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Hi I have been dealing with TBI finance recently over a debt they claim I owe on an old account. It all started off with Merit Finance contacting me in 2010 ten years or so after the judgement,
This is clearly statute barred but they claim this is not the case and constantly pursue me.
I’ve laid out a full sequence of events below quoting what they are saying, Please help me with what I need to do to stop them bothering me, this is ruining my life, my girlfriend has left me now she opened one of the letters and saw the alleged balance outstanding.
Thanks in advance.
The sequence of events is
1) A copy document merit sent me says they are pursuing a loan taken out with Imperial Consolidated Financiers Ltd in July 1999
2) A copy document merit sent me says payments were made in August 1999 and December 1999
3) A copy document merit sent me "request for judgement and reply to admission" shows a CCJ was registered in November 2000
4) Merit finance wrote to me in October 2010 requesting payment, they said I must pay I responded saying it must be statute barred and did an SAR on them - I had no response from them at all
5) TBI Finance contacted me in March 2013 saying
"We write to inform you that, by an agreement dated November 2012, Merit Finance Ltd sold and assigned all their rights, title and interest in, to and under, inter alia, your above Agreement and any related security and any county court judgements to TBI Financial Services LTD"
They asked me to make a proposal to them and they made a request for monthly installments and PAF Payment Alternative form. They said if I didn't respond in 14 days they
"would take necessary steps to enforce the judgement obtained against you recorded at court under the claim number at the top of the letter by one or any combination of the following a) attaching your earnings from your employer b) registering a charge on your interest in any house you own c) appointing a court bailiffs to levy on your goods and possessions and subsequently selling them towards settlement of the debt d) rendering you personally bankrupt
Any such action will also incur further costs which the court may award against you"
6) I wrote to TBI and told them about the letters to Merit finance and that I had no response.
7) TBI wrote to me and said
“I note we received a copy of an apparent letter sent to Merit Finance in December requesting a copy of any data held. Be advised that I am in receipt of Merit Finances full file and this letter has never been received by them, despite them been in correspondence with you and replying to a letter dated August 2010 in which you state the account is statute barred and a further letter in November 2010 where you indicate you were not aware of any county court judgement. It is quite clear that Merit tried to resolve the matter with you amicably but without success.”
8) They said they would take the steps previously advised in the last letter so I wrote to them in April and said
“ALL CORRESPONDENCE WITH MERIT FINANCE WAS SENT RECORDED DELIVERY.
I always receive assistance with writing letters from my partner and family as well as advice from the local Citizens Advice Bureau. Notes are always taken at meetings.
If you do not stop contacting me I will make a complaint to the financial ombudsman and other authorities about you”
9) They wrote back in April saying they got my letter and it was clear I wasn’t willing to work amicably. They sent me a copy for information of the original credit agreement, details of the court claim, settlement of account showing two payments made in 1999 and a copy of their complaints procedure. They told me they were instructing their solicitors to deal with the situation now.
10) I did nothing and received a letter from David Jones Solicitors (same address) in June, they introduced themselves and they reiterated the four points about earnings, interest in any house, court bailiffs and bankruptcy. They said any action would add up costs that a court would award against me. They gave me 7 days.
11) I wrote back to David Jones and TBI and said
“I dispute any claims made by you or linked companies.
Merit Finance did not respond to my statutory requests for information so I repeat the request to you.
While I acknowledge no debt to your company I would be grateful if you would comply with the following:
Please would you kindly provide full and complete copies of any and all data you hold which relates to me and my entire history with your company. I have enclosed the statutory maximum of £10.
For the avoidance of doubt, take note that the enclosed cheque/Postal Order is payment for the fee relating to my Subject access request only and not a payment of any other kind or to be used for any other purpose.
For your convenience I have detailed below a list of what I require, although this is not an exhaustive list by any means and is just an example of some of the information I require with regard to any accounts I may have had or may still have with your company or with any company you claim to be representing.
- Computer screen notes
-. Internal messages or notes
-. Internal messages or notes relating to transactions
-. Recordings of any telephone conversations, whether internal or external
-. Copies of any e-mail's, or other electronic communications, whether internal or external
-. Copies of letters
-. All information relating to litigation or pre-litigation
-. A detailed statement of account showing a breakdown of all costs charged, showing in each case the reason for the cost and the actual cost against that item
-. Copies of all reviews conducted
-. Copies of all other paperwork including all application forms held
-. Copies of any and all documentation issued
-. Any information you hold regarding any court proceedings already undertaken or any pre-litigation information you hold including, but not specifically limited to:
Initial POC
Court judgment information
Court judgment awarded against what debt, and the original lender
When the court judgment awarded
Full details of the original claimant
Any other documents / information in relation to litigation or pre-litigation
- All correspondence sent to all parties with proof of delivery relating to change of ownership of account / debt
I trust that the above is clear and should you be in any doubt as to your obligations as a Data Controller, then I would advise that you consult your corporate counsel.
I have enclosed the statutory maximum fee of £10.You have 40 days in which to comply.
If there is specific information which you require in order to satisfy yourself as to my identity, please write to me.
12) David Jones wrote back to me in July and sent a pack with information they said I could have in accordance with sec 7 of the data protection act 1998. They said they trusted I would be making them proposals. They sent me screen notes detailing the full trail of how they went about contacting people at addresses and using agencies that I am not happy about using unscrupulous methods.
13) They didn’t send any copies of transfer of account or ownership or original application forms etc so I wrote back with a tick box for them next to the list of points above asking them to explain why they were unable to send everything of what I asked for.
14) They wrote to me last week saying
“We confirm that our client does not have to provide you with manual records held on file under Section 7 of the data protection act 1998, as these records are not held in a relevant filing system” Then they say they look forward to hearing about proposals to pay.
This is clearly statute barred but they claim this is not the case and constantly pursue me.
I’ve laid out a full sequence of events below quoting what they are saying, Please help me with what I need to do to stop them bothering me, this is ruining my life, my girlfriend has left me now she opened one of the letters and saw the alleged balance outstanding.
Thanks in advance.
The sequence of events is
1) A copy document merit sent me says they are pursuing a loan taken out with Imperial Consolidated Financiers Ltd in July 1999
2) A copy document merit sent me says payments were made in August 1999 and December 1999
3) A copy document merit sent me "request for judgement and reply to admission" shows a CCJ was registered in November 2000
4) Merit finance wrote to me in October 2010 requesting payment, they said I must pay I responded saying it must be statute barred and did an SAR on them - I had no response from them at all
5) TBI Finance contacted me in March 2013 saying
"We write to inform you that, by an agreement dated November 2012, Merit Finance Ltd sold and assigned all their rights, title and interest in, to and under, inter alia, your above Agreement and any related security and any county court judgements to TBI Financial Services LTD"
They asked me to make a proposal to them and they made a request for monthly installments and PAF Payment Alternative form. They said if I didn't respond in 14 days they
"would take necessary steps to enforce the judgement obtained against you recorded at court under the claim number at the top of the letter by one or any combination of the following a) attaching your earnings from your employer b) registering a charge on your interest in any house you own c) appointing a court bailiffs to levy on your goods and possessions and subsequently selling them towards settlement of the debt d) rendering you personally bankrupt
Any such action will also incur further costs which the court may award against you"
6) I wrote to TBI and told them about the letters to Merit finance and that I had no response.
7) TBI wrote to me and said
“I note we received a copy of an apparent letter sent to Merit Finance in December requesting a copy of any data held. Be advised that I am in receipt of Merit Finances full file and this letter has never been received by them, despite them been in correspondence with you and replying to a letter dated August 2010 in which you state the account is statute barred and a further letter in November 2010 where you indicate you were not aware of any county court judgement. It is quite clear that Merit tried to resolve the matter with you amicably but without success.”
8) They said they would take the steps previously advised in the last letter so I wrote to them in April and said
“ALL CORRESPONDENCE WITH MERIT FINANCE WAS SENT RECORDED DELIVERY.
I always receive assistance with writing letters from my partner and family as well as advice from the local Citizens Advice Bureau. Notes are always taken at meetings.
If you do not stop contacting me I will make a complaint to the financial ombudsman and other authorities about you”
9) They wrote back in April saying they got my letter and it was clear I wasn’t willing to work amicably. They sent me a copy for information of the original credit agreement, details of the court claim, settlement of account showing two payments made in 1999 and a copy of their complaints procedure. They told me they were instructing their solicitors to deal with the situation now.
10) I did nothing and received a letter from David Jones Solicitors (same address) in June, they introduced themselves and they reiterated the four points about earnings, interest in any house, court bailiffs and bankruptcy. They said any action would add up costs that a court would award against me. They gave me 7 days.
11) I wrote back to David Jones and TBI and said
“I dispute any claims made by you or linked companies.
Merit Finance did not respond to my statutory requests for information so I repeat the request to you.
While I acknowledge no debt to your company I would be grateful if you would comply with the following:
Data Protection Act 1998 Subject access request
Please would you kindly provide full and complete copies of any and all data you hold which relates to me and my entire history with your company. I have enclosed the statutory maximum of £10.
For the avoidance of doubt, take note that the enclosed cheque/Postal Order is payment for the fee relating to my Subject access request only and not a payment of any other kind or to be used for any other purpose.
For your convenience I have detailed below a list of what I require, although this is not an exhaustive list by any means and is just an example of some of the information I require with regard to any accounts I may have had or may still have with your company or with any company you claim to be representing.
- Computer screen notes
-. Internal messages or notes
-. Internal messages or notes relating to transactions
-. Recordings of any telephone conversations, whether internal or external
-. Copies of any e-mail's, or other electronic communications, whether internal or external
-. Copies of letters
-. All information relating to litigation or pre-litigation
-. A detailed statement of account showing a breakdown of all costs charged, showing in each case the reason for the cost and the actual cost against that item
-. Copies of all reviews conducted
-. Copies of all other paperwork including all application forms held
-. Copies of any and all documentation issued
-. Any information you hold regarding any court proceedings already undertaken or any pre-litigation information you hold including, but not specifically limited to:
Initial POC
Court judgment information
Court judgment awarded against what debt, and the original lender
When the court judgment awarded
Full details of the original claimant
Any other documents / information in relation to litigation or pre-litigation
- All correspondence sent to all parties with proof of delivery relating to change of ownership of account / debt
I trust that the above is clear and should you be in any doubt as to your obligations as a Data Controller, then I would advise that you consult your corporate counsel.
I have enclosed the statutory maximum fee of £10.You have 40 days in which to comply.
If there is specific information which you require in order to satisfy yourself as to my identity, please write to me.
12) David Jones wrote back to me in July and sent a pack with information they said I could have in accordance with sec 7 of the data protection act 1998. They said they trusted I would be making them proposals. They sent me screen notes detailing the full trail of how they went about contacting people at addresses and using agencies that I am not happy about using unscrupulous methods.
13) They didn’t send any copies of transfer of account or ownership or original application forms etc so I wrote back with a tick box for them next to the list of points above asking them to explain why they were unable to send everything of what I asked for.
14) They wrote to me last week saying
“We confirm that our client does not have to provide you with manual records held on file under Section 7 of the data protection act 1998, as these records are not held in a relevant filing system” Then they say they look forward to hearing about proposals to pay.
however, if the creditor has made no attempt to enforce the judgment in 10 years, they will have to go back to the court to attempt enforcement and the court is likely to take a dim view of the fact that it was left so long. :confused2:
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