A rather Complicated Story - Minicredit.

[renegadeimp]

Hello Darkglobe. Welcome to CAG.

 

If anyone calls you a ****** or any derogratory name, report them. There is NO place for that kind of attitude on CAG.

 

As for minicredits attempts to add on charges, send them a letter to their registered office and deny any and all liability for the charges. They are unenforceable and are considered unfair under OFT guidance on debt collection. Minicredit are very well known for adding on fake charges purely to hike up the debt as a profit for themselves.

 

Now on to your questions.

 

1. You are correct with the statement about the charges being unlawful. Ignore their threats. They will not even venture within 50 miles of a courtroom as they dont want a court to see the false and borderline illegal charges they have added on. The letters they send are designed to scare you into complying with their silly demands. I would suggest making a full complaint about their actions to the OFT as this company are currently under heavy investigation and could lose their licence in 2 months time. I would also advise filing a FULL and FORMAL complaint with minicredit. It doesnt matter if the complaint falls on deaf ears with minicredit, the key is to get the complaint in so you can start the 8 week timer and get the ombudsman involved.

 

2. You are under NO obligation at all to supply a LOW PRIORITY creditor with any I&E information. Same with payslips and bank statements. THey have no legal right to see them and only a court can order them to be shown. Even when a court does order them, the creditor wont get to view them. The court will simply use them to come to a judgement. As this debt wont go near a court, you dont have to worry about all that Also, dont start getting worried about jail and fraud. It wont happen.

 

CAG doesnt condone what you did, but whats done is done, and we can help you. The best way is to stick to your guns, contest all the charges and DONT supply any I&E information.

 

The ONLY money you actually owe is the original loan, original interest for the contracted loan time, and a single default fee.

 

Work out an I&E for yourself, but do not show it to anyone. Since you are on benefits, they only get £1 a month no matter what they say or do. Don't tell them about what you have done, just say you are in financial difficulty and you want all the unenforceable and unfair charges removed, and you will pay them £xx a month. Should they refuse, then you will have no choice but to pay them £1 a month for the life of the account. Dont worry if they try and say they will add on extra charges and interest, as all this will be unenforceable too and a direct breach of OFT guidelines.

 

 

Hope that helps you a little darkglobe. If you have any questions, dont hesitate to ask.

[renegadeimp]

I'm about to head to work right now, but if nobody posts a letter by say 9pm tonight, just post back on the thread to bump it up and ill write one up for you to send. I've had my fair share of dealings with Minicredit and Opos and they are easily handled. It also saves you alot of questions and guesswork.

 

What you did can technically be classed as fraud, but it is extremely unlikely anything will come of it. IF they find out you lied, they will try and threaten you with everything, but you can simply say " well, you're meant to be a responsible lender adhering to all OFT and FSA guidelines and regulations. Why didnt you do so in this case? It's the same question the regulators would ask.

 

Plus, you are willing to pay back the loan, just not with the silly charges they add ( such as £400+ for "debit fee attempts").

[renegadeimp]

They might come chasing eventually if theyre smart enough to use the CRA to find your address. However, keep an eye on your credit file as they do place markers from time to time.