Capital One - Reduced payment arrangement

[alfwithhair]

I currently pay Capital One a reduced monthly payment on my credit card account and have done since Feb this year.

 

They have been suprisingly helpful since contacting them when I could not make the minimum payments any longer.

 

I recieve a letter from them on Satuday.

 

"Your reduced payment arrangement is due to end on 30-12-07. We need to review your financial situation with you before we can consider extending the arrangement beyond this date.!

 

Well this is fair enough, but it is what they are asking me for that makes me a little concerned.

 

There is an income and expenditure form with the letter but it wants to know a lot more than just my income and expenditure. It wants to know all my bank account details, other creditors, balances and payments being made to them.

 

They also want copies from the DWP as to which benefits I recieve, how much and which bank acount it is paid in to. Bank statements showing receipt of the benefit and general living expenses.

 

They then say that if they do not receive these documents and a signed statement confirming the information is true, they will assume I no longer require their support and will commence their default process.

 

Do you think it is a good idea to give Capital One so much information? especially a signed statement. Am I under any obligation to sign this statement? They didn't ask for all this kind of information when they first agreed to accept my reduced payments.

 

Since joining this forum I have become very reluctant to disclose too much information to creditor after reading the kind of trick some of them get up to. especially my signiture.

 

Another point I should mention is that I personally do not have any income or receive any benefit in my name. It is my wife who receives incapacity benefit and income support for the two of us. I do not work because I am her carer as she is disabled. So the benefit is paid to her and it goes into our joint account. So I would be giving Capital One all her details and NI number by sending the DWP notification and she is not very happy about them knowing all her business as she has no dealings with this company.

[Hippy-chick]

In a word alf, no - I'd not be happy to give them any of this. You're paying them, and have been doing, regularly, and that should suffice, imo. If this were me I'd carry on paying as you are doing and wait to see what they do. I regularly get this kind of threat from a creditor, ignore it and carry on paying the payment I've agreed. And nothing else happens.

[reallymadwoman]

If you go to Citizens Advice or one of the other debt charities, they will complete a 'Common financial statement' with you which doesn't contain any personal details such as Capital One are asking for, but they are obliged to accept it as your financial statement. If they don't they are in breach of the Banking Code and lots of other things.

Also asking for help completing a financial statement also doesn't imply you have to accept any other help, and you will still be able to deal with Capital One direct.

[surprise]

National Debtline have a budget form you can complete online, brilliant to use, it does all the working out for you and that gives them all the info they should need.

[The GodMother]

You could always inform them that you dont get any money from the DWP because from what you have said that is not a lie.

 

I had the DWP write me a letter saying that l was not getting any benefit and companys now have to accept voluntary payments out of my partners benefit. As it is a voluntary payment they have to accept what he offers them and if he only offers £1.00 a Week then they have to take that. Obviously companys dont like it but they have to send the forms to him and he has to sign the documents.

 

You may or may not know that you can ask them to take the money direct from your wifes benefit money which is a bonus as the amount is set buy your wife and you. They dont need to know that you have discussed the debt and discussed the amount to pay them each month.

 

Abound, Vertbaudet and Empire were taking a set amount each month out of my partners benefits until we withdrew the request due to no CCA.

 

They were originally hissed of that they could not take what they wanted and tried to agree an amount with me but they eventually understood that the money was paid to my partner and that they had to accept what he was offering.

[alfwithhair]

In a word alf, no - I'd not be happy to give them any of this. You're paying them, and have been doing, regularly, and that should suffice, imo. If this were me I'd carry on paying as you are doing and wait to see what they do. I regularly get this kind of threat from a creditor, ignore it and carry on paying the payment I've agreed. And nothing else happens.

 

Followed the above advice. Letter from them this morning;

 

"Your reduced payment arrangement has now ended and is no longer a valid arrangement as you have failed to return the income and expentiture form sent to you recently".

 

They have enclosed another one, asking for the same personal details as the last one. They will not be recieving this one either.

 

Tried what GM said about informing them that it was my wife benefits that their payment came out of not mine. But never got a reply.

 

But they have not put a balance on this letter so I don't know if they have started addded interest and charges to the account again. These had been frozen.

 

I will keep up the reduced payment for the moment, see what other tosh they come up with next.

 

Alf

[The GodMother]

ok whos name is the debt in.

 

If it is your Alf then you need to get an official letter from the DWP and then photocopy the letter.

 

Tell them that your wife who claims the benefit is willing to agree to pay the debt at XX a month/week.

 

They cant take money from someone who has none.

 

You can even say in court that you dont get any money all bebefits are in your wifes name and your wife has offered to pay XX a month/week out of her benefits to cover the debt.

 

If C1 dont like it then tell them to take a jump.

 

I am just looking for some info on the DWP website for you.

 

Chrissi

[The GodMother]

Hi alf.

 

I cant find what l am looking for so u may need to contact your local DWP office but l will continue to look as they may have changed its name. If not l will let you no what l was looking for so u can contact them.

 

Chrissi

[The GodMother]

Alf i am sending u a PM.

 

Chrissi

[gizmo111]

Alf on the National Debline website there is a letter asking them to write the debt off. As you have no income and your wife is on benefits they have no option but to accept reduced payments.

 

Have you CCA'd them?

[alfwithhair]

Well a quick update on this one folks.

 

I sent Crap One a letter as GM suggested, telling them that I did not recieve any personal income, it was my wife who claimed for both of us. I enclosed proof from the DWP showing who claimed.

 

I also informed them that my wife gave me a voluntary amount each month to offer token payments to my creditors. I gave them a breakdown of how this amount was divided pro-rata between the creditors.

 

Got a reply this morning. Not exactly the response I had hoped for, as it nether confirms or denies their acceptance of the offer. What do you good people think?

 

Dear Mr X

 

Thank you for sending us your income and expenditure form and proof documents.

 

We urgently need to discuss these with you and unfortunately have been unable to contact you by telephone. (well if it is you that has been ringing with a private ID recently that is why you got no answer. I told you I dont answer private ID, withheld or non geograpical numbers)

 

From our experience, we have found that speaking (shouting you mean) to our customers directly helps us to answer any queries and explore possible debt solutions quickly. (ah, you mean get me to agree to payments I cannot afford)

 

So we would like you to call us on our free phone number 0800 952 4914. We available from 9am to 7pm Monday to Friday.

 

Please continue to make payments to you Capital One account whilst we are dealing with the administration of your reduced arrangment. (well if you are dealing with it, why do I need to telephone you?)

 

Payment can be made; blah blah blah.

 

Then the punch line at the end.

 

If we do not hear from you within the next 7 days, we will assume you no longer require our assistance and will resume our normal collection activity. (phoning 10 times a day, adding interest and charges and being a pain in the arse)

 

This letter was dated 18 Jan, so that gives me just 2 days to contact them.

 

Do you think I should ring them to see what they are on about or not?

 

With regard to Gizmo's question on a CCA request. I have not sent one. Up until last month they had been quite amicable and had accepted a reduced payment plan without any bother and even stopped interest and charges. In fact they were the first to accept out of my creditors and did so on the first request.

 

It is only since last month that they have started to get a bit upaty. Is it advisable to request a CCA in these circumstances? If they accept my proposals, I am quite happy to pay. But cannot afford more than I have offered.

 

Any advise gratefully recieved as all ways.

Regards

ALF

[The GodMother]

You could ring them and see what they say.

 

You have not lied to them so there is not really a problem. You need to make the decision tho. Just remember any payments made are voluntary payments from your partners benefit so they cant ask you to pay more than she is willing to pay.

 

Chrissi

[alfwithhair]

I think I might ring them, see what they have to say. Will report back later.

[The GodMother]

kk have fun.

 

TGM

[alfwithhair]

Well spoke to some woman at Crap Ones Specialist Support Unit.

They acknowledged the reciept of my I&E form, but said they could not accept the bank statement I sent showing the DWP payment as I had defaced it by blanking out the account number and the DD payments that my wife pays out.

 

I mentioned in my covering letter that I had done this as my wife did not give her consent for them to know any of her personal details. After all it is her account.

 

She kept on that they could not accept it and could I send another bank statement showing all the information. I said I had never sent anything like this in the past to have the original reduced payment arrangement set up. She said well we have chaged our policies now and have to see bank statements showing your outgoings.

 

I finished the call by saying I would discuss it wife my wife. Crap One said they would give me 2 weeks grace in which to supply the necessary documentation before they would take further action.

 

Well I have discussed it with my wife and she is still not happy about them knowing her personal details. She owes them nothing and doesn't see why they need to know her business.

 

So where do I go from here?

[JOSH_IOU]

Subscribing ...

[surprise]

I think I would give them one more shot. Refer to their telephone call and say you are disappointed at their attitude given your present circumstances and your wife will not give permission for any further data to be released. Explain that if you were to go to the CAB you would not be given any bank statements you would accept the figures as quoted.

Unfortunately, I am not in a permission to offer any more now or in the forseeable future and could you either consider writing this debt off in total or accept the reduced payments.

 

See what they say. I can't see them taking you to Court as I have yet to see a CapOne enforceable agreement plus they know they are being unreasonable and it would be frown upon by any court.

[The GodMother]

Its your wifes right to say NO you are not seeing what goes out of my account.

 

If they dont want to play fair then it is up to them.

 

They have been informed that you recieve no money so they cant do much.

 

Chrissi

[alfwithhair]

Ok folks, thanks for the advise. I will give it a go.

[citizenB]

My husband was asked for this information from Capital one. CCCS said they were not legally entitled to it, as it would give them an advantage over other creditors !.

[alfwithhair]

Ok, quick update on this one.

 

After speaking to Crap One customer services, I discussed their problem with my wife and she agreed they could have a bank statement showing her benefit payment on the condition her name and natianal insurance number was omited.

 

Crap One said this was ok, so I sent them a print out of the internet banking statement, omiting the data she did not agree to disclose.

 

This morning I get another letter from Crap One.

 

Dear Mr X

 

Thanks you for contacting us about your account.

 

Unfortunately, I couldn't your account (This employee never passed no English exam with grammer like that) because the signiture on the letter did not match with what we have on file. (well it isn't likely to is it, since it was a digital signiture) So that I can do this for you (more primary school grammer) please write to me again at this address.

 

Capital One

Nottingham.

 

Alternatively, you can call us and one of our specialist account managers will go through a security check with you and answer your quiries immediately. (What quiries are these? It is you that is writing to me) Our freephone number is 0800 952 4914.

 

I'm sorry for the inconvenience this causes you. I realise how frustrating it is to have to go to the trouble of contacting us again. However, we need to do this to protect the security of your account and personal details. (taking the Pi** you mean)

 

Yours

Verity Billson

Senior Manager.

 

I think Crap one sense a CCA request coming on, so are fishing for a signiture to wack on an agreement. Is there any legal requirement to says I have to sign my letters personally in order the Crap One to deal with my letters?

 

I think they are taking out of their A Hole personally. All I asked them for was to extent my reduced payment plan. The accept the initial request last year with a digital sig, so what are they up to with all this clock and dagger stuff?

 

I await the contructive comments of the good people of CAG.

 

Regards

Alf

[JOSH_IOU]

Maybe it couldn't hurt sending a response asking them to calrify a few position's.

 

First off ask them what they could not do.

 

Secondly this Sounds distinctively like a computer generated letter.

 

I hope this clears the confusion Ta ha he he

 

James

[The GodMother]

Sent them a CCA request.

[alfwithhair]

I think I will get on the blower to them in a bit, see exactly what they have to say about requiring my signiture before they can deal with my account.

[citizenB]

If you go to Citizens Advice or one of the other debt charities, they will complete a 'Common financial statement' with you which doesn't contain any personal details such as Capital One are asking for, but they are obliged to accept it as your financial statement. If they don't they are in breach of the Banking Code and lots of other things.

Also asking for help completing a financial statement also doesn't imply you have to accept any other help, and you will still be able to deal with Capital One direct.

 

 

Go to citizens Advice as reallymadwoman suggests above. They could also confirm your signature. Creditors have no legal right to your NI number or bank account numbers. Perhaps a letter saying that only a court can demand what they are requesting and then continue to pay them what you have been doing and let them get on with it. That Verity Billson is a PITA