Robinsonway ex Barclaycard/Howard Cohen solicitors

[Poppyseed123]

Hi newbie here hoping someone more clued up than me can help!

I opened a Barclaycard account around 2013. I defaulted on that account around December 2015. I definitely haven't paid a penny toward them since but it may have been earlier than that that I stopped paying.

Robinson way took over the account I cant remember what date but I have not acknowledged any of their letters or calls but last week I received a letter from them saying they have evaluated my account and they think it fits the criteria to take legal action and refer to Howard Cohen to take me to court. The amount is £4737.

I have so many outgoing that I cant afford to pay anything substantial off this account. I don't own my own home or car (rent and lease) and not ure of the relevance but I have just found out I am pregnant.

I was 18 and naive when I had this credit card and once I had finally paid it off they decided to increase my little £2k limit to £5k and I obviously took it for granted using it for car insurance and shopping etc until it just got too much and I realised i'd spent beyond my means.

I really don't want this to go to court. My mum loaned me a few £££ before to pay off other debts I was in and she would be devastated to learn I have this big chunk still hanging over my head. (even though I'm 26!!)

I'd love some advice on how I could go about this. I don't mind if they want to accept like £20 a month to stay off my back forever though I doubt they will accept this. Please let me know what i'm best off doing here.

Many thanks!

Poppy

[Amethyst]

Ooo congratulations on the impending arrival That tops the priority list so this £4k debt is going to be a breeze to deal with compared

So, Hoist own the debt? It is likely they will bring court action, but they will send you a letter of claim first so you can ask for documents or make an offer at that point if you wanted to - but if it is going to be low they may not accept it and go to court anyway - you don't want to be getting a CCJ against you so you may as well pre-cursor things - it's not going stat barred for a couple of years and they will go to court before then - if you make an arrangement before it gets to that then it's likely to stay out of your hair for a while, make the payments for a couple years and look at settling later if things improve.

So I think I'd send a CCA request first of all, see what they come back with, then if they don't have the agreement you can use that to try and negotiate a better affordable instalment plan - it has to be affordable based on your Income/expenditure sheet - if that's £20 a month... well, they aren't going to get more by going to court.... and you should look ahead when working out the numbers too to when you have your baby..bigger outgoings, lower incomings etc..

But first step send a CCA Request

[Poppyseed123]

Hi Amethyst!

Thanks so much for your congratulations, very excited and nervous!

Been feeling really positive as usually a big anxiety sufferer but then this came in to the mix and has me feeling very nervous and anxious again, which, I don't want to be right now.

I will send Robinson way a CCA Request. Is there a fee I need to pay? Can I send this by email to get things done quicker or does it have to be letter?

I dont have the disposable income now let alone when i'll be on Maternity leave and with baby expenses! Should I mention this to them as I doubt a judge will look at me, pregnant, with too many outgoings and maternity leave due to decrease my earnings even further, and vote in their favour? Or should I just stick with the CCA request first, will they hold on further action whilst this is happening?

Thanks again!

[Amethyst]

CCA request needs to be a letter really as it does need a £1 cheque ( or postal order ) including with it.

While the CCA request is in, once they are past 12 days the debt becomes unenforceable ( until they do find and send the documents ) so it should put a hold on things, but not forever, it's not a very old debt and it is likely an online application so easy to reproduce to comply.... but after the 12 days it would be a good time to sort out IE sheets, explain your circumstances and make an installment offer ( of £20 a month if that's what things work out at ). Once they know your situation it will seem pretty pointless them paying out for court proceedings, you have no assets for them to secure against, they likely paid under 20% of the debt to buy it from BC so even £20 a month is better than nothing - a judge will only order an affordable amount in anycase ( as long as you do engage with the process - which you will cause you're on here now ).

Do the CCA request and lets see where you are in a couple weeks time xxx

And enjoy your news ! It's a wonderful time, so don't let this pesky debt upset the applecart - it will be absolutely fine

[Poppyseed123]

Aw Amethyst thank you so much.

Such a sweet person, I'm glad I came here as you have helped put me at ease! I really appreciate your reply this morning.

I think I will drop them an email to let them know a letter is in the post, as the threat of legal action letter giving me ten days to get in touch was sent to my mums address and she didn't give it to me until yesterday and it was dated the 29th March! Hence I am worrying I will have a big fat magistrates letter land on her mat addressed to me and therefor be in the doghouse with her!

I will get the CCA request off with a cheque first thing in the AM. It was an online application so I will just then get all my IE sheets prepared. My car that I pay for, and another finance application that I pay for (private dental work) is in my mothers name and believe it or not she is also my landlord so most of my outgoings are sent to her account from my bank account. Will I need to prove my outgoings, and will they take these seriously if they are just seen as being sent to mum?

I obviously had all these outgoings before realising I was pregnant and thankfully few of the come to an end few months before baby is due and maternity leave starts.

Poppy

[Amethyst]

Right... it won't be magistrates - that's criminal court and we don't criminalise credit card debt ( unless it's fraud obvs ) - it will be county court ( civil court) and the claim will come from Northampton bulk centre initially.

10 days to get in touch isn't a formal letter of claim - so don't worry about that - to bring a county court claim they should send a letter giving you 30 days to respond with either an offer or request for information/documents. Have a look here https://legalbeagles.info/forums/for...-for-reference - coincidentally the example is from Cohen. So then you'll know what to expect / get your mum to look out for.

When doing your IE you'd put the payments to Mum as RENT / Dental / Car loan etc - no need to put your mum is your landlord ( my dad was my landlord for quite a long time - can be useful, can be a pain in the bum )

Robinson Way are a side arm of Hoist - if Hoist took the claim to court it would be Hoist as the claimant, so the CCA request wants really to go to Hoist - and just tell Rob Way that is what you have done. They should say in the letter who the debt is owned by. I would also update your address with RobWay/Hoist so that you get any letters direct and avoid the stress with your mum ( not saying hide it from her, just so you can deal with things directly ) If you grab the letter of her, do a picture ( cover your personal details) and post it on here then we should be able to tell you how imminent court might be.

You could also have a read of some other Hoist/Rob Way/ Cohen threads on the forum so you can see how things work and what to expect xxx

[Poppyseed123]

Amethyst, I have just found an exact replica of what I have received from Robinson way. Coincidentally it also has the exact same 'due to' being HPH ltd ex Barclaycard.

What can you say from this letter?

Many thanks! Xxx

[Poppyseed123]

I emailed them right away yesterday to say I'd like to discuss this account. Just so that they know i'm willing to talk as I have been silent until now. Also this debt came about before I met my partner and as a result I have always been such a nag with him when it comes to credit cards, telling him he needs to be so careful to try and protect him and prevent him getting in my position. He knows mum paid off my other debts via loan that I paid back in full. But he does not know of some other debts I have still outstanding including this one. I honestly would just love to try and get this under control without fretting him or mum. Plus he knows no boundaries and doesn't look and just opens letters off the mat without looking assuming they are just our bills. (he's not controlling honestly this is just his dozy self!) I'm always at my mums so picking up mail wont be a prob. Just hope I can agree a repayment plan and get this back on the back burner. More important things to be focusing on as you said!

[Poppyseed123]

Sorry to keep on posting!

I have just looked and I have links on my email to sign up online and try to come to an agreeable repayment plan. So shall I just try with this in the meantime also too?

Thanks!