Clarity , Cabot Financial (Europe) Ltd and Capital One

[eightiescrooner]

Hi - I'm new here and need some help, if possible?

 

Basically I've had a capital one credit card since I was 18 (I'm now nearly 22) and when I got it I did the following:

 

 

 

Signed up with a £1000 credit limit

 

Agreed to have the insurance that would cover me with the payments, should something happen at work that meant I could no longer repay the minimum amounts each month

 

I did this as I was in the process of joining the army, I asked them if the insurance would cover army related matters, they told me it would

 

 

The idea of the credit card was, as I was joining the army in the Royal Signals, I would need a laptop.

 

Once the credit card arrived, I got my laptop & joined the army.

 

 

Anyway, I was discharged on medical grounds and was told by my doctor I was in no fit state to work after I seriously damaged my back during training.

 

 

So....I told capital one, who then told me the insurance was useless as it DIDN'T cover army injuries. I was then left with a £1000 bill and no income.

 

 

After all this happened, I didn't manage my finances very well, got into a lot of other debt just trying to live and get back into education

 

 

I kept up with the credit card payments, albeit sporadically, and subsequently was given a lot of late charges and interest soon made me feel the account was unrepayable.

 

When we moved house I wrote to capital one and told them my new address, but despite this nothing came in the post for over a year from them. I, perhaps in my naivity, just hoped it had all gone away.

 

Anyway, today I received a letter from a company called "Clarity" who are acting for their client "Cabot Financial (Europe) Ltd"

 

They are chasing a balance of £1,109.35

 

While on the letter there is no mention of capital one, It has to be from them. As although I have other debts, this is the only one above £1000.

 

On the letter it also says:

 

"Until further notice all repayment proposals must be agreed with us"

 

They then state methods to pay the balance

 

and finally...

 

"We will be reviewing your account again in 7 days"

 

They haven't made any phone calls, possibly because my number is blacklisted and has changed from my old house

 

 

 

 

 

Basically I need to know what to do now.

 

I don't feel I can pay this debt back (yet), I'm not working, I'm in my final year of University and feel most of the debt is now charges.

 

I would also like to know how they got my new address.

 

So any advice on what to do would be helpful. I'm happy to ignore it / take them to court. Whatever really to make it as easy as possible.

 

 

Many Thanks for reading and any help I potentially receive

 

and yes, I have been very foolish in places, but they certanily don't make any of it pleasant!!

[steven4064]

Hi 80scrooner

 

Welcome to CAG. First thing, don't panic - there is plenty of help here. There are 2 things you can do - reclaim all the late payment charges because they are unlawful, reclaim all the PPI payments because they mis-sold it. Those two things should substantially reduce your balance.

 

Read as much as you can about what other people have done to get this money back. I think you should do the following straight away:

 

1. Send Cap1 a SAR - see the bank templates thread - ask them for all the information they have on you including copies of all your statements (assuming you haven't kept them all - if you have then you can proceed to the next step). You should enclose £10 statutory fee.

 

2. Send all of the companies a request under s78(1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 asking for a copy of the executed agreement relevant to your account and a statement of the account - you should enclose £1 statutrory fee

 

These two requests will provide you with all of the information you need to start reclaiming this money. keep us posted and we'll guide you through the process.

[eightiescrooner]

Thanks steven

 

I'll get right on this, will keep you updated.

 

 

Another quick question

 

If I have to go to court to get this sorted (As i'm reading in a lot of other forum posts) Does the balance get written off if I win? or just the charges

 

WIll the judge be unhappy that I ignored the debt for so long?

 

Thanks

[Curlyben]

First NEVER talk to these "people" on the phone as they will try and get you to agree to anything.

 

Before you even think about making any sort of acknowledgement or payment to a DCA you MUST ensure that they have the LEGAL right to collect the debt.

This is achieved by requesting a copy of the Signed, Executed Credit Agreement via a Consumer Credit Act (CCA) request.

There is a template letter to be found here: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt/20758-creditors-dcas-letter-templates.html

Letter N.

Is it important to start the letter:

I DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE ANY DEBT TO YOUR COMPANY in Big Bold letters.

 

It is best to send this request via recorded/special delivery as there are some inportant deadlines to observe.

 

After 12 WORKING days the "debt" is in default and stays that way until the request is complied with.

If a FURTHER month passes then the DCA has committed a summary criminal offence and the matter should be referred to Trading Standards for action.

 

I hope this clarifies some things.

[dpick]

Hi some options for you

 

If when you receive the "agreement" it may be an application form or an unenforceable agreement

 

Post it on your thread the experts will soon tell you if it ok or not.

 

Charges you can as I have done claim charges applied to your account and any interest applied to those charges and if you are feeling as much P**t off as I was then you claim interest from them on the total charges and interest applied to charges on your account. On my claim this started with £630 charges and £198 interest applied to charges and interest of 26.6% on the total £828 giving a grand total of £1666 this was refunded to mt account but this cleared my balance down to £371

 

all the best for now dpick

[eightiescrooner]

First NEVER talk to these "people" on the phone as they will try and get you to agree to anything.

 

Before you even think about making any sort of acknowledgement or payment to a DCA you MUST ensure that they have the LEGAL right to collect the debt.

This is achieved by requesting a copy of the Signed, Executed Credit Agreement via a Consumer Credit Act (CCA) request.

There is a template letter to be found here: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt/20758-creditors-dcas-letter-templates.html

Letter N.

Is it important to start the letter:

I DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE ANY DEBT TO YOUR COMPANY in Big Bold letters.

 

It is best to send this request via recorded/special delivery as there are some inportant deadlines to observe.

 

After 12 WORKING days the "debt" is in default and stays that way until the request is complied with.

If a FURTHER month passes then the DCA has committed a summary criminal offence and the matter should be referred to Trading Standards for action.

 

I hope this clarifies some things.

 

 

 

Thanks

 

So if the 12 days passes, then another month, and I report it to trading standards for action, what action can I expect/hope to happen

[Curlyben]

Before any reports are filed you should wait for the time limits to elapse AND they demand payment on a unsubstantiated debt.

TS have enforcement powers.

[eightiescrooner]

Before any reports are filed you should wait for the time limits to elapse AND they demand payment on a unsubstantiated debt.

TS have enforcement powers.

 

 

 

Thanks - but what does "unsubstantiated debt" mean?

 

sorry if that sounds really silly? I just have no idea...

[Curlyben]

It's means that they haven't got the legal proof that they can demand money for a debt.

[eightiescrooner]

ok brilliant, thank you

[steven4064]

Don't get your hopes up too much though. My advice to go for a s78(1) request under the CCA is not so you can get out of paying the debt but to put them on the back foot and hold up any action they may be considering against you. Hopefully we can get a claim in for charges and mis-sold PPI before they can do anything.

 

If they louse up and don't provide you with a copy of an executed agreement then there are other options as curlyben and dpick have outlined.

 

The most likely out come of all of this is that you end up with all the unlawful charges repaid into your account and the mis-sold PPI repaid. THis will leave you with a much smaller balance that you should be able to pay off more easily. In the process you might also get one of the companies to put themselves in the wrong and that will give you extra leverage when it comes to agreeing repayment terms.

[FANTASY CHARGES]

Re: Clarity credit management owned by nikko who owns cabot

 

 

http://www.npil.co.uk/news_item.asp?ID=45

 

hope we have clarity