I've been away from home and have returned to find a British Gas bill, along with a letter I got today demanding payment, and warning me that payment is 2 months overdue, and they are going to have to take legal action if it is not payed charging me £14.. I dont use much gas, and the bill is estimated. I just rang them and told them so, and gave the current reading. She told me my bill had come down from £111 to £14, plus £14 admin fee (for chasing me for money I dont owe). I said I would not be paying until I received the new amended bill and I would not pay the £14 admin fee until i had checked the legalities of this charge. She advised me to check my contract, as BG are only obliged to read my meter once every 2 years, and it was up to me to provide a meter reading. Do these people talk utter tripe? OK I could have picked the phone up and sorted this sooner, but no way Im prepared to pay this extra on money I dont owe..... shockingly bad company

he-he! already had letters off them too, before this! I gave them the cabot fan club two fingered salute as well! the clock is ticking away, it's just a matter of time before I deal the final blow... awaiting the next letter; will it be Cabot, FIRE or Hodsons this time I wonder Let's let them look at the file and they can tell me if what they are chasing is statute barred or not. But chances are, they wont be able to, because they haven't got anything in that file other than an application form!

well hi everyone, not been on here for a while, but I'm still a member! I hope they aren't giving too much misery? Cabot have passed me on to our friends at FIRE, so I've progressed down the hallway by a few offices! They must be getting desperate! I've told FIRE to naff off but they dont seem to be taking the hint at the moment! They are threatening court action on the strength of an application form...and one that is well over 6 years old at that...silly silly cabot!

I'm thinking of signing my next letter to them with Cabot Fan Club, rather than a squiggle; seems like much more fun! But nowadays, I can't be bothered, I just let them send the same old template letters, on nice expensive headed paper, usually about twice a week! I think I'd feel bit lost without the regular drop on the doormat; they have become like an old friend in a way:D

If I was you I'd just sit tight and wait for them to come up with something. As far as you are concerned, you've done nothing wrong, so it's up to them. Dont give them anything, not even a response for the timebeing. Cabot being Cabot, if they have more on you, they'll be back to try some more. Try not to worry about people turning up on the doorstep; I'd say many of us who have been through this had the same fears to begin with. After a short time, the paranoia passes, its perfectly normal to feel threatened, thats why they do it, and in some (probably a lot) cases, it works! Be positive, there's plenty of help here in dealing with any crap that they might send.

they're just trying frightening tactics to scare you into phoning.... DONT! they told me that they would resume their collections proceedure via telephone if no payment rec'd by a certain date.... THEY DONT EVEN HAVE MY NUMBER! I nearly split my sides!

good news, hope they leave you alone now. But I'd check your credit rating to see if they've put anything on there, and create a stink if they have...

They obviously don't re-read their letters before rushing to get them out in the post! How terribly shoddy and unprofessional! Elizabeth1, they do seem to like leaving spaces on pages, there was a great big blank on the application form they sent to me... After my next reply, I wonder who I'll be passed on to? And how many times they can keep explaining away the same twaddle, but make it sound a bit different! Will this carry on indefinately?

I've had a wonderful letter (I must see if I can get round to scanning it and putting it up on here for all and sundry to read)! All proper headed paper, and signatures in ink! Lovely! All the usual tripe: Cabot are not the creditor, but the new assignee of the debt, and the CCA request and £1 should have been sent to the OC They state that the application form meets all the requirements of both the OC and Cabot :D And they state that they have no obligation under section 77 and/or 78 to supply ANY information :D "Although the original copy may not be available to Cabot, they have supplied Cabot with a copy which satifies all requirements of both Cabot and the OC. Under the CCA it states the creditor... shall give the debtor a copy of the executed agreement (if any)" and stress the words 'if any'. I just love the way in one sentence, they claim to be known as 'the assignee' but then in the next, be satisfying their duties as 'the creditor' in supplying copies of application forms (oops, sorry, I mean Agreements) they can shove it up their sweaty, smelly little ar$es

Hi, I hope someone reading this can offer me some advice: I know someone who sold house in recent years, and paid off their nationwide mortgage in the process. Nationwide charged an 'Early Redemption Fee' (£971) Was lawful or not? We believe that the early redemption fee should only be something like £50 to cover admin', and that the excessive charge has been judged now as unlawful, and can be claimed back? I should point out that the mortgage was redeemed during a fixed rate/5 year period, with 12 months left of that period.

a legally binding agreement, properly executed and acceptable in court, must contain details such as a credit limit, credit amount, and repayment terms for you to agree to. These generally aren't on an application form, just usually the current apr rates. You can't sign a contract, without all these important details on, can you? Or you'd be agreeing to absolutely anything:o The copy I was sent, said application in one bit, and agreement in another. At the top, it said agreement, but contains none of the prescribed terms. In Cabots covering letter, they called it 'your application' please try not to wet youself laffing!

well, the 30 days are more or less gone, and all I got was the application form. I noticed that was sent with a Rugby address on the rear of the envelope (return addy), so does this mean they've passed me on to their solicitors now? Is that the next stage? Because the alleged debt is statute barred in 9/10 months or so, does that mean they'll step up the chase, even without a fully executed agreement?

lovely Emma sent me my pound back as well, with the same letter! I'm sooo disappointed, as I thought she might be getting all personal with me! funny how they don't acknowledge the Act, but still react to our request! Why not just daft up another template, explaining that they don't have to send us anything, so pay up, or else...?

haven't got time to scan the threads can someone advise me: if requesting complaints details/proceedure, how many days are cabot allowed for response? cheers

if they return your £1 fee, send it back, with a blunt letter, quoting the law again, and say that you will keep returning it until they accept what you are asking for, and the law under which you are asking... it works because they try and pull a fast one, and think we dont know any better

but it never seems to go that far, does it? These people seem to know just what they can get away with, and how far to push it. If it did go that far, we wouldn't be talking so much about it What are we pushing for on here: someone who is brave enough to take that step? I'd love to hand a judge the 'application form' photocopy they sent me, with the blanked out sections on it; love to hear the explanations on that one... I'm going to relish pointing out a few things in my next correspondance.....

curlyben it doesn't say anywhere on the photocopy about stuff like credit limit, amount of credit, repayment etc etc. As it is an 'application form' as such, the details on income etc, are to be filled in, and returned, so it's not really an agreement, is it? although it says agreement in places on it!

oh, I have just spotted something looking at this photocopy: out of the 11 sections (in boxes), section 4 has been blanked out, there is an empty space it is obvious to me that something has been blanked out on purpose, because a small amount of text above has whitewashed as well. Something has been stuck over it!!!!!! I might now need to get in touch with the original CCC to find out what has been blanked out, or I'll never know

hi seahorse! I don't want to divulge too much on a public forum (I'm a bit paraniod that these parasites read these forums). It says at very top: XXXX Gold Application then under that, it says: Credit Agreement Regulated By the CCA 1974 this is a credit agreement between us and you, the person who's name appears in box 1 on this form. at the end, it says: please sign and return in the freepost envelope provided- your application must be received by us before 1st aug 2001 it also has another signature on it, from the CCC doesn't sound good to me

well, I got what most people seem to get the other day: a photocopy of an application form can't even be bothered to reply to them at the moment, clock is still ticking away... into the 30 day period now!

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quick question: should I have received a letter of assignment from the original creditor, as well as from Cabot? All I got was a Cabot letter.. does it matter?

well, those tenacious Caboteers are still sending me threatening letters, despite not sending any CCA response; asking me to phone them immediately, because they are about to pass me on to their next phase of collection! yeah, right. Of course I'll give in and phone you, and agree to pay you all my money, even though theres no proof I owe anyone anything. NOT

got more or less the same letter from lovely Emma good fun int it?

of course not but they'd just love me to! so, seeing as they go through this 'refusing £1 CCA' thing, is it in dispute status, or should one return the returned fee, with another letter, and keep doing so until they accept it? Obviously returning it to me, is a ploy to buy them more time to cobble summat together, without the 12+ time limit applying. BUT they can't do that if I've requested it; right?