CitiFinancial/1st Credit SD

[Digitalburnout]

Hi, I have been browsing these forums for a while now, but my own debt problem has now forced me into seeking some advice.

 

I had a credit card with CitiFinancial with a balance of approx £2900, comprising of a limit of £2500 and the rest charges and interest.

 

Due to a period of redundancy and taking a lower paid job to get back into work I was unable to continue paying at the required rate.

 

I was fortunate enough to agree a repayment of £12 per month with citifinancial some six months ago and was hoping to be able to raise payments in the future to clear the debt quicker.

 

I continued to pay citifinancial for the next 3 months until i received a letter from 1st credit advising me that they had been assigned the debt from citifinancial.

 

I replied advising them i would continue to pay the £12 pm and they wrote back agreeing to the payment and stated that their prefered method was direct debit, this I refused as I did not want them having my banking details but I had requested a payment book or bank transfer details.

 

I continued to pay them via any means other than DD and after several letters stating I had not contacted them (even though the amount owed reduces on the letters at the rate of £12pm so they obviously have been receiving and banking the payments) I recieved a statutory demand sent via 2nd class post.

 

I sent a CCA request last week and received a reply to the effect they would have to ask citifinancial for the original agreement.

 

I have until 1st December to set it aside but my question is what suitable defence should I give to have it set aside??

 

Many thanks for any advice given.

[42man]

A warm welcome DB, please have a read of these....if you need some help please shout....

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt-issues/169354-1st-credit.html

 

And read some of the threads here too...

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/dca-legal-successes/

[Digitalburnout]

Thanks 42man,

 

I have read as many of the 1st Credit and Statutory Demand posts as I could until my head started to spin, but it does seem that my regular payments, despite 1st Credits refusal to acknowledge them or accept any other payment method than DD, may put me in a good position to get the SD set aside.

 

The fact that 1st Credit cannot instantly lay their hands on the CCA does also appear to act in my favour but I am still unsure as to what is the best course of action with regard to the afidavits main reason for setting the SD aside.

 

Am I able to state on the same document that I admit the debt and have been making regular payments but also that due to the claimants inability to send me a cca that the account is now in dispute??

 

Or would it be more prudent to suggest that the account is currently in dispute due to the request for the cca (they still have a few days left to produce)and use the fact that I have been making regular payments as a defence in any future court case?

 

Thanks again.

[PGH7447]

If the SD was sent by 2nd class mail, have you still got the envelope?

 

This is in itself enough to get it set aside

[Digitalburnout]

Hi PGH7447,

 

Yes I still have the envelope, 2nd class with a return to if undelivered stamp on the back.

 

I have a timeline of letters to and from 1st Credit, I have kept them in the hope they will hang themselves which they do appear to be doing if slower than I would wish.

 

The mere fact that the letters show different (reducing) amounts would appear to be proof enough that I am trying to reduce this debt.

[PGH7447]

Correct, 1stcrud and other scummy dca's are using SD's as frighteners, in the hope that consumers will cave in, what is really the icing on the cake with these idiots is that you were actually paying this debt off and then they come on all stupid and strong, totally mindboggling, it is when they do this that people start to wonder and look things up and end up on here.

 

Still their loss is your gain.

 

Get the SD set aside, on the acount of it was delivered second class and that you were paying the sum agreed between yourself and citi and that only when 1st crud appeared did they have an issue.

 

when you go to the set aside hearoing take along a list of expenses to claim from ist crud

 

What you also need to do is send a S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) to citi and check out all the charges that have been applied and reclaim them back, I would also make an official claim to citi about their choice of DCA and that due to 1st cruds behaviour, if the cca request is not honoured then you will be within your rights to withold payments.

 

If 1st crud have only been assigned the debt then the debt still belongs to citi, so i am sure that they will be less than happy that crud have put the kybosh on this agreement.

[Digitalburnout]

Thanks PGH7447,

 

The S.A.R was going to be my next course of action as there are certainly unfair charges on the account.

 

I will submit the set aside along the lines that you suggest and will hopefully see 1st Credits action crumble in the process.

[42man]

You can dispute a debt at any stage (especially now you know your rights).....this thread - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt-issues/169354-1st-credit.html would pretty much be a perfect defence for you, and I know that if it was me I wouldn't even mention the regular payments, you have been keeping these up and 1st Credit have the temerity to send you a stat demand...means they pretty much aren't interested, but take the risk of them losing money in your costs !!!

[42man]

If you aren't sure of anything timescales, affadavits, county courts etc please do ask...

[Digitalburnout]

Thanks 42man,

 

Your help is very much appreciated, I have taken the time to go through as many threads as I can and I am pretty sure about what I am going to do from here on in.

 

thanks again.

[Digitalburnout]

Just thought I would give a quick update on this one.

 

I filed my application for the set aside on the 28th and have been told a judge will view my application tomorrow (2nd) and I would then hear if I have been successful in getting a set aside hearing date or not.

 

Fingers Crossed.

[42man]

Keep us posted DB...

[Digitalburnout]

I phoned my local court earlier today only to be told that the judge didn't have time to look at the application and would do so next week.

 

Am I right in thinking that the court will inform 1st Credit that an application for a set aside has been filed or do I need to do that myself?

[Digitalburnout]

Hi all,

 

I have had a reply from my local county court and the date for the set aside hearing is 31st December.

[42man]

Remember to submit your costs sheet 24 hours before the hearing.....(or at least post it so it reaches the court 24 hours beforehand)....

 

As an example.

 

LITIGANT IN PERSON COSTS

 

10 hours research into Consumer Credit Act / Insolvency Law @ £9.25 per hour

Mileage at 40p per mile

Parking

Postage

 

You could use the form here that Surfaceagentx20 provided but you'll need to change the title to LITIGANT IN PERSON COSTS

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/dca-legal-successes/156641-capquest-statutory-demand-help-4.html

 

Remember to do that research too...!!

[Digitalburnout]

Thanks 42man,

 

One question, I have still not received any CCA from either 1st Credit or CitiFinancial (now outstanding for a month), am I within my rights to now withhold payment to either party until such time as any agreement surfaces?

 

As I stated before both 1st Credit and CitiFinancial had both AGREED to my payment offer and yet I still somehow find myself in this situation!

 

I will of course be taking all correspondance to and from 1st Credit to the court, which also show payments were made and accepted, and also the letter regarding the payment arrangement with CitiFinancial to re-enforce the wasting of the courts time by 1st Credit.

 

My costs are only going to be for litigation in person as the court is in walking distance of my home so hopefully the judge will acknowledge this.

[PGH7447]

You could stop the payments, but I would wait until the court case for the SD then you can show the judge that you are willing to pay what you offered, this would make 1st crud look bad, that they have gone straight for a stat demand even though an agreement was reached between you and citi and that you were paying to that agreement.

 

when you win then stop:D

[Digitalburnout]

Hi PGH7447,

 

Thanks, am going to make a payment this month anyway so at least I can throw that at 1st Credit in court.

 

I have a complete record of payments made so can prove there is an agreement and that I, at least, am sticking to it.

 

I hope that the judge deems this as much a waste of the courts time as I do, I'm sure they have better things to do than put up with DCAs like 1st Credit abusing the system.

[PGH7447]

IF 1st Crud actually turn up;)

 

keep us posted, good luck

[42man]

I wouldn't even mention the payments to them.....!! it is irrelevant, and that reason alone would not be enough to get the judge to set the demand aside.

[42man]

Did you mention this in your affadavit ?

[Digitalburnout]

Hi 42man,

 

No, the payments were not mentioned in my affadavit.

[42man]

Good....carry on as usual...

[Digitalburnout]

Thanks for the help 42man, have pm'd you.

[Digitalburnout]

Hi all,

 

Had my hearing today and the judge didn't set aside the demand as I had hoped.

 

He felt that as I had already had an agreement in place with Citi and they passed the debt on to 1st I had already acknowledged the debt.

 

He wasn't interested in the fact that I haven't received a copy of my CCA or never received a notice of assignment or default notices.

 

On the plus side he was very unhappy that 1st had said in their witness statement that they had refused all payment offers - the look on his face when I produced a letter from them agreeing to my offer said it all and he made it clear that they should stand by it as they had already agreed!

 

Their legal representative (not from LCS I hassen to add) also looked pretty shocked when the letter was produced. It effectively showed that they have lied in their witness statement but unfortunately wasn't enough to get the demand set aside.

 

I will now have to wait to see what they do next although he did advise that they probably wouldn't get anything if they attempted bankruptcy in light of their acceptance of my offer.

 

Thanks to all from your help and Happy New Year.