The Woolwich, Equidebt & Heatons LLP Saga...

[spinningfish]

Hello

I've been through the motions with the Woolwich in getting my charges back, ie Subject Access Request and asking for it back, during October, November and December.

They chose to ignore my request for the charges to be returned and referred the account to Equidebt, as the account was overdrawn by £1800 - basically the charges negated that figure!!

Equidebt send me a letter citing breach of the written agreement, ie owing the Woowlich the overdraft and not paying, so I sent a request under the CCA for them to provide me with a signed copy of the agreement, with the appropriate fee. This was sent to Equidebt by recorded delivery on the 16th January.

On the 24th January I received a letter from Heatons LLP, on behalf of Equidebt ignoring my CCA request and demanding payment of the full amount. In response, I sent the following letter:

"I write in response to your letter dated 24th January 2007, and would like to refer you to my letter, dated 16th January 2007, sent to your client, Equidebt, which has seemingly been ignored by your client.

As stated to Equidebt, in the aforementioned letter dated 16th January 2007, I no longer acknowledge these debts to Equidebt, and subsequently yourselves, and I have still yet to receive the documentation requested.

I have requested true copies of the agreements Equidebt have referred to in their correspondence to me. I remind you that this is my right under the legislation contained within section 77 (1) and section 78 (1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. In addition to this, Equidebt are also required to supply signed true copies of the deeds of assignment of the above referenced agreements.

You are reminded that Equidebt are obliged to supply these documents under section 189 of the CCA 1974.

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. All further communication from either the Woolwich Plc, Equidebt or yourselves that do not recognise that this matter is ‘in dispute’, will be reported to the Financial Ombudsman and the Information Commissioner’s Office, citing contravention of section 13.6 of The Banking Code. Investigations are currently underway with The Woolwich Plc into the validity of the original amount that was claimed to be owed, and I will be in contact with you again in due course. In the meantime please be aware that, as previously stated, I consider this matter to be “in dispute”."

Well, the saga continues... Heatons LLP have sent me another letter, ignoring my communications, giving me 48hours to pay or they will commence legal action.

Please can someone advise me what I should do next?

Thanks

Mr Fish.

[Jeff2000]

Hi,

A couple of questions first.

Do you know who now owns the debt? Is it Equidebt or is it still the Woolwich?

Did you receive your statements from your Subject Access Request request?

Also, debt companies nearly always ignore letters that you write.


Jeff.

[PriorityOne]

Hi spinningfish....

I assume Heatons are solicitors ? If so, try this :

Dear Sir/Madam,

Ref : Account Number :

I refer to your letter of xx/xx/xx, which was received on xx/xx/xx

Frankly, I am surprised of the need to remind a firm of solicitors about the terms and conditions surrounding my Consumer Credit Agreement request (Consumer Credit Act, 1974); received by Equidebt on xx/xx/xx, followed by a letter dated xx/xx/xx to remind them that the above account was in dispute. I can only assume therefore that they failed to inform you.

Should you or your client now persist with threats of legal action within the next 48 hours, I will welcome the opportunity for a judge to look at several offences committed by Equidebt and yourselves under The Data Protection Act, 1988 and The Consumer Credit Act, 1974, as well as your client’s non-compliance with and total disregard for the law on this occasion.

Yours faithfully,

Adapt it to your needs, if necessary... but I think it reads ok. I am not sure whether overdrafts are covered by the CCA.... but Equidebt/Heatons would still need to produce some documentation in order to enforce the amount they claim is owed.

[spinningfish]

Thanks for this...

I actually don't know who owns the debt. It says the creditor is Woolwich on the letter, so I assume it is still with them.

This is probably why Heatons/Equidebt have chosen to ignore my letters to them - they probably don't have to provide me with anything!

Should I just get my Letter Before Action to Woolwich, directly, in that case? I can then remind them that the amount is in dispute...

[PriorityOne]

If you are claiming charges back from the Woolwich, then your LBA should go to them.... but as the threats of legal action were comng from Heatons/Equidebt, then I would think that you only need to inform them that the account is in dispute. There should be no need to inform the Woolwich unless the account has been passed back to the Woolwich.

[spinningfish]

I've told them that the account is in dispute and I will report them if they carry on.

I think I'll send your letter to them, and also the LBA to Woolwich.

Thanks

Alex

[Jeff2000]

Hello again spinnigfish,


If it is the Woolwich that still owns the debt, then I don't think Equidebt can take legal action against you.

Can somebody else will either confirm this, or correct it?


Jeff.

[PriorityOne]

Originally Posted by Jeff2000

Hello again spinnigfish,


If it is the Woolwich that still owns the debt, then I don't think Equidebt can take legal action against you.

Can somebody else will either confirm this, or correct it?


Jeff.

Yes, that is true. In order to take legal action, then the company taking that action must have the proper documentation to enforce in court. In this case, no CCA = nothing to enforce...

[Jeff2000]

Originally Posted by PriorityOne

Yes, that is true. In order to take legal action, then the company taking that action must have the proper documentation to enforce in court. In this case, no CCA = nothing to enforce...

Thanks for that PriorityOne, that's what I thought. Just wasn't 100% sure!


Jeff.

[spinningfish]

Thanks for this chaps.

Does this therefore mean that Equidebt/Heatons they are in default of the CCA request that I sent, and if so, should I still be sending the LBA to the Woolwich?

Sorry if I seem dim. Just want to do the right thing!!

Thanks again.

Fishman

[PriorityOne]

Originally Posted by spinningfish

Thanks for this chaps.

Does this therefore mean that Equidebt/Heatons they are in default of the CCA request that I sent, and if so, should I still be sending the LBA to the Woolwich?

Sorry if I seem dim. Just want to do the right thing!!

Thanks again.

Fishman

Yes, Equidebt/Heatons are in default of your CCA request... and the LBA goes to the Woolwich.

[spinningfish]

So is the debt enforcable...?

[PriorityOne]

The debt is not enforceable by Equidebt/Heatons... but it sounds as if they were acting as agents for the Woolwich. This means that they will have probably passed it back to the Woolwich by now, enabling you to deal with them directly.... which is what you intended to do in the first place.

[spinningfish]

Indeedy Do!!

They should have an LBA sitting in front of them now!!! Muhahaha!!!

Thanks for your help!!