Cabot and Commercial Collection Services

[blakep]

Hi All,
Im after a little advice, I have recieved a letter from Commercial Collection Services Ltd as below

Debt: 1180.31

Both our clients COBOT FINANCIAL (EUROPE)LIMITED and we have written to you before, without response.
We have now been instructed by our clients to write to you offering a final opportunity to repay your account in full and have your credit rating improved as a result of this. In order to settle THE ENTIRE BALANCE of your debt, our clients will accept a reduction of your balance in settlement of monies due. That offer includes an undertaking to add NO FURTHER CHARGES to your balance.
So send us within 7 days the amount of £820.32 to settle the entire matter. IF YOU CANNOT MANAGE THIS WITHIN 7 DAYS BUT WISH TO ACCEPT THIS OFFER, CALL US ANYWAY ON 0870 112 1428.
Our clients believe that such an offer is more than reasonable and, if it not accepted, the prospect is that they will persue the full balance, together with all intressts due, backdated. If you are a homeowner, they could also place a charge on your property. if they do you will be unable to sell the property AT ANY TIME in the future without discharging your debt. and theres no question that credit will be extremely difficult to aquire, or it will be at a high cost.


Now the only debt i am aware of that i have not paid was a barclaycard debt in 1993 .. , it is also the first i have heard of from commercial collection services, i have in the past had a couple of letters from cabot which have found the way into the shredder.
Do i just sit back and see if they carry on sending me letters, and will just give up, or should i be taking a more pro-active approach ?

I have ordered a copy of my credit file, would they be able to register a default for a debt that old ? i have not had any problems in the past 5 yeasr getting any form of credit and i certainly dont want it to become a problem.

Thanks

[andrew1]

I see no obvious connections through my searches between Commercial Collection Services and Cabot. It suprises me to see one DCA passing to another especially Cabot. You have spelt Cabot as 'COBOT' is this a cut and paste of the actual letter? - could be a typo but certainly looks like a Cabot Financial Europe Ltd set up. I would suggest a CCA request to Commercial Collection Services Ltd thus:


I do not acknowledge ANY debt to your company.

I require you to supply the following documentation before I will correspond further on this matter.

1. You must supply me with a true copy of the alleged agreement you refer to. This is my right under your obligation to supply a copy of the agreement under the legislation contained within s.78 (1) Consumer Credit Act 1974 (s.77 (1) for fixed sum credit) - your obligation also extends to providing a statement of account. I enclose a £1 postal order in payment of the statutory fee, PO Serial Number xxxxx.

2. A signed true copy of the deed of assignment of the above referenced agreement that you allege exists.

3. You are notified that you are obliged to supply these documents, whether you are the original creditor or not under S189 of the CCA 1974.

Non-compliance with my request is a criminal offence under the above Act and will result in a report being submitted to the relevant statutory authorities.

As you are aware, a credit agreement that is not properly documented and signed by the customer is totally unenforceable under the CCA and therefore is a complete defence to any court claim that is issued.

Take note at this stage, that any legal action you may contemplate will be both vigorously defended and contested.


Yours Faithfully


This is probably, as you say an old debt they are chancing their arm on, but better to be safe than sorry. If you have had no contact or acknowledgement of the debt for over 6 years it would be statute barred but you need to have them identify what the debt actually is first but DO NOT acknowledge any debt until they have come up with all supporting documentation to show they have a right to ask you for anything at all.

[blakep]

Hi,
thanks for the reply, it was a typo on my part and is Cabot. I will send them this letter off in the morning and see what response, if any i get.
What are the rules on a debt over 6 years old, you mention no contact. doe this mean they can allege they have been sending mail out every 5 1/2 years ? or is contact a two way thing where i would have had to have responded.

Thanks

[andrew1]

I believe a debt is statute barred if no contact has been made, It would be strange if they had been posting letters for 5.5yrs and you never received one at all. There is a thread on accounts over 6 years and the statute of limitation issues which you might like to have a look over. Just search using the search button above and then you can tailor the answers there to your own situation. In the mean time I'd sit and wait for the response from the CCA request and once they reply to that ( if at all ) you will be able to make a clear decision on what to do. Most of all - Don't worry about it - we'll talk you through it as it happens.

[tbern123]

Thanks for Turnaround telling me about this thread...

Ok check with companies house, can you check the address on your letter for me ?

COMMERCIAL COLLECTION SERVICES LIMITED
797 LONDON ROAD
THORNTON HEATH
SURREY
CR7 6YY
Company No. 02326104

WebCHeck - Select and Access Company Information

Please note:
Accounting Reference Date: 31/03
Last Accounts Made Up To: 31/03/2005 (DORMANT)
Next Accounts Due: 31/01/2007
Last Return Made Up To: 07/12/2004
Next Return Due: 04/01/2006 OVERDUE

This is from the Information Commissioners Office
http://www.esd.informationcommission...d/DoSearch.asp

Thanks....

[blakep]

Hi Tbern 123,
Yes thats the one, il have a guess if they cant even do thier co house return on time, then the chances of the rest of thier paperwork being in order are fairly slim.

Thanks

[ukwades]

I've just received a letter from CCS claiming I owe Lloyds TSB Bank Plc £810.34 from a credit card opened in Dec 2000. I only entered the country in July 2005, and opened a credit card in August 2006.

I have phoned Lloyds who know nothing of this, but I'm being threatened with all sorts of court actions, etc. if I do nothing. What do you advise?

They have now sent a court order letter ordering me to pay charges worth over £200, total amount £1049.85.

What can I do?

[Seahorse]

Well, as the supposed Original Creditor doesn't have a clue about this, then CCS sure as heck won't have any paperwork to back their threats up.

Write and demand they show you proof of the debt. CCA them and make sure you tell them you do not acknowledge the debt.

Putting a wee bit in there about the fact that you were not even resident in the UK at the time that the debts were supposedly incurred will perhaps make them sit up and take notice. As will a threat to report them to the Financial Ombudsman et al, and a hint that you will consider litigation of your own if they don't stop their criminal harassment for a non existent debt.

[Homer77]

Hi All,

As you may have noticed I am new here.

I am in similar sort of situation too with Cabot.

In my case:

>I moved from that address since about 5 years (when I had the store card).

>they just sent me a letter claiming the are acting on behalf of ARG card services. In their fisrt letter (which I discarded already) they wrote that they have have been informed that I have moved to this address (present address).

>However, in between I lived at a different 2 addresses for the past 5 years

>they are writing my surname wrongly (letter missing)

>Does the statute of limitation apply?

> how did they find out that I just moved to a new address?


>How can I get out of this mess?


Please help

Thank you all