curiodeb/Howard Cohen **Case Struck out**

[curiodeb]

Hi Guys! Have just joined site today after searching the net for some help and hope there is someone out there who can advise me on what to do next.

Had an Evans card account with GE Money which defaulted, and after a few months on a payment arrangement I got a statement from CL Finanace?? saying that I should continue to make payments to them as normal. I made 3 payments (each of £50) to them but still with confusion as to who they were, ran into some finacial difficulty recently and missed last months payment and yesterday recieved a claim form issued by HOWARD COHEN & CO??

 

Have never been in this situation before and don't know what to do next?? The level of worry this is causing is making me ill can anyone help me please..

 

Many thanks for looking at this,

kind regards Debbie

[Pinky69]

How long have you had the card for? When you say a "notice" from Howard Cohen, what exactly does the notice say?

[curiodeb]

Hi Pinky!

 

Thank you for looking at this for me.

 

Have had the card for 5 years and the claim form came from Northampton (CCBC) Claiment being CL Finance and signed Howard Cohen & Co

 

Regards

Debbie

[Pinky69]

Is there anything legal in the notice or is it just a letter asking you to contact them to arrange to pay the debt? Are you disputing this debt or do you simply want to arrange to pay it?

[42man]

You've missed the payments and they are now attempting to go for a CCJ on you Debbie....did you ever request a copy of your Consumer Credit Agreement ? Are there some excessive charges that have been added to the account also ?

 

If it is a set of papers with the Northampton County Court stamp on it, then you have to acknowledge the claim within 14 days of the date on the papers, then you have another 14 days to submit your defence.

 

If it was me in your position go for a Civil Procedure Request.

 

This is what you should send to Cohen's by recorded delivery ASAP...

 

In the XXXX County Court

Claimant -v- (YOUR NAME)

Claim Number: (CLAIM NUMBER)

 

 

Dear XXX

 

CIVIL PROCEDURES 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).

 

You might like to have a look here too...

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/legal-issues/108467-basic-introduction-consumer-credit.html

[Pinky69]

Thanks 42 man. I wasn't clear waht the notice was.

[curiodeb]

Yes it is a court claim form from Northampton (CCBC) and I would like some help as to my next step as I do not want a CCJ. How to proceed with this claim form?? I understand that I have 14 days to reply to this and if I submit an Acknowledgement of Service this gives me an extra 14 days to mount a defence but I feel completely out of my depth.

 

My issue with CL Finance is that my account was not with them it was with GE Money and I was never given any indication as to it being taken over. I have been hammered with charges and interest etc which have grown the debt beyond my control and I don't even know who these people are...where did GE Money go and is my actual debt with them or CL Finance??

[nicklea]

Hi Pinky!

 

Thank you for looking at this for me.

 

Have had the card for 5 years and the claim form came from Northampton (CCBC) Claiment being CL Finance and signed Howard Cohen & Co

 

Regards

Debbie

 

 

Just to check - this is a blue form that came from the court?

 

If it is then you need to acknowledge service within 19 days of the date given on the form. You can do this online and there are instructions on the form for how to do this.

 

If you do not dispute the debt but are asking for more time to pay then you should admit the debt and ask for time to make repayments.

 

If you wish to dispute the debt then you should state that you will be defending the claim. That will then give you 33 days from the date on the form to get your defence in. There are plenty of examples of defences on this site. If none are suitable then just shout.

 

You should also send this letter to the solicitors or whoever are named in the box that says address for delivery of documents on the blue form (adapt as necessary, not all parts might be relevant to your case):-

 

Dear XXX

 

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION UNDER CIVIL PROCEDURE RULES PART 18

 

I have received a recent court claim from your organisation. Given that this matter is now the subject of legal proceedings, I require that you disclose the information and documents detailed below as they are reasonably necessary and proportionate for me to understand the case against me and to prepare my own counterclaim.

 

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 signed, 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).

[curiodeb]

Thanks guys...starting to feel better. Will write suggested letter to Solicitors and send special delivery and complete the Acknowledgement of Service online.

 

What happens if CL don't supply me with the documents requested?

[curiodeb]

No have never requested a Consumer Credit Agreement from them.

[42man]

You need to send the letter above by recorded delivery and don't hand sign it either...

[curiodeb]

Ok will print signature. Reading some of the threads as advised am I right in thinking that CL Finance have bought the debt from GE Money and maybe for a much reduced amount? The amount I have actually spent on the card is £2800 but with charges and interst over time this is now £3900+. Is it advisable therefore to counterclaim for these charges and interest or to admit the full amount and ask for time to pay?? I am not sure about my entitlements if any

[nicklea]

If it is a set of papers with the Northampton County Court stamp on it, then you have to acknowledge the claim within 14 days of the date on the papers, then you have another 14 days to submit your defence.

 

Everyone is obviously much faster typists than I am

 

Just one small point though (I hope you don't mind me correcting you) it is actually 19 days from the date on the claim form.

 

This is on the back of the claim form

 

Time allowed to reply to this claim

You must respond to this claim form within 14 days of the day of service. The attached forms may be used for that purpose. The day of service is taken as 5 days after the issue date shown overleaf.

 

regards

 

nicklea

[zazen.warrior]

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/125510-evans-viking-collections-now.html

 

Deb have a read through my thread above, it might be helpful to you.

[curiodeb]

thanks zazen warrior will do.....

[curiodeb]

Wow! Zazen that was brilliant reading and well done on all that letter writing. It seemed pretty heavy handed in places and suspect I have all this to come....in the last couple hours have learned an immense amount but need to read much more...

[honey5]

feeling better now

stick with the letters and youll be just fine girl

honey x

[curiodeb]

Thanx honey...have never absorbed so much information in such a short space of time lol ...its fantastic to know people are out there willing to help when you have hit a bad patch,

 

thankx Deb

[curiodeb]

Hi Guys! Here is an update of proceedings, I filed an AOS with the courts to give me more time with the intention of defending part of the debt (intend to claim back charges etc). I wrote to Cohens and CL Finance offering an ex gratia full and final settlement of £2000 (bearing in mind the sum filed at court is £3950) and stated that this was non negotiable and if not accepted intended to defend the debt and in which case would need them to supply me with all account information as you suggested under CPR. Have received reply this morning that reads:

 

Dear Me

 

Re: CL Finance v Me

Northampton County Court Case *****

 

We refer to your letter date *** in which you have made an offer of payment on this account. The offer of payment contained in your letter is unacceptable to our client but they are willing to accept an offer of £3560.00 in full and final settlement of this account.

 

You have also made a request for information under the Civil Procedure Rules. We are not obliged to provide this information and would advise that the particulars of the clam detailed in the countty court form be sufficient to allow you to respond accordingly.

 

If you are unable to pay the account in full please respond to the claim form with either an appropriate defence or an admission and offer of repayment. Failure to do so will reult in a judgement being entered without refernce to you.

 

Your sincerely

Howard Cohen & Co

 

I really do not know where to go now, are they trying it on to see if I will offer more or do they not care if this goes to court and I offer to pay only £10 per month. They haven't supplied any documents for me to file my defense and to see how many charges there are and I really need those. What is your advise for response?? Offer a bit more or submit that they will not supply requested information?? I have until 12th July to file defense,

cheers Deb

[Pinky69]

The court won't look kindly on the fact that they haven't provided you with the information you requested to prepare your defence and you can tell the court that without it you have been unable to prepare a proper defence. I wouldn't offer these busturds another cent and if they don't give you the information you requested the case may well end up being struck out.

[AndyOrch]

Hi Debs posted this to your original thread so just moving it

 

 

 

Hi Debs and welcome to Cag

 

Firstly is it possable you could post up the following details of your case in order to advise further

 

Claiments P.O.C (partiulars of Claim)

Copy of the CPR 18 Request you made

 

Can I recommend not admitting any liability for the debt, partial or otherwise. If the credit agreement has not been provided by CL Finance as the result of a CCA request, then you have no way of ascertaining if the contract is legally valid under the CCA 1974. In the absence of this information, you are unwisely, in my opinion, admitting liability for a debt, that hasn't been proven to exist or one that conforms to the requirements of the CCA 1974.

 

You might be thinking that of course a debt exists! However, for the purposes of the law, the existence of the debt is determined by a credit agreement being furnished by your creditors and one that is deemed to be properly executed, which means its layout and content conforms to what the CCA 1974 prescribes.

 

You have tried the reasonable approch and found to your taste that they want to play hardball. I would suggest changing your plea to defend all for that simple reason outlined in their responce to your letter.

 

I trust the above is helpful.

 

Regards

Andy

Edited June 26, 2008 by Andyorch

[curiodeb]

Cheers Pinky!!

 

 

Hi Andy, thanks for that, made me feel lot better when I read your post, will upload the information asap for your perusal.

 

Yes I did enter a plea to some of the debt on the grounds that their was a debt to be paid...how do I go about changing my plea? Sorry...feel a bit daft asking certain things that are probably obvious but I am on my own and never had to deal with stuff like this before.

 

Letters to follow, my request for information & Thier response letter.

 

Thanks again

regards, Deb

[curiodeb]

Particulars of claim read:

The Claimant's claim is for the sum of 3790.27 being monies due from the Defendant to the Claimant under a regulated credit agreemant between the Defendant and GE Capital Bank Limited under reference no. ******* and assigned to the claimant on the 28th February, 2008 notice of which has been given to the Defendant.

 

The Defendant has fialed to make payment in accordance with the terms of the agreement and a default notice has been served upon the Defendant pursuant to Section 87(1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974

 

The Claimant claims the sum of 3790.27

 

----------

 

and here is letter I sent them:

 

[AndyOrch]

Ok Debs

 

Im just on my way out,will return shortly with further advise and a suitable response to our friends reply re CPR 18 request.With regards change of plea you will have to ring the Court I am not sure if you can change it MCOL on screen that page may now have expired,telephone number top right tiny print, to enquire re change the staff are quite helpfull

 

Back shortly

 

Regards

Andy

[curiodeb]

cheers andy!