Court Claim - Cabot Financial / Halifax - 30-3-2015

[Bombardier]

Re: Court Claim - Cabot Financial / Halifax - 30-3-2015

Can anyone tell me why I have to keep logging back on every time I upload my reply? This happens even when I have just logged on with the system refusing to process my upload. The first time it happened I lost all my draft message. The auto save function is not reliable and unless you use 'ctrl c' to store your data, before you log back in, you end up losing the whole message. Upon logging back in, the 'quick reply' window has gone and you have to start from scratch.

[nemesis45]

Re: Court Claim - Cabot Financial / Halifax - 30-3-2015

Can anyone tell me why I have to keep logging back on every time I upload my reply? This happens even when I have just logged on with the system refusing to process my upload. The first time it happened I lost all my draft message. The auto save function is not reliable and unless you use 'ctrl c' to store your data, before you log back in, you end up losing the whole message. Upon logging back in, the 'quick reply' window has gone and you have to start from scratch.

Not aware of a problem I'll report it.

nem

[Bombardier]

Re: Court Claim - Cabot Financial / Halifax - 30-3-2015

CABOT FINANCE SUCCESS!

The case brought by Cabot Finance (the Claimant) against me for an alleged debts of £19K, by way of Northampton County Court on March 30, 2015 was dismissed by order of the District Judge on September 17, 2015. There follows a brief chronology, and I dearly hope readers of this thread will take heart from my experiences. Many thanks to nemesis45, and Amethyst, for their advice, which was invaluable. Really appreciated!

March 30, 2015
Court claim received. Research the net for how to proceed without employing solicitors and came across the Legal Beagle website and immediately signed up. I received very quick advice from nemesis45.

March 31, 2015
As advised, I wrote to the Claimant addressing the letter to the Chief Executive, Neil Clyne, requesting a copy of the agreement s77-79 of the CCA 1974. I also wrote to Mortimer Clarke, the solicitors acting for the Claimant, requesting the documents mentioned in the Statement of Case, namely the credit agreement, default notice, deed of assignment and formal demand.

April 8, 2015
Mortimer Clerk responded stating that they were taking their client's instructions and that they were willing to agree to the extension of 28 days for me to file my defence.

April 9, 2015
Claimant responded stating they did not have the information requested under CCA but would respond within 40 days.

April 27, 2015
As the case was Fast Tracked, as advised, I issued form N244 requesting of the Northampton County Court that they order the Claimants to comply with my requests under CCA and CPR 31.14.

April 27, 2015
As heard nothing from Claimant solicitors, I contacted the Claimant by telephone to ask why they had not responded to my letter of March 31. I repeated my request for copies of documents pursuant to CPR 31.14.

May 1, 2015
Letter received from the Claimant apologising for my trouble in having to raise concerns with them. They enclosed a copy of their internal complaints procedure stating that they will conduct a thorough investigation.

May 15, 2015
Letter received from the Claimant stating that they are unable to provide me with the requested information within the relevant time period. They also informed me that whereas the credit agreement was at that time unavailable, therefore unenforceable against me, I was still, they claimed, obliged to repay the outstanding balance. Ha! Point to note: Cabot issued a court claim without physically having the agreement and other paperwork, as stated in the Statement of Case, that they were to rely on should the matter proceed to court.

May 26, 2015
Letter from Claimant informing me that they are still awaiting the relevant documents and that the account will remain ‘on hold’, in accordance with their complaints process.

June 5, 2015
General Directions Order in the County Courts Business Centre stipulating that the application must be heard on notice to the claimant and that the claim must be transferred to my local County Court Hearing Centre.

June 22, 2015
Received Notice of Hearing of Application at local County Court informing me that the hearing of my application (full disclosure of the documents requested) was to take place on August 14, 2015.

July 15, 2015
Received two separate letters from Mortimer Clarke. In the first letter they refer to the hearing listed for August 10, 2015 advising me that they enclosed for my consideration the copy of the agreement. However, there was no agreement with this letter! Additionally, they advised that their client was keen to resolve matters with me without the need for further proceedings and I should forward repayment proposals to address the outstanding balance. I reiterate that at this point in time, the Claimant did not have any paperwork, with which to establish my liability, yet the solicitors were trying to manipulate me into paying their client money when the matter of the claim was not proved!

In the second letter, the solicitors again attempt to manipulate me, advising me that their client is willing to offer me a 50% discount to settle the alleged debt, and that this would be in full and final settlement. Once again, they attempted to manipulate me, obfuscating around the real issue, which is that their client was in trouble and that they were attempting to cover their tracks. Why were they in trouble? Well, a Claimant should not issue a court claim stating that everything within the claim is the truth when actually, the Claimant does not have any evidence with which to support the claim against the Defendant!

August 14, 2015
Court day! The District Judge informed me that he had read the chronology and was quite concerned that the Claimant had not complied with my original requests. The Judged asked me whether I had received any documents. The Solicitor for the Claimant then produced the Agreement. I asked her why was the agreement was only being produced now, as it made a mockery of the rules. I asked the Solicitor for the whereabouts of the remaining documents. The Judge then stated that he did not believe that the Claimant had the documents to start with and he was worried that if he allowed an adjournment with indefinite liberty to restore, the Claimant may well manufacture the documents! The Judge was very angry with the Solicitor stating that in his experience, it was not the first time that he had had to deal with similar matters in other cases with the same Claimant. The Solicitor asked for an adjournment of 45 days, to which the Judge said, ‘No! Absolutely not!’ The Judge was concerned that the Claimant had had since April to comply and that it was not fair on me for this matter to go on and on, subject to the Claimant's whim. The Judge then ordered that the Claimant disclose to me by August 28, 2015 evidence of assignment of the debt, else the claim be struck out without further order. Additionally, should the Claimant comply with the above, I would then have until September 18, 2015 to file my defence (if any). Finally, thereafter the claim was to be adjourned generally with liberty to restore, and if not restored by November 30, 2015 be struck out without further order. Points to note: the Judge was clearly minded that the Claimant had acted disreputably in bringing a claim without having the supporting documentation, as stated in the Statement of Case, and gave the Claimant just 14 days to respond, notwithstanding that this was holiday time!. This was also potentially a Contempt of Court situation leaving the Claimant with no room to manoeuvre other than to produce the paperwork.

August 24, 2015
Letter received from Mortimer Clarke stating that their client had instructed them with the following proposal, namely that they were willing to discontinue proceedings against me according to the following terms:

1. The Claimant’s Claim against the defendant be dismissed;
2. the Defendant’s Defence be dismissed; and,
3. The Claimant and Defendant will be responsible for their own costs in this action.

September 17, 2015
General Form of Judgement or Order received from the Court stating that upon the parties have agreed terms of settlement, the Claimants claim be dismissed.

Finally, this case proves that one can win against the big boys. In my case, I was most concerned to see the finance agreement because I knew that I was not liable as my ex-wife was also on the agreement. However, the Claimant did not chase her.

[Bombardier]

Re: Court Claim - Cabot Financial / Halifax - 30-3-2015

With regard to Cabot Finance, can anyone explain to me why they keep updating my Experian credit file as defaulted and owing them money? Surely if their claim was dismissed in the courts, bearing in mind that they were not the original lender, surely I have a right to see Cabot removed from my credit file?

Many thanks

Bombardier

[nemesis45]

Re: Court Claim - Cabot Financial / Halifax - 30-3-2015

With regard to Cabot Finance, can anyone explain to me why they keep updating my Experian credit file as defaulted and owing them money? Surely if their claim was dismissed in the courts, bearing in mind that they were not the original lender, surely I have a right to see Cabot removed from my credit file?

Many thanks

Bombardier

Good morning Bombardier,

The claim was dismissed, because the judge decided that the claimant had it seems acted unfairly, however
the debt which was the subject of the claim did/does still exist just not enforceable via the court.

Cabot is still the beneficial owner of the debt and can still chase for payment using any means short of a CC Claim.

The Information Commissioners Office regulates the way in which the credit reference agencies display and report
debts/accounts on credit files, and it's view is that the file entries Must be Up to date, Accurate and show the true
conduct of the account. I your case Cabot is working in line with the ICO's guidance.

I doubt Cabot would agree to amending the entry, their usual response is that the original creditor placed / reported
and Cabot just updated the account from the date it acquired the debt.

You could attempt a request for a " gesture of goodwill" seeing the debt has not been enforced in court asking for the file
entry to be remove, this has been achievable in the past, but new guidance issued last year saw this ploy rendered almost
impossible.
The defaulted account will be removed from credit files after 6 years from the default date paid or not.

nem


the account and Cabot is just responsible for reporting the conduct of the account from the date it acquired the debt.