Cabot secretly adding interest.

[Little-Nancy]

Hello,
Please could someone advise ...

Way back in 2003 I got into a lot of financial and personal difficulties. I had a credit card debt of £1146 which I couldn't pay: hence the debt was passed on to Cabot. (This was my first encounter with a Debt Collector).
At first I was paying monthly by direct debit, but then Cabot issued me with a plastic repayment card which could be used in various outlets.

The only time I ever heard from Cabot was the odd occasion when my monthly payment was late - then they'd phone me PDQ! I didn't ever receive an annual statement with details of how the debt was 'shrinking' etc.

Anyway, I kept to the agreed payments until May 2009 when I assumed (according to my own calculations) that the debt was cleared. I stopped paying. I didn't hear anything at all from Cabot, so I thought everything was OK.

My next contact with them wasn't until a month ago (January 2012) when I received a letter to say that I must contact them with a view to clearing the debt (no mention of the amount of debt). I wrote back and said that I wasn't aware of owing them money, and I asked how much the debt was.

Yesterday! I received a letter (with a computer print-out of transactions since 2003) to say that they'd been adding interest to my account since 2009. Apparently when I stopped paying I still owed them £316; and ever since that time Cabot have been adding monthly interest to the debt. There is no explanation as to why they haven't contacted me during the past 3 years re: the increasing debt. (Strange when previously they were in the habit of chasing me within days of a late payment!)

So they now want me to make arrangements to pay £436, and meanwhile they will continue to add interest on the 'overdue' amount. This is a terrible shock.

Please can someone tell me whether DCA are supposed to send annual statements, or perhaps send a 'warning' to clients that interest is being added to their debt?

[Curlyben]

Re: Cabot secretly adding interest.

Well, unless there is a clear contractual obligation they cannot simple add interest in this manner.
As for statements that became a requirement after October 2009.

So, time to throw a simple Prove It at them and make them work for any moneys they believe they are owed.
If they cannot show their lawful rights to collect on this debt then they can take a hike..

[Little-Nancy]

Re: Cabot secretly adding interest.

Shall I just arrange to pay the £316 that I apparently owe (according to the computer print-out), and ignore the interest charges then Curlyben?

Unfortunately I don't have my own record of payments - I haven't kept bank statements from that long ago, and when I started using the plastic repayment card the receipts were such tiny slips of paper. To be honest, I thought everything was hunky-dory as I hadn't heard from them in almost 3 years.

Is there an ombudsman that I should report them to for failing to send annual statements?

[Curlyben]

Re: Cabot secretly adding interest.

Make them Prove It before you go any further..
There's a template in post#4 on the first link in my siggie..

[CleverClogs]

Re: Cabot secretly adding interest.

Make them Prove It before you go any further..
There's a template in post#4 on the first link in my siggie..

I'd agree with that and would add that it would be simpler and less expensive to do that first.

If evidence of payments is needed, might Cabot's victim need to resort to an SAR?

[Little-Nancy]

Re: Cabot secretly adding interest.

Make them Prove It before you go any further..
There's a template in post#4 on the first link in my siggie..

Sorry, I'm not being very bright today - how do I find the template Curleyben? (What's siggie?)

[CleverClogs]

Re: Cabot secretly adding interest.

Sorry, I'm not being very bright today - how do I find the template Curleyben? (What's siggie?)

It's the stuff below the horizontal line in Ben's message. :rolleyes2:

The thread to which Ben alluded is at ----> link.

The "prove it" letter is at ----> link

[di30]

Re: Cabot secretly adding interest.

Hi Little-Nancy


Sorry to hear of your problems, but can see your getting all the help required in regards of the interest issue.

Why I am posting is, do you know if you were sold Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) could be named differently on the policy?

As you made payment plans for this policy, and PPI was added, then its likely the balance will include the insurance.
Whilst under a payment plan, I believe the PPI/insurance would be worthless, as your not going to be able to make a claim on it whilst under a payment plan.

So thought I should mention this just in case you can make a reclaim on this policy.
Let us know if you did have PPI, and we can take it from there.

Otherwise please ignore my post.

[Little-Nancy]

Re: Cabot secretly adding interest.

It's the stuff below the horizontal line in Ben's message. :rolleyes2:

The thread to which Ben alluded is at ----> link.

The "prove it" letter is at ----> link

Thanks very much CleverClogs !

I can't tell you how shaken up I am by this incident, so the advice on the threads is wonderful. I've printed out the letter template and will send it today.

[Little-Nancy]

Re: Cabot secretly adding interest.

Hi Little-Nancy


Sorry to hear of your problems, but can see your getting all the help required in regards of the interest issue.

Why I am posting is, do you know if you were sold Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) could be named differently on the policy?

As you made payment plans for this policy, and PPI was added, then its likely the balance will include the insurance.
Whilst under a payment plan, I believe the PPI/insurance would be worthless, as your not going to be able to make a claim on it whilst under a payment plan.

So thought I should mention this just in case you can make a reclaim on this policy.
Let us know if you did have PPI, and we can take it from there.

Otherwise please ignore my post.

I really don't know Di.
I *think* it was originally a Barclaycard debt: I had 3 cards at the time and all of them got into arrears and the debts sold off to different firms.
I didn't have the cards very long before being made redundant (hence getting behind with payments.) Unfortunately I don't have any of the original Barclaycard paperwork - is there a way I can check if I had PPI as long ago as 2003?

[CleverClogs]

Re: Cabot secretly adding interest.

I think it was originally a Barclaycard debt: I had 3 cards at the time and all of them got into arrears and the debts sold off to different firms.

What happened with the other two?

[di30]

Re: Cabot secretly adding interest.

I really don't know Di.
I *think* it was originally a Barclaycard debt: I had 3 cards at the time and all of them got into arrears and the debts sold off to different firms.
I didn't have the cards very long before being made redundant (hence getting behind with payments.) Unfortunately I don't have any of the original Barclaycard paperwork - is there a way I can check if I had PPI as long ago as 2003?

Barclays may still hold details (hopefully), you could call by a local branch, and they may check this for you on request. (Try not to worry about it being with a collection dept), you are entitled to ask.

It come to my mind, if they did sell you PPI, then if you knew you had this policy, you could have made a claim when being made redundant, because PPI should have protected you for this, so in my opinion, if they did sell you ppi without you knowing, you do therefore have a case anyway.

Any statements, should enclose details if your were paying for PPI.

[Little-Nancy]

Re: Cabot secretly adding interest.

What happened with the other two?

I paid them.
I *thought* I'd paid all 3 of them, which is why the Cabot letter was like a bolt from the blue!

[Fudge28]

Re: Cabot secretly adding interest.

Hello everyone

Please help me, am sick of sending letters to Cabot Financial on behalf of my dad. After running up debt with a bank and trusting one of those companies who promise to write off your debt and encouraged him to stop making payments, he went to court and received a court order which detailed the amount of debt owed and put in place a payment plan where he paid £30 a month until that amount was paid off.

He made these payments to the bank until it decided to sell his debt to Cabot financial who wont stick to the court order and want to put a new repayment plan in place.I have sent letters stating that he will stick to the payment plan ordered by the court. All the while, they are adding interest to the account, saying it is in line with the credit agreement he signed with the bank.

Can they do this? Surely the court has power over the debt company.

Ps I am from Scotland

Any advice will be appreciated