Firstly may i say what a great site:)

I have just requested 3 CCA's from Debt Collection Agencies. I am currently making monthly payments via CCCS.

My question is this - do i still continue with these payments or do i stop when i claim that the account is in dispute?

I have today recieved a letter from Cabot and it looks as though they will not be able to supply the CCA within 12 working days.

Also can anyone confirm (i have looked at other threads but it can get confusing:|) what letter/template i send them after the 12 day period.

Your help is greatly appreciated.

You are within your rights to stop paying if they cannot provide an agreement, although the CCCS do not like you 'disputing' the debts....and will probably stop your payment plan if you dispute.

As for the follow up letter it is this one below (send recorded)

Account In Dispute

Ref:

Dear Sir/Madam

Thank you for your letter of xx/xx/xx, the contents of which have been noted.

You have failed to respond to my legal request to supply me a true copy of the original Consumer Credit Agreement for the above account.

On **DATE** I made a formal request for a true signed agreement for the alleged account under consumer credit Act 1974 s77/8. A copy of which is enclosed for your perusal and ease of reference.

You have failed to comply with my request, and as such the account entered default on **DATE**.

The document that you are obliged to send me is a true copy of the executed agreement that contained all of the prescribed terms, all other required terms and statutory notices and was signed by both your company and myself as defined in section 61(1) of CCA 74 and subsequent Statutory Instruments. If the executed agreement contained any reference to any other document, you are also obliged to send me a copy of that document.In addition a full statement of this account should have been sent to me detailing all debits and credits to the account.

Furthermore

You are aware that the Consumer Credit Act allows 12 working days for a request for a true copy of a credit agreement to be carried out before your client enters into a default situation.

This limit has expired.

As you are no doubt aware section 77(6) states:

If the creditor fails to comply with Subsection (1)

(a) He is not entitled , while the default continues, to enforce the agreement.

Therefore this account has become unenforceable at law.

As you have Failed to comply with a lawful request for a true, signed copy of the said agreement and other relevant documents mentioned in it, Failed to send a full statement of the account and Failed to provide any of the documentation requested.

Consequentially any legal action you pursue will be averred as both UNLAWFUL and VEXATIOUS.

Furthermore I shall counterclaim that any such action constitutes unlawful harassment.

Please note you may also consider this letter as a statutory notice under section 10 of the Data Protection Act to cease processing any data in relation to this account with immediate effect.

This means you must remove all information regarding this account from your own internal records and from my records with any credit reference agencies.

Should you refuse to comply, you must within 21 days provide me with a detailed breakdown of your reasoning behind continuing to process my data.

It is not sufficient to simply state that you have a ‘legal right’; You must outline your reasoning in this matter and state upon which legislation this reasoning depends.

Should you not respond within 14 days I expect that this means you agree to remove all such data.

Furthermore you should be aware that a creditor is not permitted to take ANY

Action against an account whilst it remains in dispute.

The lack of a credit agreement is a very clear dispute and as such the following applies.

* You may not demand any payment on the account, nor am I obliged to offer any payment to you.

* You may not add further interest or any charges to the account.

* You may not pass the account to a third party.

* You may not register any information in respect of the account with any credit reference agency.

* You may not issue a default notice related to the account.

I reserve the right to report your actions to any such regulatory authorities as I see fit.

You have 14 days from receiving this letter to contact me with your intentions to resolve this matter which is now a formal complaint.

I would appreciate your due diligence in this matter.

I look forward to hearing from you in writing.

Yours faithfully

Do you think it would be wise to take personal control of each debt (i have 6 different creditors) or let CCCS continue to deal with them. I am asking for CCA's from all 6. Or as stated above maybe CCCS will give me no option?

It's as 42man has said, the CCCS do not like you 'disputing' the debts....and will probably stop your payment plan if you dispute. But saying that it may be worth your while to take control yourself depending on the outcome of your CCAs.

I closed my CCCS payment plan in November 2007 because it had become an adminstrative shambles. They are financed by the banks so are not acting in your best interests and if anything goes wrong they don't want to know. They are alright for taking the heat off initially but are not a long term solution. I CCAd 12 creditors and not one of them had an enforceable agreement. I argued my legal rights with the help of CAG and of the 12, 9 have given up - either written off or deemed irrecoverable - 2 have ceased contact of any kind for months - 1 for almost a year - and the other one is CrapOne, who are a laugh a minute and don't know their bottoms from their elbows, so no problems there. I give you my experience - I wish I had done it sooner - the choice is yours. There is quite a bit of letter writing but it has been more than worth it.

Cabot have failed to produce the requested CCA and have informed me that the account is frozen as a gesture of goodwill.

I am currently on a payment plan with CCCS and next months payment has already been processed. Will there be any issues do to the fact that they will receive a payment AFTER the account has been frozen. I intend to stop payments as from tomorrow.

No there are no issues, it's classed as a 'gift' from you to them so look on it as a parting gift:)

I have read on this forum that CCCS don't like you stopping payments once you're in a DMP. (CCCS are funded by the credit industry.)

If that happens, you may have to take on your creditors alone. If that happens, you will always have your new friends on the CAG to help you.

Have Cabot sent you any proof of this? Its always good to ask them to put it in writing so you can be sure that they wont contact you again. With regards to the CCCS DMP, if the payment has already gone through this month, let Cabot contact you, and they may refund you if they are feeling generous, or keep that payment and disregard the rest of the debt. CCCS will not mind that you will not longer be making these payments, they should simply remove the debt from their distribution list x

Yes loobylou, i have it in writing that the account is frozen. I will request the removal of Cabot from my DMP with CCCS.

I have just got off the phone to CCCS. A few of my accounts are now in dispute due to non existant cca's, i therefore requested that my monthly payment go to the other 2 remaining creditors until the matter is resolved.

The reply was that they have just been briefed that due to a recent court case a missing cca is not a valid reason for non payment. I stressed that i was simply witholding payment because the accounts are in dispute and will resume when documentation is received. I was not looking to reduce my payment because my other creditors would have received an increased amount.

I informed them that i would in future take care of my debts and cancelled account with them, something that i am far more confident about now due mainly to this site.

Does anyone have any views on the above??

Although the CCCS purports to be an independent charity it is in fact funded by the financial institutions themselves and they loathe it when people withold money to creditors who cannot provide enforceable CCAs. Whoever briefed them that the absence of a CCA is not a reason for non payment is wrong only a judge can decide that on an individual basis such as in this case http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/179236-tragic-case-judgement-because.html but it didn't create a legal presidence.