Thread: Debt Collection Agencies

It is also worth asking them to supply a true copy of the original signed agreement. You need to request this under Consumer Credit Act and send a postal order (not a cheque if you can avoid it) for £1. The following text is nicked from the debthelpuk forum:

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.

The deed of assignment line should only be used if the debt has been purchased by a debt collection agency. If they fail to provide the copy agreement within 12 days then court action can only take place with permission of a judge. After 30 days the creditor commits a criminal offence and can be reported to the OFT and Trading Standards.

Cabot are, to it mildly, debt buying parasites who scavenge through the trash of the financial service industry hoping to pick up a few tasty morsels. Challenge everything they do. If you think the debt is statute barred, challenge them to provide that it is isn't. Challenge them to produce a copy of the original agreement. If they start charging interest challenge them to prove that it says they can do this in the original agreement. Above all. if they have purchased a debt which includes penalty charges, challenge them over this. If the debt is actually exceeded by the penalty charges they have levied, go through the process set out on this site and get the excess back.

I loathe and detest Cabot and everything they stand for. If anyone is having problems with them, please feel free to pm me as I am more than happy to help.

I take it you have some experience of Cabot? Anything tastey that might be of interest here? debt collection agencies were the bain of my life for nearly two years after I borrowed on personal lending/credit cards to try & keep my buisness alive after Sept 11 and I have had many a run in with them. You might stimulate some unsavoury memories for me to include here for the benefit of others!

Hi, was wondering if anyone could help me? I had a run in with Cabot a few years ago and have been paying them off ever since as i was terified as to what they were going to do. I did at one point ask for a Breakdown of what i owed and why from them but all i received was a blank piece of paper with the total amount outstanding written on it. I didnt give it a second thought really, just thought this is what i owed as they said they hadnt added any extra charges!! Im still paying this off (nearly finished very soon actually) is there any way i can find out if they have added massive charges to this or am i too late? This debt goes back a few years now!

Who was the debt purchased from and how long ago? Do you have any of the original paperwork?

Hi, the debt was purchased from Barclays apporox 6 to 7 years ago. I dont have any original paperwork from them at all, maybe just a few of their original letters telling me they wanted payment. Thats all I have ever received from them! I have been paying them for the past 3 years and the most help i got from them was when i registered with their website, it tells me how much i have left to pay! lol And thats IT! Not very helpful at all really! In the beginning they did say, over the phone, that they would remove their "charges" but as all i ever got from them was a piece of paper with full outstanding amount i've no idea if they ever did! They have had me completely confused since the beginning! (Must stress i had JUST given birth to my daughter when they came sniffing around so wasnt in my best frame of mind!)

I would suggest ( and I'm not expert ) before the debt is repaid you send a DPA letter (copy in the FAQ's ) enclosing the £10 and ask for a full Breakdown of all charges for the full six years. I'd also ask for a copy of any default notices they have, interest you have paid and from when and at what rate. I'd also write to Barclaycard asking the same information if you feel there have been charges applied. Bear in mind Cabot probably only paid somewhere in the region of 10% of the original debt and I'd hazard a guess that they don't have any documentation to support this account from my experience of them. However, you can be assured there will be penalty charges etc which you'll be able to reclaim. Come back once you have their reply, I can see there are a few of us out here with experiences of Cabot who will help you.

Thank you so much for your help with this! In a strange way its nice to know we are not alone in being bullied by these companies! Im off to sort out that letter right now! Will be back as soon as i find anything out! Thanks again and good luck!!!

Sorry, life got a bit busy today and I haven't been around as miuch as usual.

From what I know of Cabot they are quite lazy and I don't know of anyone who has actually been taken to court by them. They seem to rely on persistent phone calls and intimidating letters to "persuade" people to pay.

Before dealing with them you should get them to prove that there is an enforceable debt (using the letter in my earlier post) and that the debt was properly assigned to them. Make them work for their money.

As Andrew has pointed out they buy debts for peanuts and then not only try to collect the full amount but add on their own charges and interest. It's by no means unusual to find that they won't provide statements or breakdowns and I believe that this is unlawful.

If anyone has a debt that has been passed to them and that includes charges you should go down the step by step guide and ask for them back. Cabot are the legal owner of the debt and are responsible for it. If they have to go back to the original creditor becauise they were sold a pup that's their problem.

The only other point I would add is that you should carefully examine any alleged copies of original documents that they send you and make sure that the signature is genuine. Do not assume that anything you receive from them is complete, correct or genuine. Check everything.

Hi again, im about to begin to tackle Cabot and need clarification, is my first step to ask them to supply a true copy of the original signed agreement enlosing the £1 p.o to clarify the original debt outstanding? Then request a statement of original debt plus all their charges? Its just with them not dishing out statements like the banks do im not sure what exactly i need to get from them first! Any advice would be GREAT im stil VERY new to all this and the way Cabot have treated me over the last few years leaves a lot to be desired!!!! I want to get it RIGHT so they dont have a leg to stand on!

As you are already paying them, getting the original agreement won't help very much.

You should do a Data Protection Act enquiry (using the template in the Library) and make it very clear in the letter that you require a full statement of the account for the past 6 years. Explicitly state that this includes the account history preior to the sale of the debt to Cabot.

If the debt is sold then the original creditor is obliged by law to inform the debtor that this has been done.

Hey again everyone, do you guys think this is ok to send off to Cabot?? :

Data Protection Act Disclosure Request

Dear Sir/Madam

ACCOUNT NUMBER: xxxxxxxxx

Please supply me with a complete list of transactions and charges relating to my account since January 1999 or exact date which you took over my account, this includes the account history prior to the sale of the debt to Cabot. Alternatively a complete set of statements for that period will be acceptable. I also ask for a copy of any default notices you hold, interest I have paid, from when, and at what rate.

Additionally where there has been any event in my account history over this period which has required manual intervention by any member of your staff or any other person, I require disclosure of any indication or notes which have either caused or resulted in that manual intervention or other evidence of that manual intervention in relation to my business with you.

If you are unable to supply data relating to manual intervention because there has been no such manual intervention then please be kind as to confirm this in your response to this request.

I enclose the statutory maximum fee of £10. You have 40 days in which to comply. Furthermore, if I discover that you have levied disproportionate penalties against me then I shall be reclaiming them and also reclaiming the enclosed £10 DPA disclosure fee.


Yours faithfully,

BLAH BLAH BLAH

Try this:

Dear Sir/Madam

ACCOUNT NUMBER: xxxxxxxxx

Please supply me with a complete list of transactions and charges relating to my account for the past six years including the period prior to your purchase of the account. I also require a copy of any default notices that have been issued, interest I have paid, from when, and at what rate.

Additionally where there has been any event in my account history over this period which has required manual intervention by any member of your staff or any other person, I require disclosure of any indication or notes which have either caused or resulted in that manual intervention or other evidence of that manual intervention in relation to my business with you.

If you are unable to supply data relating to manual intervention because there has been no such manual intervention then please be kind as to confirm this in your response to this request.

I enclose the statutory maximum fee of £10. You have 40 days in which to comply. Furthermore, if I discover that disproportionate penalties have been levied against me I shall be reclaiming them and also reclaiming the enclosed £10 DPA disclosure fee. If you fail to provide this information by the end of the statutory period I will make a complaint to the Information Commissioner and also raise the matter with my local Trading Standards department.


Yours faithfully,

BLAH BLAH BLAH

Thank you SO much! That sounds much better! Its in the post today, will let you know what happens next.....

I too am having terrible trouble getting Cabot to give me a statement. In their last letter to me they said it was my sole responsiblity to prove payments made.

In the legal blurb asking for a copy of the credit agreement etc, it does say "your obligation also extends to providing a statement of account"
What does this mean exactly? Does it mean they have to provide a statement of payments etc or some other kind of statement?

Cheers,

Cabot are under a legal obligation to provide a statement of account but I can't quote the Act. I am not sure if this is the same section of the Consumer Credit Act as the one requiring a copy agreement. However, the DPA can be used to get this information.

In addition, if you have correspondence from them after a general (ie non DPA) request from you for a statement, then I would send copies of your letter(s) and their response(s) to your local Trading Standards immediately.

Forgive my ignorance please, but the text makes reference to the Consumer Credit Act 1974. According to OPSI (formerly HMSO) the it's now the Consumer Credit Act 2006?

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2006/20060014.htm

TBH, I don't quite get this. Is it an amendment or a replacement?

Thanks for pointing this out. Having consulted my source, this doesn't have any material effect but I am checking whether the section references need to be updated.