Cabot Say Debt Not Statute Barred: What Do I Do Next???**WON**

[PossVox]

Hi,

 

I hadn't heard from Cabot for years and then they began sending letters demanding payment for a credit card which was defaulted in Oct.2000 and no longer shows on any of my credit files.

 

I ignored this latest run of letters until I received one from "Hodsons Solicitors" (one of Cabot's desks I presume?). At this point I decided to fire off the Stat Barred letter from the CAG library.

 

I received the following letter in the post today:

 

 

 

I don't recall making a payment but they may be correct.

 

Anyone any ideas as to my next move?

 

CCA request? SAR?

 

Any advice would be most welcome

 

 

Thanks

[palomino]

I think the CCA letter is the next in line.

 

If the credit agreement is in order then the SAR follows.

[PossVox]

Thanks for the quick reply.

 

I'll get the CCA request letter ready to fire at them.

 

Just a couple more questions:

 

If they are threatening to take this to court (which they have done before) then why haven't they actually DONE it?

 

The alleged debt is grossly inflated by Cabot's charges. I never had a credit card with a limit greater than £3k and they're claiming more than £7.5k! Is this extortionate charging legal and enforceable in court?

 

Thanks

[Curlyben]

Hmmm

Well in this case I would be inclined to push them harder on the SB'd part.

IF they do prove that this payment was made, then follow the CCA/SAR route.

 

Throw this at them:

 

I DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE ANY DEBT TO YOUR COMPANY

 

Dear sir/madam,

 

Thank you for your letter of the DATE, the contents of which have been noted.

 

I refer you to my letter of DATE, in which my position was clearly described. To reiterate, you were informed that this alleged debt is Barred under Statute in accordance with Section 5 of the Limitation Act 1980. I have included a copy of this original correspondence for your perusal and ease of reference.

 

 

As your letter contests that this is the case, it is now your legal obligation to substantiate your claims and to prove that this alleged debt is indeed enforceable and not barred by statute.

 

You should be aware that I am fully familiar with the Office of Fair Trading Debt Collection Guidance, which states that it is unfair to mislead debtors as to their rights and obligations by falsely stating or implying that the debt is still legally recoverable and continuing to press for payment after a debtor has stated that they will not be paying a debt because it is statute barred.

 

 

You should also be aware that if you are unable to substantiate your claims then your behaviour will be considered harassment contrary to section 40 (1) of the Administration of Justice Act 1970, and may result in my choosing to pursue action against you.

As was stated in my last letter, any attempt to contact me by telephone regarding an alleged debt is an offence under section 127 of the Telecommunications Act 2003.

 

 

In addition, I hereby demand that you now supply me with information regarding your complaints procedure. Failure to comply will result in the complaint being escalated to the Financial Ombudsman Service, who will charge you for investigating my complaint.

 

Finally, I expect no further contact be made concerning the above account unless you can provide clear evidence as to my liability for the debt in question, or your written confirmation that this matter is now closed.

 

I would appreciate your due diligence in this matter.

I look forward to hearing from you in writing.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Should do the trick.

[PossVox]

Hi Ben,

 

Another one of your excellent compositions!

 

I shall despatch forthwith.

 

Thanks very much.

[Percival Wigglesbottom]

maybe add in there somewhere :

 

plus a statement of account signed on behalf of Cabot and showing:

 

(a) the total sum paid under the alleged agreement by me;

 

(b) the total sum which has become payable under the alleged agreement by me but remains unpaid, and the various amounts comprised in that total sum, with the date when each became due; and

 

© the total sum which is to become payable under the alleged agreement by me, and the various amounts comprised in that total sum, with the date, or mode of determining the date, when each becomes due.

[Curlyben]

Not really needed as you have already asked them to substantiate this debt.

 

As your letter contests that this is the case, it is now your legal obligation to substantiate your claims and to prove that this alleged debt is indeed enforceable and not barred by statute.

 

Best not to give them ideas

[PossVox]

Hi,

 

I sent the letter (as suggested by CB) to Cabot on 18th July, asking them to substantiate their claim that the debt is not Stat Barred. I got no reply.

 

Yesterday I received a county court summons from Northampton bulk centre demanding around £8k!

 

I have returned the forms and stated that I dispute the whole amount Cabot are claiming.

 

I'm very scared of what will happen next.

 

Is there anything more I can do?

 

PLEASE HELP!

[itsamomentintime]

cca immediately an post on here what comes back (minus personal details)

[NailPost]

Acknowledge service which means the case will be allocated to a county court convenient to you. Not doing so will allow Cabot/Hodsons to obtain judgement by default.

 

Next step will be to file a defence so rather than CCA cabot you need to send them a letter stating the urgent need for them to provide documents to support their claim so that you can prepare this defence. There's a template somewhere....can't find it.

 

Anyway if Cabot/Hodsons don't come up with anything that's your defence! If they do post it here and advice will soon be forthcoming.

[PossVox]

thanks for the reply.

 

I will get the CCA request off a.s.a.p.

 

Will a CCA request put the account in dispute and therefore stop the court action?

 

Thanks again

[ODC]

Cabot will have to prove you made the payment in 2004. It is not unknown for DCAs to make a payment when they sell a debt just to increase it shelf life. Clownells tried that trick with me but unfortunately the date they chose I would have been able to prove that I could not possibly have made such a payment.

 

What you need from Crapbot is

 

Where the payment was made and by whom

 

How the payment was made i.e. cheque, cash or bank transfer

[tinkerbell20]

Acknowledge service which means the case will be allocated to a county court convenient to you. Not doing so will allow Cabot/Hodsons to obtain judgement by default.

 

Next step will be to file a defence so rather than CCA cabot you need to send them a letter stating the urgent need for them to provide documents to support their claim so that you can prepare this defence. There's a template somewhere....can't find it.

 

Anyway if Cabot/Hodsons don't come up with anything that's your defence! If they do post it here and advice will soon be forthcoming.

 

Courtesy of sfx 20

 

Dear Sir,

 

Re: (Claimant's name) v (Your name) Case No:

CPR 31.14 Request

 

On (date) I received the Claim Form in this case issued by you out of the (Name) County Court.

 

I confirm having returned my acknowledgement of service to the court in which I indicate my intention to contest all of your claim.

 

[Prior to the issue of proceedings I had delivered a request for the production of the agreement mentioned in the Claim Form and on which you rely. That request was ignored][delete if no such request was delivered]

 

Please treat this letter as my request made under CPR 31.14 for the disclosure and the production of a verified and legible copy of [each of the following / the] document(s) mentioned in your Particulars of Claim:

 

1 the agreement. You will appreciate that in an ordinary case and by reason of the provisions of CPR PD 16 para 7.3, where a claim is based upon a written agreement, a copy of the contract or documents constituting the agreement should be attached to or served with the particulars of claim and the original(s) should be available at the hearing. Further, that any general conditions incorporated in the contract should also be attached.

 

2 the assignment*

 

3 the default notice*

 

4 the termination notice*

 

5 [any other documents mentioned in the Particulars of Claim]*

 

* delete if not mentioned in the Particulars of claim.

 

[Although your claim is for a sum which is not more than £5,000.00 and will in all likelihood be allocated to the small claims track for determination upon my delivering a defence, at this moment in time I have not delivered my defence and the case has not been allocated to a track. In consequence the provisions of CPR 27(2) are of no effect and you should not seek to avoid compliance with your CPR 31 duties by claiming otherwise]#

 

# delete if claim for a sum exceeding £5,000.00

 

You should ensure compliance with your CPR 31 duties and ensure that the document(s) I have requested are copied to and received by me within 7 days of receiving this letter. Your CPR 31 duties extend to making a reasonable and proportionate search for the originals of the documents I have requested, the better for you to be able to verify the document's authenticity and to provide me with a legible copy. Further, where I have requested a copy of a document, the original of which is now in the possession of another person, you will have a right to possession of that document if you have mentioned it in your case. You must take immediate steps to recover and preserve it for the purpose of this case.

 

Where I have mentioned a document and there is in your possession more than one version of that same document owing to a modification, obliteration or other marking or feature, each version will be a separate document and you must provide a copy of each version of it to me. Your obligations extend to making a reasonable and proportionate search for any version(s) to include an obligation to recover and preserve such version(s) which are now in the possession of a third party.

 

In accordance with CPR 31.15© I undertake to be responsible for your reasonable copying costs incurred in complying with this CPR 31.14 request.

 

If you require more time in which to comply with this request you must tell me in writing. You must tell me before the time for compliance with this request has expired. In telling me you require more time you must tell me what steps you have taken and propose to take in order to comply with this request and also state a date by when you will comply with this request. In addition your statement must be accompanied with a statement that you agree to an extension of the time for me to file my defence. Your extension of time must be not less than 14 days from the date when you say you will have complied with my request and you must state the new date for filing my defence.

 

If you are unable to comply with this request and believe that you will never be able to comply with this request you must tell me in writing.

 

Please note that if you should fail to comply with this request, fail to request more time or fail to agree to an extension of time for the filing of my defence, I will make an application to the court for an order that the proceedings be struck out or stayed for non-compliance and a summary costs order.

 

I do hope this will not be necessary and look forward to hearing from you.

 

yours faithfully

[PossVox]

thanks for the replies,

 

i've just posted off a request for CCA - do i still send the CPR?

 

Thanks

[tinkerbell20]

thanks for the replies,

 

i've just posted off a request for CCA - do i still send the CPR?

 

Thanks

 

 

Yes because they have to complo within 7 days with a copy of agreement/default notice/notice of termination/starements of account (if mentioned on POC) under CPR rules.

[PossVox]

OK. Thanks for that advice. I'll edit the template and send on monday.

 

Cheers.

 

[tinkerbell20]

OK. Thanks for that advice. I'll edit the template and send on monday.

 

Cheers.

 

 

 

I would send it special delivery and fax it too if you have a fax number for them.

[NailPost]

Send it to Cabot by special delivery. It will cost more than £4 but will be worth it. Cabot have an unfortunate tendency to ignore enevlopes that doesn't have money in it. If they fail to respond/comply to your request you have proof it was received - you will even have the name ofthe officer who signed for it.

[PossVox]

Hi again,

 

Thanks for all the replies.

 

I've spent the day reading everything I could find re CABOT and I feel like I've been on a rollercoaster ride! I've been so positive and then so despairing!

 

I'm so very scared that I will have to present a defence in court to a judge!

 

Will it go that far? If they don't have a valid CCA then will that stop the County Court hearing going ahead?

 

Sorry to ask this unanswerable question but I'm a nervous wreck!

 

Just for further info, I have checked my credit files and there are NO defaults.

 

My bank wrote to me yesterday to kindly inform me that they had increased my overdraft limit sevenfold! What's going on?

[PossVox]

Sorry to bang on but if I DID make a payment in May 2004 then surely there would be a default on my credit file until at least 2010?

 

As I stated earlier, there are NO defaults at all on any of my credit files.

 

[PossVox]

Edited September 15, 2008 by PossVox
duplicate post

[PossVox]

CCA request posted on Friday and CPR 31.14 request sent this afternoon (Thanks to Tinkerbell20 for that info).

 

I guess it's a case of sitting tight and see what they come back with.

[Gin and Milk]

Good luck!

[ODC]

Sorry to bang on but if I DID make a payment in May 2004 then surely there would be a default on my credit file until at least 2010?

 

As I stated earlier, there are NO defaults at all on any of my credit files.

 

 

They burden of proof is on CRAPQUEST to PROVE that you made this payment not for you to prive you didnt.

[PossVox]

Thanks ODC.

 

You know how it is...frustrating and worrying!

 

I hate all the waiting to see what they do next stuff!

 

Thanks again.