Letter arrived today (DCAs all seem to write to me on the same day, interesting):

Dear Cheddar

We thank you for your communication regarding this account. We have referred the matter to our client and will revert to you as soon as we are in receipt of instructions. In the meantime, we confirm we have placed the account on hold.

So still waiting to see what they say, if anything.

Letter arrived today saying they agree with the dispute and that the account is on hole and no collection activities will take place until they have provided me with the CCA. Which I assume they can't as it doesn't exist. However they refuse to remove anything from my credit file. I anticipated that anyway. So we shall see who gets it next.

Account in dispute letter sent and signed for yesterday, they also sent me another letter in the meantime saying Redcats/La Redoute are still trying to find my agreement. Not sure why they're looking so hard for something they obviously don't have!

Well Carter signed for the letter on 16/11 so we shall see what the reply is! Hopefully as you said Bazooka

Thanks CitizenB I think the charges come to £48 so far, these are all recent as since 2007 I never once missed a payment until now! I have all information on the account, every transaction and the blank CCA with terms missing, I am not sure what else an SAR could show me but I may consider it, £10 is a lot these days sadly

Many thanks Citizen B, I know most of the information contained in those blogs already hence being able to work out what I can afford, I was looking more to finding out if the debt would be enforceable for some peace of mind really whilst I write a letter every single week offering the only amount I have left over (sadly only to see the debt increase constantly, may as well be burning it). I assume this will calm once it goes to a DCA which I'm sure it will do soon and I can reclaim the charges. Or I may just get a loan and pay this off (yes, yes I know it's not great but at nearly 40% APR (which I was NEVER informed of that increase) it will be with me til I die pretty much and if it is enforceable I don't want to be dealing with court cases etc). I'm not as strong as I used to be a few years ago when I joined CAG lol can you tell?

Big thanks to the above for replying though, felt like I was on my own!

Sorry Silverfox I totally didn't see your reply, thank you ever so much. It was my belief that it was unenforceable as well as it didn't have my signature, but interesting to see that yes there are no cancellation rights on it. The difference between the 2 agreement is the APR going from 39.6 to 39.9 as well which I had absolutely no knowledge of. I may see if I can get some money together for a F&F. As I have all the transactions I may see what the goods are roughly worth as I do not believe in getting things for free but some items are double the price than shops then add on horrific APR. Sigh, if only I knew then what I know now!

So when they say they this is a reconstituted copy and we don't have to show the one with your signature, does that mean they could actually have one with a signature on and just not show it to someone? Why on earth would they do that? These companies baffle me lol

Thanks Zingy it's really appreciated! I thought as such too, just worried about the ticking the box thing but I am pretty sure they would have mentioned that.

Well I got a letter from Lowell on 28/10/10 saying they have requested it from La Redoute/Redcats and they will let me know how they get on and if it takes longer than 12 days it's not their fault. They got my CCA on the 21/10/10, heard nothing and got another letter today saying they contacted La Redoute again who are trying to retrieve my CCA from their archives and as soon as they have it, it will be sent to me and I am to pay it off. Will be sending them the Account in Dispute letter next.

Anyone....?

Ok so they have ignored my neighbour for now but have sent me the following, can anyone advise?

"....you have received our response to your request under section 78 of the CCA 1974. However you state that your agreement is unenforceable as it does not conform to section 60(1) and 61(1) of the CCA.

The information that Cabot have provided (a blank Next CCA with no signatures on it at all) in response to your request satisfies the definition of a 'true copy' in that we have provided a reconstituted copy of your credit agreement and accompanying T&C's. The definition of a true copy as prescribed in regulation 3 of the Consumer Credit (Cancellation Notices and Copies of Documents) Regulations 1983 states what information can be omitted therein. Furthermore case law shows that a 'true copy' does not mean an exact copy.

We would also like to highlight that the sole purpose of the CCA is for consumer protection, not to provide a method for the avoidance of debt, which we believe you are attempting in this matter."

They then go on to threaten me saying I have to ring or they will escalate this blah blah blah. I assume this is their usual stance? Ignore from here? This has been rumbling on now for over 3 years for around £150 which is now nearer to £200 when they slapped charges on. I doubt they will be taking me to court lol

Biglouis and paulyoung (hope that's not your real name as DCA's read these threads) if you start your own threads you will be advised what's best.

Update, no word at all from Fredrickson, the RM website say that the lovely Mr Carter signed for my CCA request on the 21st October so we're way past the 12 days. Will be sending them the Account in Dispute letter next.

I wonder if people aren't helping because they think I'm trying to avoid this debt purposefully? I have been making token payments of £10 as and when I can and have offered several times to make token offers, each time they have been ignored but I have kept on paying. I am really not sure what to do now, it would surely be better for me to get them to stop interest and charges because as soon as I pay £10 they slap me with a £12 fee, it's seeming almost pointless, I may as well be burning money have no idea what to do now tbh.

I was thinking of sending this as I looked back and haven't asked them to stop interest/fines in writing:

Dear Sir/Madam

Since opening an account with you, my circumstances have changed. I also do not recall signing any agreement with you nor agreeing to any interest to be added to an account.

I cannot now afford to your stated monthly payments of over £135 a month because I am no longer in employment, my husbands hours at work have decreased and we have lost another source of income when our lodger moved out.

Having sat down and worked out my income and expenditure it is clear that I have only £10 per month left to pay you.

In view of our circumstances, please would you agree to accept a reduced offer of £10 per month. If interest or other charges are still being added to the account I would be grateful if you would freeze these so that all payments made will reduce what I owe you.

Should our circumstances improve I will contact you again.

Thank you for your assistance. I look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible.

Yours faithfully

Any advice?

Ah well I suppose this can go in the DCA thread soon as they've replied to my letter asking them to stop interest and reduce payments and basically said no way and they'll pass to a DCA. Mebbe someone there will be able to advise.

Anyone? Maybe the title of this needs changing as it's not that great lol

Ok well they replied today as follows:

Account opened on the 16th August 2006, they state the credit charge, how many payments I have made (scary have paid them nearly £3k!! I can't say I've had £3k of stuff from them in my opinion!), then they state that if I didn't make any further transactions I could pay it off in 35 months as long as I pay around £120 a month with 1st payment of nearly £400 which is arrears as they won't accept any reduced payments and are now slapping fees on left right and centre.

They then say the following:

"Please find a reconstituted "True Copy" of your credit agreement setting out the terms and conditions to which you agreed when the account was opened along with the current terms and conditions.

We have also enclosed an itemised breakdown of the account dating back to when it was opened.

When responding to a section 78 request, a lender does not have to provide a photocopy or other literal copy of the executed agreement nor provide a copy bearing or some other proof of the customers actual signature.

We await hearing from you"

Huh? That last part is not only dreadful in terms of grammar but are they really just saying 'we can do what we like'. There is no mention of ticking a box and they seem to have gone down the route of here's 2 copies of the agreement, sign both and send 1 back which I obviously didn't as you'll see from the links below. Am I correct in thinking this is now unenforceable in court?

I have to say as well I don't recall agreeing to these 'new' terms and conditions either that seem to have increased the APR!!!

Old CCA:

Front:

Back:

New CCA:

Front:

Back:

The last one has scanned exactly how it looks, bits of it are chopped off but not so you can't tell what they're saying. They also attach pages of transactions.

Ah ok of course I sent it recorded I know when they got it haha! Bit dense I am this week. Ok well they have acknowledged it and say the account is now on hold, we shall see

I printed out a letter giving Next/Crapbot another 21 days as they haven't complied with the CCA and gave it to my neighbour who sent it the same day via recorded. I have told her not to worry on this as they obviously don't have a leg to stand on. I've done the same for myself as Next/Cabot have started on me as well and did the same to me many years ago!! SO I just sent the 21 day later right away. Let's see what they come up with

Just so I can keep track I sent CCA on 20/10 via 2nd class recorded, does that mean it's 16 days they have to reply? 12+4?

Hmm well unless I was using cash to pay the 1st payment I can find on bank transactions is the 17/10/2006. I have CCA'd them as they're just being horrible to me now, I've tried token payments and explained my situation in writing to them but they are simply saying pay up or it's DCA time. We shall see what happens, does anyone know when the 'tick the box' came into enforcement to stand as a digital signature? Hopefully the CCA will shed some more light on this.

Also I sent the CCA via 2nd Class recorded delivery on 20/10 when do they have to reply by? I know it's 12+2 if sent 1st class, is it 12+4 for 2nd?

Yeah I noticed the addresses/postcodes are almost the same, most of these places are in the same offices as Cartaphilus said.

Fab, am printing out now, thank you ever so much for the help!!

Okay will send the CCA for now, who do I send it to? Fredricksons or Bryan Carter? Bryan Carters letter tells me to converse with Fredrickson, only reason I'm asking.

Also out of interest who should I sign my letters by? I'd rather they didn't know my married name....am I ok to sign them in my maiden name? Of course when I say 'sign' I only ever print my name

Okay well the letter says:

"....Payment must be made within the nexr fourteen days failing which we will recommend to our client that proceedings be issued without any further notice. Should proceedings be issued, additional charges will be added to the existing balance as shown below"

Balance - £XXXX

Interest - £0

Court Fees - £65

Solicitors Costs - £80

Before the account is referred to us to litigate you still have an opportunity to contact Fredickson International Ltd with your payment proposals. In order to avoid further action you should telephone them immediately on..."

I personally see that as them threatening legal action if I can't pay in the next 14 days. Even though they do contradict themselves by saying it has to be in 14 days then saying ring Freds with a proposal. Well my proposal is for them to shove it as tbh I can't ever remember running up this much of a debt with Abound! Besides, I know there will be no CCA for it anyway.

So Bazooka do you agree this is them threatening me? A lesser informed person than I would be scared by this letter I reckon. Where's the CPR request? Sorry have looked in the templates and can't find anything! I will certainly report them as well. Can I check if they have sent a CCJ anywhere else?

Okay, I didn't send the SB letter as I worked out that it will probably be SB next year in June 2011 along with the other couple of debts I left behind when I moved. Anyway, today I got a letter from Brian Carter Solicitors saying if I don't contact in 14 days they will tell Fredricksons to issue proceedings against me, it then all turns into 'may' 'might' 'should' etc so I know it's an empty threat. However I have read that when it comes to Brian Carter things can get nasty and recall something about CCJ's at old addresses etc?

Any ideas what I should do now? I suppose I could still send the SB letter to drag things out. That is my tactic with the 2 other DCA's at the moment, hence why I've not posted anything on my other threads, besides I am pretty lazy when it comes to sending off letters, terrible I know! I have not replied anything to Fredrickson, this debt is for over £1000 with Abound catalogue (shop direct) so do I need to be doing anything now Brian Carter are involved? All letters are still coming in my maiden name too.

Yeah I've not had anything about the debt from anyone, don't even know who Phoenix is, however they may have been writing to me at previous addresses. Am fairly certain it's SB so think I'll send that letter anyway