Hi,
I need some advice with a case I have with David Lloyd. I’ll try and keep it short but detailed.
I was a standard member for a few months, not up to a year, and had a joint membership.
I suspended my membership due to losing job, provided my P45 and was granted suspension at no monthly cost. The maximum suspension time allowed it 9 months. I used the whole 9 months but still don’t have a job. They reactivated my membership in June, but I couldn’t afford it,
I sent an email to give my cancellation notice at beginning of July, I owe 2 months arrears which totalled £476. I asked then to confirm they received my cancellation notice and they didn’t reply - still haven’t replied but the automated inbox system confirmed it had been received - I settled with that.
Separately, I asked DL if I could set up a payment plan to pay my outstanding arrears and they disagreed and said they have to pass it on to ARC if I want a payment plan. I asked DL to send me an outline of what I owe, which they sent in detail after a week, and the total came to £551 as they added an admin fee.
I asked them what for and they said it’s admin fee from ARC Europe. I had not received any correspondence from this ARC Europe at this point so I don’t even know why the admin fee was added. 2 weeks go by now and I email DL at midnight on Monday letting them know I haven’t received any correspondence from ARC. Funny enough, later on that day I received an email from ARC. I am going to paste the body of the email below:
Dear XXXXX ,
We note that you have not cleared your balance or made payment proposals since our previous letter to you. On the instructions of our client, we can now refer the matter to our Solicitors, Majorlaw Ltd, with instructions to prepare a County Court Claim against you for recovery of the above debt.
What will happen next?
Unless we receive either payment in full or your payment proposals, a Court Claim can be prepared 14 days after the date of this letter. If this action is necessary and we pass the account to our Solicitors for issue, our client is entitled to claim interest under the County Courts Act 1984 at the rate of 8% per annum together with fixed Court Fees and Solicitor’s Costs amounting to a further £261.00. You may want to seek independent legal advice on this matter.
What effect could a Court Claim have on me?
If a Claim is issued and the debt remains unpaid, our client could apply for a formal Court Judgment against you. If a Judgment is granted and is not paid within one month, it will be recorded by the Credit Reference Agencies for a period of 6 years and this may seriously affect your ability to obtain credit in the future.
What should I do next?
You can make a secure payment to us 24 hours a day with your debit or credit card by visiting our website www.arceuropeltd.co.uk or by calling our automated payment hotline on 01332 647693. Alternatively, please contact our Customer Support Team by phone or live chat within 14 days from the date of this letter to discuss the balance on your account. You may also want to contact one of the free debt advice organisations by clicking here Free Debt Advice.
Please note, I had not received any email or letter from them before this point and now the total balance they requesting for is £1671.00!!!
There is absolutely no way I can pay this so I just need help on what to respond to this, how they even came to that amount,
what can I propose?
I am only willing to pay my outstanding arrears, not all this extra stuff. Is there anything I can do?
any help is appreciated.