Mcs threatening letter

[milly5]

Hi,having an ongoing problem with mcs/hsbc hoping someone can advise next course of action. Start with a brief history, had joint account with hsbc then had various loans, last one in 2006.explained financial situation to hsbc but they were not interested so all our income was swallowed up in charges ,fees etc leaving us nothing to live on! we were forced to open new bank account and stopped using hsbc account,our account was passed to the wonderful mcs collections. we were paying them 50 pounds a month until earlier this year when we asked for credit agreement,mcs said they would put our account on hold until cca was sent.that was six months ago and not heard anything from them since.We have never had a reply to our cca request ,no phone calls nothing!we thought it strange as we had a large debt with them but were pleased that is until today.totally out of the blue we recieved a final demand from mcs asking for the total of our debt or they would EITHER pass it to debt collectors to call on us or to DG solicitors for legal action.We are not bothered by there threats but as they are completely ignoring our previous cca request what should we do next? We have not paid them anything since sent cca request.

thanks Milly.

[Castlebest]

If they have not replied to your CCA request then your account is well and truely in dispute. This happened 12 days after you sent your request and actualy 30 days after that they commited a statutory criminal act.

 

If the continue to progress collection proceedings they are in breach of the banking code and the OFT's guidlines on debt collection.

 

Here's what I told them when they tried it on with me

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/hsbc-bank/125577-metropolitan-collection-services-action.html

 

Just shout if you need any further help

 

pete

[milly5]

Pete, thanks for your reply,I was sure account was still in dispute but just wanted to be sure.You mentioned they have commited an offence after 30 days but think i have read somewhere that that does not apply anymore?perhaps you could tell me if im wrong.Have read your thread and thought your letter brilliant,I may adapt it to suit our circumstances,am guessing I will have to send them a letter in reply to theirs.thanks for your offer of help,its great how everyone is so willing to help ,will let you know what reply I get to the letter. milly

[Castlebest]

I think you may be right on the criminal offence after 30 days but the account is still in dispute after 12 days so this should severely limit their collection process.

 

pete

[rory32]

I think you may be right on the criminal offence after 30 days

There is no longer any summary criminal offence after 30 days. This was repealed earlier this year and was never enforced anyway. Any attempt to collect while in default would now be governed by the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

[milly5]

Hi , update on situation,received phone call from mcs about 2 weeks ago apparently someone new had been appointed on our case,they didnt know about account being in dispute,or the reason but promised she would send cca.after requesting the agreement 6 months ago it finally arrived last week,obviously not the result we were hoping for but not sure if its enforcable.everyhing seems in order except on the demands and needs statement it has someone elses christian name instead of my husbands,but correct surname. clutching at straws here,i know but something seems not quite right about all this ,like the fact they havent been in touch for 6 months and even now they havent demanded any payments! grateful for any advice

 

thanks,milly

[Castlebest]

Your not clutching at straws Milly it is possible they have copied someone elses credit agreement look very closely at anywhere where there are personal details of yours that are correct, is this in anyway different to the other sections of the form? are there any signs these have been altered? is the form signed by your husband?

 

I'm not saying MCS would stoop to these levels but it has been known with other DCA's so its worth checking .

 

pete

[milly5]

Have another update and need some advice please. On friday received a letter from DG solicitors threatening legal action and gave us 7 days to pay the debt in full! This prompted me to look more closely at the agreement they sent.I have managed to find our original agreement so compared the original with the copy and found a few discrepancies:confused:surely a copy should be what it says and an exact copy of the original? on the page where we signed and dated the agreement and the bank signed and dated, the dates are different on the original to the copy ALSO the signatures of myself ,husband and bank person are clearly different on copy to the original.on the demands and needs statement,my husbands surname is correct but a different christian name is on the statment.with our original paperwork there is NO demands and needs statement and my husband does not remember signing one at the time.there dosent appear to be an agreement number anywhere either.[on copy or original]also it says 62 payments in total ,1st payment sept06 followed by 59 more payments ,which i make a total of 60 repayments not 62? My question is this, what should be our next step now we have this information?im expecting to recieve court papers any day now,could this help in our defence? any advice would be appreciated, Milly.

[Castlebest]

you have proof that MCS/HSBC don't have your original credit agreement and have "reconstituted" what they think you would have signed. This is clearly different to the document you actually signed.

 

I would write to DG solicitors stating that MCS have not provided you with the required credit agreement copy and you can prove this (don't say how just yet ) Go on to say that until you receive a true copy of the document you signed the account is still in dispute and until they send a copy of the document they are in breach of the banking code and the OFT guidelines for debt collection. confirm if they continue to harass you for repayment you will send a complaint to the information commissioner, the FSA and the FOS.

 

pete

[milly5]

Thanks for your reply Pete,just what I was hoping someone would say:) I have already drafted a letter to DG solicitors but will change the wording now on your advice.I just knew all along there was something odd about all this but when they sent the "copy" at first glance everything seemed in order.If i hadn't found the original then i would never have known it wasn't a true copy.should I send them a subject access request? or should I wait and see what the solicitors come back with in reply to my letter i will be posting tommorow.?I wont tell them I have original agreement as you suggest but is it ok that I have it ,if it still goes to court would the judge possibly query reasons for asking for agreement in first place if I already had original?[if i had to prove the copy they sent was not true]does that make any sense? thanks for your help and advice i really appreciate it

[milly5]

need advice please, received letter from DG solicitors on saturday in reply to mine,[it was signed by same person who signed our metro letters]anyway it said "please find enclosed copy of the credit agreement to the above account,[it was a very badly photogopied version of what they sent previously]It then went on to say "having reviewed our records we confirm copies were issued to you in november through metropolitan,in addition our client also responded to a subject access request during that period and a copy was enclosed"now I have never asked them fopr a subject access request so think they are getting mixed up and anyway what relevance is the number of copies i have ?,none of them are true copies! then the letter says "matters will be held in abeyance for 14 days to await your proposals.if we do not hear from you within this period we will be left with no alternative but to refer matters to the courts,with whom can then decide the legitimacy of your persistent requests for documentation.

we trust this clarifies matters."

I really dont know what to make of there reply,in my last letter I said I could prove what they sent me was not a true copy ,but I didnt say how,they have totally ignored any reference to that.

should I ignore this letter and just wait for them to take court action?any advice will be appreciated

milly

[Castlebest]

need advice please, received letter from DG solicitors on Saturday in reply to mine,it was signed by same person who signed our metro letters

 

This doesn't surprise me, MCS and DG share offices in Birmingham and I know some of the trained solicitors they used to employ were getting fed up with the banks tactics... I wonder if any of them are still there? lol.

 

ok off the cuff....

 

Dear DG

 

I acknowledge your letter of... etc... which totally ignores the facts of this matter.

 

You have now sent two copies (not three) of someone else's credit agreement. Putting aside the implications of this under the Data Protection Act, this account is still unenforceable until you locate the credit agreement relating to my account that you are required to supply under section 78 of the Consumer Credit Act.

 

I further confirm any action taken involving the County Court before you have supplied the requisite documentation will be robustly defended and viewed as a frivolous use of the court procedures and a waste of valuable court resources.

 

I trust this clarifies... etc

 

or something like that

 

pete

[milly5]

Hi Pete, thanks for your advice, I have just composed a letter similar to your suggested one and am posting it today.

I am not sure if they are bluffing or if they really would take court action but

on what grounds? our persistent requests for documentation?

If they really are stupid enough to start legal action without a proper cca then I will defend ,after all I can produce the original if necessary:cool:

anyway for now I will carry on with the game and see what reply I get.

will keep updated on here.

milly

[milly5]

Hi , not been on here for ages as everything went quiet since I sent my letter to DG solicitors .I never received a reply to that letter and havent had any letters ,phone calls until yesterday.

Has anyone heard of Central Debt Recovery Unit?

It does say on bottom of letter they are a trading style of metropolitan collection services and their phone number starts with 0500......

Letter says they specialise in recovery of debt where normal methods of recovery have proved ineffective

then says if I dont ring them to pay the balance they will arrange a doorstop representative to call.

 

Should I ignore this or write to them informing them not to call as account in dispute etc?

any advice would be great Thanks Milly

[johnnymitch]

Hi milly , welcome back

 

CDRU (someone suggested the letters should be rearranged LOL! ) are out of order with their demands .... if they are a 'style of MCS' then they're probably not a DCA either - but never mind if they are ...

 

You could try this letter suitably amended and advise them that this account is still 'In Dispute ' and should be handed back to MCS/ HSBC .

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/186927-unwanted-callers.html#post2011044

 

Come back if you've any further questions ,milly , someone will answer .....

[milly5]

Hi jonnymitch,

thanks for your reply, I will sent CDRU a reply as you suggested,i'm hoping its a good sign that the account is now with them because if HSBC thought they had a case they would have taken us to court by now as they kept threatening.

milly.

[milly5]

Hi, another update to report....

 

Sent letter to CDRU regarding doorstep callers and the fact account still in

dispute.

Had a few phone calls which were ignored by me,then had a threatogram saying they would be advising legal action....

Then received a letter from MCS[its back with them again]..........

A very strange letter, page 1 is adressed to ourselves and states

" your complaint surrounds the provisions of documentation in respect of the debts placed with our office.I can confirm that on 3 occasions the requested agreement was sent to you to satisfy the cca act 1974.

as these documents do not appear to be in your possession I have enclosed a further copy and sent it registered post.

In view that this is the 4th copy sent it is becoming apparent to me that we are not likely to come to an agreement regarding liability for repayment of the account" that was end of page 1 and it said continued BUT page 2 was adressed to someone else with a different date to the date on page1 and regarding a different matter!

 

I never cease to be amazed at there incompetence, someone probaly has page 2 of our letter....and they must have broken a data protection law surely ..

they are completely missing the point anyway ,we have all 4 copies of the agreement but none of them are the original.

Should I inform them of there error? obviously I would really like to know what was in page 2 of that letter...

It was June 2008 I sent my first cca request to mcs so this game has been going on for nearly a year now

 

any advice gratefully recieved

milly