Hi there,

I am a self employed decorator and have held a tsb account for the past 4 years+. I opened up a business account when I started out as i was in partnership and when that ended we finalised everything and I opened up a seperate current account. I moved to a different area and set up on my own subbing out to building contractors etc.. and in some cases i had to front materials which left me scraping the barrell to live. Lloyds noticed this and offered my and interest free overdraft of £200 which i accepted gratefully for emergancies. Once I dipped in to it, i was always in the red - this was 2006. Late 2006 I recieved a call from Lloyds offering me a credit card with a £1500 limit. This worked in my mind as I was longterm subbing to a firm in portishead that dealt in insurance work and I was on a very big job fronting materials and labor of plasterers etc. I was very stupid and put everything involving work on the card except labourers wages. I was working stupid hours and it was set back after set back as i was working on a flood damaged Edwardian house and my targets of time were dependant of drying out timeslots and of course - other people... I kept the contractor informed at every hurdle by either telephone or email. He came only once to see the job and this was 6 weeks in - he left telling me how pleased he was with the progress of the work but I was forever chasing him for wages. A couple of weeks passed and it was christmas eve with borrowed funds coming to an end, no presents bought and labourers knocking on my door with bats demanding funds. how can you give what you dont have...

Christmas came and went, i was foolishly still working (as a charity) red letter bills mounting and still no payment. I recieved a call from the contractor telling me he was outside the job with all of my kit on the drive and id better come get it. I couldnt understand what the problem was and as I arrived to find my kit, some of it broken and missing he told me that my work was poor and he was kicking me off site, he stood at 6 foot 2' both tall and wide next to his brand new MERC07. I tried to argue my case but he just dismissed it, got in his car and put his foot down. I tried to talk with the owners which up until now my relationship had been great with but they wouldnt comment and I was asked to leave the drive and not go near their Brand new car... (must have been the year for new cars eh). I sought legal advice and was told that I couldnt go to small claims court as the total was just over £5500 outstanding (that was wages and materials - no profit) and if I took it to any other court I would probably lose because of the size of his firm so in complete frustration of working like an idiot for months - for £0, labour paid from my own pocket, a maxed out credit card and overdraft and no food in the cupboards I woke up in a hospital bed having collapsed - I couldnt physically move and was in there for a little over 2 weeks having suffered some form of breakdown. My health was very bad indeed, I hadnt realised how ill i was having lost 3+ stone in a short period, my hair was falling out, i suddenly lost the ability to create memory and couldnt cope with even the word No without becoming 3 years old and crying like a newborn. When I got out of hospital I was back in the same position. I had direct debits x2 due to go out together worth no more than £30 to which I called the bank and the 2 companies and cancelled. A week later I get a letter from Lloyds telling me that as I had insufficiant funds in my account they made the 2 payments for me and were now charging me £35 per debit paid + the amount of the debits which came to a little over £100.00.... I called and there was no record of me cancelling these outgoings. the following day i went in to Lloyds Branch and asked to speak with the manager-i got the assistant manager and with cap in hand I explained everything. She was full of empathy and understanding as I broke down and I was told not to worry.. I would hear from her within a few days and she would rectify this misunderstanding. A weight lifted and I could look ahead.A few days turned in to a week and still no contact from her but I did recieve a letter from a bank manager I had never spoken to telling me that it was obvious that my overdraft being overdrawn was of low priority to me and he had now withdrawn the facility and I was to pay the full amount in 5 working days or my acount would be passed to collections £200 O/D -£100+ for D/D payments plus admin fee's plus a daily increment of unpaid debt with the interest rate at the banks disgression. I called again and again explained and was told that it was a standard mail out and to discard of it. A few days later a letter from collections of Lloyds now demanding nearly £500. Again, I called and when I explained I was told to write a letter detailling all of this to a supplied address and turnaround time was up to 8 weeks for a response. 8 weeks came and went from August 2007, the letters mounted up of constant threats and not satisfied with calling me 3 times a week I was now recieving nasty, nasty calls daily between the hours of 07.30 and 20.00. Again my health dropped to an all time low as did my weight and my mental health began installing fears like answering the phone, opening letters and worst of all - going outside - infact for weeks I cut off all forms of communication with anything breathing and imprisioned myself within the safety of my own 4 walls thinking that this was normal behavior.The calls stopped very late last year - every letter I responded to and did what they asked re communication totalling 75 + outbound 0845 calls and a heafty bill to boot. I have sent 7 letters mostly handwritten asking for a response within certain time limits to managers - directors - managing director and it has been a total waste of a year or 2. No records of calls within the corporation to either C/services and/or collections. Just letters, a closed account still adding up £££%%%% a tennis match between 3 seperate lots of solicitors each time passed back to collections and for every letter sent - a charge.

I can honestly say I have lived nearly 2 years of my life in Groundhog day. I have offered and offered the £200 but they will not accept my offer and £1000 + is what they believe to be a fair charge and if I cannot afford this I am to call 0845***** to arrange a payback scheme suitable to my finances (non existant) starting £80.00 per month up for review after 6 months.

I am sorry to anybody yawning as I know that this is very long winded but I need to explain the circumstances in full.

My credit card is a complicated matter as its states Lloyds but have nothing to do with Lloyds. I have been paying min for nearly 2 years and from a £1500 limit - this has brought me down to £1422.01 after paying £35 per month for all this time.

I again have called countless times to get abuse and all because I want to know why the interest rate fluctuates so much. I have also asked for my PPI back on several occasions to get abuse and a static no. When I took out the card I was told that I couldnt have the card unless I took out the PPI (which has now stopped) This I believe was missold as I was self employed then and although titled self employed have no funds and no work to date. The PPI I tried to use when I couldnt make payment and was told that the PPI covers only loss of card...... basically £11.26 for god knows how long was insurance incase the plastic broke on the card and no use to me!!!!!

if somebody has taken the time to read through this novel I thank you in advance. If anybody has or is going through similar could you please let me know of any action or if anybody could just offer any sound advice It would be greatly appreciated. Maybe I may be able to go in to the outside world without a paper bag and a panic attack soother one day.

Thank you again for your time

Regards and warmest wishes

Marie Brown

Hi Marie,

I read your post (yes, it is very long!) and was left with heartfelt sorrow for your situation. I do have experience with the debt recovery industry, and can hopefully offer some advice. I will put together a fairly detailed reply tomorrow (as it's now 2:05, and I want it to be accurate), but for now I just wanted to say that you're not on your own and there is help available, both on these forums and elsewhere.

Rob

Hi Rob,

Thank you and I eagerly await your reply

marie

Hi Marie,

Please forgive the late reply - this is the second time I have written this, as I got timed out before and lost what I had written.

First and foremost, I think it's important to understand that these companies are not allowed to bully or intimidate you. Yet they continue to do so. I feel that it would be difficult and time consuming to try and recover the money you are owed from your work, so it would be sensible to consentrate on the thing you take control of.

I would take an aggressive stance with the debt collection agencies. Yes, you may owe them money as they have 'bought' the debt from Lloyds, but they simply cannot have money that you don't have. I would stop calling them and type a letter to each of the parties. Include a 'statement of means' outlining your income and realistic expenditure, and word it in the following way;

"In relation to the aforementioned account, I am writing to you to make a final offer of payment. I have already made several offers of reparation that I believe to be fair which have been declined. As you will see from my enclosed statement of means, I have a net monthly surplus of £xxx, of which I propose to make a monthly payment to you of £xx. I fell that up until now you have been unhelpful in coming to a compromised repayment schedule and have also laden me with, what I believe to be, unjust charges on the account. I have made it very clear from the outset that I am fully willing to clear the balance, but I cannot give you what I don't have. If this is not acceptable to you, I feel that my only other course of action would be to make representations to court if you wish to pursue the matter further. I would appreciate a reply to this letter in writing, so I may use it in evidence if the case is heard in court."

These firms don't want to see the case get to court, because the court will allow you to re-pay the debt at a 'reasonable' rate, and they will have to stop sending you letters as long as you pay on time every month/week. It is important that you are very careful about making a statement of means as honest as you possibly can. Be reasonable with your outgoings, and make as good an offer as you can possible afford. If you have a proof of any type of income, enclose a copy of it. Also, although it will cost a few pounds, send each letter by recorded delivery. These people have been known to ignore incoming post.

This may, at least, let you open the mail without any more stress. And if the case does go to court, drop me a message and I will try to talk you through it.

The PPI is a mystery to me. No insurance policy can cover something that doesn't cost anything. What I mean is, if you lost your card like they said it covered, they wouldn't charge you for a replacement anyway!? I would dig out your copy of the PPI terms and conditions. If you don't have it, you can get it from your local Lloyds.

The main thing here is that you get back to some sort of normality in your life. I can't imagine what you have been through, but I feel that you have to draw a line in the sand somewhere and make a concerted effort to take control. Only deal with these people by letter, so you have proof of what was said and by whom. If they call, refuse to give them any personal information - they won't be able to discuss your account because you haven't identified you are you, thus failing data protection. And if they come to the door, NEVER let anyone in unless they have a signed court order.

If this helps at all, then it was worth the RSI I've now got in my wrist! If you need more detail about anything I've written, get in touch.

Best wishes,

Rob