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Greetings all - glad to be part of the forum.
I have an issue involving 1st Credit and their collection actions against myself and my wife and co-director personally for a business credit card from CityCard (now Opus). The following lays out the position, so any advice, or comments are gratefully received thanks.
Myself and my wife were both Directors of a Limited company registered in Scotland, formed in 2003. At the time we were approached by a number of Banks / lenders and encouraged to take out Business credit cards under the Ltd Company name. We subsequently opened accounts with Barclaycard, CitiCard and AMEX in 2004 and 2005, which were paid off in full each month from the companies business bank account. However, in 2012, the recession finally got the better of the business and we were forced into liquidation. As the company was limited, we had liability to cover the £40k Personal Guarantee for the business overdraft, which we subsequently paid.
Barclaycard, realising the position, wrote off the small amount owing to them on the basis of the fact the card was a corporate account in the name of a now defunct UK Limited company, which we considered would be the case for the other card providers we also had. However, at the beginning of 2013, we received demand for payment from Opus to which we replied indicating that the account was in the name of the business. Nothing further was received until we received another demand, threatening legal action, from a company called 1st Credit, who stated that they had purchased the debt from Opus. Upon checking our personal Credit Files, it was apparent that 1st credit had also entered defaults against us for this account!!! Again, we informed them that the account was in the name of a now dissolved, Limited company, and as past Directors, we were not liable and to remove any adverse entries to our Credit Files, as advised by our Accountant. Regardless, they replied (ignoring our statement), demanding payment of the o/s amount.
Upon speaking to our Accountant again, he advised us to write to 1st Credit, again explaining the position, and also requesting a copy of the Credit Agreement under Section 77 / 78 of the CCA 1974, which we then did. In the meantime, we also received another claim from a company called AIC, stating that they are collecting monies owed on the Corporate Amex account! We replied in the same manner, expecting that to be an end to the matter. However, to date, both of these Debt Collection companies are still pursuing us personally for payment, and neither have produced a copy of the original credit agreements, despite being asked on numerous occasions. We have replied to their letters with responses as advised by our Accountant (the 3 letter process?), but all they have provided are copies of Credit card T&Cs which they state apply to the accounts, neither of which relate to a corporate account or bear any signatures of either ourselves or their representatives.
As both are intently ignoring our requests to forward copies of the original agreements, which would clearly show that each account is in the name of a UK Ltd company, we have replied requesting them to state whether or not they actually have possession of the original agreements, and are still awaiting on their response, for which we do not hold out much hope of receiving.
The question is, what do we do next, as they are threatening Court Action, despite the fact that we have told them we are disputing their claims and as far as we are aware, they are therefore unable to proceed with further enforcement without providing us with the information we requested. All they repeat is that they do not acknowledge that the accounts are in dispute as they have provided documentation in line with the relevant sections of the CCA 1974 Act! Also, we understand that they are obliged to forward copies of ALL statements of the accounts which neither have done. Strangely enough, despite the Opus (CitiCard) account having been opened in 2005, they have only provided statements from Dec 2008 onwards despite further requests for the missing statements. What can we do? We understand that we can request that they supply all documentation they hold and would rely on in support of their claim for a fee of £10 (a SAR?). Is this the next step?
What can we do, if they still refuse to provide a copy of the original agreements, which would show that we are not liable? How can they get away with tis course of action, without proving that we are liable for the debt? I know that this is a complex area of Consumer Law, so am requesting any advice at this point that may help us, as we really feel that this should be resolvable without recourse to Legal representation. PLEASE HELP!!
I have an issue involving 1st Credit and their collection actions against myself and my wife and co-director personally for a business credit card from CityCard (now Opus). The following lays out the position, so any advice, or comments are gratefully received thanks.
Myself and my wife were both Directors of a Limited company registered in Scotland, formed in 2003. At the time we were approached by a number of Banks / lenders and encouraged to take out Business credit cards under the Ltd Company name. We subsequently opened accounts with Barclaycard, CitiCard and AMEX in 2004 and 2005, which were paid off in full each month from the companies business bank account. However, in 2012, the recession finally got the better of the business and we were forced into liquidation. As the company was limited, we had liability to cover the £40k Personal Guarantee for the business overdraft, which we subsequently paid.
Barclaycard, realising the position, wrote off the small amount owing to them on the basis of the fact the card was a corporate account in the name of a now defunct UK Limited company, which we considered would be the case for the other card providers we also had. However, at the beginning of 2013, we received demand for payment from Opus to which we replied indicating that the account was in the name of the business. Nothing further was received until we received another demand, threatening legal action, from a company called 1st Credit, who stated that they had purchased the debt from Opus. Upon checking our personal Credit Files, it was apparent that 1st credit had also entered defaults against us for this account!!! Again, we informed them that the account was in the name of a now dissolved, Limited company, and as past Directors, we were not liable and to remove any adverse entries to our Credit Files, as advised by our Accountant. Regardless, they replied (ignoring our statement), demanding payment of the o/s amount.
Upon speaking to our Accountant again, he advised us to write to 1st Credit, again explaining the position, and also requesting a copy of the Credit Agreement under Section 77 / 78 of the CCA 1974, which we then did. In the meantime, we also received another claim from a company called AIC, stating that they are collecting monies owed on the Corporate Amex account! We replied in the same manner, expecting that to be an end to the matter. However, to date, both of these Debt Collection companies are still pursuing us personally for payment, and neither have produced a copy of the original credit agreements, despite being asked on numerous occasions. We have replied to their letters with responses as advised by our Accountant (the 3 letter process?), but all they have provided are copies of Credit card T&Cs which they state apply to the accounts, neither of which relate to a corporate account or bear any signatures of either ourselves or their representatives.
As both are intently ignoring our requests to forward copies of the original agreements, which would clearly show that each account is in the name of a UK Ltd company, we have replied requesting them to state whether or not they actually have possession of the original agreements, and are still awaiting on their response, for which we do not hold out much hope of receiving.
The question is, what do we do next, as they are threatening Court Action, despite the fact that we have told them we are disputing their claims and as far as we are aware, they are therefore unable to proceed with further enforcement without providing us with the information we requested. All they repeat is that they do not acknowledge that the accounts are in dispute as they have provided documentation in line with the relevant sections of the CCA 1974 Act! Also, we understand that they are obliged to forward copies of ALL statements of the accounts which neither have done. Strangely enough, despite the Opus (CitiCard) account having been opened in 2005, they have only provided statements from Dec 2008 onwards despite further requests for the missing statements. What can we do? We understand that we can request that they supply all documentation they hold and would rely on in support of their claim for a fee of £10 (a SAR?). Is this the next step?
What can we do, if they still refuse to provide a copy of the original agreements, which would show that we are not liable? How can they get away with tis course of action, without proving that we are liable for the debt? I know that this is a complex area of Consumer Law, so am requesting any advice at this point that may help us, as we really feel that this should be resolvable without recourse to Legal representation. PLEASE HELP!!
xx
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