Letter from Intrum threatening legal action

[Shotley]

Good Afternoon All,

I have had 1st Credit chasing me for a card debt that is on the cusp of becoming statute barred. Recently they had become more eager in their attempts to get me to pay offering all kinds of discounts but figured I'd ride it out.

This morning, I receive a letter from Intrum Legal Department threatening to issue proceedings, I have attached a copy of the letter, appropriately redacted, for you to see. (Ironically, I see that others on here have been confused by the 1stCredit/Intrum rebrand or takeover)

The letter isn't a Letter Before Claim but states I have 10 days before intention to issue a Letter Before Claim.

Any advice on how to proceed? Will a CCA request put hold to this action?

I'm sure I sent a CCA about 2 years ago and never got anything but I can't find any of the paperwork, proof of postage or postal order details now.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Amethyst]

Ahh yes, that was me, did they explain they had taken over 1st Credit at all ? Doesn't seem to say anything in that letter - is the 'account purchased from' part the original creditors name ?

How much approx is the debt ?

It's a credit card debt ? do you know when it defaulted and have you made any payments to anyone for it since defaulting ? How close to statute barred do you reckon it is ? ie. if they do issue a letter before claim ( which gives you 30 days to respond ) would that take it into Statute barred ?


( seeing that letter, I'm quite glad I gave in to the 70% discount now - sorry to say - but mine was no where near stat barred )

[Shotley]

Ahh yes, that was me, did they explain they had taken over 1st Credit at all ? Doesn't seem to say anything in that letter - is the 'account purchased from' part the original creditors name ?

Yes, the purchased from part states the original creditor and I've had no communications from 1st Credit informing me that it was now in the hands of another company. Though Intrum and 1st Credit are the same company from the look of it; they share the same address at least. It's weird because I only had a letter last week from 1st Credit saying they might look at legal action.

How much approx is the debt ?

It's for £1800 -

It's a credit card debt ? do you know when it defaulted and have you made any payments to anyone for it since defaulting ? How close to statute barred do you reckon it is ? ie. if they do issue a letter before claim ( which gives you 30 days to respond ) would that take it into Statute barred ?

Yes, it's a credit card debt. I'm fairly certain it defaulted in Autumn of 2012 though again I have no paperwork. I have made no payments to anyone in respect of this card. That said, Intrum claim to have purchased the debt in December 2013. Which is confusing, is it Intrum who own the debt or 1st Credit? Unfortunately if they issued a claim the 30 days wouldn't take it to statute barred. So I guess I'm going to have to follow CCA route.

[Amethyst]

Intrum, apparently, ARE 1st Credit ( 1st Credit changed their name to Intrum officially on 1st March )...

Yip, don't think you have time to sit it out - it's not going to take them until Autumn to get round to the court claim, so I'd just send a CCA to Intrum directly and wait on getting the letter of claim, then you can use that to dispute the debt and ask for documents ( agreement, assignment, default notice, statements/transaction lists etc) too.

Any disputes on the card debt at all , PPI , charges etc ? or simply a 'became unaffordable so stopped paying' thing ?

[Shotley]

That makes sense I guess.

Just to be sure then, if I send a CCA tomorrow, 1st class recorded with the appropriate £1 fee are they still able to issue a claim against me? I thought the CCA would stay that until they had all the relevant paperwork sent to me? Or can they still issue a letter of claim and that opens more avenues for me?

I couldn't afford the card. Lost a job and the repayments were too high. APR was insane. A good portion of that amount is charges though.

[Amethyst]

Okay can add charges to the defence IF you get a claim and have to defend against it

SO yes send the CCA tmw with the £1 - to Intrum - they can continue with their letter before claim and court claim while the CCA is outstanding, but they are on notice that you know they have to provide it to get Judgment and that the case will be disputed - and won't be one of the 87% easy picking default judgments which they base their business model on....so might just put you on the 'don't bother' pile.

I'd send a SAR off to the original creditor though, as well, while you wait, as it can come in very useful if a court claim does arrive.

Links for you CCA Request

Subject Access Request Letter

[Shotley]

Perfect, Amethyst, thanks for your help.

With regards to the SAR, will a claim be enforceable if the OC fail to provide information under that request? I'm just trying to get all my things in order to plan this out.

The original creditor is Aqua, I've been reading online and they are notoriously bad for not being able to produce information.

CCA will go tomorrow.

[Amethyst]

The SAR won't have any impact on the rights of Intrum to claim the debt from you no, as Intrum now own the debt outright, but it might show up things you can use in your defence, or evidence to show Intrum's dates/documentation is wrong. Plus give you transaction lists so you can work out an charges applied that might be defendable ( or PPI ? CPP etc ?)

[Shotley]

Thanks Amethyst. One more quick question, I have moved house since I had my account with Aqua. Though Intrum/1st Credit started sending me letters to my new address I'm wondering if Aqua will refuse to send me anything if the address doesn't match. Do i need to send proof of identity for the SAR?

Thanks

[Amethyst]

Possibly - put your old address and current address - and that if they need ID to contact you ( I think that's in the template )

[Shotley]

So, I've fired off the CCA to Intrum and the SAR to Aqua.

I'm guessing Aqua will be difficult about the change of address and probably make me jump through hoops.

Not sure what to expect from Intrum. I'm kind of worried that this was a card I got online which, from what I've read on here and elsewhere, they can pretty much give me any old junk to fulfill the CCA. That said, I have a distinct memory of signing and sending something as part of the application after I filled in a form online.

[Shotley]

So, today I received a letter from Intrum, I've scanned and attached.

They are saying they are requesting the credit agreement from the lender and will take no further action until they receive it.

I've heard nothing from Aqua in response to the SAR, both were sent same day so surprised I haven't even had an acknowledgement from Aqua.

Is there still a time limit in play for this CCA request? I'm sure some responses I've read give time frames or ask for time to find the documents but this mentions nothing. It's like it's being held indefinitely.

Thanks

[Amethyst]

Indefinately is about right, sadly. There used to be a criminal offence and unenforceability if an agreement was not provided within 12 days (plus postage time) but that was removed from the act in 2006. However your statute barred time keeps accruing. The CCA request shouldn't count as acknowledgment of the debt as you have simply asked for them to provide the agreement that they claim they have rights over and that you owe debt on.

[Shotley]

Thanks Amethyst.

It's ridiculous that DCA's can seemingly have the law changed in their favour to hold debts over the heads of people that they bought for pennies in the pound. You would think that it would be a legal requirement in the business that when purchasing a debt, all paperwork such as this should be handed over as part of the transfer; they do after all take over the responsibility of updating your records at the CRA seemingly without any need to provide any info to Experian/Equifax.That's another area I think should be looked at in law since it's grossly unfair that they don't have to show them anything to take it over.

We'll see what happens now.

[Diana M]

They are saying they are requesting the credit agreement from the lender and will take no further action until they receive it.

Is there still a time limit in play for this CCA request? I'm sure some responses I've read give time frames or ask for time to find the documents but this mentions nothing. It's like it's being held indefinitely.

This is good news not bad news.

You've received a letter from the current debt owner which (a) unequivocally acknowledges receipt of your s 77-79 CCA Request, and (b) confirms they don't have the documents in their possession.

This means the debt is unenforceable in court unless or until they comply with your request.

If that is an indefinite period of time then the delay in compliance (if ever) could be useful because your goal is for this debt to go Statute Barred prior to any claim being issued. You've posted that it will be SB "in the Autumn" so perhaps only six months to go.

What are you basing your SB prediction on?

Di