Connaught collections,statutory demand

[jadzia]

Hi,
I have been paying connaught collections with regard to an associates credit card,i made an agreement with them to pay £30 a month,i couldnt afford this,but they had dropped down to this from the original £75 they were demanding,i was so unnerved at the thought of being made bankrupt(which is what the letter instructing me to contact them said would happen),that i contacted them to make the agreement(this was a year or so ago,and had no idea of cca's and rights),for the most part,i paid this by standing order,but i couldnt afford it every month,so cancelled s/o,cos i couldnt afford bank charges either!,they would call and badger me,and then set up payments to come off my debit card,needless to say,i still couldnt afford to pay regularly.
Consequently,someone from connaught rang me and demanded i pay up,i said i did not have the money,explained that i was sorry,but had just had a bill for nearly 2ks worth of old council tax,and that would be taking priority,he said"so,you're saying you're not going to pay this?",to which i replied that at the moment it was impossible,then he got really spiteful and said "fine,i'll send you a statutary demand for bankruptcy then,shall i?"and put the phone down.
He did send one!!,so then i really panic,and phone the number on the demand,the person i needed to speak to wasn't there,so i spoke to a girl instead,who said i needed to pay her £100 to have it put on hold,said i didnt hav it,so she gave me a week to fin d it,she said this was the most she could allow because she would be personaaly accountable to their legal dept if i dint pay it,so i begged the money from my mum,and paid the £100,and then they set up payment from my card for £50 a month,saying this was now the absolute lowest they could accept,which i can afford less than the £30,obviously,put that on top of the £120 a month for outstanding ct,plus the £120 a month for the new ct,its all so crippling.
I'm sorry for such a long drawn out post,but i wanted to make sure i got it all in,my question is,was it right for them to charge me the £100,and is there anything i can do now,because they sent me this sd?,i will send them Subject Access Request and cca request,can i still do this?.
Sorry again,and thanks in advance for any advice,all gratefully recieved.

[PriorityOne]

Stat demands for bankruptcy seem to be popular scare tactic amongst DCAs. I am assuming that the girl you spoke to was instructed to feed you (and others) a pile of garbage in order to get you to cough up £100 .... because it was in their "legal department".

I would CCA them immediately.

[demon_x_slash]

As PriorityOne says, send them a CCA request. This will automatically put the account on hold while they search for the original agreement that allows them to collect this debt. If they haven't got the paperwork, then the debt is unenforceable (they won't be able to collect on it). The statutory fee for a CCA request is £1 - send it as a cheque or postal order with the CCA request and send the whole thing as a Special Delivery so you can prove they received it. At the top of the letter, put: I do not acknowledge any debt to your company. They have to come up with these documents within a certain amount of time in order to be able to collect on it. Don't worry, the threat of bankruptcy is just that: a threat. Do you know how much you have left to pay on this debt? What was the original amount?

[jadzia]

Thanks prioriy one and demon for replying,i cant remember offhand,i have the paperwork filed somewhere in the abyss that is my kitchen cupboard!!,it was roughly £1500 or so i think,dont think its much less now,i will fish out the stat demand thing and post back,i will be sending cca request first thing,im so glad i found this site,just think,i wouldnt be any where near as knowledgable now if that lovely man from chandlers bailiffs hadnt driven me to seek answers on the net!!!!!

[jadzia]

O.k,i found it!!,it doesn't say how much the original debt was for,athough on reflection,it was prob about £1400 or less,im sure the credit limit was about £1250,although i cant remember for sure,anyway,the stat demand says the amount outstanding is £1160.42 as at 24/10/06,and i have paid £350 since then,although i dont know if they kept the £100 they had for stat demand,or if it went on the account,until i get statement,it says on the demand that connaught are acting as agents for 1st credit,"the creditors",in part c it says that the original creditor is the associates,and the assignees are 1st credit ltd,part c is described as "for completion if the creditor is entitled to debt by way of assignment"

[PriorityOne]

Definately CCA to Connaught...by rec. delivery. Keep us posted.

[jadzia]

Thanks,will do

[jadzia]

Have sent cca request to connaught,so its wait and see now!.
Have also sent cca request to intrum justitia for oh,in relation to tescos credit card,we have just checked his credit file,and it has 3 rows of big black default symbols,all from tescos,they are showing as defaulting every month,even though the balance has come down from £4226 to £2370(limit was only £4k,so will be sending Subject Access Request to tescos shortly),and he pays a so of £15 a week to intrum,so hes technically not defaulting,although this leads me to conclude that ij are acting on behalf of tescos rather than that they have purchased the debt,does this sound plausable to anyone?

[meg&mog]

hi jadzia

i just found your thread just wanted to wish you luck in all this i know how worrying they are with there scary demands keep coming back if you feel a little wobbly thats what i do

good luck

[jadzia]

Thankyou!,I like to think that every awful stoy i read on this forum makes me more determined to fight these stupid people,and after the situation we had back in feb with a bully boy bailiff(see my thread in bailiff section,chandlers bailiffs),im not taking anything lying down anymore!!

[pfens]

Sent CCA to Connaught in Sept 06. Had letter back saying they did not have the information I asked for and hads passed it on to original creditor. Would I be so kind as to wait for this info? lol. Still waiting.

[Vampyra]

just posting to offer support and to see how you progress!

[jadzia]

Thanks vampyra,been following your dca encounters also!!.

O.k,both cca requests signed for this morning,so let the countdown begin!!,im off to claim £500 from barclaycard and tescos for oh now!!!

[kennyparkroad]

hi there going to follow this to see if i can help at any state

kenny

[Vampyra]

Originally Posted by jadzia

Thanks vampyra,been following your dca encounters also!!.

O.k,both cca requests signed for this morning,so let the countdown begin!!,im off to claim £500 from barclaycard and tescos for oh now!!!

My CCA's are going off today. I'm finding this all very exciting - oh dear how sad I am! LOL Sending off a few letters to twits is becoming the highlight of my week! LMAO

[jadzia]

Been hunting through cupboards trying to find something totally unrelated to dca's(didnt find what i was looking for incidentally),and i found a letter from connaught dated aug 05,and the outstanding amount states £1370.42,and as i said,im sure the limit was £1250,looks like they owe me money too!!!

[kennyparkroad]

then go chase them for it! they wouldnt hesitate!