Court Claim - Cabot Financial (UK) Ltd / Capital One - 15-11-2017

[carlos1867]

Received a claim? Yes
Issue Date: 15-11-2017
Amount approx: 804.34
Claimant: Cabot Financial (UK) Ltd
Solicitor: Mortimer Clarke
Original Credit: Capital One

Particulars of Claim:
By an agreement between Capital One Bank (Europe) PLC ( ) & the Defendant on or around 01/08/2011 (the agreement) , agreed to issue the Defendant with a Credit Card upon the terms & conditions set out therein. In breach of the Agreement the Defendant failed to make the minimum payments due. The agreement was assigned to the Claimaint on 24/09/2015.
The Defendant failed to pay & the agreement was terminated. THE CLAIMANT CLAIMS 1.674.34

Stat Barred? Yes

Have sent:

Other Info:
I think this may be Statute Barred but can't be 100% certain, it will be very close!

Have been reading that Cabot (UK) may not be licensed?

Also, not sure if Mortimer Clarke have messed up with the Letter of Claim
details. One letter dated 11th October 2017, which contained an 'Important Information' document. This gave a date of 10th of November to respond by.
A further letter dated 20th October was then received, stating all the information had not been sent previously. This then included 'Letter of Claim details' which includes the line 'if we have not heard from you within 30 days of the date of this letter'. The claim form was dated 15th November, I.e. Within 30 days of the 2nd letter.

Any thoughts appreciated on the best way to defend? Try to find out if Statute Barred? Not following procedure re letter of claim.

Any comments gratefully received!

Thanks in advance

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In addition, the debt was for 674.34. In the particulars of claim, it says 1.674.34.
Have they made a mistake in this, or is it meant to read 1) £674.34?

[Debt Camel]

Re: Court Claim - Cabot Financial (UK) Ltd / Capital One - 15-11-2017

1) statute barred - did you make any payments to this card? If you took it out in 1 August 2011 (do you agree with that?) your first bill would have arrived in September.

2) If this is close to being statute barred, it's unlikely the court will be very fussed if the claimant didn't stick to the pre action protocol timings But it's worth complaining about... is the letter you got on 11th October the one (with the attachments) that is described in here: https://debtcamel.co.uk/letter-before-claim-ccj/. If it was, did you complete the Reply Form, what did you say?

3) could be a typo, what is the total amount at the bottom of the claim form?

[carlos1867]

Re: Court Claim - Cabot Financial (UK) Ltd / Capital One - 15-11-2017

1) statute barred - did you make any payments to this card? If you took it out in 1 August 2011 (do you agree with that?) your first bill would have arrived in September.

2) If this is close to being statute barred, it's unlikely the court will be very fussed if the claimant didn't stick to the pre action protocol timings But it's worth complaining about... is the letter you got on 11th October the one (with the attachments) that is described in here: https://debtcamel.co.uk/letter-before-claim-ccj/. If it was, did you complete the Reply Form, what did you say?

3) could be a typo, what is the total amount at the bottom of the claim form?

Thanks for the reply.

1) The date sounds about right. I don't think any payments were made, but can't be 100% certain. Going to get in contact with my old bank to see if can get copy of bank statements from that time period.

Checking this entry on my credit file, the payment history shown is only from October 2015 onwards, when the debt was assigned. This leads me to believe that Cabot don't have any info prior to this or this would be updated with default on payment history? Would the onus be on them to provide proof a payment had been made?

2) The first letter was similar to that. No reply was sent as I then received the subsequent letter dated 20th, giving 30 days to reply. As the claim form was issued within those 30 days, I didn't see any point in sending this back.

3) The total at the bottom of the claim form is the 804 amount (674 plus court costs and solicitors)

[MIKE770]

Re: Court Claim - Cabot Financial (UK) Ltd / Capital One - 15-11-2017

ring capital one and ask when the last payment made, if they do not co-operate then ask for the manager

[carlos1867]

Re: Court Claim - Cabot Financial (UK) Ltd / Capital One - 15-11-2017

ring capital one and ask when the last payment made, if they do not co-operate then ask for the manager

I tried that yesterday and they just said the account had been assigned to Cabot and needed to speak with them directly.

[warwick65]

Re: Court Claim - Cabot Financial (UK) Ltd / Capital One - 15-11-2017

I think , in general, Cap 1 agreements are very specific about when they can demand full payment or issue a S87(1) DN. This might impact any claim for SB

[MIKE770]

Re: Court Claim - Cabot Financial (UK) Ltd / Capital One - 15-11-2017

I tried that yesterday and they just said the account had been assigned to Cabot and needed to speak with them directly.

That is why I stated insist on a Manager being put on! been reported that some silly call centre idiot is messing people around, time ICO stepped in as an information matter.

[carlos1867]

Re: Court Claim - Cabot Financial (UK) Ltd / Capital One - 15-11-2017

Cheers. Will call them back today. Naively just took his 1st response on it

- - - Updated - - -

I think , in general, Cap 1 agreements are very specific about when they can demand full payment or issue a S87(1) DN. This might impact any claim for SB

Thanks. So I guess it's a case of asking for a copy of the agreement for Cabot/Mortimer Clarke? Completed Acknowledgement of service last night after posting on here, so next step is to issue the letters to the 2 parties?

[warwick65]

Re: Court Claim - Cabot Financial (UK) Ltd / Capital One - 15-11-2017

Yes CCA request and CPR 31.14 request

[MIKE770]

Re: Court Claim - Cabot Financial (UK) Ltd / Capital One - 15-11-2017

CCA Request Letter || CPR 31.14 Request Letter

Subject Access Request Letter

[Diana M]

Re: Court Claim - Cabot Financial (UK) Ltd / Capital One - 15-11-2017

1) The date sounds about right. I don't think any payments were made, but can't be 100% certain. Going to get in contact with my old bank to see if can get copy of bank statements from that time period.

Checking this entry on my credit file, the payment history shown is only from October 2015 onwards, when the debt was assigned. This leads me to believe that Cabot don't have any info prior to this or this would be updated with default on payment history? Would the onus be on them to provide proof a payment had been made?

2) The first letter was similar to that. No reply was sent as I then received the subsequent letter dated 20th, giving 30 days to reply. As the claim form was issued within those 30 days, I didn't see any point in sending this back.

The answer to your question is 'Yes' the onus is on the Claimant to prove the debt is not Statute Barred. However it's wise to do your own research in case you need to challenger any evidence they produce.

So send a Subject Access Request to Capital One to get the full history of the account including the Transaction Log. That way you'll know what really went on (or not) and when.

If you can currently see the Cabot entry on your credit file this suggests the account wasn't defaulted in the last six years otherwise the entry would have been removed. So what Default date is showing on the CRA file?

There's a misunderstanding that SB only runs from the last payment date. It doesn't. Depending on which DJ you get it is often seen as running from the remedy date of the Default Notice or even the actual date the account was defaulted.

I'm not sure a complaint about the Letter Before Claim will do you any good. It may simply anger Mortimer Clarke solicitors who will then redouble their efforts to win their claim.

I would also expect your complaint to fail since the court would tolerate the issuing of a claim which they believe to be imminently Statute Barred. CPRs can't overrule a Statute of Parliament. I doubt a court would sanction them in a meaningful way.

The court would take notice of the fact they did send a Letter Before Claim on 11th October (according to you) which was 30 days before the claim was issued, they then sent an update later.

Pick your battles wisely.

Di

[carlos1867]

Re: Court Claim - Cabot Financial (UK) Ltd / Capital One - 15-11-2017

The answer to your question is 'Yes' the onus is on the Claimant to prove the debt is not Statute Barred. However it's wise to do your own research in case you need to challenger any evidence they produce.

So send a Subject Access Request to Capital One to get the full history of the account including the Transaction Log. That way you'll know what really went on (or not) and when.

If you can currently see the Cabot entry on your credit file this suggests the account wasn't defaulted in the last six years otherwise the entry would have been removed. So what Default date is showing on the CRA file?

There's a misunderstanding that SB only runs from the last payment date. It doesn't. Depending on which DJ you get it is often seen as running from the remedy date of the Default Notice or even the actual date the account was defaulted.

I'm not sure a complaint about the Letter Before Claim will do you any good. It may simply anger Mortimer Clarke solicitors who will then redouble their efforts to win their claim.

I would also expect your complaint to fail since the court would tolerate the issuing of a claim which they believe to be imminently Statute Barred. CPRs can't overrule a Statute of Parliament. I doubt a court would sanction them in a meaningful way.

The court would take notice of the fact they did send a Letter Before Claim on 11th October (according to you) which was 30 days before the claim was issued, they then sent an update later.

Pick your battles wisely.

Di

Thank for the comments.

The default date on the file is January 2012, I'm not entirely sure where that date has arisen from (obviously subject to any payments being made up to the end of 2011).

i wasn't sure on the letter before claim. I didn't know whether the fact the second letter specified 30 days on there cariied any weight or not.

Im assuming the issue around Cabot (UK) not being licensed doesn't have any impact?

[carlos1867]

Re: Court Claim - Cabot Financial (UK) Ltd / Capital One - 15-11-2017

Have just been to the bank that I was using in 2011. From looking on their systems, couldn't see a trace of any payment being made to Capital One. Obviously will send a SAR to them to confirm.

[MIKE770]

Re: Court Claim - Cabot Financial (UK) Ltd / Capital One - 15-11-2017

SAR they have 40 days to supply info, send Recorded delivery £10 fee

[Diana M]

Re: Court Claim - Cabot Financial (UK) Ltd / Capital One - 15-11-2017

The default date on the file is January 2012, I'm not entirely sure where that date has arisen from (obviously subject to any payments being made up to the end of 2011).
. . . . If needed, I do have the funds available to pay and avoid a CCJ being recorded, but obviously want to explore all avenues before doing that

Well Capital One could have registered the default late (January 2012) so that doesn't clarify when the Default Notice was issued/served or the remedy date required, and it doesn't give any clues as to when the last payment was made. See what information comes back in your SAR before losing heart in the SB argument.

It's early days and you haven't yet sent them a s 77-79 CCA Request which they'll have to comply with in order to be able to enforce the debt in court so I expect you'll be able to file a Defence by the deadline (33 days from the claim Issue Date).

If they decide to continue with the proceedings and inform the court of their intention within 28 days of receiving your Defence, then you'll be sent a Directions Questionnaire giving you the opportunity to tick the box for free telephone Mediation if you want to settle (and if they're happy to mediate too).

I would wait to see how events unfold in the next couple of weeks before deciding what's the best way forward for you.

One thing I am curious about is if the account was defaulted in January 2012 but not assigned to Cabot until September 2015, what was going on for those four years? Did you ever enter a DMP or could the account have been assigned to someone else before Cabot? Or was the account just left languishing for all that time?

Have you received an annual Notice of Sums in Arrears (s86) since the account defaulted?

Di