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Just received a letter this morning from HFC Bank insisting I either telephone them or pay the overdue amount immediately! (£411.28)They are also threatening to serve a default notice if I fail to respond. I am almost certain some or maybe all of the arrears are due to unlawful charges. (I will be submitting a claim for these charges later). How should I respond to them? I have no wish to contact anybody by telephone to discuss private/personal business but I am more than willing to correspond in writing.
P.S. I sent a goodwill payment of £40 last week but I think this crossed in the post with the aforementioned letter!
I think it would be advisable to start your action ASAP, as you would then be able to claim the amount as being in dispute, and quote the Banking Code at them.
Alan, Derby, UK.
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Sorry, but I cannot deal with your case by PM - please ask questions in your own thread. If you do not get a reply within 48 hours send a PM, with a link to the relevant thread, to any Site Team Member.
DO NOT SEND QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR CLAIM TO ADMIN, or our WEBMASTER - YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE A REPLY.
Advice given is purely my opinion, and is not based on any legal training.
OK, I managed to recover some bank charges from The GM Card. They have however added a few more charges since. This is not really a problem.
The main problem now is, DG Solicitors are now threatening to commence legal proceedings in the county court. If they are successful obtaining a judgement, they are threatening to apply for a charging order.
Recently I sent a CCA request to GM, and received what I believe to be a copy of the application form. This is however signed by myself and on behalf of GM/HFC. It does not contain any info on credit limits, APR or repayment amounts. Also there is no copy of any T&C's. I will scan and post a copy as soon as I get the chance.
So, my main question is:
If they go ahead with their threat, do I defend an unenforceable agreement or do I counterclaim with the added charges?
Any comments at all would be appreciated. Any further questions, please just ask!
I would be advising DG Solicitors that under the pre-action protocols they are duty bound to provide documentary proof of the validity of their claim. That means they will need to provide a true copy of a properly executed agreement.
Failure to supply such documentary proof will be brought to the attention of the court, should they decide to proceed with a legal action, along with an immediate application to strike out the claim and recover any costs incurred.
You could add that, until they provide a true copy of the agreement, any further threats of legal action or other enforcement attempts will result in a complaint being made to Trading Standards, and a complaint filed with the Financial Ombudsman - who they will be aware is responsible for dealing with complaints regarding disputes over Consumer Credit Act agreements from 6th April this year.
See what that does.
I am presuming that this is a loan, and that they have now issued the default mentioned in your opening post. If that is correct then really you have to sit tight and wait for them to make the next move.
Issuing a court claim against them for recovery of the charges is extremely dangerous in circumstances where the amount you owe on the agreement (even though it may be unenforceable) is more than the amount levied in charges.
Alan, Derby, UK.
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Sorry, but I cannot deal with your case by PM - please ask questions in your own thread. If you do not get a reply within 48 hours send a PM, with a link to the relevant thread, to any Site Team Member.
DO NOT SEND QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR CLAIM TO ADMIN, or our WEBMASTER - YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE A REPLY.
Advice given is purely my opinion, and is not based on any legal training.
I am presuming that this is a loan, and that they have now issued the default mentioned in your opening post. If that is correct then really you have to sit tight and wait for them to make the next move.
This was actually for a credit card.
Issuing a court claim against them for recovery of the charges is extremely dangerous in circumstances where the amount you owe on the agreement (even though it may be unenforceable) is more than the amount levied in charges.
This is the case, and my thoughts exactly. If the agreement is unenforceable, then I might as well leave the charges alone.
One other thing. The amount that DG Solicitors are claiming is substantially more than my latest statement from GM.
However, when I queried the two different amounts, DG say they have not added any further charges since they were passed the account. So far no one has been able to account for this discrepancy!
I would imagine that they are still adding interest month-on-month, however this is something else that they must clarify should they decide to make a claim.
Alan, Derby, UK.
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_________________________ _______
Sorry, but I cannot deal with your case by PM - please ask questions in your own thread. If you do not get a reply within 48 hours send a PM, with a link to the relevant thread, to any Site Team Member.
DO NOT SEND QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR CLAIM TO ADMIN, or our WEBMASTER - YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE A REPLY.
Advice given is purely my opinion, and is not based on any legal training.
OK, I managed to recover some bank charges from The GM Card. They have however added a few more charges since. This is not really a problem.
The main problem now is, DG Solicitors are now threatening to commence legal proceedings in the county court. If they are successful obtaining a judgement, they are threatening to apply for a charging order.
Recently I sent a CCA request to GM, and received what I believe to be a copy of the application form. This is however signed by myself and on behalf of GM/HFC. It does not contain any info on credit limits, APR or repayment amounts. Also there is no copy of any T&C's. I will scan and post a copy as soon as I get the chance.
So, my main question is:
If they go ahead with their threat, do I defend an unenforceable agreement or do I counterclaim with the added charges?
Any comments at all would be appreciated. Any further questions, please just ask!
Jeff.
Hi everyone,
Here is a copy of the agreement from GM Card with accompanying letter.
The agreement is larger than A4, that's why it's on 2 pages!
That is an Application Form - certainly not an agreement.
I would send a copy to DG Solicitors making it clear that HFC are in default of your CCA request, and that therefore,
a) under the terms of the Act, you do not legally have to make any further payments until such time as they original agreement is produced,
b) assuming they have now passed the 12 working days plus one month, that HFC have now committed an offence under the Act, and
c) any enforcement action taken whilst HFC remain "in default" of the Act, including telephone calls, letters, etc, will be seen as harassment, and will result in a complaint being made to the FSA, the OFT, and the Financial Ombudsman.
Alan, Derby, UK.
PLEASE HELP US TO KEEP THIS SITE RUNNING
EVERY POUND DONATED WILL HELP US TO KEEP HELPING OTHERS
Or you may wish to buy one of these great resources:
Click on the above link to place your order - payment by Paypal.
_________________________ _______
Sorry, but I cannot deal with your case by PM - please ask questions in your own thread. If you do not get a reply within 48 hours send a PM, with a link to the relevant thread, to any Site Team Member.
DO NOT SEND QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR CLAIM TO ADMIN, or our WEBMASTER - YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE A REPLY.
Advice given is purely my opinion, and is not based on any legal training.
The amount that DG Solicitors are claiming is substantially more than my latest statement from GM.
However, when I queried the two different amounts, DG say they have not added any further charges since they were passed the account. So far no one has been able to account for this discrepancy!
Regards, Jeff.
Had a recent letter from DG Sols. They now claim that the additional amount added to the account was by HFC/GM Card, and that this was done in August last year!
I still have the original statements from September 2006 until January this year, and none of them have any additional charges on them! So the discrepancy is still baffling me.
First they say they have added fees. Then they say that no fees have been added. Now they are saying that HFC/GM Card have added the fees!
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_________________________ _______
Sorry, but I cannot deal with your case by PM - please ask questions in your own thread. If you do not get a reply within 48 hours send a PM, with a link to the relevant thread, to any Site Team Member.
DO NOT SEND QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR CLAIM TO ADMIN, or our WEBMASTER - YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE A REPLY.
Advice given is purely my opinion, and is not based on any legal training.
I have now received a response to my complaint about the so called "agreement", being only an application form.
The bit about: "Amount of last payment received", is actually my £1.00 fee for the CCA!
The terms and conditions that they have enclosed are marked: "These changes are effective from 1st August 2006"!
Also, the amount outstanding on the latest statements that they have provided, is almost £1400 less than the amount that DG sols are attempting to collect!
Any more thoughts would be most welcome!
To be honest, I'm getting fed up of writing to HFC/GM Card and DG sols!
OK, after a further written complaint to HFC, regarding them sending an application form dressed up to be an agreement, I have recently received this reply.
Also included was a copy of the fos complaints procedure! This, I think will be my next step!
One other thing. The amount that DG Solicitors are claiming is substantially more than my latest statement from GM.
However, when I queried the two different amounts, DG say they have not added any further charges since they were passed the account. So far no one has been able to account for this discrepancy!
Regards, Jeff.
Hi all,
The latest letter I have received from HFC now states that DG Sols added the extra fees as a percentage of the alleged outstanding balance! (About 16%). These are said to be legal fees.
So, they are adding legal fees on a percentage basis when no action has been commenced! I would have thought it would be up to a Court to decide on costs etc!
Also, HFC now inform me that DG Sols are no longer dealing with this matter!
Having just returned from a short trip away, I have a letter from Marlin Financial Services informing me that this account has been assigned to Phoenix Recoveries (UK) Ltd S.a.r.l -"Marlin Recoveries".
There is no amount stated. The letter is not signed.
Date of letter is 24th June. Date of assignment is 20th June.
I notice that a few other HFC victims have received similar letters!
Very interesting!
Also, I recently sent another letter of complaint to HFC regarding some of the issues in this thread. I have now received an acknowledgement letter from HFC's complaint investigator, together with a copy of their complaints procedure. The letter states that my comments are extremely valuable to them and they are looking into my complaint and a reply will be given shortly.
Oh! I almost forgot, the date of this letter.......26th June!
GM Card / HFC Bank
of £40 last week but I think this crossed in the post with the aforementioned letter!
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Re: GM Card / HFC Bank
Re: GM Card / HFC Bank
Originally Posted by Jeff2000
Re: GM Card / HFC Bank
