Thoughts/Advice required on CCA and F&F

[angelic]

Sorry for the massive post!!!!

 

Around 4 years ago I defaulted on a few loans and credit cards. 1 loan was cahoot which I was given a 50% settlement on in December and have paid and file is closed on that now.

 

1 was a credit card with cahoot. When I defaulted the balance was around £5,500(ish!). I sent a CCA request to Apex who have been dealing with it for a few years in January. Their deadline has well and truly passed and no CCA.

 

Now, they called me last week asking if I would be interested in settling. They claim I have a balance of £2300 and I can pay it off as a F&F settlement for £1,800. I said no, that I didn't think Id manage that but would have a think about it. They called me back 3 times a day leaving messages on answerphone. 2 days ago he called saying I must return the call "to stop any further action being taken against you". So of course being the feisty person I am I called back immediately stating that I am making my payments so what on earth were they talking about?!

 

This time I spoke to a lady who asked my position. I said I wasn't prepared to pay £1800 on a debt where I havent been provided with my CCA.

 

She said "You've had this account for years do u not think it is a little in the day to be disputing it?"

 

Me: "I'm not disputing the debt - I am disputing the balance as you quite rightly say you have had the debt for years however the balance hasn't dropped that much"

 

Her: "Oh right. Erm I can ask the client for the CCA but I don't know how long it will take"

 

Me: "well you've already passed the deadline so are committing an offence anyways - I'm sure Cahoot know the legislation"

 

Her: "Yes they will. So u can't pay £1800?"

 

Me: "No the most I will pay if anything is £1,000"

 

Her: "oh right! 2 seconds I'll just check if i can say yes to that now or if i'd have ro refer it to the client".

 

Basically she came back saying it had to be referred to cahoot as it was a substantial difference. However she seemed like she thought the grand was a great idea. probably cos they've made their money back already!

 

She then asked "can i ask are u going to continue to make your monthly payments?", sounding concerned. I said I was, however I was well within my rights to stop paying. She agreed with me and said hopefully we could resolve the situation soon.

 

I am thinking that I may receive a letter in the next week offering me the settlement, or I will hear nothing again.

 

If I don't hear anything in the next 3 weeks then I am cancelling my payments with them until they locate my CCA file. Am I correct in assuming I am legally able to do this?

 

I would like to get the debt finished with, hence continuing to pay the £90 a month however if they turn ignorant now then I will cancel after this months payment. That should soon sway them to either settle with what I am offering or produce the CCA.

 

I am wondering has anyone any thoughts on this or any advice? I never speak to them on the phone usually but in this case I don't actually want anything in writing until they have agreed the settlement figure that I want to pay (play them at their own game).

 

Thanks for any advice and sorry for the long post!!!

 

Joanne

[42man]

you seem to be doing fine, but make sure that any F & F IS in writing as I have seen stories on here when a debt has been negotiated in F & F and then pursued afterwards....!! and yes you can stop paying them if they have fallen foul of your CCA request in the allotted time...(as you know without a CCA the debt is totally unenforceable)

[rory32]

You may also wish to consider making it a condition of any F&F settlement that any adverse history regarding this account is removed from your credit file if the can't find the copy of the agreement. Legally they are entitled to nothing if they can't supply the agreement so a 40% settlement would be a very good deal for them. Do you know if there are any charges on the account which you could deduct first before making an offer in writing?

[credit allergy]

I am in the same boat and agree with you. I have stopped paying DCA since the summer owing to non production of CCAs, Littlewoods even wrote balance off. However had call today from Cabot and whilst they cant argue with what I am saying I dont want phone calls and letters forever more. The reality is it is difficult to deny the debt is mine, all that happens is that they cant enforce it. The OFT guidelines are exactly that, so dont stop the dcas contacting me. All my debts have charges so l am thinking about getting a reduced balance agreed. Although having said that Littlewoods did close the account so i am torn between taking non cca issue further with TS, OFT and FSO and offering settlement. The million dollar question is are the authorties going to say that unless CCA can be complied with the account must be closed. Otherwise the only other hope is for ebt to become statue barred and then the credit file must be cleared.