Cabot Financial vs Sophie

[Sophie66]

Hi, and thank you in advance to anyone who offers help in this matter.

On the 08/01/18 I received at my previous address, a county court claim from Mortimer Clark, regarding an alleged debt owed to Cabot Financial, arising from an alleged credit card debt. This is for £790 + costs.

The particulars of claim mentioned a contract between myself and Vanquis which was later assigned to Cabot. As I did not recall having owed them any money I filed a defence on the grounds that the claimant's statement of case doesn't provide me with adequate information to assess my case.

As I do not recall ever having a debt or having ever received a default notice from Vanquis, I sent on the 15th of January, a CPR request to Mortimer Clark requesting copies of the contract, default notice and notice of assignment. On this day I also sent a CCA request to Cabot financial along withe the statutory £1 fee.

I then heard nothing until the 26th July 2018, on which day I received a package from Cabot. This contained what they described as a 'Credit Agreement', however the title on each of Vanquis headed pages refers to 'Digital signature Details'. I will attach these forms to this post below.

Document from Cabot.pdf

I am hoping someone can advise of the following:
Is this an enforceable credit agreement?
Should they have sent me a copy of a default notice, or even better some accounts from Vanquis which could have refreshed my mind as to how this debt has occurred? (These were not mentioned in the particulars of claim, only the contract was mentioned).
Is this case likely to be stayed? Will it become 'unstayed' now they have sent me this info?
Any other advice would be very much appreciated.

Thank you so much in advance to anyone kind enough to help.

Sophie

[Amethyst]

Hi Sophie,

Have you got access to your bank statements from 2014 at all - it could be worth checking back on those and seeing if you have any payments to Vanquis - that might refresh your memory as to this credit card. I presume the address, employment etc details are correct on that application?

Anyway that document doesn't fulfil the CCA requirements - it's not the credit agreement at all - just an application - there's no terms at all. Did they send anything else or was that it ?

Cabot would have to apply to court to lift the stay - usually they do this while asking for summary judgment - but you should be notified before they do that. I can't see them doing it just yet though if that is all they have sent you when you've asked for the default notice, assignment and agreement. All that is is 'evidence' that Vanquis have put your details into a form. It's not all that old either, 2014, so you'd think they'd have come up with more than that by now.

[Sophie66]

Hi Amethyst.

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply.

My online bank statements only go back to 2015, though I have just emailed my bank asking if there is a way I can view statements from previous years. In 2014 I was in a dire state financially, and I took out a number of credit cards. I don't remember one being called Vanquis, though it could perhaps have had a different name and been owned by Vanquis?

The details on the form are correct for my address and employment at that time.

Along with the 'Credit agreement' they also sent this statement of account:

Statement of account.pdf

This only shows transactions from the first half of this year and is therefore of little help.

Are cabot required to send the default notice and notice of assignment even though they are not mentioned in the Particulars of Claim? (Though i did request them)

Thanks again

Sophie

[Amethyst]

Well that statement is entirely pointless isn't it.

I'd recommend sending a SAR to Vanquis directly - it might help you figure out what your position is.

If you plead in your Defence that you hadn't received NoA or Default Notice then yes they will need to provide them.

That 'agreement' sent simply isn't an agreement. You can write back to them and tell them that if you want to - did the accompanying letter state it was the credit agreement and fulfilled their side of the CCA request and they intended to proceed with the court action or was it just a 'here's the agreement' letter ?

Have you checked that the claim is just stayed with the court ?

[Sophie66]

Thanks Amethyst.

I have been reading and yes it seems an SAR request should give me the info I require.

The 'agreement' and 'statement' were certainly not what I had expected. Yes Cabot said they had attached a reconstituted true copy of the agreement, as well as statement of account, and they they were now in a position to obtain a CCJ against me. They did not mention NoA or default notice, it is as though they don't consider this necessary, though in my defence and in my requests to the claimant, I requested proof of these

I am unsure as to whether or not the claim is stayed with the court. There is no indication on the MCOL website. I had just assumed it would be as such a long time has passed since I submitted my defence.

Thanks again for your help and for this wonderful website.

Sophie

[Amethyst]

No worries

Cabot are deluded if they think those documents cut the mustard ( is that a saying ? - pass muster maybe lol )

The claim is likely stayed - all you'll need to act on is if Cabot say they are applying to court to lift stay and apply for summary judgment... then you can defend their application ( and the case ).

[Amethyst]

Hi Sophie, the letter they sent with that 'statement' and 'credit agreement' - could you do a pic of that as well please.

Have you heard anything else from them at all ?