactivity? £924.53. To put that in perspective, that's not including the payments during the period when I was actually using the card - and during those 14 months I spent about £625.25... Yet paid off £1017.38. I'm pondering if there's a way I can structure this to enable me to put it in any claims letter, when it's viewed like that I would like to see them try and justify such fees in court. In summary: 14 months I used the card: I spent £625 - and paid £1018. 18 months I didn't use the card: I spent £0 - and paid £924.53