Citifinancial (ex-Associates) & Hillesden Securities (aka DLC)

[arthur256]

My Associates card account was sold to Hillesden in about 2005 after I was in hospital for six months and my income stopped unexpectedly.

 

When interest was frozen (04/2005) the balance was £1307, in 02/2006 it was £1013, in 10/2006 supposedly £1429! There is something seriously amiss with the figures as I was then paying nearly £30/month. They appear to have added nearly £600 and can't or won't say why!

 

Eventually they applied for a CCJ, which I did not oppose other than to confirm I could continue to pay £30pm, but not more - which the Court then confirmed.

 

This was later revised by mutual agreement to £10pm because my limited income fell again.

 

I have therefore already paid off a significant part of the original sum, but they have never sent a statement showing the payments and decreasing balance.

 

I requested a copy regulated Consumer Credit Agreement in October 2008. I understand it should be supplied within 12 working days, but have not sent it after over two years. They did say it "would follow" but it never did.

 

I also asked for a statement of the account - from April 2005 (when the balance was £1307) to date. This would identify the discrepancies, but Hillesden have not supplied anything to explain the inflated figures, so I suspended payments.

 

They are unable to enforce the missing agreement, being in breach of the Act, and will not justify their amount by a proper statement. Without any explanation, the balance appears to have been artificially inflated.

 

They just issued an Annual Statement of Account, which does not attempt to show the way the balance is arrived at! All it shows is an unchanged figure of £873 from 06/2009 TO 12/2010. I reckon the balance should be little more than £200, probably less if it includes unlawful extras prior to the sale of the debt.

 

In view of this extremely irregular handling of my debt by Hillesden, I was advised to request that the Judgment be set aside or struck out. I am writing to the Court (Northampton - who deal with the online service), asking for guidance on how to get it sorted out.

 

Has anybody else had this particular problem with Hillesden, and with what outcome? I have looked in the forum, and they seem almost as "sharp" as Link Financial, though in a different way.

 

TIA

 

Arthur

[arthur256]

Update: I have not heard from Hillesden for over a year. The debt is now past the date where it is not worth doing anything, particularly as it is still unenforceable.

 

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Arthur