Thank you, will have a look on the website. Claire

Have drafted a response, which I have copied in below. Can anyone advise me that I am on the right lines with this. I have 14 days to respond to the Court stating my intentions. The Defendant wishes to defend the claim issued by the Claimant for the following reasons:- 1) It is disputed that Default was served on the Defendant by the Claimant at any time. The Defendant requests that the Claimant provides a copy of the said Default along with proof of postage. 2) The Defendant admits that the account was in arrears, due to circumstances changing, and the Defendants partner commencing a new job which required work in advance to be carried out prior to being paid. 3) The above circumstances were explained over the telephone to a gentleman only know to the Defendant as “John”. The Defendant does have a contact telephone number for the above mentioned person. 4) It was discussed with John at the time of the arrears that the Defendant was considering returning the vehicle due to a change in circumstances and also due to the vehicle being consistantly unreliable. 5) Once the Defendant had decided to return the vehicle she contacted John to advise that she wished to return the vehicle using her rights under condition “” of the Agreement. It was then arranged between the Defendant and the said, John, for the vehicle to be returned. 6) The Defendant disputes that the vehicle in question being a Fiat Punto 1.6 ELX, registration Y724 HCN was repossessed from the ownership of the Defendant. 7) The Defendant utilised her right to return the vehicle under Condition “ “ of the Contract, copy herewith. 8) The Defendant was entitled to return the vehicle under the Condition referred to above as over half of the term of the Agreement had expired. 9) The Defendant wishes to point out that the only balance which would be payable by the Defendant under that condition would be the balance of the “optional” insurance premiums. 10) The Defendant further disputes that the insurance premiums would be payable as it was not advised by the Claimant at the time when the Agreement was signed that the Insurance premiums were in fact “optional” and it was stated by the Claimant that these had to be taken out in order to have the credit for the vehicle. The Defendant therefore claims that the insurances were mis-sold to the Defendant, and should therefore not be payable. 11) The Defendant furthermore believes that had the Defendant been aware of the Sale of Goods Act, that the vehicle in question could have been returned to the Claimant some time prior to this due to it being unreliable and consistently requiring repair. The repairs in question not being due to general wear and tear (as these did not qualify to be repaired under the Warranty which was in place), but major items such as the exhaust falling off within 6 weeks of owning the vehicle, and the engine having a major fault having owned the vehicle for just over 18 months, and having only travelled 8,000 in that time. The Defendant estimates that along with the balance of the car being paid, that in total she has paid around £1200-£1800 in repairs throughout her ownership. The Defendant is trying to obtain a duplicate copy of the invoices from the garages who carried out the repairs as copies were not obtained and the original were returned with the vehicle to ensure the service history was correct. 12) The vehicle in question had to actually be towed from the Defendant’s property when it was returned to the Claimant as it had in fact broken down two days prior to the date that had been arranged for it to be returned. It was therefore agreed between John and the Defendant that the vehicle would be towed by the Claimant’s representatives, and the Defendant therefore does not dispute paying any costs in this respect. 13) The Defendant did contact Golds Solicitors, representing the Claimant to request a breakdown of the costs which they were stating were owed. The Defendant to date has not received the same, and the Court claim being the only form of correspondence received from the Claimant since my request on the 13th September. 14) The Defendant believes that the Claimant cannot claim that they repossessed the vehicle as the Defendant also believes that no Default was registered with the Credit Reference Agencies at the time that the vehicle was returned, as the Defendant obtained further HP with an alternative Company prior to the vehicle being returned. The Defendant does not believe that she would have been able to do this had the Claimant served Default Notice and repossessed the vehicle. 15) The Defendant therefore claims that the Claimant is not entitled to any sums of monies which they are claiming are owed to them under the Agreement. Any comments? Claire

Can anyone help me please. I have been served papers from Direct Auto Finance (Yes Car Credit) for a balance of around £5000. They are claiming the same saying they repossed the car as they served a default notice. I want to defend the same as a) no default was served/received b) I returned the car under my rights to terminate the agreement c) default cannot have been served as I obtained credit with another company at the time I returned the car. Having read my Agreement with them it does state that the insurances would be payable if I returned the car, however I also dispute this as I believe I was missold these as I was not told at the time I got the car that they were "optional" it was advised I HAD to have these. Has anyone been in the same circumstances with Direct Auto? If so can anyone point me in the right direction? I was previously advise to go to CAB, but my local one only opens two days a week, and I work full time so it is hard for me to get out of work! Help would be much appreciated. Claire

Letter received from YB yesterday saying charges fair etc etc, will not be refunding etc etc. Report to financial ombusman if you feel you should etc etc. LBA set to go off to them on 12th October, their two page lengthy letter will certainly not put me off! My partner does not think I will get these back for him, however I said that the letter we got was aimed to give people that impression, and that I, and all the people on this website know what we are doing so we aren't giving up! Will keep you posted

Well Halifax have until today to settle in full otherwise my completed N1 is going to my Local County Court. Am now claiming £1527 plus interest at 8% if it goes to Court. Will keep you posted. Claire

If I remember rightly the template letters are in "default removal" section in the Legalties Forum or in the Debt and Bailiff Forum (one or the other) That should provide you with the info on the timescales and also the fees etc. I

Thank you for your post, this is most helpful. I will arrange an appointment with my CAB. They have sent me a breakdown of my costs and I have the full agreement from when I took out the car. Hopefully CAB will be able to help me in my fight against YCC and Golds Solicitors.

Similar letter received here. Boyfriends Visa Stats received - £359 in charges. Bank Stats to follow, not received yet, but presume they will be here in next few days. Seems they are working at same speed with us. Maybe we'll get our partners money back at same time!

Probably! Think I am just gonna point out the case law in the notices, and go from there. Thanks for your response

Visa Statements arrived - total £359 - not much but better than nothing. Preliminary approach letter sent today.

Preliminary offer received for £160 against claim of £1382 ........... think not! Thanks but no thanks! Also instead of sending me the two years missing statements they have sent me the first two years of this account and said they are waiving the £5 fee! Very kind, but I didn't request these. Anyway offer will be accepted as part settlement but am giving them a further 14 days to settle in full prior to commencing court proceedings. Will keep you posted Claire

I surrendered my car 8 weeks ago having had it for over 2 years and had nothing but problems with it. Firstly after having it 8 weeks the exhuast fell off! YCC actually replaced this free of charge. Then the fly wheel on the engine went not long after - cost £1000!! Had the car repaired and it still squeaked, made noises, and was unreliable. Finally decided I'd had enough and spoke to Direct Auto about surrendering the car. Funnily enough it then broke down 2 days before they were due to pick it up, so they had to tow it!! That completely summed the car up! Anyway, yesterday received a letter from Golds Solcitors saying I owe them £5397.32 and must pay within 7 days otherwise they will commence Court proceedings. Am not sure what to do, as I certainly can't pay it, but also don't agree that I owe that much. I paid £235.14 per month for 26 months = £6113.64, so how can I still owe them £5397.32, when the car was only £5995? It was only a crappy Fiat Punto, not a Merc or owt!!! Can anyone help? Does anyone know where I stand legally and what I should do? Many thanks Claire

Can anyone help please? Received a response from TMobile after serving Section 10/12 Notice stating they require me to provide evidence that the information is incorrect or provide evidence that this is affecting my credit rating. They have stated that their "privacy policy" stated that my information would be processed at the Credit Reference Agencies, and nowhere did it state that this information would cease to be used once the account is closed. Can anyone help with a response to them. Don't want to get into long correspondence with them, just simply state the facts, that I have not authorised them to process my information. Any help would be appreciated.

Overdraft interest is different form the 8% interest which is added at the Moneyclaim stage. It sounds like you had done it right, however that amount of overdraft interest sounds quite a lot. Did you calculate this from the statements or using one of the online spreadsheet tools? Double-check your figures, but in theory sounds like you are ok. Good luck with claim Claire

Quick update. I have lodged my preliminary apporach for repayment last week and received the standard response from Halifax saying will look into within 4 weeks, so LBA set to be posted (by my sister, she better not forget!) on Monday. Still waiting my missing Statements and managed to speak to a really useful guy who gave me the old account details and told me that they didnt realise the SAR was for this account also!! Advised them the 40 day compliance expired on 18th, and he said he has now put the request in for statements and said I will have these by monday. Unfortunately I will be on holiday so nothing will be done until 25th, but hopefully the missing statements will arrive. Will keep you posted Claire

Good luck to you and your partner, although you won't need it!! Just follow the steps. Halifax seem to be the biggest offenders for charges and don't care or sympathise with the fact that sometimes people do have periods of bad finance. They are the ones that make it worse and we are the ones who suffer! Well not anymore thanks to this website and the knowledge that we have gained. Halifax owe me roughly around £5,000 for the three accounts which I have had with them, and I WILL get every penny back with interest! The feeling of knowing that YOU are in control for a change cannot be explained in words. All the best to you both Claire

Thanks, I shall wait for the 30 days to expire before sending.

Cabot and their Agents have failed to supply me with the relevant documents within the 12 day period. Could someone approve the below letter for me? Thanks I write further to my letter of 23rd August 2006. I note that you have not complied with my Consumer Credit Act request to provide me with a signed copy of my Loan Agreement with your client, along with the Deed of Assignment showing that your client is responsible for this account. I do not acknowledge owing your client any monies, and as you have failed to supply the requested documents within the12 day compliance period, in order for the debt to now be enforced you must produce the above mentioned documents and obtain a Court Order. Failure to supply the documents within a period of 30 days is a criminal offence and if the relevant documents are not forthcoming I will report your client to the Information Commissioner’s Office. I would also advise that due to the above mentioned documents having not been received, I have now served a Section 10/12 Notice of the Data Protection Act 1995, on your client direct on the 6th September, (by recorded delivery), asking for full removal of this account from my Credit File as they are not permitted to process my data and are in breach of the conditions of the Data Protection Act. Failure to do so within 21 days will result in me obtaining a Court Order for my Notice to be enforced. I trust this explains my position clearly and I do not now expect any further correspondence or communication from yourselves, other than to supply a copy of the original requested documents. Any further comments on above? Claire

Can I make a suggestion as my claim is for an old account. I sent by SAR on 8th August and still no statements. I rang yesterday to be told it hadn't been actioned as they didn't realise it was for my old account! I would ring Halifax and obtain your old roll number first so you can place it on the letter. Then send it to Head Office in Halifax. Good luck with it claire

Hi Can't help on the Bailiff thing as I don't know much about that, but sure someone will be along soon to help you with this. With regards to the bank charges, have a look in the FAQ's and the relevant Forum for further info. You need to familiarise yourslef with the process and then send the initial Subject Access Request and a £10 cheque to obtain your last six years statements. With regards to Companies charging for you not paying by Direct Debit I think this is standard and have not seen anything to say they cannot charge these fees. Keep looking through the site as there are loads of helpful forums and sections. Claire

Yup go for it if you have all the info already, start the ball rolling. Send the initial letter asking for payment, give them 14 days to respond and offer, then the LBA letter gets sent. Good luck with it, wished I'd been sensible and kept my statements, am still waiting!!! claire

Hi, Not too clued up on all of this myself, however I was referred to the "Default Hell" Thread. The girl involved there (sarah) i think had similar situation with Vodafone. There are some template letters under S10/12 of Data Protection Act which may be of use to you. Not sure where the Thread is located now, either in this section or go into the Legalities Forum. Hope this helps in some way. claire

Having spent some time reading the "Default Hell" thread, I have today sent S10/12 Notices to Halifax plc for previous Loan and Credit Card info, Tmobile for a previous phone Contract, and Cabot for a Credit Card. Coutndown starts here.............. With the Cabot one there is a default registered which I have already requested copy of and the 12 day period has expired, so trust I am in a better position with this one. If this information wasn't there I would have a pretty decent credit record, and think when I come to remortgage next year I may be able to get a much better mortgage. Hopefully fingers crossed this will all work. Will keep you posted. Claire Also would just like to say, this website has restored my faith in our rights as normal everyday people trying to stop these big Bank Firms and Corporations from ripping us off and making our life a misery! Donations will be flowing once my bank charges are refunded!!

Thank you for the information, much appreciated. A letter will be sent to them today quoting Sale of Goods Act. I simply want it fixing rather than replacing, which I don't feel is an unreasonable request. Many thanks Claire

Thank you, I will have another read of the deafults section to get it clear in my mind. Your help is much appreciated. Thanks Claire