Cabot financial uk versus louisamc107

[Louisamc107]

Hi there

i am new to the site and have today received a court claim from Mortimer Clarke solicitors acting in behalf of cabot who have bought a welcome finance debt of mine.

Date of issue: 27th June 2014
Date received 1st July 2014
Particulars of claim: "by an agreement between welcome finance (WLCF) and the defendant on or around 04/06/2007 (the agreement) WLCF agreed to loan the defendant monies under the terms and conditions set out therein.
In breach of the agreement the defendant did not pay the instalments as they fell due and the agreement was terminated. the agreement was assigned to the claimant on 26/06/2013. The claimant therefore claims £3356.45

the original loan amount was £2500

I have acknowledged the claim today on MCOL and asked for more time.

I paid this debt by monthly direct debit right up until June 2012 ( at an agreed reduced rate with welcome finance as I ran into difficulty) when I received a letter from Mckenzie hall instructing me that welcome had sold them the debt and I was to cease payment to welcome which I stupidly did.

the next communication I received was in feb 2013 from experto credit claiming they had bought the debt. I wrote to them offering a reduced full and final settlement letter but heard nothing back so thought it had gone away.

Since then I have now had letters from cabot claiming I owe them and that welcome sold the debt to them! Cabot have now instructed mortimer clarke and now I have court papers.

I have aver sent off the CCA to cabot and the CPR to mortimers. What should I do now? I am really cross as I have just cleaned up my credit file and don't want a CCJ. I have checked my credit file and there is no mention of this debt by welcome, cabot, experto or anyone. My file is clean. Please help!

[Louisamc107]

Re: Cabot financial uk versus louisamc107

Hi? Can anyone please advise? Thanks

[MissFM]

Re: Cabot financial uk versus louisamc107

Hi Louisamc107

Don't panic! Someone who knows how to deal with this will be along soon. x

[Kafka]

Re: Cabot financial uk versus louisamc107

You should also send SAR to Welcome to obtain all the personal data they hold on you. Costs £10 and must be sent by recorded/signed for so you can prove delivery. They have 40 days to comply, but the period for submission may well be extended due to your other requests.

SAR to Welcome are very revealing because they show the agreement details and what they built in. Welcome also have a nasty habit of adding on bogus 'fees' to the balance that don't relate to the agreement. That's why the balance is always high even after years of paying it off, and why they don't like sending out statements.

Was this loan secured?
Did you receive a Letter Before Action threatening court proceedings?

[Louisamc107]

Re: Cabot financial uk versus louisamc107

Thanks guys,

I will send the SAR off now. No the loan was not secured. I recieved a letter fromMarlins saying they had been instructed to pass to mortimers, then a letter from Mortimers saying they had been instructed by Cabot to start proceedings and that i had 14 days to respond but that they wanted to work with me to avoid court and they attached an expenditure form and direct debit form. I stupidy ignored them as I didn't think they'd go through with it.....and i thought they were just threatening

[Kafka]

Re: Cabot financial uk versus louisamc107

With hindsight it's a pity you didn't post here when they threatened you, because when you receive a formal threat of litigation you can demand disclosure then and be well in control of the data before they file at court.

Are you saying you have or haven't sent the CCA and CPR letters? ("I have aver sent off the CCA to cabot and the CPR to mortimers.")

I don't think the CCA letter will help with this as the agreement is 2007 when the law changed. Can anyone else confirm?

[Kafka]

Re: Cabot financial uk versus louisamc107

DCAs rarely have the proper documentation that they are required to hold before taking legal action and Cabot are one of the most cowboy outfits. Any CCA or CPR request gets a response that they don't have the docs and will need to contact the original creditor and usually there is a long delay, even if they do get them. In the meantime their failure to comply with the requests stops them continuing to press the claim.

For a 2007 account you expect the OC to have the agreement, because the bank charges movement from about 2006 showed them the lack of enforceability when their paperwork was sloppy and the consumers knew their rights. Having said that, we have had a Welcome case in recent days where they can't produce an agreement from about the same time. That thread is here:

http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...-to-Supply-CCA

[Louisamc107]

Re: Cabot financial uk versus louisamc107

Thanks Kafka. I really didn't think it would get this far so I wasn't concerned with their threat thinking it was just another idle one. Yes I have sent both the CCA to Cabot and the CPR to Mortimers. If it did turn out that no agreement can be supplied then will the judgement go in my favour?

[Kafka]

Re: Cabot financial uk versus louisamc107

I'm a bit rusty as I've been off the forums for a couple of years owing to a mid-life crisis eep: and am just easing my way back in slowly

As I recall, the Consumer Credit Act changed and from April 2007 the failure of the claimant to produce a valid copy of a credit agreement no longer provided grounds for a claim to fail. If that's the case then it won't help you and Limitation is clearly irrelevant as you paid in 2012. However, Welcome agreements do make interesting reading and will be good to see exactly what they included and also what they have added on as charges since. There might also be faults with the assignment process or the default and the SAR will shed light on these things.

Basically I don't see an obvious rebuttal for you, if I'm correct about the CCA, but there might be procedural grounds to challenge and possible a counterclaim also that would at least reduce the balance even if you lose.

[Louisamc107]

Re: Cabot financial uk versus louisamc107

Thanks Kafka. That's left me feeling a bit deflated! What if I were to try and settle out of court? I really don't want a CCJ and I think I could repay in instalments. I don't want to make an offer without them rescinding the court claim though otherwise I may as we'll try and fight it as I've nothing to lose

[Kafka]

Re: Cabot financial uk versus louisamc107

You need the SAR urgently as that should - at least - enable you to file a counterclaim for all the bogus charges that Welcome will have added on and which don't form part of any agreement. They have up to 40 days to comply do it may already be too late to get this in time, but you should send for it. There may be other issues in it as well that you can use.

In my experience you don't have a lot of scope for negotiating repayment once the claim has been filed. I was once offered a withdrawal of the claim if I could clear it all within 2-3 months, but unless you have something like that then its not usual for them to agree, but you can always try.

How much documentation do you have for this account in terms of agreement, default, assignment, charges and statements? Normally Welcome are very bad with paperwork and send you the minimum. The SAR is likely to be very helpful and as it would enable you to file a counterclaim for the additional charges that aren't actually owed, you could always request an extension to the filing date for the defence on the grounds that the SAR response is vital to your defence and counterclaim.

[Kafka]

Re: Cabot financial uk versus louisamc107

Can anyone confirm please if I'm right here that as the agreement is after April 2007 you can't challenge the failure to supply the original agreement under a CCA request?