Brian Carter Solicitors - Advice Please

[laura_bj]

Am new to any help/advice will be appreciated.

 

Like so many of us on here, I have got myself into financial difficulties over the past few years. I have managed to keep up all payments with creditors with the exception of one £4300 debt with Mint/RBS. This was passed through various debt collection agencies and I made payments of at least £100 where I could, however a year after I first defaulted on this credit agreement the debt was passed via Fredrickson International to Brian Carter Solicitors in Weybridge.

The previous debt collection agencies did not accept my offers of payments even though they were higher than my orginal minimum payment on the credit card,however perhaps stupidly I made Brian Carter an offer of £150 per month, which they have accepted and I have been paying by direct debit for the past 5 months.

Unfortunately my circumstances have since changed and I can no longer afford such an amount each month and run the risk of defaulting on other credit agreements which so far I have managed to avoid.

I do not want to cancel this direct debit however as I am concerned that they will obtain a CCJ against me.

 

Having read posts on this forum it would seem that I was perhaps a little hasty in setting up a direct debit to this company. How would you recommend I go about dealing with this company? I can only really afford to pay £50 per month on this debt.

Does anyone have any advice for me?

[BeauBrummie]

Hi laura bj,

 

Welcome to the CAG, you have already started to tackle these parasites by asking for advice on here.

 

Take a look at this http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt-issues/20758-creditors-dcas-letter-templates.html

 

and send letter "N" by as a minimum Recorded Delivery, but preferably Special Delivery.

 

Do not sign the letter, and you need to send a £1.00 fee to go with it.

 

That will have the effect of slowing Bryan Carter down for the moment. When he does not comply with your request, you can legally stop paying until he does comply with your request.

 

Now although BC is renowned for attempting to get a CCJ against people who owe money to his clients, he usually goes about it in the wrong way. So at the moment I would not worry about that scenario.

 

Send off the request and wait for 12 working days after the day that BC signs for the delivery, or 2 days after posting by default. If and when you get a reply come back on here and someone will be able to advise.

 

I would not recommend cancelling the DD just yet, but as soon as BC go into default of your request, you should, and then never give him the opportunity to dip into your account again.

 

Hope this helps

 

BB

[NailPost]

I would challenge Carters to provide documentary proof they have the right to collect. This is the CCA request and you will find a template letter in the stickys.

 

Send the request along with the statutory £1 fee by recorded delivery to Carters. They probably don't have any paperwork other than your name, address, a phone number perhaps, an account number and total. That isn't enough - they must provide you with a signed, true copy of the agreement between you and Mint/RBS. They must also provide a statement of account and a deed of assignment. Anything less isn't good enough.

 

No paperwork = no debt and you would be in a position to argue with them. Either to forget the debt altogether because they cannot prove you owe it or to chop the balance to something more manageable - say £500 (10%) for a full and final settlement confirmed in writing or cut the monthly payments to what you can realistically afford.

 

If Carters (who are Frederickson wearing another coat anyway) start playing silly beggars make a complaint to the Financial Services Ombudsman and, because they claim to be solicitors, to the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

 

A word of warning - Carters are notorious for going to court for a CCJ at the drop of a hat. But they are just as quick to run away when they are challenged. Keep in touch.

[BeauBrummie]

Hmm,

 

Just like buses nailpost

 

BB

[laura_bj]

Thanks Guys for the advise and support. I have contacted BC today to find out how much I owe and was informed that they would accept £2500 now as opposed to the £3500 they are stating that I owe.

I am now going to go down the CCA request route and see where this takes me, I have had too many sleepless nights as a result of BC and other DCA's involved in this issue, it is nice to finally feel empowered to be able to take a stand.

Thanks again, and I shall let you know how I get on!!

[palomino]

If they're accepting offers then it is likely that they don't have the documentation they need and are settling for what they can get. I think you're quite right to go the CCA route.

[BeauBrummie]

I am now going to go down the CCA request route and see where this takes me, I have had too many sleepless nights as a result of BC and other DCA's involved in this issue, it is nice to finally feel empowered to be able to take a stand.

 

I would do this sooner rather than later....once BC get wind that you have any idea what you are talking about, you run the risk of them going legal to try for a quick CCJ. I personally would not waste my breath phoning them!!!

 

Beau

[laura_bj]

Don't worry, letter is going in the post today!!

Would they still be able to CCJ me inspite of the fact that I have made payments by DD every month for the past 6 months in accordance with the agreement made with them?

I am not planning on cancelling the DD until they have failed to comply with my request

[BeauBrummie]

Don't worry, letter is going in the post today!!

Would they still be able to CCJ me inspite of the fact that I have made payments by DD every month for the past 6 months in accordance with the agreement made with them?

I am not planning on cancelling the DD until they have failed to comply with my request

 

This is why you need to fire the first shots so to speak, The cannot legally get a CCJ if the account is in "dispute", and also they need to send you a letter that tells you that is what they are going to do, called a "Letter Before Action" or sometimes referred to on here as an LBA.

 

Beau

[palomino]

Don't worry, letter is going in the post today!!

Would they still be able to CCJ me inspite of the fact that I have made payments by DD every month for the past 6 months in accordance with the agreement made with them?

 

They can - but with very little chance of success. If it ever happens (which I doubt) then come back here. A lot of people here have had experience of BC.

[palomino]

This is why you need to fire the first shots so to speak, The cannot legally get a CCJ if the account is in "dispute", and also they need to send you a letter that tells you that is what they are going to do, called a "Letter Before Action" or sometimes referred to on here as an LBA.

 

Beau

 

 

Just to clarify : requesting a copy of your credit agreement does not on its own put the account into dispute.

You must write to the creditor (OC or DCA) saying you are disputing the creditor's right to enforce [some or all of] the debt for a specific reason or reasons.

One of the those reasons could be because the credit agreement wasn't supplied, or it is non-compliant in some way.

[laura_bj]

Thanks again, I wish I had known about this site 6 months ago, it would have avoided a lot of sleepless nights and grey hairs!

I will keep you updated as to how I get on

[laura_bj]

Hi,

 

Could someone please take a quick look at the below letter I am about to send to BC. Have I included anything that is not required or missed anything important out.

 

 

Any feedback gratefully received,

Cheers!!

Carter Letter to check.pdf

Edited August 6, 2008 by laura_bj

[palomino]

Hi,

 

Could someone please take a quick look at the below letter I am about to send to BC. Have I included anything that is not required or missed anything important out.

 

 

 

Any feedback gratefully received,

Cheers!!

 

The request under the Consumer Credit Act can include a true copy of the credit agreement and a current statement of account, together with a couple of other things.

Much of which you are requesting is not covered by such a request. What you should do is also send a SAR under the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 which will give you everything you want - provided you ask for.

Send much the same letter but modified to refer the the DPA and to include a list of everything you could possibly want application forms, credit agreement, statements (including transaction codes), notices, filenotes, telephone call records, and 'anything else' pertaining to the account.

BC will probably not have all of this so you will need to send this to the original creditor as well.

The fee for this is £10.

 

If you just want to make request under the CCA (only £1) then you can't request all the items in your letter.

[laura_bj]

That's great, thanks. Just wanted to make the point that despite paying them money on a regular basis, they have failed to provide me with any acknowledgement of these payments.

I shall modify the letter to take out these details,

Thanks for your help and support with this!

Laura x

[palomino]

A request for confirmation of payments (in other words a receipt) is simply that. It doesn't need to be made under the provisions of any act.

 

Mind you any payments should show on the current statement of account if you made a request under the Consumer Credit Act.

[2Grumpy]

You have made offers to Brian Carter & are making payments them

 

Do Brian Carter have a consumer credit licence? After all, they claim to be solicitors & not part of Fredrickson.

[laura_bj]

I have no idea. The Direct Debit payments that I make are to Brian Carter & Co. However if I log into my statement via their online service then it is the Fredrickson Internation site www.fredpay.com that I use to access my account.

I am unsure of the implications of this however

[laura_bj]

Still no response from BC but noted from my bank statements that they have cashed my £1 cheque!

I now wish to send a SAR request, however does this need to be to the original creditor ie Mint or can this be done through BC?

I was burgled last year and lost all paperwork from Mint so have no account references from them in order to request my details. If I can do this through Bryan Carter then all the better.

Any thoughts appreciated on this

L x

[palomino]

You can send a SAR to Bryan Carter to find out what they have on you and your debt.

You can send a SAR to the original creditor to find out what they have on you and your debt.

 

Some of it will be the same but each may some things that the other doesn't. For example, BC will have your correspondence to them but the original creditor won't.

[laura_bj]

A quick update on this. I yesterday received a copy of a statement from BC however no Credit agreement is yet to be forthcoming. They now have 6 working days to provide this info. Do you suggest that if this information does not arrive I cancel my direct debit with BC for £150 a month or do I need to send a follow up later to state my intentions?

[BeauBrummie]

A quick update on this. I yesterday received a copy of a statement from BC however no Credit agreement is yet to be forthcoming. They now have 6 working days to provide this info. Do you suggest that if this information does not arrive I cancel my direct debit with BC for £150 a month or do I need to send a follow up later to state my intentions?

 

Hi Laura bj,

 

If your next payment falls due before the 6 working days are up then make the payment, if not then I would be inclined to stop the payments.

 

Despite everything that Bryan Carter & Co does as a company, they do know the guidlines on debt collection and will have to abide by them.

 

The ball is in their court, and my suggestion is that you wait for them to make the next move.

 

Beau

[laura_bj]

The next payment is not due until 5th September which is 22 working days after they received the CCA letter. I was thinking perhaps though to prove that I am being reasonable about this to keep the DD active for the next payment, I will then have paid them £1000 in 6 months, far more I am sure than they bought the £4000 debt for.

I am also currently looking into charges on this account and they amount to over £3000 which would leave about £1000 that I actually owe. I have no issues paying this debt, but I do not want to pay it to a DCA who has done nothing but harass me since I first got into financial difficulties.

Laura x

Edited August 19, 2008 by laura_bj

[GAVBU28]

Just as a side note, I recently challenged Bryan Carter and Co with a CCA request after they threatened court action and charges for this. Needless to say they ran for the hills and passed the debts back to Littlewoods.

 

They've given up with me without even a fight.

 

Good luck.

[laura_bj]

So, it is now 20 working days since my letter was signed for by BC and they have sent me a statement of account, confirming that I have been making monthly payments of £150 but no signed agreement.

 

What would you suggest my next course of action should be with this?