***urgent advice needed***

[Eagle1977]

Re: ***urgent advice needed***

If the DCAs have been sending correspondence to your parents' address, this is probably why it has been passed around, particularly if your father would not disclose your whereabouts.

In order to proceed with court action, the OC would have to first send you a Letter Before Action and comply with Civil Procedures Rules. They must also make every attempt to resolve the matter without resorting to court action. As stated earlier in this thread, sub-prime lenders are known for loading accounts with excessive, unfair and unlawful charges in order to engineer defaults.

This whole situation seems to be all over the place. Yes, they have been writing to my old address, but, the default registered on my credit report is in actual fact............ "drum roll please" registered in my current address, so surely, they should have sent me a NOA here? It's one huge BL*#DY headache

[bluebottle]

Re: ***urgent advice needed***

From what the OC has said, Crapbot seem to be acting as a DCA, but you should confirm this in any case.

You need a copy of the original agreement and a full statement of account from the OC showing all transactions on the account. You say you are reclaiming penalty charges from the OC and the statement of account is to see if there are any other charges which can be challenged.

As for Crapbot, you need to find out in what capacity they are acting. If the matter is in dispute, they should not be even involved. The OC should know this.

[Eagle1977]

Re: ***urgent advice needed***

From what the OC has said, Crapbot seem to be acting as a DCA, but you should confirm this in any case.

You need a copy of the original agreement and a full statement of account from the OC showing all transactions on the account. You say you are reclaiming penalty charges from the OC and the statement of account is to see if there are any other charges which can be challenged.

As for Crapbot, you need to find out in what capacity they are acting. If the matter is in dispute, they should not be even involved. The OC should know this.

Hi bluebottle,

Cabot are showing on my credit file, so I'm guessing they own it. However, I have written to Cabot today requesting a Notice of Assignment and to clarify their position.

with regards to the charges, I have in my possession a full Subject Access Request from the OC. It details all of the charges. There are in fact 50+ penalty charges so I'm in the process of calculating these. I will include the 8% statutory interest also.

Eagle

[bluebottle]

Re: ***urgent advice needed***

Simply because a DCA has put their name on a default on someone's credit file, this does not, in itself, necessarily mean the DCA owns the debt. You have taken the correct course of action in requesting details of Crapbot's position and status in the matter.

With regard to charges, have you spoken to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) at all? They can be helpful where charges are concerned. Give them a ring and see what they say. To the best of my knowledge and belief, a creditor should not attempt any collection or enforcement action where an alleged debt is disputed.

[Eagle1977]

Re: ***urgent advice needed***

Simply because a DCA has put their name on a default on someone's credit file, this does not, in itself, necessarily mean the DCA owns the debt. You have taken the correct course of action in requesting details of Crapbot's position and status in the matter.

With regard to charges, have you spoken to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) at all? They can be helpful where charges are concerned. Give them a ring and see what they say. To the best of my knowledge and belief, a creditor should not attempt any collection or enforcement action where an alleged debt is disputed.

Hi bluebottle,

Cabot have actually told me they cannot remove the default, and that if I feel it has been placed there incorrectly, then I need to contact the OC. If they do not own the debt then this would explain a lot. We shall soon find out.

I have spoken to the FOS, and they state they will not intervene if charges are set at £12.00 or below. In my case they are all at £12.00. However, the FOS did not state that this was an acceptable default sum. Only a court can decide that. I will without a doubt be proceeding through court with this, which I am fully prepared to do. It will be upto the OC to prove that their losses were greater than £12.00 in front of a judge. This I believe they will be reluctant to do as generally losses in these cases are no more than £2.50, and in many cases less than this.

Eagle

[bluebottle]

Re: ***urgent advice needed***

From what you have said, it looks like Crapbot have admitted the debt still belongs to the OC. This is evidenced by their statement that you need to contact the OC to remove the default.

If you are considering pursuing court action, seek competent legal advice before doing so. The National Pro Bono Centre can assist if you are on a limited income.

[Eagle1977]

Re: ***urgent advice needed***

From what you have said, it looks like Crapbot have admitted the debt still belongs to the OC. This is evidenced by their statement that you need to contact the OC to remove the default.

If you are considering pursuing court action, seek competent legal advice before doing so. The National Pro Bono Centre can assist if you are on a limited income.

Ive had a reply from the OC with regards to obtaining a certified copy of the original credit agreement and a certified copy of the default notice. They state:

"please provide sufficient evidence to confirm the current address such as a bank statement or utility bill. You must send the original document or a certified copy and we cannot accept credit card and mobile phone bills as proof. Upon receipt of this documentation I will be happy to process the request this is a requirement 'original creditor' takes seriously and is to protect the customers personal information"

They sent my £1.00 statutory fee back too! I like the part that states 'protect the customers information' because, they sent me a SAR with all the account information I required. And they did this without the need to provide a bank statement as proof of address. They just cashed the £10.00 fee and sent it, no questions asked.

I think something stinks here!

Eagle

[bluebottle]

Re: ***urgent advice needed***

That may be them being ultra-cautious about sending out financial information, but with sub-prime lenders you need to be ultra-cautious, too.

If you have evidence of the address(es) at which you were residing when the alleged debt was incurred, send those in addition to evidence of your current address. Mark them as per the example -

BB/1 BB/2

and so on.

Refer to them in your covering letter. Something along the lines of -

"I enclose evidence of previous addresses I have resided at as per documents marked BB/1 and BB/2. My current address is evidenced as per document marked BB/3."

This lessens the opportunities for them to play silly buggers.

[Eagle1977]

Re: ***urgent advice needed***

That may be them being ultra-cautious about sending out financial information, but with sub-prime lenders you need to be ultra-cautious, too.

If you have evidence of the address(es) at which you were residing when the alleged debt was incurred, send those in addition to evidence of your current address. Mark them as per the example -

BB/1 BB/2

and so on.

Refer to them in your covering letter. Something along the lines of -

"I enclose evidence of previous addresses I have resided at as per documents marked BB/1 and BB/2. My current address is evidenced as per document marked BB/3."

This lessens the opportunities for them to play silly buggers.

Personally, I would have expected a letter asking for proof of address before they sent the SAR. Not, just me requesting the CCA and a copy of the default notice. The SAR contains much more sensitive information surely. Anyway, that is neither here nor there, there must be some logic behind their thinking.

I agree with you on providing the addresses as you stated, and referring to them in the covering letter. This gives them no cause to send my request back.

I've found two bank statements. The first is from my previous address and the second is my current address. I'm not particularly happy with leaving the account number on them. Could I delete these, or will that give them the opportunity to reject my request again?

Eagle

[Amethyst]

Re: ***urgent advice needed***

I'd be rather inclined to mention about the SAR being sent without any such shenanigans being needed.

[Eagle1977]

Re: ***urgent advice needed***

Hi Amethyst

thanks for your reply. I'd like to add this is a fantastic site. I will certainly be mentioning that fact in my covering letter.

[Amethyst]

Re: ***urgent advice needed***

Aww thank you xxx Sorry to point out the obvious just it hadn't been mentioned and I think a nice bit of sarcasm can go a long way dealing with these people. They are just playing for time, Restons and Cabot have taken to doing it a lot recently, completely unnecessary.

[Eagle1977]

Re: ***urgent advice needed***

Aww thank you xxx Sorry to point out the obvious just it hadn't been mentioned and I think a nice bit of sarcasm can go a long way dealing with these people. They are just playing for time, Restons and Cabot have taken to doing it a lot recently, completely unnecessary.

Them playing for time was my thoughts exactly, I wouldn't be surprised if there was something wrong with the CCA or default notice. Or whether they possess them at all. I shall soon find out, because the letter, along with the sarcastic part will be sent off tomorrow.

[Eagle1977]

Re: ***urgent advice needed***

By the look of things, the OC, Screwis, Mucky Hall and Crapbot have been playing Pass the Parcel with the alleged debt. When a DCA contacts you, they have to be able to prove they have a right to collect (acting as a debt collector) or enforce (acting as a debt purchaser) if asked by an alleged debtor.

In answer to the question about Notice of Assignment, there are two such notices - Absolute, meaning they own the debt outright, and Equitable, meaning they don't. You should have received correspondence from each DCA who has handled the debt.

You need to find out where Crapbot fit in and what right they have to be involved.

i have received a reply from Cabot after me requesting clarification on their position and for them to supply me with a valid NOA.

They have ace confirmed that they have purchased the debt and they own it. They have sent me a copy if the NOA which was allegedly sent earlier this year. And it has my old address on it. So, I would have never received it.

[bluebottle]

Re: ***urgent advice needed***

That's strange. They have previously said you have to ask the OC for the agreement. I don't believe Cabot are being full and frank with you. What makes me very wary is that a debt that was subject to dispute and recovery of excessive/illegal/unlawful fees was assigned/sold. To the best of my knowledge and belief, a creditor is not supposed to do so. I am wondering whether you should contact the regulators about this. Other LB members may have different views and suggestions so wait for them to look in before doing anything further.