Credit collections advice

warped one · Banned Joined: 25 Dec 2007 Karma :

All this year I have been paying off the debt that an ex ran up. I've done it as £100 per account every month, and always at the end of the month.

Now i'm on the last account and have £170 to pay off. This was the total as of 2nd August 2010. The bank had strapped some extra charges on me then sent a final demand for £347.18.

Shocked at the letter I received I went to the bank to try sort it out. The account was in fact only £247.18. After getting nowhere over the phone in the branch I went to an advisor to sort it out. He gave me the option of letting him speak to them. Eventually there was an agreement arranged whereby I pay 3 £25 payments then I could reinstate my DD which was £100pm.

I then went to my current bank and got the DD updated and got 2 receipts printed out. One for my reference and one to hand to them to show that i'd updated my DD and the guy said that he would put a note on my account.

That was that I thought or so I thought.

A few days ago I received a letter from METROPOLITAN Collection Services Limited. That has the date 31st August 2010 on it. Stating that they had now taken over my account.
Stating:
"We now formally demand immediate payment of £172.18"

The funny thing is that The date on the letter is wrong, over the phone they said they took over it on 30th August, which I believe to be more likely due to the fact that the DD went into the account on the 31st August after been sent on the 29th August.

They then went onto to tell me that as on that date the account had been closed and passed onto them. Which I really can't understand, there was an agreement put in place. The agreement on my part was upheld but HSBC has not kept their part and handed my account over the day before receiving the money.

So far I have flatly refused to give them a penny and told them that my money is going into the account at the HSBC and all dealings shall be dealt with my letter, and not over the phone unless I call them. And that the 20 odd phone calls that I have been receiving daily is harassment and that they cannot do it, since the very first time they called I told them to contact through letter so I have proof.

This sort of thing has been going on since April when I took all my saving £5k+ out of their account and put it into a different bank. They started sending demands and such a few days before the monthly payments was meant to be going out.

As far as I can see I have kept up my side of all the deals. And some months even surpassed them by paying off more than arranged.

So here's a few questions I have before going in on Wednesday and going postal on the place.

- Can they actually do this with a agreement in place?
- Can I get my account transferred back to the HSBC so I can keep an eye on it?
- Who can I contact about this going on?
- Where the hell has my £100 gone?
- What are my legal rights with refusing to pay the Collection company but still wanting to pay HSBC?
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amnesia - Never in the history of usernames has one been more accurate. Warped indeed. You sir are a fecking oddball.

warped one · Banned Joined: 25 Dec 2007 Karma :

Forgot to mention, that I have the receipt from my current bank about the change in DD, the final demand letter, and the collections letter, and i'm also going into my bank on Wed to get a statement to prove that the money went out of my account and was not sent back.
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amnesia - Never in the history of usernames has one been more accurate. Warped indeed. You sir are a fecking oddball.

Gone · Nearly there... Joined: 01 Sep 2010 Karma :

I wouldn't worry about the credit collection agency, I am sure they are perfectly nice, decent fellows who are just doing their job. I am sure their mothers love them.

Just pay them immediately, or they are likely to stick a shotgun up your jacksie and cut your balls off. If you still don't pay up, they might turn nasty after that.

FURBAR · Banned Joined: 04 Apr 2010 Karma :

At least after this .. you won't go into debt for others / ex's ... Rolling Eyes

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Fuk um !!

warped one · Banned Joined: 25 Dec 2007 Karma :

FinnDave - Like I said I am not going to pay them, my agreement was with HSBC and my account should not have been transfered when there was an agreement in place. They can do what they like, I still have all the paper work to prove things was set up to pay it off.

Inept- The ex in question is a particularly nasty piece of work who stole from me all the time, beat me up, and accused my off making her infertile. This is just the tip of the ice berg.
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amnesia - Never in the history of usernames has one been more accurate. Warped indeed. You sir are a fecking oddball.

Imonster · World Chat Champion Joined: 18 Oct 2006 Karma :

Jump onto the money saving expert forums - loads of useful advice on there Thumbs Up

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lnewland · Scooby Slapper Joined: 23 Sep 2008 Karma :

HSBC are the most un helpful bank i have ever used. I got my self in a bit of trouble finacially and pay a company direct each month who then distribute it to the couple of different people io owe money to. one of thse was a loan with hsbc. although hsbc are paid each month direct from this company they are still trying to take a payment from my old account each month, obviously because that account is not used anymore there are no funds in there for them to take and therefore each month they are placing charges on the account and told me they were going to pass my details to a debt collection agencie. i tried to explain that they were recieving payments and therefore had not right to be taking more money but thye were not interested
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multijoy · World Chat Champion Joined: 03 Oct 2008 Karma :

I'm not a debt collection expert, but I've had my share of run-ins with collection agencies.

Don't call, always write.

On the assumption the account is now in default, there are no extra charges they can stick on until it gets to court. (as far as I am aware)

If they are persistently calling you, write back and say something like

warped one · Banned Joined: 25 Dec 2007 Karma :

Cheers for that Multijoy.

Just reading back through the OP it does seem a little mixed up.

But basically i'm off to the Branch on Wednesday, to sort it out, and find out where my money has gone too. Why they did it, then threaten them with going to CAB and the Banks Ombudsman.

IIRC - They did the same to my mum, and tried to take stuff but my dad owns everything outright including the car and house, so they sort of failed on that regard.

The reason why i'm not going to pay them and only the HSBC is because I went through a debt collections agency when paying off a store card I knew nothing about until they came to my work and demanded the money of my boss.
I had no letters no calls or anything from them because the ex had used my bank details then changed everything to her address.

Can someone just tell me if i'm in the right by just telling them i'm going to pay the HSBC as my account should not have been put through to them because I was and am still paying it even though it is now non existent.
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amnesia - Never in the history of usernames has one been more accurate. Warped indeed. You sir are a fecking oddball.

pa_broon74 · World Chat Champion Joined: 28 Mar 2006 Karma :

warped one · Banned Joined: 25 Dec 2007 Karma :

Pa - You must trust me, everything those drippy little reatards were trying to tell me off their poorly written script was immediately followed up with an answer before they could even finish the first line.

Made me smile inside to hear one of them starting to get angry until I reminded them about their contract and that the conversation maybe recorded for training or security purposes.

I love messing with their heads, everything they were saying I had an immediate answer for. And what got them really flummoxed (love that word) was when they told me to send them a copy of the DD change and everything else I have, my reply was "Well how about I just go talk to the bank manager on Wednesday, and sort it out directly with him?"
The poor bint, didn't know what to say, and even better was went I phoned back at dinner and told them to stop calling my phone because it is in my bag, and they are harassing me, due to the fact I have a new number and thus they should/including HSBC only contact me through letter.

I think what they were banking on was me been the typical young lad who would shit himself and offer all this life savings and then show his arse to be bum raped by everyone in their office.

They really do make me sick. I have decided tonight to stick to my guns. I owe the HSBC £72.18 not them and the balance shall be paid in cash on thurs night in the branch. And if not they can take me to court. I've been polite enough with them, and they have taken the piss.
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amnesia - Never in the history of usernames has one been more accurate. Warped indeed. You sir are a fecking oddball.

FURBAR · Banned Joined: 04 Apr 2010 Karma :

If you leave points of entry open, they can come in btw ... Rolling Eyes

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Fuk um !!

..... · Quote Me Happy Joined: 15 Jan 2005 Karma :

FURBAR · Banned Joined: 04 Apr 2010 Karma :

I got that from the debt help forum, so i don't know, court appointed for tax and or council tax can force entry afaik ...

Stand to be .... etc etc .. Thumbs Up

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Fuk um !!

pinkyfloyd · Super Spammer Joined: 20 Jul 2010 Karma :

If you go to money saving expert you will find templates that you can send to these people to inform them that you no longer wish to deal with them over the phone and any further attempt to do so is harrasment.

You will also find a shitload of advice about the debt.

But I'm with Pa here. If you have entered into an agreement and are paying your debtors off then they have no grounds to send a debt collector out to your door providing you are keeping up the payments.

Have a look around the debt section of that website and you will find everything you need to pretty much tell them where to go Very Happy

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pa_broon74 · World Chat Champion Joined: 28 Mar 2006 Karma :

Kwaks · I'm not a fast rider Joined: 28 Jan 2006 Karma :

DCA are powerless monkeys wh bluff and try to intimidate, favorite tricks include pretenting to have the same powers as a bailiff.

TBH I would be onto the bank at this stage to have this debt cancelled, certainly would be cheaper for them to cancel it than pay their immediate fee when you report it to the ombudsman Wink

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Catalyst · World Chat Champion Joined: 29 Nov 2006 Karma :

The bank are well within their rights to sell the debt on, if they have sold it on then the default will be registered on your credit file as being owed to Metropolitan. This means that they can chase you for the debt and HSBC will have washed their hands of it.

It doesn't make a difference if you had an agreement in place for monthly payments, if the arrangement was for less than stated in the signed agreement then they have the right to sell it on. Did you actually miss a payment on this account?

Either way, the DCA aren't as aggressive as actual creditors and are more likely to accept an arrangement that you can afford. You may think that they won't take you to court over such a small debt but they will, they'll then make you pay for the court fee's and they will back date the interest.

Just offer them a settlement figure and i can gurantee you they will accept one for a lot less than the balane stands at now, especially as you don't own any property.
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pa_broon74 · World Chat Champion Joined: 28 Mar 2006 Karma :

warped one · Banned Joined: 25 Dec 2007 Karma :

Well I went into the HSBC on Wed afternoon. And was very very pissed off to say the least, even the GF walked out because I was getting mardy. Please bear in mind I had everything I wanted to say in my head and sorted before I went in, because I will usually back down and get bummed if I don't. Sad

Here goes the story.

I went into my bank (RBS) and got a statement of August printed out (Cost £5) and got them to stamp and circle all the payments to HSBC. This took about 5 minutes and they were very helpful in telling me who to ask for and what to do.

Went to the HSBC and asked the bloke at the front that I did not want to talk to an advisor and wanted to talk straight with the manager as I was sick of dealing with incompetent people, who have fobbed me off before, with lies and excuses.

I was instantly told that there was no managers available as they were all in a conference in London at the big shiny tower. Deciding to cut my losses and knowing that they always lie I put my name down for an advisor.

Low and behind it was Mr Staples who sorted the agreement back in August.
He tried to tell me over and over that I had missed a payment on the 25th August of £25 which would have paid off 30% of what I initially owed (3payments of £25 = £75 x 3 = £225). After I was persistent that it was only £75 that was needed to be paid and I paid it in 1 week (2 £25's one day, 1 £25 2days later) he went to talk to his manger.

Wait wait wait, hold on a minute, please reread as i'm sure I said a minute ago, I was told all the managers were in the big shiny build in London having a conference???

He came back with a formal complaints letter and they are due to phone me tomorrow to talk about it.

I think the only way I got through him, was the fact that I kept mentioning that it was him who I sorted the deal out with and him I have dealt with everything i've been in to sort things out.

I have told him that if I do not get my bank back with them or some sort of reparations for the stress that they have caused me, then solicitiors will be contacted purely because everytime I have been contacted for lack of payment it has been the day before. And they have sent me numerous final demands when ?I was infact still paying them.
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amnesia - Never in the history of usernames has one been more accurate. Warped indeed. You sir are a fecking oddball.