Aye, that one I definitely have evidence of.

I forgot to mention; one of the liability orders had already been paid off. I told him this, however he said his records indicated other wise, and levied and charged on that order anyway. Grrr.

We had some council tax liability orders and the council wouldn't accept out payment arrangement. We paid them anyway by bank transfer, however they still set the bailiffs on us. Not happy with the way the bailiffs acted, the CT has now been fully paid off and I'm after the bailiffs. Can anyone point out where they have made errors? I know some fees are wrong, and I can sort that, I'm looking more at the procedural errors. (I have bolded what I think is out of order.) Following is a bulleted list of what happened: Were paying £30 to council per week. (on average 130/month) Bailiff stuck first visit letter through door without knocking. Phoned bailiff offering same amount we were already paying the council. He told us he needed to come around as he had to do paperwork for the agreement Once here I was told that a judge had ordered that no payment arrangement could be made without first levying on goods. I believe this was a lie. Basically, he wanted to come around to levy, not to "fill in the paperwork." I wasn't prepared to allow him to levy on any thing of value, so as he wouldn't agree to any arrangement without levying, I offered my car. I told the bailiff that I was due to sell the car. He said that was acceptable, as long as the money was used to pay off the debt. The bailiff told me I was to pay £120 per month, which is less than I was paying against the debt. I was told to pay this amount until I had been informed that the debt was clear. We paid on time every month. Some months later we scrapped the car and paid the bailiff the proceeds. This month we called the council to enquire as to the amount outstanding. We were told that the outstanding amount was £10.04, which we paid the council immediately. We then stopped paying the bailiff, as the debt had been cleared. I wasn't prepared to pay £120 against no debt. This week later the bailiff posted a letter through the door without knocking. He added a £70 visit fee to the account. He then rang my mobile, which my wife answered. She informed him that we believed that the account was clear. He informed her that there was still £64.04 to pay, and it was levied against the car. He then said that if we didn't have the car then we she had broken the law and he would arrange for an arrest warrant that day and be around that night with the police to have her arrested. My wife has sent him a text after speaking to bailiff advice telling him that, due to his actions, we will only deal with the bailiff company, and not to contact us again. He texted back saying that we have to deal with him. I will be claiming back the unlawful charges, for a start... Thanks in advance. Timsta

For the DCA to be able to add any charges, there would need to be a specific clause to that effect in the original agreement. That is; a clause which allows a DCA to add charges, not the original creditor. However, if the agreement is unenforceable, that is a mute point. Tim

If it ever goes to court they would need the agreement, your payments wouldn't even enter into it.

Always, always, always send a CCA. You'd be amazed how few are actuallt enforceable. Have a look at my recent surprise: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt-issues/136568-your-agreement-um-we.html That was for over £3000. I've been waiting a few months for Thames Credit to come back to me on a CCA for over £10,000. Highly unlikely they have that either. Again .... Always, always, always CCA.

My wife just had a very interesting phone call from Welcome Finance. We CCA'd them in mid Dec '07, they defaulted 6th Jan '08. After defaulting they sent through half an agreement, with the T&C's cut off the bottom. Well, today they called to ask about payment. We advised them that they haven't complied with the CCA as the T&C were cut off the bottom. After a lot of coercing, the muppet claimed that they weren't legally required to keep the originals. I think Companies House may disagree. He said, even if we wanted a copy of the full agreement they couldn't do it. He said the process is a follows: The local office send the agreement to the processing office, they scan the "important bits" then SHRED IT! He must be lying. Can they really be that stupid?!

Thank's Ben, that's the one I was looking for!

A bit of trouble with Capital One. We CCA'd them, and the 12 days expired on 25 February. On 17 March we recieved a Generic letter On the rear of the page is a standard blank agreement. This was clearly just a mail merge of a standard form. Today we received a default notice, while they are clearly in default of the CCA. I know trading standards is the next move, but is there a nice "CB" scary letter I can send them? Is there perhaps some nice threats to throw their way? Ta

No, they can't send bailiffs, they would need to go to court first. And if they do go to court, they would need to produce..... wait for it.......... Yep, the CCA they can't find.

The very best way is a SAR to the agency. That'll get you everything, not just their report.

Hi all, I've received the credit agreement from my wife's HSBC Managed Loan. It has all the prescribed terms, was signed by the bank the day before we signed it, however, I have thrown the numbers at DUAL CALC and they don't add up. This is what the Agreement has: Loan amount: £1150 Interest per annum: 10.75% (APR 11.3) Initial payment: £17.70 94 further payments at £18.04 per month. Now, Dual Calc works out the following: Nominal Percentage Rate: 11.01% Effective Percentage Rate: 11.58% (is this basically the APR?) APR: 11.6% So, being that they are actually charging us more interest than the say, where do we stand? More importantly, where does HSBC stand?

Yep, I know that now, but at the time I was under a lot of stress. It was the worst thing I could have been threatened with. Being threatened with separation from your family is downright evil. The debt has only just started to be chased again this week, after about 4 years of peace. However, this time I'm more than ready for them. They're going to wish they had got a real job instead!

I've had a DCA threaten to try to have me deported, knowing I had a young family.

We never got as far as court, HSBC sold it before we filed. Grrrr.

Bumpty, bump, bump, bump.

Hi all. My mother in law has about £120 in charges on an old HSBC account. HSBC closed the account with a debt of £120. What a coincidence! Anyway, we asked them to refund the charges, and they obviously refused. Our next step was court, however HSBC sold the "debt" to Aktiv Capital. We contacted Active and told them that the account was in dispute, they have since sent it to Thames Credit, who have confirmed that the account is now owned by Aktive Capital. What do we do? Do we tell them to send it back to HSBC, or claim the money back from them? (Oh, how I'd like to claim it back from them!!! )

Have you pushed for the charges to be dropped? AFAIU, if there are unlawful charges on the account then they can't sell it on, I also think it voids any default. I'm sure others in the know will advise.

It is VERY important that you do request your agreement. At the moment they have all the power, if it turns out that they don't have an agreement, or it is unenforceable they will stop demanding payment and realize that they will need to ask nicely as they won't have ANY means to MAKE you pay.

Wait, and hold onto that letter, it's evidence that you paid them for the CCA.

You don't need to send the CCA to HSBC. MCS have an obligation to send it on to their client. They have still committed an offence, especially as they are trying to enforce without an agreement and while in default. I would contact TS and also MCS, but I'm sure that someone will be able to help you more than I.

It matters not one wit whether the default notice is in a compliant form. They cannot default you while they themselves are in default. Perhaps write to them and remind them that they are in default and then report them to TS.

Send the SAR to HSBC. They are the original creditors and will have the records. (Would it be possible to request it under CPR 18? that way it would be free and you would get it a lot sooner.)

Can you scan it and post it up? Not all "agreements" are what they seem! Blank out your personal details and post it up and I'm sure someone will advise further! Tim

You need to check if you are entitled to any benefits, that should help a bit: entitledto Also, if you are on certain benefits your children may be entitled to free school dinners too. HTH & hang in there.