Hi all, I've had a look at some other 'overseas' threads but they weren't quite the same as mine so excuse me for asking again.

I have a Coopertive Bank credit card registered at an address inthe UK (my old one, now parents one) although I live in France. I recently got offered a better deal with another credit card to transferred part of the balance to that.

All of a sudden I got a letter from the Lewis Group saying that my debt to Co-op had 'gone on long enough' and they wanted full repayment. Bit weird but I believe they can close an account at any time.

I sent out a SAR letter to them with the 1 pound for Data Protection. They cashed the cheque and I got the notice of delivery so they definitely got it.

They've ignored my request and I've now received a letter from France-Creances asking for payment of the debt.

I've written to them to say that as it's contested in the UK the Lewis Group has no legal right to employ a third party to try and collect it, nor do they have the right to add charges to it (about 120 euros has been added on).The original contract stated I believe, that in the case of any legal action it would be governed by UK law.

Am I right?

From the Insolvency Network:

Creditors taking action

Some countries, such as Germany and Canada, have reciprocal agreements when it comes to tracing debtors and debt collection practices. There is not an awful lot of information regarding which countries have reciprocal agreements and which do not. Could it be that creditors do not want people to become too clever so have not made it common knowledge? However, a search around the World Wide Web might disclose a few more countries with these agreements.

A reciprocal agreement in the UK means a UK Court can enforce a CCJ (County Court Judgment) using the legal system of the other country. If there is no such agreement in place, a creditor can sell a debt to the relevant country where the debtor resides and debt recovery procedures will commence under the law of that land.

have you requested the CCA from either DCA?

Hi all, I've had a look at some other 'overseas' threads but they weren't quite the same as mine so excuse me for asking again.

 

I have a Coopertive Bank credit card registered at an address inthe UK (my old one, now parents one) although I live in France. I recently got offered a better deal with another credit card to transferred part of the balance to that.

 

All of a sudden I got a letter from the Lewis Group saying that my debt to Co-op had 'gone on long enough' and they wanted full repayment. Bit weird but I believe they can close an account at any time.

 

I sent out a S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) letter to them with the 1 pound for Data Protection. They cashed the cheque and I got the notice of delivery so they definitely got it.

 

They've ignored my request and I've now received a letter from France-Creances asking for payment of the debt.

 

I've written to them to say that as it's contested in the UK the Lewis Group has no legal right to employ a third party to try and collect it, nor do they have the right to add charges to it (about 120 euros has been added on).The original contract stated I believe, that in the case of any legal action it would be governed by UK law.

 

Am I right?

Hi you stated you sent a SAR with 1 pound, if you sent a SAR then it costs 10 pounds, are you sure you sent a SAR and not a CCA request as this costs 1 pound?

Sorry, getting my acronyms wrong. I sent a CCA, on 2nd April, which has been ignored by the Lewis Group. To date there has been absolutely no contact from LG until I got the letter from France Creances. They cashed my cheque though!

I can't help on the overseas bit, but until they do respond to the CCA then the debt is unenforceable.

What does concern me a little is where you say:-

I recently got offered a better deal with another credit card to transferred part of the balance to that.

 

All of a sudden I got a letter from the Lewis Group saying that my debt to Co-op had 'gone on long enough' and they wanted full repayment. Bit weird but I believe they can close an account at any time.

Did you stop making payments to the coop after the transfer? If you did, then that is why the Lewis Group is coming after you.

If you carried on making payments then you really do need to sar them because as far as the coop are concerned, you stopped paying them some time ago

No, not at all. They just seemed to spit the dummy when I did the balance transfer and decided to call in the remaining amount. It's not much but I believe that they are entitled to demand repayment at any time.