Thames Credit

[afta05]

I have not sent them anything yet because I am fearful that as I bank with them, they may take punitive action against me through my account and either start to muck me about or take money from one of my accounts as I understand a bank can do if it is owed money from a customer. I thought about sending a CCA request but as I have been paying regularly anyway it seems to be a bit pointless as I have tacitly accepted the debt. If they can't find the agreement from a CCA request, though, would I be able to dispute the account even though I have been paying it?

Interestingly, the interest rate quoted on the statement they have just sent me is 0% so I guess that at some stage they had stopped interest. This was all done years ago through a debt management company that then went bust and left me to pick up the pieces. I have a letter from Barclaycard agreeing the reduced payment schedule but there is no mention in it of interest. The balance shown on my on-line account is the one I have been working to (ie without interest) but this new statement has added £5K in Nov 2008 and shows the much higher balance.

 

What would I do with the proceeds of a SAR?

 

Sorry about all this rambling but I had not anticipated this and it has thrown me somewhat.

[foolishgirl]

I have not sent them anything yet because I am fearful that as I bank with them, they may take punitive action against me through my account and either start to muck me about or take money from one of my accounts as I understand a bank can do if it is owed money from a customer. I thought about sending a CCA request but as I have been paying regularly anyway it seems to be a bit pointless as I have tacitly accepted the debt. If they can't find the agreement from a CCA request, though, would I be able to dispute the account even though I have been paying it?

 

Firstly, you MUST move your current account. Whether you are making payments or not, they can just decide to take into their heads one day to deduct anything they like from it to set against your card debt. Do it TODAY! There are plenty of high street banks who will give you a basic account even with poor credit rating.

Secondly, if the agreement is enforceable you can dispute at any time regardless of any payments made but you may have to defend legal action if you did that be really sure of your ground first.

 

Interestingly, the interest rate quoted on the statement they have just sent me is 0% so I guess that at some stage they had stopped interest. This was all done years ago through a debt management company that then went bust and left me to pick up the pieces. I have a letter from Barclaycard agreeing the reduced payment schedule but there is no mention in it of interest. The balance shown on my on-line account is the one I have been working to (ie without interest) but this new statement has added £5K in Nov 2008 and shows the much higher balance.

 

What would I do with the proceeds of a SAR?

 

The SAR will show you when the interest was dropped, any tel calls in relation to it etc. & you may be able to dispute the interest using that info. as the basis for doing so. eg. you told me it would be frozen in 2007 but here we are in 2008 & you've added it on.

 

FG

[afta05]

Thanks again for your wisdom funnygirl - I have sent the SAR to the office where the statement came from, and I have also written to the Kirby office that was dealing with the repayment arrangement, asking them to cancel the interest as per our agreement. I have arranged to open a new basic bank account though and as soon as I get the details I will transfer my balance and begin to switch accounts.

 

I might try a CCA request if they won't play ball, just to see if they can produce the original agreement from 1999.

[afta05]

Whoops - so sorry Foolishgirl, I don't know what I was thinking about after all our time together! Apologies

[foolishgirl]

Whoops - so sorry Foolishgirl, I don't know what I was thinking about after all our time together! Apologies

 

That's OK - Funnygirl has a much happier ring to it!

[afta05]

Masterloan repied to my SAR with a copy of the original agreement and a set of statements ending up with the balance that I can agree with - no interest added here, so where does that leave the other statement which did? There were no copies of letters or any other correspondence. I would say that this is definitely an enforceable agreement. I still don't want to make waves though. I have opened another account - no-one would touch me so I got a CardOne Account with prepayment Card so that I have somewhere to put money. CardOne don't deal in Direct Debits so I can't close the other account yet - but I have moved most of the money and have only a minimal balance now. I am tempted to leave the matter alone unless they confirm that they are going to add interest. If they leave it I will continue to pay it off slowly and will be able to make an offer at some stage. I Got into a panic though when I thought they might just help themselves to my savings. Do you agree that I wait and see?

[foolishgirl]

If they have an enforceable agreement & you have statments from the SAR showing no interest, I think 'leave well alone' is probablya wise choice afta. Keep those SAR docs safe & if they start chasing you or adding interest to a balance, you can start the battle well armed.

 

At least you now know the full postion which should give you peace of mind.

[sillygirl1]

Have you tried the Halifax online account you can do direct debits from that and they give you an Electron visa card as well. If you do it online they don't credit check you... to my knowledge.

 

I think leaving this alone for a while now will be a good idea, they seem to have tried a lot of different avenues and basically now have to go to court for further enforcement, and you don't necessarily want that to happen, could be good, could be bad, particularly if they use McGuffick as a defence....

[afta05]

Thanks for your help and advice both. On another accoutn - Aktiv Kapital have come back to me after picking up an MBNA account that is in dispute. They say "I can confirm that OC is unable to supply the documentation you have requested under the CCA 1974. You have previously acknowledged your debt as payments have been received from xxx to xxx. We do not anticipate issuing proceedings at this time as we believe negotiated settlements of debt are always preferable to legal proceedings. We look forward to your comments."

 

I thought it was unlawful for them to pursue an alleged debt if they cannot produce an enforceable agreement? Do you suggest I respond to maintain the dispute or ignore them. They are adding interest like crazy.

[lookinforinfo]

Foolishgirl, just seen this on another thread. Seems lots of people getting these statements and this was the advice given - what do you think? I have written a letter but not posted it yet.

 

"These annual statements are sent out automatically for any and all debts on any dca's books now - regardless of the status of the debt. There is a legal requirement to send them hence they have incorporated the legal requirement into their ongoing phishing trips.

 

As said above, just ignore it."

 

By all means ignore them when you get one, but keep an eye out for when you don't.

The reason being that if they fail to send you a statement when it is due, the debt is

unenforceable until one is sent. This may be of help more to those who are already in litigation and who have not received statements in the past.

 

Have they been charging interest-in that case the amount of the debt is wrong. And they shouldn't be taking you to Court if the statements are missing anyway. That is why you should be asking for statements from them when they start getting bolshy.

Edited February 13, 2010 by lookinforinfo

[foolishgirl]

Aktiv Kapital have come back to me after picking up an MBNA account that is in dispute. They say "I can confirm that OC is unable to supply the documentation you have requested under the CCA 1974. You have previously acknowledged your debt as payments have been received from xxx to xxx. We do not anticipate issuing proceedings at this time as we believe negotiated settlements of debt are always preferable to legal proceedings. We look forward to your comments."

 

I thought it was unlawful for them to pursue an alleged debt if they cannot produce an enforceable agreement? Do you suggest I respond to maintain the dispute or ignore them. They are adding interest like crazy.

 

They'll try anything won't they?!

 

It's not unlawful for them to ask you to repay, but if they attempted to take you to court, they wouldn't have a chance as they have admitted the debt is unenforceable in law.

 

I've forgotten the details of this one afta. Do you know exactly how much has been added in interest i.e have you got statements or SAR print out? As they can't produce an agreement, they have no right to charge interest at all, even from the beginning of the account. It wouldn't surprise me if the amount they have applied over the years in interest & charges largely, if not completely, offsets the principal you have borrowed & this is where I would start my argument if I was looking for a settlement with them.

 

If you are still making token payments, you could withhold all payments, wait for the 6 years to pass since you put the account in dispute, debt becomes statute barred & the defaults should drop off your credit file.

 

The choice is yours...

[afta05]

This was one that MBNA assigned to Thames Credit in 2008. Thames tried and failed to collect after I sent them a SAR and CCA request and they eventually gave up writing. I then started to get letters from Aktiv trying to collect on the same account and that is where we are. I have sent them a get lost letter as they have admitted they have no agreement. Thanks again for all your help and advice FG - I'll let you know when the next instalment arrives!

[afta05]

Update. AK have replied to my get lost letter and appear to have thrown in the towel. They say "...we will cease all further collections activity in regards to this matter whilst not in possession of such documents [an enforceable credit agreement]. Thanks again for all your guidance and reassurance.

[foolishgirl]

Great news afta!

 

You can now rest easy awhile - unless they sell it on to some other gullible DCA but of course, you now have the perfect 'get lost' answer to that.

Let's hope this agreement remains buried for the next 6 years...