M.B.N.A or DCA What would you do?

[Under Siege]

I'm currently trying to negotiate my own DMP, Its going ok but Clydesdale, Cahoot and MBNA are been swines.

 

I have just spoken to one of MBNA's advisor's (I know its wrong but the letters were getting me nowhere) and it has left me with the following dilemma -

 

They (MBNA) are my biggest creditor (£17,000 credit card balance)

As part of my DMP I have offered £55 per month which they have refused and asked for £130 per month for 10yrs freezing interest and stopping charges. (they are not accepting some parts of my DMP)

The adviser told me that if I don't pay the £130 per month the debt would be sold on to the highest bidder, who would then pursue me by what ever means. (ie through Court or their own DMP).

 

I just don't know what to do -

 

1) Pay £130 per month for as long as I need to

 

or

 

2) Risk the debt being sold on to a DCA and as they will have bought the debt cheaply they may accept a lower monthly payment but with the risk of Court / Charging orders etc

 

I would be interested to hear what other people would do in this situation.

[rory32]

Can you realistically afford the £130 in the long term? Have you looked at an IVA?

[Under Siege]

Hi rory,

 

An IVA is a no go for me I'm afraid (due to my occupation)

I can afford it at a push, and besides I have 3 other creditors in my DMP who are well into default with CCA requests! 2 of them have just about admitted that they have no agreement at all So the money I had set aside for them can go towards MBNA. Not counting my chickens just yet though, it would be just my luck for them to suddenly find the agreements.

[rory32]

Do you have it in writing that they will freeze interest and stop charges for the 10years or is it a case of they have currently agreed to do that but will review it a later date e.g. 6 months from now?

[Goldlady]

I was paying MBNA £25 a month on a 10K debt all interest frozen until they got nasty and it turned out they had no CCA so now I am paying them zilch. Clydesdale are the worst of the lot - they categorically refused to freeze interest (still charged 5%) and I have now told them to burger off as I have paid them as much as they deserve and the rest is charges.

[Under Siege]

Rory - They have told me that they will put it in writing if I accept.

 

Goldlady - Its so frustrating, these companys seem to have different rules for different people.

[Hippy-chick]

Hi Under Siege

 

I think I'd try to get their offer in writing first if I were you. Then, if you really can afford it without detriment to yourself and your family - go for it. But only if it's not going to leave you with no contingency for anything else that comes out of the woodwork.

[dx100uk]

TBH - if you have jumped through all their earlier hoops, like sending in/out goings sheet etc and written to them several times keeping to the same offer of £55, i would stick with that.

write them again, if ness, clearly state that you cannot afford more than £55 & request they accept this offer & as a gesture of goodwill freeze the int/charges, but you must start to pay this & keep doing it.

if this forces them to sell the debt to a DCA then so be it, that will prob be to your advantage in the long run.

make sure you keep allthe letters, then if it ever does go to court, the judge will laugh them out the door because you made a realistic offer & have kept by it. you might even be lucky and get the charges 7 interest back at the same time.

 

mbna are a hard nut to crack, i wonder if they do have the agreement?

 

dx100uk

[rory32]

i wonder if they do have the agreement?

 

In this case, if memory serves, they do and while probably not completely enforceable without a court order IMO the court order would in all likelyhood be granted.

[dx100uk]

it certainly reads that way, i think the deciding factor here is the large outstanding balance. diff one to call.

 

wish him luck

 

keep us informed

 

dx100uk

[sequenci]

MBNA are being utter gits.

 

What you need to consider is that if your offer to all creditors is via a NOT pro-rata arrangement then you will be unfairly prejudicing some of your creditors. For sure MBNA will give you their somewhat laborius and banal spiel about them 'having to collect the debt within 10 years as they are an American company"... utter tripe.

 

You should consider reminding them that under s2.6f of The OFT Debt Collection Guidance it is an unfair practice for a creditor to try and force you to increase your payments when you are unable to do so.

 

I appreciate it would be nice to get them to freeze interest and charges etc but I think you could easily achieve the same result AND ensure you are offering a pro-rata payment to all, it might just need a bit of 'sticking to your guns'.

[Goldlady]

I got the CAB involved when some of my creditors got awkward. I didn't get to see anyone as they were really busy, just talked on the phone and then sent out a letter enclosing the CAB 'statement of affairs'. It got results with some of the tougher ones, but not MBNA.

[sequenci]

It got results with some of the tougher ones, but not MBNA.

 

MBNA are one of the funders of National Debtline, If and when they get all moody they are kindly informed that they are one of the funders of the organisation. This means that they advocate the advice given (i.e. pro-rata payments) and by not accepting they are going against their advocation, which means the integrity of their social policy could be questioned and, indeed, their fitness to hold a consumer credit licence. Clydesdale also fund NDL, as do many other lenders.

 

National Debtline England & Wales | Funders

 

Usually, that gets results.

[ScarletPimpernel]

My OH has a DMP through CCCS and MBNA have been a nightmare throughout. Recently they suddenly started sending statements showing interest and charges again, and phoning. I am now acting as her appointed representative, and asked them for an explanation, and confirmation that they had also been in touch with CCCS.

 

Their response was to say that they have terminated their involvement with the DMP because 'we were not receiving sufficient funds via the arrangement'; they didn't bother to inform CCCS because 'they are not our customer and we have no obligation to deal with them'. Except, of course, that they do have such an obligation under the OFT guidelines. Predictably, CCCS are entirely passive about the situation. In the past OH has not wanted to claim for charges because she was worried that this would make MBNA's attitude worse. However, she's now agreed and it turns out that the entire outstanding amount consists of penalty charges and the interest thereon. MBNA have offered half, so they now have a LBA and a formal complaint about their regulatory breaches.

 

Overall, I suspect that MBNA act as they do largely because ineffective regulation allows them to get away with it.

[Goldlady]

MBNA are one of the funders of National Debtline, If and when they get all moody they are kindly informed that they are one of the funders of the organisation. This means that they advocate the advice given (i.e. pro-rata payments) and by not accepting they are going against their advocation, which means the integrity of their social policy could be questioned and, indeed, their fitness to hold a consumer credit licence. Clydesdale also fund NDL, as do many other lenders.

 

National Debtline England & Wales | Funders

 

Usually, that gets results.

 

That is very interesting Sequenci. If and when I get another threatogram from Clydesdale after my "you sue me and I will counterclaim for more" letter I know exactly what to say:D

[Goldlady]

SP have you actually checked that MBNA have a valid agreement? I am sure you will have done - but they couldn't find anything about me and went away with their tail between their legs.