Weightmans/HFC County Court Claim

[Hopeful1]

Background:

 

Had made payments to W'mans over a period of time - not sure how long.

 

Had missed a few payments but not heard from them for a few months at the beginning of last year.

 

Joined this site and sent a CCA request.

 

No response 'til approx 5 months later to say didn't have docs, they'd asked HFC for them and would send them on.

 

Sent SAR to both companies. Still waiting for HFC, W'mans said they can't send me that info.

 

Have been perturbed by the fact that W'mans have taken money from me but have not provided me with any record of it.

 

Have had letters asking me to sign a voluntary charging order. I refused based on their CCA non compliance.

 

I heard nothing from them until yesterday to say county court proceedings had been issued. There were also threads of bailiffs and attachment orders etc

 

Today i have received the court forms

 

I need to be clear that i will be happy to pay this debt.

 

I just wanted to establish the true balance and to clarify whether any charges or PPI had been added to the loan.

 

I also wanted to ensure that W'mans had a legal entitlement to collect the debt. They have caused me much upset in the past prior to me joining this site with threats of charging orders and pressure to make payments i could not afford.

 

I wrote complaints about the actions of W'mans last night, which will still go off today. The above points in bold are included in the letters.

[Hopeful1]

Particulars of Claim:

 

Breach of Agreement pursuant to the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

(1) The Defendant entered into a written agreement with the Claimant. This agreement is regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

 

(2) The Defendent is indebted to the Claimant in the sum of 11881.60 and in the respect of the said agreement under account number ********* and maintained by the defendent at the Claimant's Branch and the sum of 1674.11 in respect of costs under the said agreement.

 

(3) In breach of the said agreement, the defendant failed to make payment in accordance with the agreed payment terms and the Claimant issued and serve a Default Notice upon the Defendant and pursuant to Section 87 (i) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

 

(4) By letter from the Claimant to the Defendant, the Claimant demanded repayment of the said sum, but the Defendant has failed to repay the sum.

 

(5) On the premises, the Defendant is indebted to the Claimant in the sum of 13555.71.

 

(6) The claimant therefore claims the balance due under the agreement.

 

Amount claimed 12357.71

Court fee 190.00

Solicitors costs 100.00

Total amount 12647.71

[Hopeful1]

So, i can respond on moneyclaim. I can't defend anything until i have the account details.

 

Bearing in mind i will be happy to repay what i owe WHEN i have all the paperwork which option do i tick to acknowledge the claim?

[pt2537]

In the XXXX County Court

Claimant -v- (YOUR NAME)

Claim Number: (CLAIM NUMBER)

 

 

Dear XXX

 

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

 

I have received a recent court claim from your organisation. In order to file a defence and counter claim I require some information. Given that this matter is now the subject of legal proceedings, you are obliged to disclose under the Civil Procedure Rules, the information and documents detailed below.

 

The information must be furnished within fourteen days of the receipt of this letter. If you fail to comply, this will be reported to the Court, a copy of this letter will be provided as evidence to the same and an Order enforcing your compliance will be sought.

 

1. A true copy of the executed credit agreement and any terms and conditions that applied to the account at the time of default and at the time the account was opened.

2. All records you hold on me relevant to this case, including but not limited to:

 

a. Transcriptions of all telephone conversations recorded and any notes made in relation to telephone conversations by your company, or by any previous creditor

b. Where there has been any event in my account history over this period which has required manual intervention by any person, I require disclosure of any indication or notes which have either caused or resulted in that manual intervention, or other evidence of that manual intervention in relation to my account formerly held with *********.(AMEND TO THE COMPANY NAME)

c. True copies of any notice of assignment and/or default notice or enforcement notice that you or the original creditor sent me, with a copy of any proof of postage that you hold.

d.Documents relating to any insurance added to the account, including the insurance contract and terms and conditions, date it was added and deleted (if applicable).

e. Details of any collection charge added to the account; specifically, the date it was levied, the amount of the charge, a detailed financial breakdown of how the charge was calculated, and what the charge covers.

f. Specific details of the fees/charges levied by any other agency in respect of this account and a detailed breakdown of said fees/charges and what each charge relates to and on what date said fees/charges were levied.

g. A genuine copy of any notice of fair use of my data as required by the Data Protection Act 1998

h. A list of third party agencies to whom you have disclosed my personal data and a summary of the nature of the information you have disclosed.

i. Copies of statements for the entire duration of the credit agreement.

 

3. Any other documents you seek to rely on in court.

 

 

I will require this information within the next fourteen days. I must advise you that if the information is not forthcoming, it will be reported to the Court that you are trying to frustrate proceedings and denying me the opportunity to file a defence and counter claim.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

XXXX (type, don't sign).

 

 

Right Hopeful1

 

Get that in the post via special delivery asap to them,

[pt2537]

So do you have proof of delivery for the CCA request?

 

do you have any letters from them telling you they dont have an agreement?

 

anything else that could be useful? even if you dont think it is at the time;)

[PriorityOne]

I really think it's time this shower were reported to the SRA .... there are so many threads on here lately about Weigjhtman's going ahead with County Court claims in the absence of any/inadequate docs. from HFC...and all to secure a charge on property, as I see it.

 

If you don't own property, HFC will farm it out to another bunch of chancers instead....

[Hopeful1]

So do you have proof of delivery for the CCA request?

 

do you have any letters from them telling you they dont have an agreement?

 

anything else that could be useful? even if you dont think it is at the time;)

 

 

Hi Paul - you're a Godsend!! (and i'm not that religious )

 

***Does the letter go to Weightmans?

 

I have all letters which i put together last night for the complaint.

 

Weightmans always write that they do not have the doumentation but have requested it from their client.

 

Their letters are always very brief and never name refer to anything i've requested by name.

 

I also have the recorded delivery slips for my letters. I'll go on the Royal Mail site over the weekend and print off the delivery proofs.

[Hopeful1]

I really think it's time this shower were reported to the SRA .... there are so many threads on here lately about Weigjhtman's going ahead with County Court claims in the absence of any/inadequate docs. from HFC...and all to secure a charge on property, as I see it.

 

If you don't own property, HFC will farm it out to another bunch of chancers instead....

 

 

Hi P1. I had a look at their website last night and they BOAST about the claims they put through Northampton.

 

I am so cross at their arrogance. I'm on my way to post complaints to TS, FOS and the Legal Complaints Services. I'm not going down quietly.

[pt2537]

yes send it to weightmans

 

that's cool if you have the documents, it makes life a little easier to deal with and they cant try and bluff their way out by saying they never received your letters etc

 

 

the only thing to bear in mind is that this could easily end up going before a judge, if your local to me then i would be happy to go to the court with you , but if your not then you have to remember that we can give you the arguments but ultimately it will be you that needs to put the case across in court

 

but like most of these cases,its very much winable

regards

paul

[Hopeful1]

yes send it to weightmans

 

that's cool if you have the documents, it makes life a little easier to deal with and they cant try and bluff their way out by saying they never received your letters etc

 

 

the only thing to bear in mind is that this could easily end up going before a judge, if your local to me then i would be happy to go to the court with you , but if your not then you have to remember that we can give you the arguments but ultimately it will be you that needs to put the case across in court

 

but like most of these cases,its very much winable

regards

paul

 

Thanks Paul.

 

The letter's amended and printed.

 

Thanks for your support. I'm in Birmingham so not that close unfortunately. I may look to one of the free advisory services in the 1st instance and then consider costs of defending etc.

 

I really don't think they should be allowed to do this.

 

I have copies of numerous requests for the agreement. I should have complained about them earlier.

 

We shall see what happens. Over the course of the week i shall look at all my options and also see what comes out of my complaints.

 

I will be telling anyone and everyone about their behaviour - enough is enough.

 

Must get to the post office!!

[Hopeful1]

Last question - what do i do about acknowledging the claim - i can't see on the letter how long i have to do this?

 

Thank you very much for your time

[babybear39]

Subscribing...

 

You're in great hands with Paul

 

I'm here to offer support and hugs when you need them

[spiritgirl59]

Subscribing too (((hugs)))

 

and sending oodles of supportive thoughts x

 

Stand firm Hopeful1 - I know its daunting at first when you receive court papers cos I know how I felt when I got mine, but as Paul said its winnable, you just need to be one step ahead of/a darn sight more determined than, and more professional than they will EVER be, and now show them up for the utter plonkers that they are

 

Love SG x

[cashins]

Subscribing - I always remember a phrase from one of their letters which was "we really do not understand why you do not settle this claim" (around 10k). They must have had a lot of fun with that one.

 

Good luck

 

David

[cups]

Hi

 

Subscribing to this thread now,,I am in almost exact same situation with these losers,,HFC have supplied me with a copy of application. I think for every ten people that they threaten at least nine must give in and sign up to a charge on their property. I'll probably be a few weeks behind you at court,,

 

Take care and chin up,,

 

C xx

[Hopeful1]

BB and SG - you are my everfaithful. Thank you Cashins and Cups for subscribing too - the more the merrier

 

Cups - let me know how you get on. If you have a thread, post your link so i can follow your progress too. I think you are quite right about the number who must agree to the COs. I won't be without a fight. If i lose, at least i can say i've tried. I've no plans to sell the house for a while, so they will have to wait either way.

 

As well as the letter to Weightmans, complaints have also been faxed and posted inbetween family visits and all the other weekend stuff that goes on It's my little one's 5th b'day at the end of the week, with a party to prepare for too, so a busy week ahead!

 

Thanks again everyone.

[Hopeful1]

Sorry to be a pain.

 

At the risk of revealing how thick i am , can i just clarify the dates:

 

on moneyclaimonline it say i have to respond within 14 days of service.

The date of service is taken as 5 days after the issue date of the N1.

 

So (bear with me):

 

Issue date 13th Feb.

Date of service classed as 18th Feb.

Response to N1 would have to be made by about the 3rd March?

 

Have i understood that bit right? I just don't want to risk shooting myself in the foot before i get there.

 

Thank you in advance to any takers

[tomterm8]

Nah, acknowledge service and you get a further 14 days.

[Hopeful1]

Nah, acknowledge service and you get a further 14 days.

 

At this stage do i have to say whether i am defending part of the claim? Or is it literally just to say, yep i've got it?

 

I'm so uncertain because i don't know what is on the account and whether i will find whether there are charges because so far, they've not supplied me with the info.

[humbleman]

Subscribing

[spiritgirl59]

At this stage do i have to say whether i am defending part of the claim? Or is it literally just to say, yep i've got it?

I'm so uncertain because i don't know what is on the account and whether i will find whether there are charges because so far, they've not supplied me with the info.

 

Hiya Hopeful1

 

You'll be doing the same as me won't you? Defending this whole claim because it is not proved that you owe it as no paperwork has been provided as per your requests (CCA etc)? If I've misunderstood here please feel free to give me a cyber-kick up the bottom LOL.

 

Have a look on my thread because I got loads of help with filling in the AQ (wording etc) from Chris & the others

 

Love SG x

[Hopeful1]

Hi SG - you're right, i haven't had any paperwork, so as far as i am aware, they have no right to take this action.

 

I am unsure because i have said i will be happy to negotiate payment when i've seen what charges etc have been added. I just want to fight the charging order.

 

On Tomterms help thread he suggests defending all when acknowledging service. I'm assuming i can change this if needed? Oh dear, i'm such a dimwit with this legal stuff :o

[pt2537]

Hi SG - you're right, i haven't had any paperwork, so as far as i am aware, they have no right to take this action.

 

I am unsure because i have said i will be happy to negotiate payment when i've seen what charges etc have been added. I just want to fight the charging order.

 

On Tomterms help thread he suggests defending all when acknowledging service. I'm assuming i can change this if needed? Oh dear, i'm such a dimwit with this legal stuff :o

 

To have a legal right to claim this debt they MUST BE ABLE TO PRODUCE A VALID CREDIT AGREEMENT

 

 

if they cant then they are whistling in the wind.

 

now if you have CCA'd them and they have failed to comply, that is grounds enough to defend in full. plus the fact that you were prepared to negotiate can only go in your favor

 

i suggest that you defend in full at this stage, we can cite their failure to supply the documentation as unreasonable and their bringing the claim while in default is wholly unreasonable and vexatious

[Hopeful1]

To have a legal right to claim this debt they MUST BE ABLE TO PRODUCE A VALID CREDIT AGREEMENT

 

 

if they cant then they are whistling in the wind.

 

now if you have CCA'd them and they have failed to comply, that is grounds enough to defend in full. plus the fact that you were prepared to negotiate can only go in your favor

 

i suggest that you defend in full at this stage, we can cite their failure to supply the documentation as unreasonable and their bringing the claim while in default is wholly unreasonable and vexatious

 

 

Thanks Paul. You've clarified that for me. I had the legal aspect and "i don't mind paying what i owe" bit very confuddled.

 

I've not actually tried to negotiate payments yet. That would have been my next step AFTER receiving all my docs.

 

I shall now go onto moneyclaim, i'll feel better when i've acknowlwedged things. I had very little sleep last night.

 

Thanks again.

[pt2537]

no worries

 

if they do produce a valid credit agreement then we can ask the judge to take into consideration the fact that they failed to supply the documentation when asked, they ignored the law and forged ahead with legal action while they were not entitled to do so as s77(4) & 78(6) both set out the fact that while in default of a cca request they are not allowed to enforce the debt

 

it may even be the case that they judge kicks their ass out of court so try not to worry, its not worth worrying about at this stage