DebtWeary V Connaughts - Success!!

[Guest DebtWeary]

Hi everyone, I am new here and am so grateful to have found you! As the title suggests, I am yet another victim of the above DCA. It's a long story so I will try to be brief!

 

At the moment I have been served with a Statutory Demand (I was expecting it and it was personally served on me last Tues. 30th October). I hve since written to Connaught staing that I will offer a revised payment of £200 a month and sent them a cheque for this amount. The debt itself is one that arose from a personal account overdraft with Lloyds tsb, and got to Connaught via the usual route of Ist Credit. It originally started at around £11000 and I have so far paid of nearly £3000 in the 3 or so years since Connaught got hold of it.

 

It is clear from what I have read in the posts here just what this Connaught outfit are like. I did exactly what they wanted me to do and acted out of fear and ignorance of my rights.

 

In my letter I also told them that my house is in a state of disrepair, is in the local Council's system to be repaired, and that the cost of these repairs will be applied as a charge on the property. The bottom line was that I considered that this, together with the mortgage, would wipe out any equity on the property so any attempt to bankrupt me and attempt to force a sale of my home would not get their money back for them.

 

I also spoke to one of their reps on the phone last week trying to reach an agreement. Having read through the posts here, I am now both horrified and very very angry at what this rep told me. He said that in order to withdraw the SD, they would need £4000 lump sum plus a MINIMUM monthly payment of £350! He went on to say that there was no guarantee that this arrangement would be acceptable next week as it would most likely be with their solicitors by then, that their additional costs would be added to the debt (probably putting it over £10000) and that I would have to negotiate with them!

 

I asked why, if I had 21 days to do something about the SD, there should be any solicitor involvement at this stage? He kind of glossed over this saying that they were going for a Bankruptcy Petition so I had basically better get used to the idea.

 

Now I am very unsure what to do next.

 

How much of what they have said and done been so much BS?? From what I have read here, seems like it is mostly empty threats.

 

The other thing I wrote in my letter today was that if I fail to come to an agreement with them, then I shall apply to the Court to have the SD set aside. I went down there today and got the relevant form.

 

PLease, can someone advise me of what to do next? As I said, if only I had come to this site sooner. These b*****rds have given me no end of misery and my health has suffered as a result.

 

Thanks so much.

[sosumi]

Hi DebtWeary, hopefully this will 'bump' your post so others will see it. You'll get help here, I'm sure. Welcome to the Forum

[42man]

It seems more and more debt collection agencies are seeking to take people to court to make them bankrupt or to place a charge on their homes. The first course of action is to send off a request for a CCA

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Re:− (write the reference number here)

 

With reference to the above agreement, we would be grateful if you would send us a copy of this credit agreement.

 

We understand that under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (Sections 77−79), we are entitled to receive a copy of our credit agreement on request. We enclose a payment of £1.00 which represents the fee payable under the Consumer Credit Act.

 

We understand a copy of our credit agreement should be supplied within 12 working days.

 

We understand that under the Consumer Credit Act creditors are unable to enforce an agreement if they fail to comply with a request for a copy of the agreement under these sections of the Act.

 

We look forward to hearing from you.

 

Yours faithfully

Mr A N Other

DO NOT HAND SIGN THE LETTER !!! AND SEND BY RECORDED OR GUARANTEED DELIVERY - this puts the debt into dispute immediately. It may be that you have also had some excessive charges added to the account too....

[42man]

Bear in mind that you can only pay what you can afford....Have you sent them a breakdown of your earnings ?

[42man]

It may also be worth writing in the letter....PLEASE NOTE I AM NOT PREPARED TO TAKE ANY PHONE CALLS AS THIS WILL BE REGARDED AS HARRASSMENT AND TREATED AS SUCH

[zazen.warrior]

I hand signed a cca letter before I read not to. Have I made a big mistake?

[42man]

It has been alleged that some DCA's will cut and paste your signature on to a consumer credit agreement...

[zazen.warrior]

Phew, it was a green sqiggle, illegible!

 

And I won't be hand signing anything else.

 

Thanks

[ODC]

Getting the CCA request into them gives you a bit of breathing space so as yo can make sure that proof of the debt exist and these Connaughts have the right to be chasing you for it. Read this thread for some excellent advice http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collectors-debt-collection/112326-debt-collection-agencies-statutory.html

[Guest DebtWeary]

Thank you all for your replies. I feel at last that there is some hope!

 

I've been digging around through my old correspondance and have found my original contact letters plus a letter from 1st Credit telling me that the debt from Lloyds tsb had been assigned to them.

 

Before I write requesting a CCA, I want to be clear that, as this was an overdraft that got out of control, is it still definitely subject to the CCA?

 

Also, does the fact that Lloyds assigned the debt to 1st Credit without asking me first constitute them breaking the law? I seem to remember seeing that in one of the posts here.

 

Thanks.

[ODC]

Did they turn the overdraft into a loan by any chance.

[Guest DebtWeary]

Hi ODC, no I don't think so, I have found various other letters from DCAs but there is no reference to any loan. I need to find out all the statements relating to the account so I can see how the balance was arrived at. Does that mean that the CCA does not apply?

 

I recall that there were numerous charges relating to the account so I would appear to have grounds for disputing the amount for that reason alone.

[babybear39]

Subscribing...

 

Good luck and best wishes DebtWeary.

[ODC]

Hi ODC, no I don't think so, I have found various other letters from DCAs but there is no reference to any loan. I need to find out all the statements relating to the account so I can see how the balance was arrived at. Does that mean that the CCA does not apply?

 

I recall that there were numerous charges relating to the account so I would appear to have grounds for disputing the amount for that reason alone.

As far as I know an overdraft is included as its a running credit agreement.

[tomterm8]

As far as I know an overdraft is included as its a running credit agreement.

 

A overdraft is regulated by the CCA, however, the requirements for the credit agreement are very limited, and so almost all overdrafts are enforceable.

 

Has the OP contacted the national debt line? I suggest he/she does so as a matter of urgency. Stat demands served by a process server require urgenr professional advice.

[Guest DebtWeary]

Tomterm8 I have been doing extensive research on all this. I did receive an SD from this lot once before, hand-served not posted, but I managed to reach an agreement with them. I have also dug out the original correspondance from them, as well as 1st Credit's letter telling me they has acquired the debt.

 

I don't know if you or anyone can answer the question: Did 1st Credit or Lloyds act illegally but not asking my permission to transfer the debt?

 

I understand that the CCA does not hold so much water with overdrafts. However, I will still send both parties a letter anyway. If I get no reply to my original letter tomorrow then I will say that I have looked at the origins of the debt and an disputing the amount, as there were numerous charges involved here. For that reason alone, they will have to suspend any further action.

 

One more question - the rep I spoke to at Connaught stated that solicitors would most likely be involved this week. Surely it is acting improperly for them to do this BEFORE the 21 days has elapsed?

 

One other thing - the process server last week said to me "Are you going to go bankrupt" in such a way that suggested "You really should you know, it's inevitable". I told him "Not if I can avoid it". Incidentally, I have a letter from the Process Server in question, Bishop Investigations and Security Services, from back in 2004, when they first threatened to issue an SD, who just happen to have the same address as Connaught. Hmm!

 

Once again, thanks for all the input.

[tomterm8]

Tomterm8 I have been doing extensive research on all this. I did receive an SD from this lot once before, hand-served not posted, but I managed to reach an agreement with them. I have also dug out the original correspondance from them, as well as 1st Credit's letter telling me they has acquired the debt.

 

I don't know if you or anyone can answer the question: Did 1st Credit or Lloyds act illegally but not asking my permission to transfer the debt?

No. However, the assignment may be an equitable rather than legal assignment if some of the legal requirements have not been fulfilled, such as the notice of assignment served properly.

 

I understand that the CCA does not hold so much water with overdrafts. However, I will still send both parties a letter anyway. If I get no reply to my original letter tomorrow then I will say that I have looked at the origins of the debt and an disputing the amount, as there were numerous charges involved here. For that reason alone, they will have to suspend any further action.

 

You should S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) the original creditor. Did the debt contain substantial charges?

 

One more question - the rep I spoke to at Connaught stated that solicitors would most likely be involved this week. Surely it is acting improperly for them to do this BEFORE the 21 days has elapsed?

 

It would be quite improper to file a bankruptcy petition before 21 days elapses. You REALLY need to contact the national debt line, in my view.

 

One other thing - the process server last week said to me "Are you going to go bankrupt" in such a way that suggested "You really should you know, it's inevitable". I told him "Not if I can avoid it". Incidentally, I have a letter from the Process Server in question, Bishop Investigations and Security Services, from back in 2004, when they first threatened to issue an SD, who just happen to have the same address as Connaught. Hmm!

 

It may be a threat-o-gram, however, connaught has issued bankruptcy petitions before. Look up the thread by 42man. They are... um... unprintable, in my view.

 

Once again, thanks for all the input.

 

Might be worth PMing sequenci, who has quite a lot of experience with these issues.

[Guest DebtWeary]

Thanks tomterm8, I appreciate your help. Yes, I can believe these people would go for a petition, which is why I wrote to them, as I mentioned in my original post, that there won't be any equity left in the house once our local council slaps a repair order on it, so they would be basically wasting their time. I don't have any other assets.

 

I need to dig out my statements for this account and establish the scale of the charges.

 

Can you confirm that the fact that I AM about to query the charges included in the debt balance that this is enough to stop them taking any further action until the query is resolved?

 

Thanks,

[Guest DebtWeary]

In case it comes to this with my current dealings with Connaught/1st Credit, I would be interested to hear of anyone who has completed the relevant Court forms and submitted them.

 

Did anyone have to attend a hearing with a judge? I understand that this may happen if the judge needs more information. If this did happen, did anyone take along legal representation?

 

I have had such hearings just with a judge (3 in fact) for mortgage re-possession but I never had representation(in each case the possession was suspended thankfully) but I discussed things with the mortgage lender's representative before the hearing and he/she did most of the talking.

 

Also, if it came to a hearing, does the creditor have to send, and thus pay for, a representative?

 

Hope some one can throw some light on this.

 

Thanks.

[gizmo111]

It is quite late now. but I will pass this on to the team members ho may be able to assist you further.

[rory32]

What would be your grounds for asking for the set aside? Are there charges on the account?

 

It's generally quite easy to set aside an SD (remember about 90% of them are just used as a scare tactic) and no you don't need legal representation.

 

As Giz says it's quite late now so, if no one else does, I'll give you some more assistance tomorrow (well later today). Anyway here is some info on SD's Legal Issues Explained - Statutory Demand

[Guest DebtWeary]

Thanks guys, much appreciated. The debt was originally a Lloyds tsb current account overdraft that got out of control. Buried in my archives somewhere are all the statements (I hope!) and I am sure that there are penalty charges involved.

 

It seems that SDs can be simply withdrawn; I had one before. I believe that the creditor has a time limit within which it must apply for a Petition otherwise the SD becomes invalid. Not sure what that is though.

 

It would I think be a good thing if more of these SDs from these particular outfits were chucked out as they would then become a matter of public record. As it is, they continue to get away with issuing them at the drop of a hat. God they must issue thousands of them!

[rory32]

God they must issue thousands of them!

Yes as an industry they do and the reason is it costs them nothing and scares a lot of people into paying without questioning the debt. Bankruptcy procedings of course are quite expensive.

 

How much is the overdraft amount roughly and how much do you think the charges might be? If you don't have all your statements you can send a SAR to get them (costs a tenner).

[Guest DebtWeary]

The overdraft was eventually frozen at about £11000 (don't ask, it's a very long story!) but I have paid back nearly £3000 to Connaught before this unpleasantness started. My very first communication from them was in the form of an SD threat (as so many others here have described). I guess I will approach Ist Credit who bought the debt from Lloyds for details of the debt. Given that the overdraft reached such dizzying levels, I am sure there are considerable charges involved.

[sequenci]

You would certainly have grounds for setting the SD aside if you believe the amount being claimed on the demand is wrong. Certainly look to CCA 1st Credit if you've not already do so, consider a SAR to Lloyds too.

 

I would also like you to consider complaining to The FOS and OFT about 1st credit's use of SDs as I strongly feel that bankruptcy proceedings should not be used as a punitive measure.

 

To answer your question I've known of LOADS of SDs to be set aside so long as the grounds are sufficient.

 

Do you live in mortgaged or rented accomodation?