Thanks dx, I've downloaded the letter but I think I will wait a bit. However, I really am worried sick and don't know what to do! i've gone over everything again and you'll see from my posts here i wrote to the bank in Oct 2008 asking for a copy of the CCA and again in Dec 2008 etc (see my posts at #55, #62 & #74), as suggested here. Will any of these letters have a bearing on the date the debt is statute barred? I'm just concerned that if I write to them and the debt is not statute barred the clock will start ticking again. The default date is July 2008 but the bank only withdrew their court action in June 2009 after I complained to the Ombudsman about them taking legal action when the account was in dispute (they never produced a CCA and as such the account was in dispute), can i be sure the debt is statute barred? I'm sorry for going on and on but it's making me ill

Thanks for your help with this guys, I'm just a bit worried about it all really. To answer your question maroondevo52, it is a company called optima legal who are threatening legal action if full payment is not made. I've heard nothing from Cabot. as you suggest, i'll wait for a bit and see what happens, and i'll keep you posted

Ok, I've just checked my credit report and this debt is there showing as a defaulted account, defaulting in 2008, but the debt now appears to be owed to Cabot Financial (UK) Ltd? Could this be who the debt has been sold to? what now?

Hi Back, i know it's been a while since your last post but i wondered if you ever got a reply to your letter from Cabot? i'm in a similar position with a debt that the bank started to take court action on but, like you, they withdrew it after i had contacted the ombudsman. Now the bank seem to have passed on my debt to a legal firm and they are now threatening court action.

Yes, it's for the same debt. I do not know what my credit file says where can i see it? I've just checked what info I have and the bank they withdrew their court action in 2009. Does this mean that the debt won't be statute barred until 2014?

does anyone have any suggestions?

thanks Ida, I've received a letter threatening court action again from another legal company. which is stressful to say the least, although I'm not sure if the debt is staute barred now as no payments have been made since 2008. However, the FOS did deal with my complaint re them raising court action while the account was in dispute in 2009 which led to them withdrawing their court action in the same year. what would be the best way for me to deal with this? Should i do nothing and see if they go away or should i write and say the account has been in dispute since 2008 and as such show me a CCA or do i write and tell them that previous court action was withdrawn in 2009, or is the debt statute barred now????? any idea of what would be the best way forward as i can't stand much more stress!

Oh dear just when I thought everything was fine, the silent phone calls have started and a I've had couple giving an automated message telling me that I should call a number, which appears to be a collections agency. I'm sure it'll be letters next Does anyone know if the bank are likely to have sold the debt on to someone else while it is in dispute, can they do this? They withdrew their court action, have never provided me with a CCA and I've heard nothing for years why would they try again if they have no CCA?

Thanks Maroondevo52 I'll let him see your comments and try and reassure him. I've no idea how long he had the card but I'll try and find out although I suspect he won't want to do anything about PPI or charges or anything as I think he really did think it had 'gone away'. He's decided not going to answer the door, or the phone too keep his stress levels down so all they could do is write to him I'll keep you all posted!

Hello, I'm looking for a bit of help or guidance please. my brother got a letter today from cabot telling him that his cc debt has been passed on to Optima collections. He's at his wits end as he thought all this had 'gone away'. He lost his job a few years ago (2008), through depression and marital break up, and asked the CC company to take reduced payments as he did not have much money coming in, they said no. Then he wrote and asked them to confirm they had a CCA and said the account was in dispute - they never replied and he assumed the lack of response meant they did not have one. He wrote to them again in Dec 2008 asking if they would take reduced payments as he did not want to 'shirk' the debt but still no answer. They passed the debt on to cabot as they wrote to him last year but he simply ignored the letter. Anyhow he has received another today telling him it's been passed on to Optima and they will be in touch but he's worried sick that they will come to his door! Can anyone tell me if there is anything he can do? is the debt statute barred now? he's made no payments since Aug 2008 and no contact since Dec 2008? Should he write and tell them the account is in dispute?

Thanks Ida, he says he applied in the branch, or rather while he was in the branch he was advised that this would be a good card for him as he would never have to pay any interest, and simply given the card. He did use the card and does not dispute repaying it, it's only the fact that the interest is now no longer frozen and as he pays only £10 per month to the outstanding balance, £9.31 is being added as interest and the debt will never clear - or as he states given his age (81yrs), he will die before it is paid off! Is it worth requesting a SAR and even a copy of the Agreement? I just think it was a bit silly of the bank to give someone in the 70's a Credit card knowing they only had a state pension as income.

Hi, i'm helping an elderly neighbour sort out their debts and they have a credit card in which they have had the interest frozen and are paying an agreed amount each month to reduce the balance, which was over initially over £1000 but its down to £700 now. He is finding it difficult to keep up the payments now and they have advised him that the agreement he had with them to 'freeze' the interest is coming to an end and he will now have interest added to the outstanding balance, which will make it more difficult for him to keep up the payments. I was going to write to the bank and ask them to help out a bit longer and freeze the interest again but i noticed he got the credit card in 2005 when he was 75 years old. Now this might not seem odd to some but he was not working and had no income other than his state pension and i would have thought that it was a bit irresposible of the bank to give him a credit card because of his lack of income. Doea anyone know if it is irresposible of a bank to do this and what can be done about it?

Thanks Ida, I can't afford a full and final but it looks like the FOS is saying that i have to pay even though there is no CCA. Do you think the lack of a CCA will put me in a better position however, to state how much i am prepared to pay on a weekly/monthly basis? as this is easier than having them dictate an amount. i'm managing (just), to keep on top of all my other debts and i really do not want to have to ask them to accept reduced payments in order to pay this, i'd much rather state what i am willing to pay and use the lack of a CCA as the reason why they should accept my offer. What's your thoughts on this?

Well the FOS has advised me that the bank are going to dismiss their action completely, and are sending out an income and expenditure form for me to complete, so that they can see what i have coming in and going out as they want to arrange a payment plan to clear the debt. They also say that the CCA will be sent out too, but i'm not to sure about this as i definately did not sign anything and so far they have not been able to produce one since i asked for it last year! The FOS have sent me a form to sign to confirm i that am happy with the outcome a nd to some degree i am as the court action should never have been raised while the account was in dispute. However, i did write to the bank last year (Rory kindly drafted a letter for me after 30 days had passed and they were still unable to produce a signd copy of the CCA), which included the paragraph below. Even though i sent it recorded delivery and it was signed for at their end, they never replied to me "I now require the balance of this account to be returned to zero and your Sheriff Court claim against me withdrawn. I believe that it is in your companies best interests in order to reduce your legal costs regarding this matter and those that may be claimed against you". In view of the above should i agree a payment plan or offer them something as 'full and final payment' in settlement of the debt?

Hi Ida, i'm just a little concerned as what if the FOS decides that the bank did not deliberately mislead me as they are in england and may not be familiar with scots law. I honestly felt i already had some form of closure as they did not have an agreement and as such could take no legal action. I'm confident there is no agreement so i'll just have to ride it out i suppose.

Just a quick update. I sent the letters as suggested in Rory's posts (#55 and #62) and i've heard nothing from the bank since. Thought it had all gone away and i could move on. I also decided to complain to the FOS about the banks insistance that they had 'sisted' the case when in actual fact they had not, and to date still have not as i felt they were deliberately misleading me in stating this. Foolish mistake on my behalf as the FOS has decided to look into everything not just my complaint (which was simply the fact that they had deliberately mislead me by insisting that the case had been sisited when it has not), but they are asking for the missing credit agreement to be presented to them also. I'm not usre what good this will do as i am sure the fact that i still have not been sent a copy means that it does'nt exist. I'm just a bit worried about what FSA outcome will now be What a mess i just wish i had left well enough alone

Thanks Ida

Thanks Rory and Ida, sorry it's taken so long to get back onto this but i've not been too well with the stress of everything, it seems i've let it all get on top of me and found it harder than i ecpected to cope. anyway i've picked myself up a bit and ready to battle on! I receved another letter back from their Solicitors, after my initial response this is what they say, "Thank you for your letter of XXXX, which has been passed for my attention. i have been asked to respond to your comments in relation to consent to process and share data with a credit reference agancy. In your letter you appear to be making a connection between the existence of a credit agreement regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and the requirement for this company to obtain consent to process its customers data under the Data Protection Act 1998. There is no such connection and your allegation that no signed credit agreement exists, which is denied, is irrelevant in establishing whether consent to process data exists under the Data Protection Act 1998 as we obtain our consent process independantly and separately from any decision to offer credit. I believe you are confusing us with other financial organisations, banks for example, who obtain consent to process data when loan/credit agreements are executed. We obtain our consent to process personal data at the time a customer applies for one of our catalogues or opens an account. There is no Data Protection rubric concerning processing of your data in our Consumer Credit Agreement. The applicaiton you completed at the time you requested one of our catalogues or opened your account would have contained a very comprehensive notification of the obvious and non obvious uses to which we would put your personal data. This notice, inter alia, will have notified you that, as part of our commitment to the responsible lending, we would record details of the manner which you conducted your account with a Licensed Credit Reference Agency. You DID consent to the uses of personal data to which your data has been put. The lack of a Consumer Credit Agreement or your signature thereon, is not relevant to the issue of whether you have consented to the use of, or whether we have fairly obtained and lawfully processed, your personal data As set out in our letter of XXXX, we are prepared to cease collections activity in respect of this account based on your assertion that you did not sign your credit agreement. However, your non payment will be reported to the relevant credit reference agency who record this fact for a period of 6 years. i don't suppose anyone can offer any advice on where i go from here, can i get the entry removed from the credit reference agency???

Hi Ida, can i ask your advice on how to word my letter offering a full and final payment. I'd like to ask that they remove all charges from the account and also details from any CRA's, then i'd be happy to offer what was left as a full and final payment, how should my letter be worded as i don't want them to think that it is open for negotiation and I'm not very good at writing letters. thanks

Thanks again Ida, i may offer a 'full and final' payment as there are quite a few charges and if they were to be removed the amount due would be very small indeed. thanks again

well i've received a reply and i think it's good news. they state, "we have complied with our obligations to supply you with a 'True Copy' of your credit agreement. A 'True Copy' is defined by Regulation 3 of the Consumer Credit (Cancellation Notices and Copies of Documents) Regulations 1983. The 'True Copy' need not, by law, contain either the signature of the debtor or the date of the signature in our case" they go on to say, "Havng been provided with this 'True Copy', there is no basis for you to allege that you are exonerated from payment under the agrement or that we remain in breach of our obligations under the act. You do not deny being in receipt of goods or services and it is therefore considered that your assertion that you have no legal liability for payment to be based solely on the fact that the relevant credit agreement has not been signed. We would also point out that the absense of an executed agreement may affect our ability to legally pursue this matter, but not our right to seek payment through our normal collection methods, short of court proceedings" In this case, however, we are prepared to cease all collections activity and have therefore sent a letter to XX to request that they take no further action in this matter. we have forwarded your letter to the relevant department who will respond to your further comments. we trust this closes matters" is it good news?

will do, thanks Ida:)

Well i've sent the letters off and i'll wait and see what response, if any, i get.

Thanks Ida, i'll do the letters and send them off on Monday, Recorded Delivery to ensure they get them. Should i include a copy of my letters of complaint to TS and OFT in the letter to the catalogue company or is it not necessary for them to see those at this stage? Which TS do i send my complaint to, my local TS or theirs?

Thanks Ida, should i also write a letter of complaint to TS and the OFT (as suggested by Rory)?