Court Claim - Cabot Financial (UK) Limited / OPUS - 18-9-2015

[Tal]

Received a claim? Yes
Issue Date: 18-9-2015
Amount approx:
Claimant: Cabot Financial (UK) Limited
Solicitor: Restons
Original Credit: OPUS

Particulars of Claim:
The Claimant claims payment of the overdue balance due from the Defendant(s) under a OPUS branded credit facility issued pursuant to a contract agreed by the Defendant(s) on or about Jul 15 2007 and assigned to the Claimant on Sep 28 2011

PARTICULARS a/c no XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

DATE ITEM VALUE
09/02/2015 Default Balance 3050.97
Post Refrl Cr NIL
Total 3050.97

Stat Barred? Yes

Have sent: Acknowledged the Claim, Sent a CCA request, Sent a CPR 31.14 request

Other Info:
Like the song says.. OPUS, who the *cough* are OPUS?

Seriously though, I had never even heard of Opus until I received the claim form through the post.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Court Claim - Cabot Financial (UK) Limited / OPUS - 18-9-2015

Hi and welcome

My guess is, you probably had a Citi card. I also had one of them and they were all sold to Opus around the end of 2010. The thing is, you would never have agreed to a credit facility from Opus. There is a similar thread you may want to look at for reference: http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...pus#post571733

PT2537 who is part of our site team :yo: dealt with a similar case involving Opus earlier this year, see below:

Ive been fighting Cabot in their various guises for a number of years, right back when they were represented by Hodsons, Morgan Solicitors etc. I note they are now farming out their work to more mainstream firms such as Mortimer Clarke, Shoosmiths, Restons etc, who all face the same problem. Now its worth pointing out, […]

Ive been fighting Cabot in their various guises for a number of years, right back when they were represented by Hodsons, Morgan Solicitors etc. I note they are now farming out their work to more mainstream firms such as Mortimer Clarke, Shoosmiths, Restons etc, who all face the same problem.

Now its worth pointing out, that Cabot have not as yet succeeded in a litigation that i have been the fee earner on, not one case.

The reasons they lose isnt because of their great lawyers, it isnt because the banks sold them duff accounts, well not always, the reason they lose is because they fail to do their due diligence, they fail to review their case before litigation, they fail to get their house in order.

As a consequence, they snatch defeat from the jaws of victory on many* occasions.

The good thing for consumers it seems is that this pattern hasnt changed. In a recent case Cabot instructed Restons, they issued proceedings on a credit agreement which was alleged to be from Opus, only one problem, Opus didnt exist back in 1990s so the client couldnt have entered into such an agreement.

As a result the pleadings were simply incapable of being proven, ever, without amendment they were as dead as a dead bloke from deadsville. So, a request was made to inspect a copy of the alleged credit agreement, if Cabot were so sure it existed they must surely have a copy, after all only a fool would sign their name to a statement of truth if they hadnt seen all the core documents.

Restons refused to provide the agreement, instead making thinly veiled attempts to deflect attention back at the client with comments like “your client would have had a copy of the agreement when he opened the account so he should check his records” . Sadly for them though, CPR 31.14 does not say, the Claimant does not have to allow inspection if the document was sent to the Defendant about 20 years ago, nice try Restons.

So, considering the very helpful ruling of Rix LJ in Expandable v Rubin, a firm reply was sent reasserting our clients right to inspect this document. If they refused then an application to strike out would follow, firstly on the grounds the pleadings were so sparse they didnt comply with CPR 16, secondly the pleadings were an abuse of process and did not have a real prospect of success because they were incapable of proof and lastly because the breach of CPR 31.14 fell within CPR 3.4(2)(c) and therefore was a breach of a rule!!

An application was made to the Court, but before it could be heard Cabot appeared to run out of imodium and therefore had to discontinue. They will say it was a commercial decision im sure, but lets look at this shall we, you buy a debt for around 2-5%, in this case the debt was over £20,000 plus interest and costs if they won at trial, so instead of fighting this case they run away and pay all legal fees???? is that the actions of someone so sure of winning? is that really a commercial decision? cant see a business lasting that long on such commercial principals.

Perhaps, in another universe, there is an alternate reason why they abandoned a good claim?? that may be because the credit agreement wasnt with Opus? it wasnt signed by the Debtor? it wasnt enforceable? it was a citi agreement which citi failed to ensure contained all of the prescribed terms? now theres a thought for another day, however on this occasion we will just have to believe the reason why they threw £20k in the bin and paid ALL legal costs was simply because of a commercial decision huh



More...

You also say yours is statute barred, in which case it's even better as SBd is an absolute defence. :thumb:

[nemesis45]

Re: Court Claim - Cabot Financial (UK) Limited / OPUS - 18-9-2015

Received a claim? Yes
Issue Date: 18-9-2015
Amount approx:
Claimant: Cabot Financial (UK) Limited
Solicitor: Restons
Original Credit: OPUS

Particulars of Claim:
The Claimant claims payment of the overdue balance due from the Defendant(s) under a OPUS branded credit facility issued pursuant to a contract agreed by the Defendant(s) on or about Jul 15 2007 and assigned to the Claimant on Sep 28 2011

PARTICULARS a/c no XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

DATE ITEM VALUE
09/02/2015 Default Balance 3050.97
Post Refrl Cr NIL
Total 3050.97

Stat Barred? Yes

Have sent: Acknowledged the Claim, Sent a CCA request, Sent a CPR 31.14 request

Other Info:
Like the song says.. OPUS, who the *cough* are OPUS?

Seriously though, I had never even heard of Opus until I received the claim form through the post.

Statute Barred is a complete defence but before attempting to use the defence it is wise to establish the fact even though the onus is on the claimant to prove the debt is not statute barred.

Are you aware when the last payment or acknowledgment was made on the account?
Does this account still appear on your credit files? You can check Noddle Free Online.
There has been a considerable number of the claims recently regarding Citi cards/Opus cards
where the agreements were unenforceable when/if Cabot provides any documents please let us see
them.

nem

[spirit2534]

Re: Court Claim - Cabot Financial (UK) Limited / OPUS - 18-9-2015

Hi and welcome

My guess is, you probably had a Citi card. I also had one of them and they were all sold to Opus around the end of 2010. The thing is, you would never have agreed to a credit facility from Opus. There is a similar thread you may want to look at for reference: http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...pus#post571733

PT2537 who is part of our site team :yo: dealt with a similar case involving Opus earlier this year, see below:



You also say yours is statute barred, in which case it's even better as SBd is an absolute defence. :thumb:

I was alleged to have a CITI card.
Cabot said that they had purchased a default agreement.
Problem : lack of paperwork.
Thrown out by Judge

[nemesis45]

Re: Court Claim - Cabot Financial (UK) Limited / OPUS - 18-9-2015

Every case is different we'll have to wait and see what Tal as to say.

nem

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Court Claim - Cabot Financial (UK) Limited / OPUS - 18-9-2015

I was alleged to have a CITI card.
Cabot said that they had purchased a default agreement.
Problem : lack of paperwork.
Thrown out by Judge

Excellent! Goes to show it can be done! :cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2:

Even when they said you had CITI card! In most cases they've been writing on the particulars that it was an agreement between the defendant and OPUS, when their agreements had been with CITI. :grin:

I also had a Citi card that got sold to Opus and then to 1st Crud but it was a small amount and I did a F&F on it so it never went to court, maybe I should have waited. :ohwell:

[Tal]

Re: Court Claim - Cabot Financial (UK) Limited / OPUS - 18-9-2015

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Just as an update, so far I have received a letter from Restons just as in the blog post above; basically informing me that I 'would have been provided with a copy of the contractual Terms and Conditions at the time the account was opened and hence we see no reason why you now require an additional copy.' They then go on to say 'we would point out that the Particulars of Claim contains sufficient information in order for you to understand what the Claim relates to, namely:' and list the date the account was opened; the account number; the outstanding balance; the name of the original creditor; and the fact the account was assigned and when.

I'm around 99% sure that the account must be statute barred as I have certainly had no previous dealings with OPUS, who are saying the contract was agreed in July 2007, 8 years ago. I cannot say for sure when I last made a payment (I am assuming at this point after doing some reading up, that this must relate to a Citi card I had, which would have been some time around the turn of the Millenium, 1998-2001 or so.)

I am still waiting to hear anything back from Cabot (my letter was signed for at 07:52on the 25th September.)

- - - Updated - - -

I was alleged to have a CITI card.
Cabot said that they had purchased a default agreement.
Problem : lack of paperwork.
Thrown out by Judge

Great! Congratulations

[Tal]

Re: Court Claim - Cabot Financial (UK) Limited / OPUS - 18-9-2015

Statute Barred is a complete defence but before attempting to use the defence it is wise to establish the fact even though the onus is on the claimant to prove the debt is not statute barred.

Are you aware when the last payment or acknowledgment was made on the account?
Does this account still appear on your credit files? You can check Noddle Free Online.
There has been a considerable number of the claims recently regarding Citi cards/Opus cards
where the agreements were unenforceable when/if Cabot provides any documents please let us see
them.

nem

I have just checked my credit files via Noddle. It appears on there marked as a default for every month from Oct '11 because Cabot have added it under their name!

[nemesis45]

Re: Court Claim - Cabot Financial (UK) Limited / OPUS - 18-9-2015

I have just checked my credit files via Noddle. It appears on there marked as a default for every month from Oct '11 because Cabot have added it under their name!

That's just a running record of the conduct of the account the original default date cannot be changed by Cabot so what is the default date showing on the credit file?

nem

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Court Claim - Cabot Financial (UK) Limited / OPUS - 18-9-2015

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Just as an update, so far I have received a letter from Restons just as in the blog post above; basically informing me that I 'would have been provided with a copy of the contractual Terms and Conditions at the time the account was opened and hence we see no reason why you now require an additional copy.' They then go on to say 'we would point out that the Particulars of Claim contains sufficient information in order for you to understand what the Claim relates to, namely:' and list the date the account was opened; the account number; the outstanding balance; the name of the original creditor; and the fact the account was assigned and when.

It's a generic template response they send to everyone, how would they know what you were provided with when you opened the account?

I'm around 99% sure that the account must be statute barred as I have certainly had no previous dealings with OPUS, who are saying the contract was agreed in July 2007, 8 years ago. I cannot say for sure when I last made a payment (I am assuming at this point after doing some reading up, that this must relate to a Citi card I had, which would have been some time around the turn of the Millenium, 1998-2001 or so.)

Yes, Opus took over the Citi cards. So you are saying the card would have been taken out between 1998 and 2001 and not in July 2007 as stated on the particulars of claim? That's rather odd, because Opus didn't buy them in 2007, it was at the end of 2010 so what are they referring to? :confused2: That can only be good news though, because if it isn't SBd, the fact it's pre-April 2007 could work in your favour. :thumb:

I am still waiting to hear anything back from Cabot (my letter was signed for at 07:52on the 25th September.)

You'll probably get a letter saying it will take them 40 days to respond.

[Tal]

Re: Court Claim - Cabot Financial (UK) Limited / OPUS - 18-9-2015

That's just a running record of the conduct of the account the original default date cannot be changed by Cabot so what is the default date showing on the credit file?

nem

Ah, missed that somehow, 31/03/2010. Although it did not appear on my credit file until it was assigned to Cabot in 2011.

[pt2537]

Re: Court Claim - Cabot Financial (UK) Limited / OPUS - 18-9-2015

Do a check on their authorisations on the FCA website, the results may be interesting .............

[Tal]

Re: Court Claim - Cabot Financial (UK) Limited / OPUS - 18-9-2015

Yes, Opus took over the Citi cards. So you are saying the card would have been taken out between 1998 and 2001 and not in July 2007 as stated on the particulars of claim? That's rather odd, because Opus didn't buy them in 2007, it was at the end of 2010 so what are they referring to? :confused2: That can only be good news though, because if it isn't SBd, the fact it's pre-April 2007 could work in your favour. :thumb:

You'll probably get a letter saying it will take them 40 days to respond.

I'm sure that would have been when it was. I don't have any bank statements from back then (I use purely paperless statements for my accounts now, and so cannot confirm.) Should I contact the bank and see if they can provide me with statements either from around the date of the default, or before, in the hope I can prove one way or the other, if and when I last made a payment?

[nemesis45]

Re: Court Claim - Cabot Financial (UK) Limited / OPUS - 18-9-2015

Ah, missed that somehow, 31/03/2010. Although it did not appear on my credit file until it was assigned to Cabot in 2011.

The Citi/Opus situation was fraught with missed reporting to CRA files and some of the problems are still cropping up on a regular basis today.
If you believe the default date was placed unfairly late I suggest taking this up with the Data Controller of Opus as a Formal Complaint and copy the letter to Crapbot.

nem

[Tal]

Re: Court Claim - Cabot Financial (UK) Limited / OPUS - 18-9-2015

Do a check on their authorisations on the FCA website, the results may be interesting .............

What am I looking for? Are you referring to the fact that according to their Interim Permissions ref. no. (472690), under the trading name 'Cabot Financial (UK) Limited', their permissions lapsed on 28/02/2015?