A request for help please re sister debt harrasment

[mikedesign]

Hi all

 

Im seeking advice plan of action

 

My sister is in a mess unfortunately a break up with her husband etc has led to various issues

 

The one I need to sort at this time is letters from debt collection etc threatening letters

 

She applied for her signed agreements from santander bank followed due process SAR etc none were provided within the time limits allowed or after she was sent a reconstituted agreement from one company barclaycard asking her to sign and return it???

 

Unfrotunately despite this she is now receiving letters from wescot et al demanding X Y and Z despite mentioning that the debt is in dispute She originally was with payplan to try and come to some sort of agreement and all but one creditor agreed to her proposals.Since then the stress and distress of constant harrasment by these companies has led to her being depressed and now on medication

 

where do we now stand on this personally i would love one of the scumbags to turn up at the door to carry out their threat of a home visit as I have no worries about an assault charge but that's just the anger in me at what is happening.The letter stating they know where she lives does concern here ,I know for a fact they cannot turn up without a court order but she is quite literally terrified to the point of shaking.Surely there must be a way for me to bring criminal charges against the director of wescot

 

I am going to send the harrasment letter to her to send in but despite mentioning this to them (wescot) they are ignoring it and proceeding with their hollow threats.Also Santander have sold this debt to 3 different debt collectors from what I hear ,this is not legal is it.

 

Hopefully someone will give or point me in the right direction for the ammo to fire at these folks.

 

regards and thanks in advance

 

Mike

[citizenB]

You are correct in that they cannot just turn up without an appointment - if they do, then your Sister should have a copy of the "Do not visit me letter" printed out ready to hand over. She should not engage with them at all.

 

She can make a complaint to the Office of Fair Trading - although they wont act on behalf of an individual, they will record any complaint and when there are sufficient complaints they will look into it.

 

Is she still on the DMP with Payplan ? If not, have a read of the following and then perhaps have contact one of the agencies mentioned - they can help her draw up a CASHflow budget so she can manage her own DMP.

 

If you are experiencing difficulty in repaying your debts, CASHflow is a way for you to negotiate affordable repayments with your creditors. Before you can use CASHflow, you must have spoken to one of the free advice agencies licensed to offer CASHflow to their clients. The advice agency will start by talking to you about all of the options available, and can help you to decide if CASHflow is the right one for you.

 

If you decide to use CASHflow, you will be provided with all of the tools you need to be able to complete your own financial statement and negotiate offers of repayment with creditors yourself. This will enable you to stay in control of your situation, but still have support from an adviser at any stage if you need it.

 

You can contact a local advice agency to check if they offer CASHflow. You can find a list of free advice agencies that are near to you by searching for a money adviser in England or Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland.

Alternatively, you can call National Debtline on 0808 808 4000

CASHflow: http://www.cashflow.uk.net/

National Debtline: http://www.nationaldebtline.co.u k/

https://www.mymoneysteps.org/

Also as highlighted in the CAG newsletter...

There is the new CAB system that might also be worth a look, this system saves all your details, has guidance allowance figures to work with if you wish and you do not need to be invited / signed off etc with this system, just log in and away you go (see below)

 

(Also, there are a number of other self help tools and systems around so might be worth a little exploration if this is what you eventually decide on.)

 

http://mymoney.nedcab.org.uk/moneyadvice/

 

http://mymoney.nedcab.org.uk/moneyadvice/ (example of completed dmp)

 

Umm, she didnt sign the reconstruction, did she ?

 

[citizenB]

TBH, it is irrelevant whether they provided the information within the time - the Consumer Credit Act was tinkered around with and the penalty for breaching the 12 + 2 days was removed

However, if they have failed to comply with the s78 request then there is a legitimate dispute.

Is your sister still paying any of the debts ?

[rebel11]

Hi mike

 

Have a read of No.7 in my signature. Also read 1,2 and 3 in my signature.

[mikedesign]

You are correct in that they cannot just turn up without an appointment - if they do, then your Sister should have a copy of the "Do not visit me letter" printed out ready to hand over. She should not engage with them at all.

 

She can make a complaint to the Office of Fair Trading - although they wont act on behalf of an individual, they will record any complaint and when there are sufficient complaints they will look into it.

 

Is she still on the DMP with Payplan ? If not, have a read of the following and then perhaps have contact one of the agencies mentioned - they can help her draw up a CASHflow budget so she can manage her own DMP.

 

 

Umm, she didnt sign the reconstruction, did she ?

 

 

No She didnt sign it by this time I was involved I told her basically until they can prove it they can twizzle She has done an income expenditure several times

 

She isnt on a DMP either the DMP company actually sent a letter to her outlining and these were the excat words" Miss ******* IS A BAD DEBTOR AND REFUSES TO PAY" this was not true they said the plan would fail.

She has it in black and white recently they also sent a letter which i do not believe was intended for her stating what margin of profit they would now lose duew to her not being in the DMP.

She was covered for insurance against this and surprise surprise all the PPI companies have found some legal obligation to not pay

 

Citizen B can you elaborrate on this tinkering

they have not provided a signed agreement period and just sent this to a (or 3 seperate) DCA's I have asked my sister to stop paying anything I will find out tomorrow what the status is?

 

Rebel

 

Read and fully understood.

 

I have thought about just saying go to court with your 450 or whatever and ask the judge nicely to make her BR the OR certainly wouldn't come down on her and it would mean the house which is a lingering battle between her ex who is also claiming poverty whilst pocketing the rent (they both moved out of the marital home and rented it to pay the mortgage) might have to come clean on why the mortgage hasn't been getting paid but thats another matter entirely

 

Ps forgot to say thank you:oops:

[dx100uk]

can i aslo suggest she checks her cra file and gest a good picture

of who she actually owes money too.

 

dx

[mikedesign]

can i aslo suggest she checks her cra file and gest a good picture

of who she actually owes money too.

 

dx

 

 

Dx doing this tomorrow evening for her

 

thanks

[citizenB]

When I say "tinkering".. the CCA was updated and one of the items that was removed was the penalty for breaching the s78 request. It used to be that if the creditor didnt provide a copy of the CCA within 30 days they were committing criminal offence.

 

It was probably decided that if they were to leave that in 3/4s of creditors would have committed a criminal offence lol . Not that the OFT ever did anything about it.

[citizenB]

It would be cheaper for her to let a creditor make her bankrupt rather than her forking out to do it.

Are you saying there was PPI on some of these loans/credit products that refused to pay out?

 

If so, then you should be considering reclaiming the PPI as it was obviously mis sold !

 

You also need to establish whether there are any default charges on the accounts - these can also be reclaimed.

 

I suggest you think about sending a Subject Access Request to all the original creditors - it will cost you £10.00 for each request. You are entitled to receive all the information that the company has in respect of your financial history with that company. They have 40 calendar days to comply and you can find a draft letter in teh CAG library which is linked at the top of each screen.

 

Once you have statements and other information, you can check the PPI situation and then we can help you make your reclaim request.

[dx100uk]

if theres PPI i bet PENALTY charges follow closely!!

 

dx

[mikedesign]

Jeez you guys must be absolutely busy giving out advice on these boards

 

Yes theres lots of penalty charges

 

When they split the stress cost her her job unfortunately

She was also diagnosed with labarinthitis and would just faint on the bus ,

she was terrified to go anywhere but thats no influence or bearing really

 

Its not a moral thing with these folks its just a buisness and "personal circumstance" has no bearing

 

As the ppi people put it,

would love to see the attitude change if they were in that position but afterall they are above all that

 

She got a job in a call cnetre but collapsed under the weight of paying under a much lower wage

 

The SAR she sent to santander was well over 40 days and nothing was sent in reply except demands even whilst she was negotiating.Though they did send her account to the DCA within two days of it being signed for

 

The SAR total so far stands at 60 quid with only the reconstituted agreement being sent by barclaycards lowlifes mercers who imho haven't gone anywhere

 

I have mentioned to her relax and that owing money isn't a crime but shes the kind of person who will not put up a fight ,she just needs to get her spirit for this one back and i suppose thats where i have kind of stepped into the foray,I will take the fight all the way to them i just need to know how

 

Tomorrow i intend to make a timeline of each individual account to catalogue the errance in these accounts

 

Can i ask if she is owed charges and PPI repayments she can dispute on that basis

ie the total owed would not be any where near what they say or is that a fantastical idea i would like to be real

[dx100uk]

oh we'll hit them for 6 alright

 

 

who is the current dca

and what was the original debt?

 

you've not mentioned the amounts ither

 

dx

[citizenB]

If Subject Access Requests have not been complied within the 40 calendar days, you should be making a complaint to the Information Commissioner.

[mikedesign]

Can i come back to you tomorrow with all the proper amounts etc once i have seen the paperwork etc I can scan and post up if thats Ok

My mum told me about it so its a bit second hand info and would rather give you true facts etc

 

thanks

 

Mike

[citizenB]

Can i come back to you tomorrow with all the proper amounts etc once i have seen the paperwork etc I can scan and post up if thats Ok

My mum told me about it so its a bit second hand info and would rather give you true facts etc

 

thanks

 

Mike

 

Yes, of course you can

 

Please remember to remove any personal information.

 

If you follow the instructions below for uploading documents - you shouldnt have any problems.

 

Dx100 – Instructions on uploading pdfs

scan the required letters/agreements/sheets

as a picture file

remove all pers info inc barcodes etc using paint

but leave all figures and dates.

goto one of the many free online pdf converter websites

convert the image to pdf format.

or ir you have PDF as an installed printer drive use that

open a new msg box here

hit go advanced below the msg box

hit manage attachments below that box

hit the add files button on the top right

hit select files, navigate to your file on your pc

hit upload files

NB:you can set where it goes in the post by hitting insert inline.

the hit reply button

[old bill]

From what I have read in this thread and the effect it is having on the OP's relative, there is a case to answer under Section 2, Protection from Harassment Act 1997. However, Parliament has given the victims of harassment a very powerful weapon in the form of civil remedy provisions under Section 3 of the Act. This enables the victim to obtain an ex parte (without notice) injunction against those engaged in the harassment and to seek damages from them for, amongst other things, anxiety and financial losses. The OP's relative may have a case against those harassing them for the psychological effects under Personal Injury litigation. The beauty of the Section 3 provisions is that the 3-year limit under the Limitation Act for bringing a claim for personal injury doesn't apply. Before the OP goes any further along the path of dealing with these bullies, a Notice to Desist needs to be served on them. Once served, the harasser is then under notice not to engage in further instances of harassment on pain of the injunction being sought.

 

The maximum penalty for non-compliance with an injunction under Section 3 of the Act is an unlimited fine, or up to five years' imprisonment, or both. if the OP needs help drafting a Notice to Desist and/or the procedure for applying for an injunction, I am willing to help.

[old bill]

Having read through this thread, I feel that action needs to be taken, as a matter of urgency, against those engaged in the harassment for the sake of the OP's sister's sanity and health. There are civil remedy provisions under Section 3, Protection from Harassment Act 1997 that can be used to curb the bullying. This involves seeking a "without notice" injunction against those engaged in the bullying/harassment from the County Court. Once granted, the bully/harasser is served with the injunction and has to comply. The victim then has three working days from the date of being granted the injunction to submit a claim to the court for damages for anxiety, financial losses, etc.. Psychological injury can be claimed for and the three-year time-limit under the Limitation Act does not apply. A further hearing then takes place, at a later date, before a Circuit Judge, to make the injunction permanent and hear the claim for damages.

 

Before going down the path of seeking an injunction, the OP or their sister needs to serve a Notice to Desist, basically, a letter telling the bully/harasser to stop their bullying/harassment on pain of the injunction being sought. This puts the bully/harasser on notice.

 

The maximum penalty for breaching an injunction under Section 3 of the Act is an unlimited fine, or up to five years' imprisonment, or both.

 

Should the OP need any further advice regarding the PHA, I am happy to help.