Howerd Cohen & Co. Solicitors - Statute Barred?

[beccal]

Hello all,

I have been a lurker in the past but am a little confused about the best course of action next, any help appreciated.

I have a historical debt which began in 2007 (loan with A&L) after a number of years I had financial issues. Moved home and stopped paying the debt, the last payment was July 2011. I had moved a few times and had only started to receive letter communication coming to the period when it was about to come off my credit file. I decided to ignore the letters.

In Oct 2016 I received a court claim form from the debt -
Claimant Hoist Portfolio, Solicitors Howard Cohen & Co from the County Court Business Centre in Northampton.

After reading this forum, I used the template letter requesting proof of debt and stating that the letter no way confirmed that acknowledged the debt as per template.I received a letter by return stating that they were in the process of obtaining the documents I had requested. (26/11/2016)

Roll on 05/03/2018 and I have received a letter from HC & Co with an evidence of means for, my Fixed Sum Loan agreement and a Transaction Summary. With last payment noted as 12/07/2011. After this there were no further payments nor contact with any of the companies until my letter asking for evidence in November 2016 which stated that I did not acknowledge the debt.

The letter from HC & Co says the following:

'We refer to your defence filed in the above matter.

Please find enclosed a copy of the signed agreement and statement of account as requested.

In an effort to bring this matter to a conclusion and avoid additional costs being incurred, we are instructed by our client to off you the sum of £3,628.95 in full and final settlement of these proceedings.

This offer will expires Tuesday 27th March 2018. Therefore, please contact this office to discuss your proposals accordingly. Alternatively, please complete the enclosed for and submit your proposals in writing no later than the above mentioned date.

Should no reply be forthcoming by the stated deadline, then we shall seek our client's instructions with a view to progressing the Claim."

Now this is where I am unclear, are they saying I can make proposals to pay the £3,628.95 as a payment plan or does it need to be paid outright or would this agreed through the courts and means tested.

Ultimately, I don't have the £3,628.95 to pay in full but would be prepared to pay a payment plan if it stayed out of court. My husband and I want to move in 2 years so a CCJ would be detrimental to our future. The other option is to go down the statute barred route.

Any advise you would have would be most appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

R

[beccal]

Further note:
Because they entered the claim in Oct 2016 does that make statue barred not an option? I am investigating the payments as per the transaction history and can't seem to find them on my online statements. I am going to pop to the bank today and check that out. The payments on the statement look suspicious as they are in chronological order save the last three payments which go:
15/02/2011 £60.00
14/01/2011 £200.18
12/07/2011 £67.65

[Diana M]

Because they entered the claim in Oct 2016 does that make statue barred not an option?

If your last payment was in July 2011 and the claim was issued in October 2016 then the debt would not be Statute Barred. The claim is the 'Cause of Action' so you last payment (or acknowledgement/default etc) would need to be before October 2010.

Did you send a formal s 77-79 CCA Request to Hoist with the £1 statutory fee which is why they have produced the Fixed Sum Loan agreement?

Or did you only send a CPR 31.14 Request letter?

You say the loan began in 2007, but was that before or after April 2007?

Was there any PPI on this A & L loan?

They've made you an offer to pay a reduced sum - how much is the whole amount claimed (on the claim form)?

Hoist Portfolio are unlicensed - did you plead that issue in your Defence (who drafted your Defence)? They have not threatened you with a Summary Judgment to strike out your Defence which is a good thing.

They have given you time to consider their offer before they may make an Application to lift the stay and continue with the proceedings. If they do that (lift the stay) then you should be sent a Directions Questionnaire by the court asking some information before the case would be transferred to your local county court.

On that DQ you will be asked if you want to have free telephone Mediation to settle.

You need to establish your legal position in order to make an informed decision on your next step.

Just because someone send you documentation that doesn't mean the game is up, in fact it may mean the game has just begun You need a professional view on whether those documents are enforceable in court or not.

There are many ways to defeat a claim not just the credit agreement. There could be assignment issues (with an unlicensed creditor) and issues with a non compliant Default Notice etc etc.

Di

[beccal]

Thank you for your reply.

It was formal 77-79 CCA request with the £1 postal order which they returned.

The loan began in June 2007, there was no PPI. The loan agreement however is based on PPI but I think I think I must have declined it later as there is a tick next to the monthly repayment of £181.05. There would have been an additional monthly fee of £56.08 for the PPI. My repayments were at £181.05.

The amount claimed including fee's is £5708.25.

I didn't write a defence, I have logged on to the moneyclaim.gov site and all is there is the acknowledgment of service which is the last log on my account.

In the particulars of claim it states 'The debt was legally assigned by Santander UK PLC to the Claimant and notice has been served. The defendant has failed to make contractual payments under the terms of the agreement. A default notice has been served upon the Defendant pursuant to Section 87 (1) CCA.'

Does it matter that the debt was legally assigned by Alliance & Leicester? Also no dates are given regarding the default, where would I be able to obtain this information?

The fact that Hoist Portfolio are unlicensed (excuse my naivety) what relevance does that have?

Would it be ok if I contacted you via email with everything I have please (once I get the bank statements also)? Then perhaps you could advise as to whether or not you could assist me in this matter?

[Diana M]

Thank you for your reply.

The fact that Hoist Portfolio are unlicensed (excuse my naivety) what relevance does that have?

Would it be ok if I contacted you via email with everything I have please (once I get the bank statements also)? Then perhaps you could advise as to whether or not you could assist me in this matter?

Yes of course you can.

My email is in my forum signature at the bottom of this post di@joannaconnollysolicitors.co.uk

No need to wait for the bank statements as time is of the essence with court claims.

Di

[Diana M]

I didn't write a defence, I have logged on to the moneyclaim.gov site and all is there is the acknowledgment of service which is the last log on my account.
. . . .
Would it be ok if I contacted you via email with everything I have please (once I get the bank statements also)? Then perhaps you could advise as to whether or not you could assist me in this matter?

You've not filed your Defence and this claim was issued in October 2016 so you're vulnerable to a Default Judgment.

You need to address this issue as a matter of urgency!

I can only assume (correct me if I'm wrong) that you were told by the Claimant and/or their solicitors that the account was "on hold" while they sought documentation which is why you failed to file your Defence by the court deadline.

Di

[beccal]

Yes, I have a letter stating 'please accept this letter as our agreement to a general extension of time. Once we have provided you with the documents requested we will grant a further 14 days for you to respond to the Claim Form as you feel appropriate.'

One of the items I requested was a copy of the default notice which hasn't been received.

Everything is on it's way to you via email now.
Thanks once again,
R