Help - summons received from DCA

Goldlady · 26th June 2007, 22:56

Hi, my OH has received a summons from a DCA today. We have had no warning letters at all - in fact on 13 June they wrote and asked us for a statement of affairs which I duly sent on 16 June and we have had no further correspondence.

OH and I are in a mess with lots of cards and have had arrangements in place for about 18 months - interest frozen, reduced payments etc. This is one of the tiny debts (£619) whereas I owe some of my cards 10K. Because GE Money refused to reschedule our secured loan when our company went bust they recently told us to bump our credit cards and pay their arrears instead!!! This card was a GE card which has been passed to a DCA.

Spoke to CAB who told us to offer £1 to all cards. Most have accepted, including two of the bigger ones.

I have worked out that payment protection insurance which was mis-sold (OH is self employed and we tried to claim on it when company went bust and were rejected), plus unlawful charges plus compound and statutory interest works out at about £508 when they are claiming £619 so obviously I am going to put in a counter claim.

I need to know this:

Should they not have issued us with a warning letter first?

If we are negotiating a payment scheme, having adhered to the previously arranged one without fail (£20 per month) how can they suddenly out of the blue issue a summons?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

renegotiation · 26th June 2007, 23:13

If you CCA request all of them and they don't comply the debts can't be legally enforced. You can then proceed exactly how you wish to with no legal worries.

gizmo111 · 26th June 2007, 23:14

Yes they should have issued a warning letter first, same as we do on the banks, but I would think that your best bet would be to counterclaim what you owed, continue paying the £20 per month and by the time it gets to court the debt will be clear and you will avoid a CCJ.

Goldlady · 26th June 2007, 23:33

Thanks Gizmo, problem is we were offering them £1 per month for a short period due to GE secured loan arrears and we can't pay them £20 when we are paying people who we owe 10k only £1. Have so far managed to avoid any CCJs and don't need one now as trying to remortgage and get out of this mess. I would CCA them but the debt is only 4 years old so it is likely they will have the agreement - we do have a letter confirming the debt is assigned to them.

If we do send CCA letter ( I have done a few in last couple of weeks) what does that do to the court proceedings?

Thanks

rory32 · 26th June 2007, 23:38

Quote:

Yes they should have issued a warning letter first, same as we do on the banks, but I would think that your best bet would be to counterclaim what you owed, continue paying the £20 per month and by the time it gets to court the debt will be clear and you will avoid a CCJ.

I agree with gizmo. They haven't given you notice, you have kept to your agreed payment plan and nearly all of the debt is made up of unlawful charges. They would look damn silly if they ever took you to court.

gizmo111 · 26th June 2007, 23:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goldlady

Thanks Gizmo, problem is we were offering them £1 per month for a short period due to GE secured loan arrears and we can't pay them £20 when we are paying people who we owe 10k only £1. Have so far managed to avoid any CCJs and don't need one now as trying to remortgage and get out of this mess. I would CCA them but the debt is only 4 years old so it is likely they will have the agreement - we do have a letter confirming the debt is assigned to them.

If we do send CCA letter ( I have done a few in last couple of weeks) what does that do to the court proceedings?

Thanks

If you send the CCA letter and they don't produce it then the account will be in dispute, and to take it further they will need to produce the CCA in court.
I would if you can even if you ask family find a way to put the £111 aside over the next couple of months, so that if they do take it court you can pay the balance off, and then no risk of CCJ.

Is remortgaging your best option - as if you are struggling now this could have disatrous consequences.

rory32 · 26th June 2007, 23:40

Quote:

If we do send CCA letter ( I have done a few in last couple of weeks) what does that do to the court proceedings?

The CCA request would dispute the debt. They can't lawfully pursue court action while the debt is disputed (doesn't mean they might not try though).

Goldlady · 27th June 2007, 00:00

Thanks you guys - i will send cca letter in morning. Assignment letter states right to assign debt is in original agreement. Not sure what to put on response to court yet.

Gizmo - re the remortgage - we have original mortgage for 50k up to date, sec loan with GE - 8 years left - 40K with nearly 1K arrears. House worth approx 120K. GE already tried to repossess once - first mortgage co have said if we have six months ok payments they will take over GE loan as GE have refused point blank to help us in any way by extending term or changing to interest only. They are BAD people. So even if we remortgage for same amount we will save a few hundred a month as GE payment is nearly £600 a month.

renegotiation · 27th June 2007, 00:08

If they issue a County Court Summons it doesn't matter. They have to turn up in court with it. Send a CCA request to them by at least recorded delivery and enter a defense that they can't legally pursue the debt and that you are disputing the debt. 4 years old means nothing! You would be amazed how often they don't have these. Do that and see what happens. Exaxctly the same thing is currently happening to my dad. CCA request sent 15th May. No reply. We entered our defense on 11th June (last day possible). Still no reply. Our Allocation Questionaire to set a court date and final details is due back Thursday. I am waiting again to see if they supply anything. Highly unlikely. I will just reiterate our position. I bet they won't even turn up at court. They will try and trick you for all their worth. Don't buy it. CCA all of them. You can't do any harm, that's for sure! If you want any personal advice or support feel free to PM me with your telephone number and a time to ring. I will happily help you. Good luck!

Goldlady · 27th June 2007, 00:14

Another thought - worrying - are the DCA's starting to issue summonses as a knee jerk reaction to all of us who are fighting charges and sending CCA requests?

renegotiation · 27th June 2007, 00:15

Unsure about your last post. Forgot to say. Keep copies of all letters and recorded or special delivery receipts!

rory32 · 27th June 2007, 00:18

Quote:

Another thought - worrying - are the DCA's starting to issue summonses as a knee jerk reaction to all of us who are fighting charges and sending CCA requests?

No it's always been standard practice with them.

As renegotiating says you would be suprised at GE Money's record keeping. My store card with them is about 3 years old and when I sent them a CCA request all they could come up with was a copy of the application form.

Goldlady · 27th June 2007, 00:24

Thanks renegotiation - hope you don't hear anything. I have sent a few CCA letters in recent weeks - like most of us on this site I paid my dues when I could afford to but will not tolerate the way I have been treated since times became hard. I will let you know if I need more help - cheers!

Goldlady · 27th June 2007, 17:41

CCA letter on its way to them, have just filed recorded delivery receipt with copy of the letter. I like fililng stuff away - it makes me feel better.

Goldlady · 15th July 2007, 21:46

Update - sent CCA letter on 27 June - cheque cleared my account on 3 July so the 12 days is definitely up. We have heard absolutely nothing. Would it be sensible to now write the 'you have failed so please remove default notice and go away' letter or keep this as first part of defence which we need to submit by 28 July.

Thanks

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