Tweet
Hi, I'm hoping you guys can help me with advice. Mortimer Clarke Solicitors issued court proceedings against me on 29th December 2022. I defended the claim against me as statue barred. The last payment I made on the account was August 2016, I'd made no payments or made any communication with anyone until defending the court action in January 2023. 14 months on I received a reply to my defence (I assumed they'd dropped it given how long it had been to respond) this is their response. (Below) They have no copy of credit agreement, they've provided bank statements showing my last payment was August 2016. I believe it's statue barred. Do they have a case or are they trying it on? Thanks
We act on behalf of Cabot Financial (UK) Limited, the Claimant in these proceedings. Why are we writing to you? We are writing to you in response to your defence dated 10 January 2023. We note that you say that this matter is Statute Barred. This letter, therefore, attempts to clearly set out our client’s claim as against you. Background By way of background to this matter, and for the avoidance of doubt, our client’s claim is for the outstanding balance of £5,923.89 pursuant to an unpaid Credit Card Agreement (running account) (“the Agreement) granted to you on or around the 8 June 2016. The Agreement was a credit agreement regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (“the Act”) originally held between you and HSBC UK Bank plc (“HSBC”). Our client is unable to obtain a copy of the original Agreement. We enclose a copy of the Credit Card terms and conditions. Statements We enclose a copy of your Credit Card Statements for the period 22 July 2016 to the 23 March 2017 which clearly shows how the outstanding balance of £5,923.89 was accrued by you. The Statements record (amongst other things); i) Regular spending on the account; ii) Payments made to the account; iii) Charges and interest applied to the account; iv) Failure to maintain payments in accordance with the Agreement; v) The last payment to the account before it was closed was £39.00 on 17 August 2016; and vi) A closing balance of £5,923.89. Default and Termination We are instructed that HSBC sent to you a Default Notice on the 23 December 2016 in accordance with section 87(i) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. HSBC did give you notice that if you did not pay the arrears of £524.09 by the 13 January 2017, HSBC will terminate the Agreement.The agreement was subsequently terminated on or around the 28 March 2017 due to non-payment. A copy of the Default Notice dated 23 December 2016 is attached for your ease of reference which was sent to your last known address of...... This is the address that HSBC held at the time. Notice of Assignment On the 19 September 2018 the debt and agreement were assigned from HSBC to our client, Cabot Financial (UK) Limited. Our client has, therefore, been assigned all rights and title to your debt and is entitled to contact you to collect the outstanding balance owed. A Notice of Assignment was sent to you by HSBC on the 16 October 2018 and by our client on the 16 October 2018 which was sent to your last known address of..... We enclose copies of the Notice of Assignment. Communication Our client then wrote to you to ask you to address the debt. Enclosed are copies of our client’s letters. Letter Before Action A letter Before Action was sent to you on 18 November 2022, in compliance with the Pre-Action Protocols to your current address of.... A copy of the Letter Before Action dated 18 November 2022 is attached for your ease of reference. Proceedings As we did not hear from you our client instructed us to issue legal proceedings on the 29 December 2022. Statute Barred You have alleged that the claim is statute barred. Section 5 of the Limitation Act 1980 provides that an action founded on simple contract shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued. However section 29(5) of the Limitation Act 1980 states: “…Where any right of action has accrued to recover…any debt or other liquidated pecuniary claim…and the person liable or accountable for the claim acknowledges the claim or makes any payment in respect of it the right shall be treated as having accrued on and not before the date of the acknowledgment or payment.” In the Court of Appeal case Doyle v PRA Group (UK) Ltd [2019] EWCA Civ 12 held that the limitation period first starts from the date specified in the Default Notice sent to the debtor when an agreement defaults. Thus, the relevant date for calculating limitation is the date specified in the Default Notice, or the date of the last acknowledgement or payment, whichever is later. The Default Notice was sent to you on 23 December 2016 in accordance with Section 87 of the Consumer Credit Act. The date specified in the Default Notice was 13 January 2017. Our client issued its claim on 29 December 2022. As this is within the 6-year period prescribed by the Limitation Act, our Client’s claim, therefore, cannot be statute barred. Balance The balance of your account currently stands at £5,923.89. This balance includes any costs incurred as a result of attempting to recover the sum owed. What happens next? For the reasons set out above, it appears to us that you do not have a valid defence, as currently pleaded, to our client’s claim. We, therefore, invite you to consider and withdraw your defence and to admit the debt in full. You should also make an offer of repayment for our client’s consideration. If you are in any doubt about your own legal position, we suggest that you contact your local Citizens Advice Bureau or alternatively, speak with a Solicitor of your choosing to obtain legal advice, providing us with their details.
We act on behalf of Cabot Financial (UK) Limited, the Claimant in these proceedings. Why are we writing to you? We are writing to you in response to your defence dated 10 January 2023. We note that you say that this matter is Statute Barred. This letter, therefore, attempts to clearly set out our client’s claim as against you. Background By way of background to this matter, and for the avoidance of doubt, our client’s claim is for the outstanding balance of £5,923.89 pursuant to an unpaid Credit Card Agreement (running account) (“the Agreement) granted to you on or around the 8 June 2016. The Agreement was a credit agreement regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (“the Act”) originally held between you and HSBC UK Bank plc (“HSBC”). Our client is unable to obtain a copy of the original Agreement. We enclose a copy of the Credit Card terms and conditions. Statements We enclose a copy of your Credit Card Statements for the period 22 July 2016 to the 23 March 2017 which clearly shows how the outstanding balance of £5,923.89 was accrued by you. The Statements record (amongst other things); i) Regular spending on the account; ii) Payments made to the account; iii) Charges and interest applied to the account; iv) Failure to maintain payments in accordance with the Agreement; v) The last payment to the account before it was closed was £39.00 on 17 August 2016; and vi) A closing balance of £5,923.89. Default and Termination We are instructed that HSBC sent to you a Default Notice on the 23 December 2016 in accordance with section 87(i) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. HSBC did give you notice that if you did not pay the arrears of £524.09 by the 13 January 2017, HSBC will terminate the Agreement.The agreement was subsequently terminated on or around the 28 March 2017 due to non-payment. A copy of the Default Notice dated 23 December 2016 is attached for your ease of reference which was sent to your last known address of...... This is the address that HSBC held at the time. Notice of Assignment On the 19 September 2018 the debt and agreement were assigned from HSBC to our client, Cabot Financial (UK) Limited. Our client has, therefore, been assigned all rights and title to your debt and is entitled to contact you to collect the outstanding balance owed. A Notice of Assignment was sent to you by HSBC on the 16 October 2018 and by our client on the 16 October 2018 which was sent to your last known address of..... We enclose copies of the Notice of Assignment. Communication Our client then wrote to you to ask you to address the debt. Enclosed are copies of our client’s letters. Letter Before Action A letter Before Action was sent to you on 18 November 2022, in compliance with the Pre-Action Protocols to your current address of.... A copy of the Letter Before Action dated 18 November 2022 is attached for your ease of reference. Proceedings As we did not hear from you our client instructed us to issue legal proceedings on the 29 December 2022. Statute Barred You have alleged that the claim is statute barred. Section 5 of the Limitation Act 1980 provides that an action founded on simple contract shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued. However section 29(5) of the Limitation Act 1980 states: “…Where any right of action has accrued to recover…any debt or other liquidated pecuniary claim…and the person liable or accountable for the claim acknowledges the claim or makes any payment in respect of it the right shall be treated as having accrued on and not before the date of the acknowledgment or payment.” In the Court of Appeal case Doyle v PRA Group (UK) Ltd [2019] EWCA Civ 12 held that the limitation period first starts from the date specified in the Default Notice sent to the debtor when an agreement defaults. Thus, the relevant date for calculating limitation is the date specified in the Default Notice, or the date of the last acknowledgement or payment, whichever is later. The Default Notice was sent to you on 23 December 2016 in accordance with Section 87 of the Consumer Credit Act. The date specified in the Default Notice was 13 January 2017. Our client issued its claim on 29 December 2022. As this is within the 6-year period prescribed by the Limitation Act, our Client’s claim, therefore, cannot be statute barred. Balance The balance of your account currently stands at £5,923.89. This balance includes any costs incurred as a result of attempting to recover the sum owed. What happens next? For the reasons set out above, it appears to us that you do not have a valid defence, as currently pleaded, to our client’s claim. We, therefore, invite you to consider and withdraw your defence and to admit the debt in full. You should also make an offer of repayment for our client’s consideration. If you are in any doubt about your own legal position, we suggest that you contact your local Citizens Advice Bureau or alternatively, speak with a Solicitor of your choosing to obtain legal advice, providing us with their details.
Comment