Letter from Reston Solicitors - Cabot Finance

[BrightonRose]

Hi all, and thanks in advance.

I have received a letter today from Reston Solicitors, saying that they have been instructed by Cabolt to proceed with CC proceedings to get a CCJ, if I do not reply by Thursday 25 September with full payment, or fill our the income expenditure form etc and possibly they will enter into a payment plan.

I do not argue with the debt, its an old credit card from the Halifax, that I had entered into a payment plan with, and this was in situe for some years, however I changed bank accounts and with that I did not set up a new standing order, hence now I am in this situation. No doubt a situation I regret.

As you can imagine, I am worrying myself senseless, after receiving the letter today, Im now in full on panic mode.

I am going to respond to the letter and make an offer of payment.

However, from what I have read about Restons they seem to be most disagreeable, and by the looks of it they are going to refuse my offer and go for a charging order on my home.

My position is this; I am self employed, I run a B&B, and make very little money and have been in some financial distress for some years. But every year I hope it will get better.. Im on all sorts of pills and potions from my Dr because of the stress of trying to keep it all together, which I am...just...

I have heard that Restons are very keen to get charging orders on your home. But if my home is my business can they do this? This debt is not a business debt, it was a credit card that I had years ago circa 2003/4.

Do I point this out to them on my response letter?

Am I looking at this from the wrong angle? Is a charging order that bad? I would much prefer coming to some payment plan arrangement, rather then a CCJ.. or a charging order. Im self employed and it can be very bad for me.

Im trying to think of the worst case scenario and trying to avoid it. I dont want to put my foot in it by saying the wrong thing.

I would appreciate any advice.

Many thanks

B

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Letter from Reston Solicitors - Cabot Finance

Welcome aboard

Hi all, and thanks in advance.

I have received a letter today from Reston Solicitors, saying that they have been instructed by Cabolt to proceed with CC proceedings to get a CCJ, if I do not reply by Thursday 25 September with full payment, or fill our the income expenditure form etc and possibly they will enter into a payment plan.

I do not argue with the debt, its an old credit card from the Halifax, that I had entered into a payment plan with, and this was in situe for some years, however I changed bank accounts and with that I did not set up a new standing order, hence now I am in this situation. No doubt a situation I regret.

As you can imagine, I am worrying myself senseless, after receiving the letter today, Im now in full on panic mode.

I am going to respond to the letter and make an offer of payment.

Up to you whether you want to do that or you want to challenge them to produce the documents they'd rely on if they were to issue a claim, which more often than not, they won't be able to supply. In many cases, a suitable response to a letter before action can stave off court action. :thumb: If you've not paid in a few years, any repayment offer would reset the clock for the purpose of limitation :scared: so thread very carefully there.

You should also send a CCA request to Cabot for a copy of your agreement, if you look at other threads, you'll find they often struggle to find anything and even after they've issued a claim, they still can't come up with the goods and have to discontinue or beg for an extension to try and obtain the paperwork from the original creditor who would be in no rush to provide it as they'd have no interest in the account.

This is the usual response to a letter before action in accordance with the Practice Direction Pre-Action Conduct:

Dear Sirs

Ref: xxxx

Thank 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 3 of the Practice Direction Pre-Action Conduct, which states: “before commencing proceedings, the court will expect the parties to have exchanged sufficient information to (a) understand each other’s position; (b) make decisions about how to proceed;”Paragraph 6 states “the parties should exchange correspondence and information to comply with the objectives“ and Paragraph 6 (c) of refers to “the parties disclosing key documents relevant to the issues in dispute.” My request refers to the documents I require to obtain the necessary information to assess my position in this case.
I require copies of the following:

1. The original credit agreement;
2. The Default Notice
3. The Notice of Assignment;
4. 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. Additionally, there is a duty to supply documents under the Consumer Credit Act 1974. A request has been made under s.78 on xx/xxxx/2015 and I am awaiting a response.
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 faithfully,

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Letter from Reston Solicitors - Cabot Finance

However, from what I have read about Restons they seem to be most disagreeable, and by the looks of it they are going to refuse my offer and go for a charging order on my home.

My position is this; I am self employed, I run a B&B, and make very little money and have been in some financial distress for some years. But every year I hope it will get better.. Im on all sorts of pills and potions from my Dr because of the stress of trying to keep it all together, which I am...just...

I have heard that Restons are very keen to get charging orders on your home. But if my home is my business can they do this? This debt is not a business debt, it was a credit card that I had years ago circa 2003/4.

First of all, they can't just get a charging order out of the blue, they'd have to issue a claim and obtain judgment before they can apply for a charging order. Depending on the paperwork they have, you may be able to successfully defend the claim, even more so since it's a card from before 2007, which means a court cannot enforce it unless there had been a proper agreement with all the prescribed terms to start with. Failing that, if a claim was issued and they had enforceable paperwork :flypig: :flypig: you could always settle via a Tomlin order as a last resort, to avoid a CCJ. :thumb:

How much is the outstanding amount?

A charging order can be recorded against a property you own in your own name or against your beneficial interest in a jointly owned property, even if you use it as a business. However, A charging order merely secures the debt, it wouldn't mean losing the property.

Do I point this out to them on my response letter?

Absolutely NOT! :

No need to even mention charging orders at this stage!

Am I looking at this from the wrong angle? Is a charging order that bad? I would much prefer coming to some payment plan arrangement, rather then a CCJ.. or a charging order. Im self employed and it can be very bad for me.

See above. :grin:

[BrightonRose]

Re: Letter from Reston Solicitors - Cabot Finance

Many thanks for your responses. Which I will go over carefully and consider my options.


They have also sent me a Income and Expenditure to fill in. But was a bit shocked by how much information they wanted to know, such as:

Assets:
Address of Property owned* This was the only question with an * in that section.
Purchased for:
Date of purchase
Amount of Mortgage
Value ?
Period of mortgage remaining
for Sale yes/no?

They have put on the form: Fields marked with an * are mandatory and must be completed to ensure we fully consider your circumstances.

So I am just going to fill in the "Address of property owned" part. Im not sure why they would want all the other information, only for their purposes.

I am going to bit of research on the best ways to fill out the form, and have a look at the forum, they may be more information.

I will be back!!

B.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Letter from Reston Solicitors - Cabot Finance

Many thanks for your responses. Which I will go over carefully and consider my options.

They have also sent me a Income and Expenditure to fill in. But was a bit shocked by how much information they wanted to know, such as:

Assets:
Address of Property owned* This was the only question with an * in that section.
Purchased for:
Date of purchase
Amount of Mortgage
Value ?
Period of mortgage remaining
for Sale yes/no?

They have put on the form: Fields marked with an * are mandatory and must be completed to ensure we fully consider your circumstances.

So I am just going to fill in the "Address of property owned" part. Im not sure why they would want all the other information, only for their purposes.

I am going to bit of research on the best ways to fill out the form, and have a look at the forum, they may be more information.

I'd like to stop you right there if I may, :hand: before you hurt yourself so to speak! :sad:

You are under no obligation to fill in such a form, and they have some cheek to say that fields marked with an * are mandatory. :rant: :rant: :rant:They have no authority to require you to answer such questions. :mad2:

Cheeky sods!

ONLY A COURT can demand that you fill in an income and expenditure form. :juge:

There are times when it may well be advisable to submit one of your own volition to get a creditor to agree to a repayment offer but you'd submit your own form with your INCOME AND EXPENDITURE details ONLY, which would NOT include any details regarding assets such as property. :scared:

In this case I'd suggest sending just the letter posted here to start with: http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...084#post575084

That should put the ball firmly in THEIR court and it will be THEM having to supply you with documents.

I have a few suggestions regarding what to do with those income and expenditure forms from Restons but I'm not going to post them up because I don't want to get banned. :censored: I leave that to your imagination... :grin:

[Berniethebolt]

Re: Letter from Reston Solicitors - Cabot Finance

I agree with FP
STOP they are messing with your head

Get that CCA request off as soon as possible
Does the letter refer to itself as a letter of claim or letter before action? If it does you can be asking for more info but the CCA request is a must.

A few years ago when I was just getting to grips with my debts I sent CCA requests off to all my debtors, it was only recently when I was going through my files that I found a letter from a debt collection agency headed letter of claim, they were about to take me to court. It was pure luck that I sent off the CCA request . Anyway moving on a couple of years and the creditors wrote to me closing the account and removing the default. It was only £500 which in the scheme of my dents is about 1% but every little helps.

Can I ask, when did you last make a payment on the card and can you remember who it was with when you first opened it (so many card names have changed hands it is sometimes hard to keep track)

[BrightonRose]

Re: Letter from Reston Solicitors - Cabot Finance

I agree with FP
STOP they are messing with your head Yes they are and it hurts!!!

Get that CCA request off as soon as possible
Does the letter refer to itself as a letter of claim or letter before action? If it does you can be asking for more info but the CCA request is a must.

Im going to try and post the letter up so you can see for yourself, but it says "Re: Cabot Financial (UK) Limited v. Yourself Account Number: *** **** ****

A few years ago when I was just getting to grips with my debts I sent CCA requests off to all my debtors, it was only recently when I was going through my files that I found a letter from a debt collection agency headed letter of claim, they were about to take me to court. It was pure luck that I sent off the CCA request . Anyway moving on a couple of years and the creditors wrote to me closing the account and removing the default. It was only £500 which in the scheme of my dents is about 1% but every little helps. That must of been great news!

Can I ask, when did you last make a payment on the card and can you remember who it was with when you first opened it (so many card names have changed hands it is sometimes hard to keep track)

Probably the last payment was around January 2015, the card was originally Halifax I think it must be around 2003/04 time when I first had the card, I owe approx 13k on it.

[BrightonRose]

Re: Letter from Reston Solicitors - Cabot Finance

Thank you for all the advice.

I attach the letter which I received, and their income expenditure form for info!

Ive got to get my head around all this. So far I can see two ways to go:

1. I reply with an income and expenditure form, not their one, but my own and add in my letter some information why I am using my own form rather then theirs. I will offer what I can afford, which will be between £30 - £50 a month. I don't want to go in too high, for sure they are going to ask me for more. But in their letter, they did say (3rd paragraph down) "......... we are instructed to request that the Court grants a Judgment in Default by installments of £50 per month.......etc

So perhaps they would be willing to except my offer of £50 a month? Or will this just be a temporary measure and they will begin hassling/threatening me again in a few months down the line?


2. Send the "letter before action in accordance with the Practice Direction Pre-Action Conduct"

Send off a CCA request - to Cabot.
Wait and see what they have?
and then what do I do?

Do you think they will still be open to negotiations, or just get tougher on me?

May be they will find no agreement and then its all over!
My ideal outcome, I suppose would be to come to some agreed payment plan, and I would quite happily stick to that. But I suppose then It will never end.. I just need the quieter path...I don't have much fight left in me....

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Letter from Reston Solicitors - Cabot Finance

I would suggest sending the CCA request to Cabot and the pre-action conduct response letter to start with. What they have sent you amounts to a letter of claim and under the pre-action conduct you are supposed to reply to it accordingly so you would be doing exactly what's expected of you according to the law. For reference: https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/pr...action_conduct

Steps before issuing a claim at court

6. Where there is a relevant pre-action protocol, the parties should comply with that protocol before commencing proceedings. Where there is no relevant pre-action protocol, the parties should exchange correspondence and information to comply with the objectives in paragraph 3, bearing in mind that compliance should be proportionate. The steps will usually include—
(a) the claimant writing to the defendant with concise details of the claim. The letter should include the basis on which the claim is made, a summary of the facts, what the claimant wants from the defendant, and if money, how the amount is calculated;
(b) the defendant responding within a reasonable time - 14 days in a straight forward case and no more than 3 months in a very complex one. The reply should include confirmation as to whether the claim is accepted and, if it is not accepted, the reasons why, together with an explanation as to which facts and parts of the claim are disputed and whether the defendant is making a counterclaim as well as providing details of any counterclaim; and
(c) the parties disclosing key documents relevant to the issues in dispute.

If they were to issue a claim they would still be required to supply you with the documents they intend to rely on, they can't just issue a claim and win (unless you fail to respond and they request default judgment :scared.

Bear in mind it is possible to negotiate at any time, right up to the hearing date. If they issued a claim and supplied you with proper documents :flypig: then you could negotiate at that stage. Do keep that letter safe just in case, to show they were willing to accept £50 a month.

[BrightonRose]

Re: Letter from Reston Solicitors - Cabot Finance

OK letters have been sent off, they should of received them today. I will post what they say I hope it all goes well....

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Letter from Reston Solicitors - Cabot Finance

OK letters have been sent off, they should of received them today. I will post what they say I hope it all goes well....

Best of luck ray: and keep us posted. :typing:

[Bexta140790]

Re: Letter from Reston Solicitors - Cabot Finance

I have received pretty much the same letter this morning. I think the debt is for a catalogue though rather than a card. Who do I send the CCA to? Reston's or Cabot?

[Kati]

Re: Letter from Reston Solicitors - Cabot Finance

I have received pretty much the same letter this morning. I think the debt is for a catalogue though rather than a card. Who do I send the CCA to? Reston's or Cabot?

CCA goes to Cabot as per this link - http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...y-of-Agreement

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Letter from Reston Solicitors - Cabot Finance

I have received pretty much the same letter this morning. I think the debt is for a catalogue though rather than a card. Who do I send the CCA to? Reston's or Cabot?

…and the response posted here goes to Restons, CCA request and the rest of it still applies to a catalogue account: http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...084#post575084 :thumb:

[Berniethebolt]

Re: Letter from Reston Solicitors - Cabot Finance

Bexta
To be fair to everyone and not confuse the senile amongst us could you start a new thread and maybe just post a link here

Ta
BtB