Advice regarding dealing with an SD

[Leatherman]

Hi, I am a newbie to the site & am seeking some advice.

 

Firstly, a quick summary;

 

My son received a SD from Connaught Collections(on behalf of 1st Credit) by second class mail and no prior efforts to contact him and no details.

 

He has sent the CCA letter to CC who have responded to the effect that the file is closed & future correspondence should be with 1st Credit.

 

He will be sending the CCA letter to 1st Credit next.

 

Mean time he will be preparing a SD set aside application; this is really where the questions come in re the correct completion of Form 6.4:

 

Is item a) the name of the alleged creditor?

Who completes the date, time, place section?

Is item d) the name of the alleged creditor?

Is item e) the address of the alleged debtor?

 

Does the form have to be signed by a solicitor?

 

If there is no County Court listed in the SD, does the set aside application just go in to the local one?

 

Form 6.5; does the affadavit have to be signed/sworn/witnessed at the County Court?

 

Is there a fee for an SD set aside application?

 

Thanks

[PossVox]

Hi,

 

Welcome to CAG... you're in the right place for support and great advice!

 

Item a)=alleged creditor

Item d)=alleged creditor

Item e)=Your address

 

No...no need for a solicitor

 

Local County Court is where you go to swear an affidavit... a Court Clerk will help you and you swear the affidavit in front of them, not a judge.

 

There is no fee to apply for the SD set aside.

 

It is NOT a scary thing to do...the court clerk was really helpful and reassuring.

 

The Date and Time section is filled in by the County Court... they will keep the form 6.4, fill in the date and then post it back out to you.

 

Hope this helps... keep us posted.

 

 

[Leatherman]

PossVox

 

Thank you for your helpful response. It is very heartening to see the amazing support the members of this forum provide to people who are feeling very vulnerable in a somewhat alien "world".

 

Thanks for confirming those items, however I would like to clarify one or two of them:

 

When filling items a) & d) I presume that it would be 1st Credit that would be named & not Connaught Collections.

 

Are there any grounds for set aside - with Connaught having "closed" their file & returned it to 1st?

 

Is it a good idea or a necessity to send the CCA letter to 1st in the meantime?

 

Thank you again for the advice & will keep the forum posted on progress.

[PossVox]

Hello again,

 

You should fill in a) & d) with the name of the company who have issued the SD, so IMO that would be Connaught Collections.

 

Grounds for the set aside would be that:

1) The SD was not served correctly... i.e. by 2nd class post not requiring a signature... they should at least attempt to serve it in person.

2) Your son does not acknowledge the debt or is unclear as to how the figure claimed has been calculated.

3) That he has requested a CCA from CC but been told the file is closed (which does not clarify the situation)

4) He has now requested further information from 1st Credit in the form of a CCA in order to establish the debt is enforcable

 

All advice given here is from my own, very recent, experience. My set aside hearing is next week.

 

My thread is here:

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/134225-advice-please-sd-received.html

 

Hope this helps but obviously others may be along to offer other opinions.

 

[Brassed off]

Hi Leatherman

 

Have a look at this stickie/thread on SDs

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/112326-debt-collection-agencies-statutory.html

 

Good Luck

 

Bo

[2Grumpy]

Would this being the first that he has heard from them be an additional reason for the set-aside?

 

Grumpy

[PossVox]

I think it's seen as an abuse of process if they go straight to issuing an SD? also seen as vexatious?

[Jerry Dandrige]

Make sure you send a complaint to the Office of Fair Trading about 1st Credit Ltd's actions.

 

Their address is:-

 

Consumer Credit Fitness Investigations Group

Office of Fair Trading

Fleetbank House

2-6 Salisbury Square

LONDON

EC4Y 8JX

[Leatherman]

Hi Folks

 

Firtsly thanks you to the members for your advice and the wisdom gained from your experiences.

 

Here is an update on what has transpired over the past few weeks & a request for a bit more advice.

 

Firstly what has happened:

 

CCA letter sent to 1st C - no response!

Set Aside application made to County Court - hearing set for later this week

Con Coll replied to say that they were willing to have the SD set aside & would not be attending the court.

 

Now for the advice needed:

 

I assume that the set aside hearing will go ahead - is it advisable/necessary for us to attend the hearing?

 

Is there any more that needs to be done in order to put this matter to bed?

 

Thanks again

[nicklea]

Leatherman,

 

It is YOU that are applying for the set aside so it really is in your best interests to turn up on the day. Otherwise the judge might think that you're not so serious about wanting it set aside.

 

Take along all the documents including the letter from them saying that they won't be opposing the set aside.

 

It might also be worth claiming for your costs as well (day off from work etc), time to go down to the court to swear the affadavit etc

[Leatherman]

Nicklea

 

Thank you for your advice.

 

We attended court and the formalities were over in minutes. Con Coll did not attend or oppose the set aside - "they hadn't realised that it was contested"! Judge was very kind - one kind of thinks that they must be seeing a lot of this sort thing!

 

Thus, SD has now been set aside.

 

The questions now

 

Is there anything more that should be done to put this to bed?

 

Is it likely to resurface in another form from some other source?

 

Do we need to take further steps on the 1st Cred side of things, we have had no response to the CCA letter to date?

 

Is it worth making a complaint to the OFT or financial ombudsman?