Business bounce back loan been passed to a DCA - Credit Style UK

[Kmw]

Hi

 

I took out a bounce back loan as a sole trader (a pub), I always intended that I’d be able to pay this back and never expected that I would find myself in my current situation. 
 

I soon realised with the ongoing pandemic and reduced footfall to the business that it was no longer financially viable and I had to get out whilst I still had some profit to get myself on my feet elsewhere.

 

I found myself a full time job and slowly shut the business down, paying my VAT, PAYE and Car loan off. I also had my personal tax bill to pay but I put that on a payment plan.

 

The only debt left over was the bounce back loan. I extended the term and took the holiday and whatever help they offered at the time and started trying to call them immediately to explain my situation. I worked out my budget and sent them letters letting them know what I could currently afford to pay and that my circumstance wasn’t going to change in the immediate future. 
 

I didn’t get very far and the time soon came around where I was meant to make proper payments. I set up a standing order and started paying them what I could afford and kept on trying to get this payment plan official explaining that I was no longer trading.

 

They didn’t give a monkeys and kept telling me that what I was offering wasn’t good enough. I continued paying the amount every month anyway. Other than the odd text and letter to say I am behind on my repayments, the next time I heard from them was the formal demand which I called them and again explained all the above and continued paying the amount I could afford.

 

Fast forward to now, almost a year since I originally made contact. I have today received 3 letters (2 addressed to me, 1 addressed to my trading name) from Barclays telling me they have passed on the collection of the debt to Credit Style UK. I haven’t yet had a letter from them but I know I will and I know they’ll start demanding payment and add on charges. 
 

I’m wanting to get myself prepared for what I need to do. As I’ve said above, I am making payments every month on the same date which is before the due date of my monthly payment. It doesn’t cover the originally agreed payment schedule but it is all I can afford now that my business is no longer trading.

 

I’ve read this morning about the 3 letter process, can I use this? I own my own home and I don’t have any other debts apart from a small credit card balance. I don’t want to go down an IVA route of anything like that as I don’t want my credit record affected. The BBBL isn’t on there. Can they legally add it now, 2 years later? These letter me threats to that. 
 

I’m really stressed by all of this and I just want to move on with life. I don’t see a way I can afford to pay any more than I already do. Would it be better to not pay at all and let the bank pass it back to the British Business Bank? Will I be better making the payments to them. I just don’t know what to do! 

[Bazooka Boo]

Hi, welcome.

 

Firstly there's no such thing as a ''three letter process'', that's simply FMOTL garbage and will only get anyone following it in serious trouble.

 

You are doing everything correct so far, you are paying them what you can comfortably afford each month, they don't have to accept it.

 

Have you kept a record of events and letters you've sent so far?

 

Keeping a diary of events and copies of correspondence is a must.

 

As for the toothless credit style UK, hilarious, what the heck do they think they're going to do?? You don't need to discuss a single thing with those clowns, just file their silly missives and think nothing more of them.

 

Deal direct with Barclays, and continue paying them direct, DO NOT pay credit style anything.

 

If you send anything in the future obtain 'proof of posting' which is free from the PO counter.

 

There is no legal requirement to complete an I&E form, but as you have done so already, it will only reinforce your position and show that you have been more than open and honest with the bank, and they have chosen to ignore your efforts and have failed to assist you even though you have given them timely information regarding a change in circumstances, this will not look good for them when you exhausts the banks complaints procedure and escalate it to the FOS.

[dx100uk]

A dca is not a BAILIFF

and have

ZERO legal powers on any debt, no matter what its type.

 

Dx

[Kmw]

Hi,

 

Thank you for replying.

 

Firstly, I just had to Google FMOTL.

What on earth is a freeman of the land?

 

I found the 3 letter process on what I thought was a debt advice website. There was also template letter called “Notice to withdraw” that actually seemed more relevant. Had a section about requesting copies of the original loan agreement signed etc and if they didn’t have this then they have no legal standing to request payment and to send it back to the original creditor. I did download it but didn’t fully read it. Doesn’t sound like it would be very good to use from what you say. 

 

I have a copy of a letter I sent them that they did receive but did not reply to. They called me instead. This letter explained that my business was no longer trading and provided a full budget to prove what I could afford. They called me a few days after that and asked me to complete their own budget sheet over the phone but I asked them to post it.

 

I returned that and that’s when they told me my payment offer was not substantial and would take too long to pay the loan back. They said they call this a “Nil offer agreement” which means I didn’t have to make payments but I could if I wanted to, it would move to demands and then onto recoveries.

 

I had a really horrible experience with one of their contact agents who when I expressed that I wanted to complain as I couldn’t believe how unhelpful they were being, she actually tried to stop me complaining and said things like “complaining won’t get you what you want”. Fair treatment was all I wanted.

 

I actually requested that they skip all the collections action and just send it straight to recoveries as I knew I was not going to be able to pay. I thought their internal recoveries team would have a bit more skill on setting up payment plans. Back to the original point at hand, I have kept any post I’ve received or sent but I don’t have recordings of phone conversations.

 

So shall I call the number at the top of the Barclays letter on Monday?

What do I say, just make sure that the payments I’m making are still being applied to the loan?

Do I then ignore any correspondence I receive from Credit Style?

 

It specifically says on the Barclays letter not to ignore them.

What if they call me?

Do I refuse to speak to them?

Or, do I write Barclays a new letter again explaining my circumstances and again offering the payment I’m currently making.
 

Another thing I note is that on the Barclays letters there are 3 different Barclays references but the reference to use for credit style is the same. It’s like Barclays have the loan on their system 3 times (twice in my own name and once in the business name). I was a bit baffled by this. 
 

I also note that even though I had asked on several occasions that the interest be waived else my payments were just chipping  away at the interest. The loan amount on these letters is £175 more than the original amount of loan so, so far all of the payments I’ve made have just gone on interest payments. 

[dx100uk]

kmw

you are very green on everything debt....

 

1st...the golden rule, never ever ever ring/talk/email/text a DCA.

they will LIE ..end of no buts no exceptions.

 

debt is not a criminal matter in this country.

 

the very very worst that can happen is you get a CCJ, but original creditors dont do court...too much bad publicity.

so EVENTUALLY they sell the debt on for about 10p=£1, and you get a notice of assignment.

 

the debt buyer/dca will then hound you and your dead grandmothers budgie for the full value...not what they got it for...nice eh?

 

i will guess you mean 

Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) - British Business Bank

WWW.BRITISH-BUSINESS-BANK.CO.UK

---

Read about the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS), designed to enable businesses to access finance more quickly during the coronavirus outbreak.

 

you say this Pub was as a sole trader, and was this also a brewery franchise par chance?

whatever you do , dont panic upon this 

just keep doing what you are, pay what you can when you can. simply ignore everyone.

and for god sake never do an IVA bankruptcy etc ..never!

 

this is new ground in a way, and TBH i very much doubt that a gov't backed loan is allowed to be sold on without blanket gov't approval and this scheme is FAR to new for that to ever happen (it took the Gov't 14yrs to sell on old Student loan Debts)

 

its just barclays doing what they do, trying to squash people by setting a powerless DCA upon them.

 

[unclebulgaria67]

Agree with dx, just keep paying what you can afford when you can.

 

As long as there is some regularity with payments, they may stop hassling you, as they will have plenty of other debts where people are not paying anything.

 

You may want to seek general debt advice about your overall situation, just to make sure all matters are considered.

[Kmw]

Hi dx100uk,

 

I’m sorry what do you mean I’m very green on debt? I’m not sure what this means and whether that’s a good thing, not. This is all very new to me. I don’t have “debt” as such. I have a mortgage, and my partner and I have credit cards with small manageable balances that we use for things where cash or debit isn’t always the best option. For the extra protection that credit cards offer for certain purchases. 
 

I wasn’t planning on contacting the DCA but I was thinking of calling, or writing to Barclays to tell them I won’t be engaging with the DCA. Let them know I am unhappy they have passed on my details in this way when I am cooperating fully, and paying what I can afford. I have even said to them already that when my payment plan for my personal tax bill ends which will be about 5 months, I will start to move that payment across to them. Is Barclays even allowed to pass my details on to a DCA for this purpose when they haven’t made any attempt to contact me themselves, other than the formal demand?  
 

In regards to the business, yes you are correct. I was a sole trader renting the property from a brewery on very good terms. I was there for 5 years. I only started to make a profit in 2018 after 3 years there. In 2019, the brewery sold the pub to a pub Co. They immediately tried to increase the rent saying that they were going to spend money on refurbishments etc. I flatly refused to sign a new deal and continued on the same terms as previously agreed with the original brewery. Unfortunately, the pub Co just upped the price of the barrels.
 

When the pandemic hit, the pub Co offered absolutely no assistance what so ever other than agreeing a 10% discount on rent if we paid 3 months up front….that’s where my £10k grant went leaving me with about £150. The furlough system did really help and I cannot fault that. As my partner was employed we luckily had a small income coming in. I couldn’t take the Self employed income grants as because I hadn’t made enough profit in the years they used to calculate.
 

Once the pub reopened we struggled with all the social distancing rules and this really affected how many people we were able to serve but nonetheless, I did the right thing. At this point I had 1 year left on my initial 6 year deal. The pub was not going to be financially viable especially with the new lock down looming. I decided at that point it was best to get out whilst I could actually pay for all the bills. Being a sole trader I knew that if I got to the point of not being able to pay the bills then they’d come after me personally. 
 

I naively thought that I’d be able to agree a payment plan for the loan. What a fool!! I didn’t anticipate quite how unhelpful the banks are.

 

I have sought debt advice from the business debt charity (the name has suddenly escaped me), I also spoke to step change. There was one other firm but they were pointing to the IVA route which I absolutely will not do. 

 

Thank you for all your comments. Been really doubting myself that I’ve been doing the right thing.

[unclebulgaria67]

Green = you are not experienced in dealing with such debt issues and have been trying to find information online. 

 

Some of the information on some websites is about debt avoidance, telling people there is a magic trick (3 letter process) and the debt disappears.  Followng such advice will probably lead  you to a worse position in a few years time.

 

Just continue making payments to Barclays and keep records. Make sure when you make payments, it quotes your loan account reference number.  If Barclays contact you, just confirm in writing the payments you have made to them based on your current ability to pay.