Robinson Way/Howard Cohen threatening CCJ

[TroyTempest]

Hello all.

I have been chased for a very old Barclaycard debt of £2662 which has finally fetched up with Robinson Way. They wrote in December that they would be transferring the case to Howard Cohen solicitors which they have subsequently done. HC wrote on the 2nd Jan (I've only just received this having been away) asking for acceptable proposals within 10 days or they will issue proceedings in the County Court. As far as I know this has not been done yet.

I always ignored letters from RW as they are just last in a long line of DCAs who threaten much but do very little other than sell the debt on. I believe the debt became statute barred in May last year. I have a file I need to check but I am confident that there was no contact from me with Barclaycard for the previous six years and certainly no payments.

I have had no contact with either of these companies as yet.

Not wanting to answer my own question here but as HC's seem to be sending a Letter Before Action should I respond to that with this:

Dear Sirs,Ref: xxxxxxxxThank you for your letter dated xx/xxxx/2015. As the letter contains a threat of litigation, it is being treated as a formal letter before action. As such, I refer you to paragraph 1 of the Practice Direction Pre-Action Conduct, which states the purpose of such a letter is to “enable the parties to settle the issues between them” and to encourage the parties to “exchange information”. Paragraph 2.2 (1) of Annex A states you have an obligation to “list the essential documents on which the Claimant intends to rely”. I could not identify such a list in your letter, please list the documents so I can see your case against me and request copies of anything that I may need. Paragraph 3.2 (3) of Annex A allows me to “request further information to enable me to provide a full response”. My request is a request for documents as the information I require would come from those documents. Paragraph 5.1 of Annex A states that you should “provide the documents requested within as short a period of time as is practicable or explain in writing why the documents will not be provided”.I require copies of the following:

1. The original account agreement;
2. The Default Notice;
3. The Termination Notice;
4. The Notice of Assignment;
5. Statements of account;

These documents would be expected to be supplied if proceedings were issued and would likely be in your possession if you were issuing a claim. If you consider that there is difficulty in providing a copy of a document, please identify that document and the reason. I shall being able to provide you with a full response to your letter within 14 days of receipt of the documents listed above and also reserve the right to refer to the contents of this letter if proceedings are issued without first providing copy documents to me.Yours sincerely,

and separately send a CCA to RW? At what point to I mention that I think the debt is statute barred and do I send a fee to HC?

I would appreciate your advice with this.

Many thanks in anticipation.

[Amethyst]

Re: Robinson Way/Howard Cohen threatening CCJ

You sound like you are on top of things here

Yes send the reply to the letter before action AND send a CCA request to Robinson way.

I'd mention in the reply to LBA that the debt is statute barred pursuant to section 5 of the Limitations Act 1980.

No fee is required for anything other than the £1 to RW for the CCA request.


Dear Sirs,
Ref: xxxxxxxx

Thank you for your letter dated xx/xxxx/2015 regarding an alleged agreement between Barclaycard and myself which you claim has been assigned to your client.

As the letter contains a threat of litigation, it is being treated as a formal letter before action.

As such, I refer you to paragraph 1 of the Practice Direction Pre-Action Conduct, which states the purpose of such a letter is to “enable the parties to settle the issues between them” and to encourage the parties to “exchange information”. Paragraph 2.2 (1) of Annex A states you have an obligation to “list the essential documents on which the Claimant intends to rely”. I could not identify such a list in your letter, please list the documents so I can see your case against me and request copies of anything that I may need.

Paragraph 3.2 (3) of Annex A allows me to “request further information to enable me to provide a full response”.

My request is a request for documents as the information I require would come from those documents. Paragraph 5.1 of Annex A states that you should “provide the documents requested within as short a period of time as is practicable or explain in writing why the documents will not be provided”.I require copies of the following:

The original account agreement;
The Default Notice;
The Termination Notice;
The Notice of Assignment;
Statements of account;

These documents would be expected to be supplied if proceedings were issued and would likely be in your possession if you were issuing a claim. If you consider that there is difficulty in providing a copy of a document, please identify that document and the reason. I shall being able to provide you with a full response to your letter within 14 days of receipt of the documents listed above and also reserve the right to refer to the contents of this letter if proceedings are issued without first providing copy documents to me.

I would also like to make you aware that I believe if any agreement exists/existed between myself and Barclaycard any cause of action will have been over 6 years ago rendering any debt arising from the agreement statute barred by virtue of sction 5 of the Limitation Act 1980. If your client contends this is not the case they are required to send evidence to the contrary before proceeding with any further legal action.

Yours sincerely,

[TroyTempest]

Re: Robinson Way/Howard Cohen threatening CCJ

Thanks so much for your very quick reply.
I've been through my file for this account and unfortunately it's not quite as straightforward as I'd hoped. Payments stopped on this account on the 9th September 2009 and Barclaycard used various DCA's to recover from me but didn't formally reassign the debt until 27th July 2012. Prior to that in May 2010 I had a dispute with them as they 'set off' £694.29 from my personal account against this balance, so it could be argued that a payment was made to the account then- although not voluntarily by me.
Interestingly though, I've just registered with Noddle and this account doesn't feature on my file at all, open or closed. There is another very old cc account. Just because it isn't on Noddle might it be on Experian or Equifax or are they all the same? I am applying for the £2 credit report from those agencies now.
Anyway, back to the case in hand, as the statute barred route might not be open (can you advise on that re: the setting off payment?) how should I proceed with responding to the letter before action and Robinson Way? Same as before but omitting the bit about the statute bar?
Many thanks

[Kati]

Re: Robinson Way/Howard Cohen threatening CCJ

in May 2010 I had a dispute with them as they 'set off' £694.29 from my personal account against this balance, so it could be argued that a payment was made to the account then- although not voluntarily by me.

If this was done by THEM (without your consent) then it shouldn't affect the SB claim ... the SB clock is only stopped if YOU acknowledge the debt (in writing) or make a payment.
@nemesis45 @Debt Camel @Amethyst might be able to tell you more xx

[nemesis45]

Re: Robinson Way/Howard Cohen threatening CCJ

Thanks so much for your very quick reply.
I've been through my file for this account and unfortunately it's not quite as straightforward as I'd hoped. Payments stopped on this account on the 9th September 2009 and Barclaycard used various DCA's to recover from me but didn't formally reassign the debt until 27th July 2012. Prior to that in May 2010 I had a dispute with them as they 'set off' £694.29 from my personal account against this balance, so it could be argued that a payment was made to the account then- although not voluntarily by me.
Interestingly though, I've just registered with Noddle and this account doesn't feature on my file at all, open or closed. There is another very old cc account. Just because it isn't on Noddle might it be on Experian or Equifax or are they all the same? I am applying for the £2 credit report from those agencies now.
Anyway, back to the case in hand, as the statute barred route might not be open (can you advise on that re: the setting off payment?) how should I proceed with responding to the letter before action and Robinson Way? Same as before but omitting the bit about the statute bar?
Many thanks

Good afternoon,

Noddle's data is taken from Call Credit to which not all creditors report, it would be wise to
check Experian and / or Equifax.

You can certainly contend that no payment was made by you or authorised by you.
There is a But to the above the bank may have in the terms and conditions of the account
a clause allowing it to offset without any reference to you.

nem

[TroyTempest]

Re: Robinson Way/Howard Cohen threatening CCJ

Thanks everyone. I want to get something in the post today so now should I proceed? I've done a CCA for Robinson Way. Should I just send the standard response to the LBA to Howard Cohen but not mention the possibility of SB? If I find out it has dropped off my Equifax and Experian files then I can hold that defence in reserve. Robinson way did a search of my files last year so they probably know already. If it's not showing on Equifax and Experian then they are just trying it on. What do you think?

[nemesis45]

Re: Robinson Way/Howard Cohen threatening CCJ

Thanks everyone. I want to get something in the post today so now should I proceed? I've done a CCA for Robinson Way. Should I just send the standard response to the LBA to Howard Cohen but not mention the possibility of SB? If I find out it has dropped off my Equifax and Experian files then I can hold that defence in reserve. Robinson way did a search of my files last year so they probably know already. If it's not showing on Equifax and Experian then they are just trying it on. What do you think?

The most important point to remember is that a debt Not appearing on credit files does not mean that a debt is statute barred.
Any payment within the relevant 6 year period restarts the 6 year clock.

Defaulted accounts are removed from credit files after 6 years Paid or Not.

nem

[TroyTempest]

Re: Robinson Way/Howard Cohen threatening CCJ

Thanks, I'll bear that in mind. Practically I take it you mean that it's important to find out when the last payment was made to the account before make an SB defence. Good point.

In the meantime, shall I proceed with the 2 letters as I described in my previous post?

Many thanks

[nemesis45]

Re: Robinson Way/Howard Cohen threatening CCJ

Thanks, I'll bear that in mind. Practically I take it you mean that it's important to find out when the last payment was made to the account before make an SB defence. Good point.

In the meantime, shall I proceed with the 2 letters as I described in my previous post?

Many thanks

Yes although the onus is upon the claimant to prove that the debt is not statute barred it's certainly
best that you know for sure that it is.

nem