Hi there,
Please can you give me some advice based on the information below. I have been issued with court forms from Hoist/Cohen (all particulars listed below) from an old overdraft I had with Santander. Unfortunately, the amount is not statute barred and the last payment I made on the account was back in 1 April 2010 which was £1. I have not acknowledge or paid anything on the debt since that time.
So far, I have registered with MCOL, sent an acknowledgement of service to the court and sent a CPR 31:14 request to Howard Cohen on 28 April 2015 with proof of posting.
I would like some advice on what I should do now and I have some other more general questions about the likely outcome. While I know you don't have a crystal ball, I don't fully understand what other things I can do to gain a positive outcome.. I think the answer to some of these questions will determine whether I decide to just borrow the money and pay it off to avoid the hassle of trying to stop them from filing a CCJ against me if I have no chance of winning the case.
From all the posts I have been reading, the court case seems like an arduous affair and I am yet to find a post where anyone has successfully defended a Hoist claim. (bit concerning) Please can you give me your honest opinion on the questions below, appreciate they may come across as a little dumb, but I'm sure I'm not the only person who wants to know some of the answers to some of these questions.
"Now" questions
1) Do I chase up the CPR 31:14 request 7 days after the proof of posting date? if so how? email, letter, phone etc. When did the 7 days start from? From the date of posting?
2) At this stage, can I just contact them to offer payment to stop this process in its tracks or do I have to see it through to the end?
3) At what point would they be completely unable to pursue this case against me? What would they need to have to be able to file the CCJ against me?
"What if" questions
1) "What if they do not produce any documentation, what happens then?" Do I send them a further document to try to force them to produce the documentation or agree to an extension?"
2) What happens if they agree to an extension and what happens if they don't, what happens to the court process?
3) "Worryingly, what if they do produce documentation i.e. the agreement?" What would my defence be then? Is my defence based on the fact that they (Hoist) are a third party to the agreement and that they would not be in a position to file a judgement against me as they were not party to the original agreement? Also, if they do produce an agreement,, do I also have to question the validity of the documentation i.e. it needs to be a copy of the 'original' agreement and not a copy of a copy of a copy...?
"In your honest opinion" questions
1) What is the likelihood of success with a defence based on the fact that they were not party to the original agreement?
2) What is the likelihood if they do not provide any documentation and extend for 28 days while they look for it, what is the likelihood that they can prove it and then file a CCJ against me?
3) Am I going to have to physically attend court how do these things work? (a very grime prospect for me)
4) At what point could I just decide to save myself all this aggro and just pay them to get rid of them and avoid the CCJ?
5) Do you know of any cases where the Defendant has been successful against Hoist and Cohen? (I can't find any?) and if so, what is the Achilles heel of these type of organisations, what do I need to prove beyond reasonable doubt to ensure success? (reason for this question is that feel as though I am following the advice blindly without understanding the wider strategy, where can I read more about similar cases, what can I do to find this out?)
6) How long to do these case usually last, do you know? I know about the allocation of courts etc. is it 3, 6, 9 months roughly, what is your experience of this kind of thing?
I would be very grateful for your help on this and I look forward to hearing from you really soon
Many thanks
Ladylovessalsa
Date of issue – 23 April 2015
Date of Service: 26 April 2015
Name of the Claimant ? - Hoist Portfolio Holding 2 Limited
Date of defence - by 4pm – 25 May 2015
What is the claim for –
The claim is for the sum of 2470.56 in respect of monies owing pursuant to an overdraft facility under account number XXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX.
The debt was legally assigned by Santander UK Plc to the claimant and notice has been served.
The Defendant has failed to repay overdrawn sums owing under the terms and conditions of the bank account.
The Claimant claims:
The sum of 2470.56
What is the value of the claim? 2663.14
Is the claim for a current account (Overdraft) or credit/loan account or mobile phone account? Overdraft
When did you enter into the original agreement before or after 2007? before 2007
Has the claim been issued by the original creditor
or was the account assigned and it is the Debt purchaser who has issued the claim. Hoist portfolio 2 Limited
Were you aware the account had been assigned – did you receive a Notice of Assignment? NO
Did you receive a Default Notice from the original creditor? NO
Have you been receiving statutory notices headed “Notice of Default sums” – at least once a year ?
I have received a Transaction Summaries – doesn’t mention ‘Notice of Default Sums”
Why did you cease payments?
I lost my job and was unemployed for nearly 12 months
and because I didn’t have enough to cover the overdraft they demanded that I repay the overdraft.
I was already with the CCCS and they said offer then £1 per month
because what they had already had already include in the plan was were my priority debts.
As a gesture of goodwill I told I offered Santander £5 per month, they said No.
I asked if they could turn it into a loan where I could just keep paying it off and they still said no.
They said they would not accept anything other than the full balance. I wasn’t sure what to do so I stopped paying.
They next correspondence I had about it was a default notice, and a few months later I was contacted by 1st credit.
What was the date of your last payment? 1 April 2010 (not sure about this - got this from Santander)
Was there a dispute with the original creditor that remains unresolved? No
Did you communicate any financial problems to the original creditor
nd make any attempt to enter into a debt management plan?
Yes, I attempted to as I mentioned above, I wanted them help me to pay it off. I had no job at the time and I was offering what I could afford.
Please can you give me some advice based on the information below. I have been issued with court forms from Hoist/Cohen (all particulars listed below) from an old overdraft I had with Santander. Unfortunately, the amount is not statute barred and the last payment I made on the account was back in 1 April 2010 which was £1. I have not acknowledge or paid anything on the debt since that time.
So far, I have registered with MCOL, sent an acknowledgement of service to the court and sent a CPR 31:14 request to Howard Cohen on 28 April 2015 with proof of posting.
I would like some advice on what I should do now and I have some other more general questions about the likely outcome. While I know you don't have a crystal ball, I don't fully understand what other things I can do to gain a positive outcome.. I think the answer to some of these questions will determine whether I decide to just borrow the money and pay it off to avoid the hassle of trying to stop them from filing a CCJ against me if I have no chance of winning the case.
From all the posts I have been reading, the court case seems like an arduous affair and I am yet to find a post where anyone has successfully defended a Hoist claim. (bit concerning) Please can you give me your honest opinion on the questions below, appreciate they may come across as a little dumb, but I'm sure I'm not the only person who wants to know some of the answers to some of these questions.
"Now" questions
1) Do I chase up the CPR 31:14 request 7 days after the proof of posting date? if so how? email, letter, phone etc. When did the 7 days start from? From the date of posting?
2) At this stage, can I just contact them to offer payment to stop this process in its tracks or do I have to see it through to the end?
3) At what point would they be completely unable to pursue this case against me? What would they need to have to be able to file the CCJ against me?
"What if" questions
1) "What if they do not produce any documentation, what happens then?" Do I send them a further document to try to force them to produce the documentation or agree to an extension?"
2) What happens if they agree to an extension and what happens if they don't, what happens to the court process?
3) "Worryingly, what if they do produce documentation i.e. the agreement?" What would my defence be then? Is my defence based on the fact that they (Hoist) are a third party to the agreement and that they would not be in a position to file a judgement against me as they were not party to the original agreement? Also, if they do produce an agreement,, do I also have to question the validity of the documentation i.e. it needs to be a copy of the 'original' agreement and not a copy of a copy of a copy...?
"In your honest opinion" questions
1) What is the likelihood of success with a defence based on the fact that they were not party to the original agreement?
2) What is the likelihood if they do not provide any documentation and extend for 28 days while they look for it, what is the likelihood that they can prove it and then file a CCJ against me?
3) Am I going to have to physically attend court how do these things work? (a very grime prospect for me)
4) At what point could I just decide to save myself all this aggro and just pay them to get rid of them and avoid the CCJ?
5) Do you know of any cases where the Defendant has been successful against Hoist and Cohen? (I can't find any?) and if so, what is the Achilles heel of these type of organisations, what do I need to prove beyond reasonable doubt to ensure success? (reason for this question is that feel as though I am following the advice blindly without understanding the wider strategy, where can I read more about similar cases, what can I do to find this out?)
6) How long to do these case usually last, do you know? I know about the allocation of courts etc. is it 3, 6, 9 months roughly, what is your experience of this kind of thing?
I would be very grateful for your help on this and I look forward to hearing from you really soon
Many thanks
Ladylovessalsa
Date of issue – 23 April 2015
Date of Service: 26 April 2015
Name of the Claimant ? - Hoist Portfolio Holding 2 Limited
Date of defence - by 4pm – 25 May 2015
What is the claim for –
The claim is for the sum of 2470.56 in respect of monies owing pursuant to an overdraft facility under account number XXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX.
The debt was legally assigned by Santander UK Plc to the claimant and notice has been served.
The Defendant has failed to repay overdrawn sums owing under the terms and conditions of the bank account.
The Claimant claims:
The sum of 2470.56
- Interest pursuant to s69 of the county court Act 1984 at a rate of 8.00 percent from the 7/04/2015 to the date hereof 14 days is the sum of 7.58
- Daily interest at the rate of .54
- Costs
What is the value of the claim? 2663.14
Is the claim for a current account (Overdraft) or credit/loan account or mobile phone account? Overdraft
When did you enter into the original agreement before or after 2007? before 2007
Has the claim been issued by the original creditor
or was the account assigned and it is the Debt purchaser who has issued the claim. Hoist portfolio 2 Limited
Were you aware the account had been assigned – did you receive a Notice of Assignment? NO
Did you receive a Default Notice from the original creditor? NO
Have you been receiving statutory notices headed “Notice of Default sums” – at least once a year ?
I have received a Transaction Summaries – doesn’t mention ‘Notice of Default Sums”
Why did you cease payments?
I lost my job and was unemployed for nearly 12 months
and because I didn’t have enough to cover the overdraft they demanded that I repay the overdraft.
I was already with the CCCS and they said offer then £1 per month
because what they had already had already include in the plan was were my priority debts.
As a gesture of goodwill I told I offered Santander £5 per month, they said No.
I asked if they could turn it into a loan where I could just keep paying it off and they still said no.
They said they would not accept anything other than the full balance. I wasn’t sure what to do so I stopped paying.
They next correspondence I had about it was a default notice, and a few months later I was contacted by 1st credit.
What was the date of your last payment? 1 April 2010 (not sure about this - got this from Santander)
Was there a dispute with the original creditor that remains unresolved? No
Did you communicate any financial problems to the original creditor
nd make any attempt to enter into a debt management plan?
Yes, I attempted to as I mentioned above, I wanted them help me to pay it off. I had no job at the time and I was offering what I could afford.
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