Hello all

I was recently terminated from my job on health grounds and have been trying to reorganise my finances as I am now receiving ESA and tax credits.

I have 3 accounts with Cabot.

A family member offered to help me clear the 2 smaller accounts with a full and final payment with the other being put on hold for 6 months.

I emailed Cabot with my income and expenditure as they requested and the offers I would be making on the accounts.

Having looked at other F&F settlements on the forum we decided to offer 20% of the account balances.

Cabot have emailed back:

So that we may further review your account reference XXXXXX for a hold period of 6 months, and your offer of settlements towards account references XXXXXX/XXXXXXX, please can you provide us with some medical evidence which outlines your current circumstances. Please note, this should be dated within the last 12 months and signed by a medical professional.

Once we have received this from you will we will be able to further review your accounts and write back to you with our decisions.

We trust this clarifies our position and we look forward to hearing from you.

Maybe I'm wrong but I'm not really happy providing this evidence and would appreciate the opinions of others.

Many thanks.

DO NOT OFFER ANY SETTLEMENTS. If cabot own the debt then its 99.99% likely that the debts are lemon debts. Which means you do not owe a penny. Pay them anything and you are wasting money.

Please give details of your debts with as much info as possible. Do not communicate with cabot any more until we can help you. No phone calls, no letters, nothing.

They also are NOT entitled to any medical history signed by a medical professional.

Thanks renegade.

The debts I have with Cabot are:

£193 Lloyds TSB credit card. Opened 07/2006 default date 02/2012

£925 lloyds TSB overdraft. Opened 08/2008 default date 11/2011

£7853 capital one credit card. Opened 08/2007 default date 12/2012

I also have an account for a lloyds tsb overdraft that was transferred to Mortimer Clark solicitors by Cabot for £1115 but haven't included this as there is currently a stay on the court process while they find the documents requested in my defence.

CCA all of those asap

Also, when was your last payment on those credit card debts?

I'll write the CCA letters tonight and get them posted tomorrow. I was in a self managed DMP and I last made a payment around March 2016 before my health deteriorated but from what I can see Cabot have only been managing these accounts since January 2017.

doesn't improve you credit file either go have a holiday with it rather than lining the pockets of cabot

they are simply a DCA and are NOT BAILIFFS

nor have ANY legal powers whatsoever.

all you'll do is fund them to harass 1000's like you ..

have you ever asked yourself this simple question?

I had a debt with a big multi national bank

they sold it for pence to pounds to a dca..

why didn't they take me to court and crush me...

dx

I'll write the CCA letters tonight and get them posted tomorrow. I was in a self managed DMP and I last made a payment around March 2016 before my health deteriorated but from what I can see Cabot have only been managing these accounts since January 2017.

Send those requests off with the postal order, and do NOT communicate with them again. they have 12+2 days to fulfill the request. If they dont, then they can not collect it. It is very unlikely cabot will have the paperwork. And the capital one credit card theyre chasing will likely prove it. They saw the number and got greedy.

Get the idea of a settlement offer out of your head and focus on procedure and paperwork. If they call or write, then do NOT reply to them. Youll be marked as gullible. More so than you already have been

Don't tempt me - I could do with a holiday after the year I've had! After this discussion I think they've had their opportunity to accept my offer. If they hadn't asked for medical reports I wouldn't have given it a second thought. So glad they did now.

I'll have to check what other defaulted accounts I have. everything has been on hold for months I haven't thought about them. Should I CCA all of them or would putting the info like I did with the Cabot one be helpful?

well you're not scare of court anymore

stuff'em!!

Don't tempt me - I could do with a holiday after the year I've had! After this discussion I think they've had their opportunity to accept my offer. If they hadn't asked for medical reports I wouldn't have given it a second thought. So glad they did now.

 

I'll have to check what other defaulted accounts I have. everything has been on hold for months I haven't thought about them. Should I CCA all of them or would putting the info like I did with the Cabot one be helpful?

Why would you even give them the opportunity. Theyre a dca. Very few dca's buy legit debts.

CCA every debt that you are being chased for. If youve heard nothing off one or two debts, then wait until they contact you again. Dont go poking the nest.

That's true - thanks to you for guiding me through it. Ok I've been a bit of an idiot with the Cabot thing but I think I'm on the right track now. Lesson is ask before you do!

Yep. Golden rule of debts. IF a DCA has it, be very wary as they buy debts for pennies in the pound, no matter the status, and then try to chase you for the full amount. If theyve offered discounts, then its 99.999999999999% likely its an unenforceable debt and theyre begging you to give them something.

Thanks guys really appreciate the help you've given me tonight

Just make sure the ONLy thing you do is get the CCA requests off. Do not talk to them do not write to them, do not reply to them. Just the CCA requests. Thats it.

ive got a 30 hold on all the accounts they shouldn't contact me and I certainly won't be contacting them. I've got the letters ready to go just need to get the postal orders in the morning and they'll be off. Is it 12 working days? Or do I not need to worry about this cos I'm unlikely to hear back?

Ignore their silly timetime lines. Get the CCA requests off and its pretty much guaranteed they wont come back with the correct paperwork. They never do.

And the time line is 12 working days +2. They dont have any paperwork for the debts at all. They have to go back to the original creditor and try and get it. But they only tell you this AFTER you ask for the paperwork. If in the very unlikely event they respond AND the response is compliant with the law, then you get to SAR them. (This is where the rules need overhauling, so they are NOT allowed to chase you or even CONSIDER legal action until they hold the paperwork. All dca's will go to court, even when they dont have any paperwork at all. They hope to get a default judgement and scare the debtor into paying. Its a blatant misuse of the legal system, but for some reason its allowed.)

But they usually screw themselves over at the first hurdle , send a few more begging letters then give up.

You fell into the trap that most people do. get scared, dont know what to do, so blindly offer them a settlement, or think they actually have rights. And its a trap that ALL dca's rely heavily on and base their entire business around.

I did. I'd just been sacked on medical grounds and was having so many calls and they had my parents number and was phoning there I just wanted to try and sort it to get them off my back. I should have come here for advice sooner but thought I knew what I was doing - obviously not!

Well dont worry. We can help you know. Just dont communicate with them, and send those CCA's off in the morning. Wait the 12+ 2 and i bet theyll send a letter saying they are askign the OC for info, and theyll respond within 30 days. Sorry cabot, you get 12+2 and you know it. Then in a few weeks, theyll send some junk back that doesnt fulfill the CCA requirements, and you can put the debt to bed, happy that you wont have to pay it.

Thats what happens with 99% of cabots debts anyway.

I sound all woe is me now! I'm on the right track now so that's a good thing. I should have come for advice sooner and I definitely will in future

Cheers renegade. Can't thank you and dx enough for helping

just for your information, there is no point CCAing the overdrafts, they are not covered under the CCA