Cabot Financial – Dealing with Cabot Financial

[ScabHunter]

1 Overview

 

Cabot Financial is an especially nasty and slippery debt collection agency. They will use every possible trick to try to extract money from people, totally irrespective of circumstances. It does not matter whether or not you are the owner of the alleged debt, it does not matter whether the alleged debt is barred under the statute of limitations, it does not matter whether or not there is any paperwork to establish a balance on any alleged account. Cabot Financial just wants your money, and will stop at nothing to get it.

 

As many of you will know, Cabot Financial has just posted losses of around £6 million. These losses have only served to make them even more vexatious and aggressive than they were before. They are now going to court on cases where there is nothing but a pre-contractual application form, they are going to court chasing statute barred debts, they are stopping at nothing to try to get county court judgments which in law they have absolutely no right to get.

 

What is worrying is that, in many cases, they are succeeding.

 

It is clear from reading many Cabot Financial threads that we are now buckling under the weight of their onslaught. There are simply not enough informed people to give the correct advice when it is so desperately needed. Time and again I see threads where people are asking for advice on filling in a defence or allocation questionnaire, and there are simply no replies.

 

This is not going to help people defend themselves against Cabot Financial. What we need to do is create a thread where people can post any relevant or pertinent facts regarding the overall best strategy in dealing with Cabot Financial. Although each individual case needs to be dealt with on its own merits, there are clear patterns emerging which are common to the vast majority of cases. If we can create a blueprint or pre-conceived strategy to deal with these common situations, which will only need slight amendments based on the individual case, we can both increase the effectiveness of everyone dealing with Cabot Financial attacks, and vastly reduce the time taken to formulate the correct replies. Only in this way can we maximise our resources and use them to the fullest extent.

 

Cabot Financial is a wounded animal, and it has come out fighting like a tiger. Just for while, it has forced us onto the back foot. We now need to gather our defences so we can create the most effective counter possible against its aggressive and foolhardy strategy.

 

Cabot Financial's love of litigation is a double edged sword. While they do stand to gain from judgments they are able to obtain, they are also taking huge risks. Every act of aggression opens them up to the possibility of loss, and it is our job to ensure that that potential for loss is maximised.

[ScabHunter]

2 Cabot Financial “Business” Practices

 

It important to understand Cabot Financial “Business” Practices so that they can be countered in the most effective way. At the moment, they are becoming predictable.

 

They are sending out masses of template threat letters in an attempt to wear down their victims. They have created another “organization” called FIRE to create the illusion of an alleged debt being passed on to a more dangerous entity. They are going for litigation even in cases where they quite blatantly don't have the correct paperwork. They are using smoke and mirrors tactics to try to confuse the legal system and get judgment in cases where they have absolutely no genuine cause.

 

They are also adding defaults to people's credit files even when there is no cause or justification. Surely, in doing this they are opening themselves up to the possibility of some expensive litigation being thrown at them, given the damages which have been awarded in cases where someone has suffered loss due to their credit file being unjustly damaged? It is up to us to maximise the opportunities they are giving to us.

 

In short, we need to prepare ourselves to defend against Cabot Financial's deceitful and aggressive business practices by

 

Finding the most appropriate counter to their onslaught of threats

Finding the best defences and draft orders to use in defending court cases

Finding the most effective forms of counterattack through complaint and litigation

[ScabHunter]

3 Cabot Financial Threat Letters

 

The major “business” strategy of Cabot Financial is to wage a war of attrition. By sending out a mass of template threat letters, none of which may have the slightest relevance to the actual situation, Cabot Financial hopes to psychologically wear down the victim into complying with their orders. The onslaught is relentless, and many Cabot victims are unprepared to meet it.

 

Having a database of these threat letters available for new victims to look at will immediately prepare them for what is to come, and afford them the greatest possible chance of dealing with the threats in the most effective way.

 

Cabot Financial is aware that the vast majority of alleged debtors have very little money. The overall strategy appears to be to try to wear the victim down into submission by bombarding them with threats, and then, if the threat letters start being ignored, to go straight for litigation. The theory presumably is that ignored threats are a signal that the victim's mind has weakened, that they are no longer able to respond to the spurious and often totally incorrect “points” raised in the threat letters, and that they are ripe for the taking.

 

Of course, this may be far from the truth. There are many experienced posters on here who advocate a strategy of extreme passivity followed by counter-attack. They suggest that you should send one letter outlining your final position, ignore any and all threats until litigation begins, defend the litigation, and then fight back with counterclaims and complaints to the authorities. The danger with this strategy is that there is no guarantee that your defence in law will succeed, and there are many who would suggest that ignoring letters actually makes it more likely that you will not succeed.

 

Of course, the opposite strategy of responding to every template threat, especially by recorded post, is simply not practicable. In many cases a person could spend more money than they would have needed to pay off any alleged debt. These problems immediately create a situation which I have seen many times on these boards, where a person receiving a threat letter is unsure of how to respond to that one individual threat.

 

Being unsure in this manner just drains mental energy and makes it less likely that the victim will make the right move. You can liken it to a chess player re-thinking his strategy at every single move. This will result in a colossal drain of energy and a sub-standard performance. It is imperative to have your strategy worked out in advance, and to use any thinking time and energy on individual tactics.

 

In the case of dealing with Cabot Financial, we need to establish the best procedure for dealing with the onslaught of threats. This needs to be done with the overriding objectives in mind. The primary objective in dealing with Cabot Financial is to deal with them in such a way as to give yourself the greatest possible chance of success in the ensuing litigation. Creating a situation where you can generate a complaint which the Financial Ombudsman Service will look into, thereby relieving Cabot of another £500, is a secondary objective.

[ScabHunter]

4 Cabot Financial in Litigation

 

Cabot Financial has become extremely aggressive in litigation. It is launching court claims based on the weakest and most ineffective of cases. Although there may be an element of desperation in their new strategy, it must be working well enough for them to want to continue it. It is our responsibility to develop the best possible counter to their tactics of flat-out aggression.

 

At the moment, they seem to have us in a state of uncertainty and confusion. We are unsure of the best way of handling even situations which are occurring time after time. A good example of this is the pitiful Particulars of Claim which are common to every Cabot court claim I have seen. They disclose as little information as possible, and certainly do not comply to any degree with CPR Part 16.4.

 

Despite this, these PoC are causing great difficulty. We are limited in the extent of the information we can request under CPR 31.14, and are reduced to using Part 18 which requires the input of the court in forcing them to comply. Although these non-compliant PoC are putting us at a great disadvantage, we are having no success in using CPR 3.4 in getting these claims struck out.

 

Furthermore, there is considerable confusion over the correct type of defence to submit. Traditionally, we have been using a fairly long defence setting out all of the requirements of a compliant agreement, default notice, assignment etc., on the basis that a Litigant in Person needs to use a longer and more inclusive defence than someone trained in litigation. These points are included even in the initial embarrassed defence.

 

There is a counter-argument that judges do not even bother to read these long defences, and can even be irritated by them. I have seen very informed and knowledgeable posters on here suggesting that the initial embarrassed defence should just be a short refutation of everything mentioned in the statement of case, plus the statement that the defendant is embarrassed by the lack of information.

 

Clearly, we need to straighten this out, and have a good hard look at the way we are approaching these cases. Morgans, the Cabot pseudo-licitors, are even trying to get defences struck out by applying their smoke and mirrors to the relevant case law, and trying to confuse a judge in pretty much the same way as they are confusing their victims. It is absolutely imperative that we find the most effective way of countering this.

 

Similarly, with our own possibility of using CPR 31.16 followed by an application to have an agreement declared unenforceable. There is a massive thread on this possibility started by pt2537, in which x20 has raised some important concerns about the applicant being liable for costs. Has anyone used this route and had success with it? Given the huge number of unenforceable debts which Cabot has bought, it is a vital question.

 

If people have had success with this route and it is deemed viable, then there exists the possibility of people forming some kind of group to help defray the initial expense of the application. If an application costs £75, and someone has to pay the court fee themselves, most debtors will not be in a position to do this. But, if you could get together a group of, say, fifteen people, each could chip in a fiver and the application could be made. Then, if it was successful, the money would be returned and the next person in the group could make their application with the same funds.

 

This sort of group action will make it far more possible for people to take aggressive court action if that is the best thing to do. It would allow a group of people to pool the risk of failure, acting as a kind of insurance policy, and it would allow people who would struggle to raise the funds to make the application. I think the idea is at least worthy of consideration.

 

To take this further, it could be an effective way of allowing people to pursue court claims against Cabot Financial for the removal of defaults. Cabot is very trigger-happy in issuing defaults whatever the law says, and this may be a way of inflicting some damage on them. It is surely worth looking into.

[ScabHunter]

5 Thread Management

 

I am not a moderator or a member of the site team, so I have no power to edit or delete posts. What I ask is this -

 

Please, please, PLEASE do NOT post here about your own individual case. PLEASE start your own thread in the main forum if there is no litigation, or in the Legal Issues section if there is. Please ONLY post to this thread if you have something which is pertinent to tactics or strategies which may be effective in dealing with Cabot Financial. The idea is to build up a knowledge base which will make us all more effective in dealing with situations which are common to so many.

 

By all means post here and link to your own thread if there is something in your case which will help other people in their own situation. The more effective we can all become in dealing with Cabot Financial, the better the chance of each individual's success.

[ScabHunter]

6 Search Engines

 

Further to this, the more people who are having to deal with Cabot Financial which we can bring to this site, the better. Our best friends in trying to accomplish this are the search engines.

 

I know how I found this site. I received a letter from Cabot Financial, so I typed their name into a search engine to try to find out more. Up comes the lovely Cabot site with all of the guff about how they are going to treat you ever so kindly as you work together to get out of debt, and then all sail off into the sunset to live happily ever after.

 

Then, I noticed a thread from the Consumer Forums. A few hours later, I was acquainted with such luminaries as tbern, Seahorse and andrew1. I was also rather better acquainted with the real face of Cabot Financial.

 

Using Google and other search engines has become a way of life for so many, so getting this thread to rank highly in the search engines for the term “Cabot Financial” will bring ever more people in to the battle on our side. I have used on-page search engine optimization in creating these posts. The term “Cabot Financial” is included twice in the title, and is used throughout the initial few posts.

 

According to the Google Keyword Tool, which is only a rough estimate, there were 3,600 searches for the term “Cabot Financial” last month. One suspects that the majority of these will be new “customers”. And, although Google has 70% of the search engine market, it is vital not to overlook the other 30%, which is still a sizable number.

 

What I will do as the weeks go by is create a backlinking campaign, to try to increase the relevance of this page in the search engine algorithms. I will start by creating web content on third party sites using the term “Cabot Financial” as anchor text, and then create RSS feeds which can be blasted to the RSS aggregators. I want as many Cabot victims as possible to be able to find this thread.

 

I will give a more detailed breakdown of my search optimization strategy in due course.

[ScabHunter]

7 Objectives

 

So, there we have my objectives in setting up this thread. In summary, they are :

 

To create a thread where anyone dealing with Cabot Financial can find the most effective strategy and tactics, all together in one place. After reading through the thread, they should be far better equipped to deal with the situation they have to face. As Cabot's behaviour is becoming predictable, there should only be slight adjustments needed for any one individual case.

 

To use the weight of numbers created by Cabot's relentless aggression to formulate informed opinions as to the best way to proceed in any given situation, and thereby increase the effectiveness with which every member of this site can counter this aggression.

 

To make site members aware of possibilities they may not have considered, such as sending the right CPR letters, making applications to the court, or launching a counter-attack based on a damaged credit file.

 

To create power groups where the strength of the group is greater than the strength of the individual parts. To maximise the ability of every person who has to deal with Cabot Financial, whatever their income level, experience or knowledge.

 

To make as many Cabot victims as possible aware of the Consumer Action Group website as is humanly possible. You never know who will go on to be a major contributor to the site, so the greater the awareness of it, the better.

 

To inflict as much financial damage on Cabot Financial as is humanly possible. They are weakened and desperate. Let's hunt these scabs down, and do as much damage as we possibly can.

 

Any relevant input is welcome.

 

SH

[POOLMAN1]

wonderful post scabhunter, am reading everything legal I can Itoo am having dealings they can be liberal with the truth!!!

[Stephan56]

I have been "dealing" with Cabot for about a year, when they bought the debt from the OC. They certainly seem to be more "professional" than many of the other DCAs I am dealing with. Cabot's letterhead and overall presentiaton is better, the letters they send are better drafted, they respond in timely manner. In all, a serious outfit which, in my view, has "raised the bar" for DCAs.

 

And this is what makes them more dangerous.

 

I agree re having a "pre determined strategy" for dealing with them.

 

Also, if they are at the "cutting edge" in the DCA "assault" it will not be long before other DCAs, who must keep a close eye on what Cabot is doing (if not in actual collaboration with them through some industry group), start to copy Cabot's tactics.

 

I am concerned to read that Cabot are going to court and succeeding even on Statute Barred debts and cases where there are no "conforming agreements". How can this be? Surely without CCA in first place, they are not supposed to be even taking any enforcement action?? (Or did I misread this).

 

The post focuses on fighting Cabot in terms of their legal actions. I fully agree. That said, what about complaints to Trading Standards and the OFT. Fighting them in court AT THE SAME TIME as trying to undermine them on a regulatory basis opens up a "second front".

 

In my view, if everyone who deals with Cabot, writes a complaint letter to their Trading Standards office and/or OFT practically every time they have an interaction with Cabot, then Cabot will build up a HUGE file of complaint letters. Even if the OFT or Trading Standards take no action, if one goes to Court, one can say to the Judge "did you know that Cabot is a firm with more complaints against them than all other DCA combined". That must carry some weight and be negative against Cabot.

[Stephan56]

Follow on Post:

 

I have never (at least not yet) been to court on a debt, so I am much less familiar with the various aspects or filings, responses, and procedures.

 

Is it possible to get a barrister/solicitor involved? Surely someone who reads CAG must be, or be married to, a solicitor or barrister and who must have some knowledge of these things. Personally, I have tried to find one to give advice, but there seem to be a REAL LACK of competent legal advocates on the CONSUMER SIDE. However, someone with formal legal training must be able to offer some general advice on strategy and tactics.

 

Can we build up a profite also of WHO Cabot is going after. Is it only people with houses? Surely, it costs them money to go to court. Even if they win, if the debtor cannot pay (only ordered to pay £1 per month) then what is the CCJ they obtain really worth. I would have thought they must (at least in their mind) go after people they think are "won't pays" rather than those that just cannot. Why would they invest more money in a "file" unless they can get that money back PLUS what they claim.

 

Maybe their strategy is to become the ONE FEARED DCA so the advice becomes, "you can fight anyone else, but you better pay or settle with Cabot". We need to ensure the perception of them is "talk tough but no substance - a paper tiger" so that everyone fights them tooth and nail and does not "give in". They deserve NO EASY WINS. We must make the cost to them of even "fighting the battle" very expensive.

 

Who owns Cabot? Is it a well financed group? Does it have a parent company? Is it Venture Capital or Private Equity backed? My point is that while £6m may seem like a big loss, it isn't (assuming Cabot not a two man band). £6m could be put down to the "cost of learning" and it pales in comparison to the profits Cabot could make. I imagine management has "got a kicking" and are now redoubling their efforts. We need to redouble ours.

 

If Cabot ARE owned by a parent (say a bank or well known financial institution) then complaints to that institution, the regulatory body that regulates that finanical institution (FSA/other) and to the underlying sharholders could all bear fruit. But it must be done in LARGE NUMBERS.

 

There must be increasing REPUTATIONAL RISK for firms who are involved with DCAs (DCAs themselves, their backers etc) - and maybe this will intensify after the extremely sad stroy of the woman who drowned her son.

 

If people complain to their MPs, and Cabot is the name that always appears, then they get perceived as the "bogey man" and it hurts them. A well organised, negative PR assault can also help.

 

I will have some further thoughts but put me down as an ENTHUSIASTIC SUPPORTER of this strategy and one willing to put n some real effort.

[themagician]

Follow on Post:

 

I have never (at least not yet) been to court on a debt, so I am much less familiar with the various aspects or filings, responses, and procedures.

 

Is it possible to get a barrister/solicitor involved? Surely someone who reads CAG must be, or be married to, a solicitor or barrister and who must have some knowledge of these things. Personally, I have tried to find one to give advice, but there seem to be a REAL LACK of competent legal advocates on the CONSUMER SIDE. However, someone with formal legal training must be able to offer some general advice on strategy and tactics.

 

Can we build up a profite also of WHO Cabot is going after. Is it only people with houses? Surely, it costs them money to go to court. Even if they win, if the debtor cannot pay (only ordered to pay £1 per month) then what is the CCJ they obtain really worth. I would have thought they must (at least in their mind) go after people they think are "won't pays" rather than those that just cannot. Why would they invest more money in a "file" unless they can get that money back PLUS what they claim.

 

Maybe their strategy is to become the ONE FEARED DCA so the advice becomes, "you can fight anyone else, but you better pay or settle with Cabot". We need to ensure the perception of them is "talk tough but no substance - a paper tiger" so that everyone fights them tooth and nail and does not "give in". They deserve NO EASY WINS. We must make the cost to them of even "fighting the battle" very expensive.

 

Who owns Cabot? Is it a well financed group? Does it have a parent company? Is it Venture Capital or Private Equity backed? My point is that while £6m may seem like a big loss, it isn't (assuming Cabot not a two man band). £6m could be put down to the "cost of learning" and it pales in comparison to the profits Cabot could make. I imagine management has "got a kicking" and are now redoubling their efforts. We need to redouble ours.

 

If Cabot ARE owned by a parent (say a bank or well known financial institution) then complaints to that institution, the regulatory body that regulates that finanical institution (FSA/other) and to the underlying sharholders could all bear fruit. But it must be done in LARGE NUMBERS.

 

There must be increasing REPUTATIONAL RISK for firms who are involved with DCAs (DCAs themselves, their backers etc) - and maybe this will intensify after the extremely sad stroy of the woman who drowned her son.

 

If people complain to their MPs, and Cabot is the name that always appears, then they get perceived as the "bogey man" and it hurts them. A well organised, negative PR assault can also help.

 

I will have some further thoughts but put me down as an ENTHUSIASTIC SUPPORTER of this strategy and one willing to put n some real effort.

 

just bryll!!! so were going after cabot then! who,s next ??

[Stephan56]

Cabot Financial - HP ProCurve

 

See this link which is from HP, who are the suppliers to Cabot of their IT backbone. This sets out the tools Cabot is using and plays up Cabot as a market leader.

 

Again, another point of attack is if seniour HP management starts receiving complaints about Cabot - there is more reputational risk

[spitfire650]

just bryll!!! so were going after cabot then! who,s next ??

 

Excellent work.

 

I'd like to nominate Lowells for a similar thread.

 

From reading the posts on here they have caused plenty of misery from their underhand tactics. Whilst they are not so hard to crack a central thread with advice on how to respond to their unwelcome advances would help many people.

[Dibsthefrenchie]

ScabHunter this is an excellent thread, and well thought out, both yours and Stephan's ideas are of benefit to all that are in Cabots grasp.

 

Cabot own some of my old accounts and I am expecting a County Court letter quite soon.

 

I have successfully attended court against a Capquest SD, but that was with a great deal of advice from 42man, I wouldn't have known where to start without it.

 

So i'm lacking the experience in dealing with legal proceedings, but i'm enthusiastic at taking them on, the idea of a group effort is excellent, and I am more than willing to put £5 towards taking action.

 

We really need the old Cabot Fan Club back, please

 

Dibs.

Edited October 3, 2009 by Dibsthefrenchie

[Stephan56]

Press releases - Cabot Financial

 

See this link to a Cabot Press Release and recent seniour appointments. Reading this, and related infromation, can give a good clue to their strategy and hence our response.

[Stephan56]

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/67053-information-cabot.html

 

Not wanting to reinvent the wheel, there is a whole thread on Cabot (started 2006 and seems to have petered out in Fe 2009)

 

Anyway, this has a lot of backfground information on Cabot, its ownership etc. Well worth reading the thread in its entirely

[PriorityOne]

I've been dealing with Cabot for around a year and a half and they've not issued court papers so far. If they're going to do it, it'll be in the next few weeks/months because their last letter was the most aggresive to date.

 

I still believe that the reason I haven't been taken to court by anyone to date is because I never ignore key correspondence. By that, I mean that if Cabot (or anyone else) repeats the same boring drivel.... then providing it's not threatening, it gets filed. If it's in any way threatening however... or attempts to play down my argument, then we play letter ping-pong (by rec. delivery in my case) until they run out of things to threaten me with.

 

When Cabot persisted to try and get money from me in the early days, they had their first official complaint. This seemed to slow their process down quite well.... so that when it was inevitably unresolved and they returned more aggressively months later, they got complaint No. 2.... which referred to the unresolved complaint No. 1 and so on.

 

Not only does this let them know that I know my rights and their own legal obligations, it also seems to tie them in knots.... and also gives me a very nice paper trail to take to court should they decide to take me there.

 

Their solicitors need to be dobbed in to the SRA as well....

 

[BeauBrummie]

Scabhunter, well done for trying to galvanise repsonse from Cag to Cabot. I have no problem in contributing to a conserted effort and may I be so bold as to put my case forward as a "test" for any response or strategy.

 

This is the thread if you were not aware of it

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/144167-bb-cabot.html

 

The court have sent me a copy of the Cabot AQ and they have stated in it that they wish to apply for a Summary Judgement based on an application form with no prescribed terms.

 

I am perhaps a no more deserving case than any others on these forums who are being taken to court but the timing is right in view of my up and coming prelim hearing.

 

Beau

[Stephan56]

I am unclear why they can/are applying for a summary judgement on the basis of an application form alone in Beaubrummie's case. Surely the fact that they do NOT have the proper documents is the WHOLE basis of our ability to fight these people.

 

Clearly, you need to oppose their application and respond by defendin gon the basis that there was only an application and no signed agreement. How can they go in the face of the law?

 

In my own case, they have stated in a letter that the file is unenforceable -as they cannot find a signed agreement, notwithstanding they produced an application form.

 

We really need to get a concerted and strong response if they start acting like this

[GAVBU28]

Great thread.

[BeauBrummie]

I am unclear why they can/are applying for a summary judgement on the basis of an application form alone in Beaubrummie's case. Surely the fact that they do NOT have the proper documents is the WHOLE basis of our ability to fight these people.

 

Clearly, you need to oppose their application and respond by defendin gon the basis that there was only an application and no signed agreement. How can they go in the face of the law?

 

We really need to get a concerted and strong response if they start acting like this

 

Totally agree Stephan56 but trying telling Cabot that!!!!!

 

I have written letters until I am blue in the face but they do not listen!!!

 

Just for the record thay have not actually applied for SJ, it is that they have stated they may apply in the future and this is why I think that the Judge has decided on a prelim hearing towards the end of this month. Incidentally there appointed Witness/Representative/Solicitor cannot attend on the day of the prelim as they have stated he is not available on the AQ on the date the judge has chosen.

 

Beau

[cymruambyth]

Excellent thread scabhunter, thank you. I am afew weeks behind beau and have been using him as my 'template'

Someone it may be worth getting to contribute is Brent-London as he appears to be both knowledgeable and aggressive in his actions.

[cymruambyth]

Scabhunter, how do you suggest progressing? You have said not ask questions about specific cases, which I agree, but how do we keep the thread so that people can access and add information without the thread becoming so long that everything becomes 'lost'?

[ScabHunter]

Thank you everybody for replying to this thread. I will try to answer everybody's points.

 

Cymruambyth, I think the best thing would be if anyone who has anything which they think could be significant to other people, for them to post a complete post so the information is easily found in one place. If anyone else is in a similar situation, they should just post with a link to their own case so people can follow it if they want to.

 

Thanks for mentioning Brent-London. I read one of his threads a couple of weeks ago and came to the same conclusion you did. He would be a very valuable contributor.

 

BeauBrummie, can you please post a link to your thread so people can easily find it, as I think there is a lot going on there which is highly significant. As we can see, Cabot is going to court in cases where they could not possibly succeed if the law was applied properly - s127(3) of the CCA 1974 and the supporting High Court precedents are binding on the lower courts. They are obviously relying on judges not applying the law, and, as we all know, that is happening far too often.

 

Stephan56, your posts are excellent and raise some very important points. The biggest worry of all is that they are succeeding with claims based on statute barred debts. That is why it is beginning to look as though they own the court system. The lack of a compliant agreement, which should be a complete defence in itself for anything regulated by the CCA 1974, seems to be being just ignored by the courts. It almost seems as though the courts are saying "s127(3) has been repealed, so we might as well just ignore it now even in cases where it still applies."

 

The matter of who they go after in court is an interesting one. I have seen a couple of threads on these boards where they have just continued to send out threat letters for over a year, and even offer discounts for full and final settlement. As far as I can see there is nothing which marks these cases out as different, except that it was obvious that the two alleged debtors were married women with low incomes. It wasn't even possible to ascertain from the thread whether they owned a share in any property or not.

 

I have certainly seen cases where Howard Cohen and Bryan Carter have launched claims against people who were living on benefits and had no assets whatsoever. Even if they did get judgment and get awarded £1 a month, the alleged debtor can now move straight for a Debt Relief Order and wipe even that out. Cohen and Carter are not Cabot, though. I will certainly be keeping some statistics based on the Cabot cases which come on here, to see if any pattern does emerge.

 

I have noticed that the people who have not been taken to court have kept replying to the Cabot threat letters. Still, the situation is strange, because it must be obvious to Cabot that they have no chance of getting a single penny unless they do litigate, yet the longer the cases drag on the greater the chance there is of a report going to the FOS costing them money.

 

I agree totally about the need to keep bombarding the authorities with complaints, so long as they are genuine and not manufactured for the sake of numbers. We don't want to get the authorities angry with us. One thing I would like to know is exactly what the trigger is for the OFT to launch an immediate investigation. I believe it is based on weight of numbers, but I can't find the exact figures. There may be a case for coordinating valid complaints so more of them arrive in the same month.

 

FOS complaints also need to be analysed, because they cost Cabot money whatever the result. We need to find a clear pattern of what the FOS will investigate and what they will not. We already know that they are not interested in enforceability and leave that to the courts.

 

The issue of Cabot's "professionalism" is an interesting one. As you say, they are making an effort to appear professional, yet anyone who looks deeper than the surface will find the exact opposite. Look at the pathetic PoC on every Cabot court form. Why do they do this? If the courts actually followed the CPR, every Cabot claim would get struck out as an abuse of process because it declares no cause for action, yet that never happens. Cabot know this and play on it, making the PoC as skinny as possible to limit the information the defendant can request under CPR 31.14. It looks unprofessional, but they clearly know what works and what doesn't. They know which parts of the law are always just ignored, even by the judges who are paid to uphold it.

 

Similarly, with Notices of Assignment. There can be nothing less professional than a blatantly forged NoA on poorly created fake headed notepaper. Yet, as the courts totally ignore the Law of Property Act 1925, there is no reason for Cabot to attempt to comply with it.

 

The letters which are sent to alleged debtors are another case of being professional when it suits them, and not when it doesn't. Blatantly misquoting the CCA 1974, and quoting from the wrong parts of the Act, is not professional, it is just deceit. I have taken the position that when this happens it is necessary to write directly to the executive office pointing out exactly where their staff are being deceitful. These letters may well end up in front of a judge.

 

That's a long post so I'll leave it there. I'm sure there will be more to come.

 

SH

[cymruambyth]

Glad to see we have guests appearing;)