DCA 'bullied over the phone'

[BubbleCat]

any advice would be gratefully received.

 

Out of the blue a couple of weeks ago, My sister had a phone call from a DCA claiming she owed money to a J.D. Williams.

 

She told them she had never heard of this person and did not owe anyone of this name any money.

 

They threatened her with bailiffs and if she made a gesture payment there and then, they would hold off on the action and send her the details.

 

She made a £20.00 payment because she was so intimidated with what they were saying they to her.

 

She has received a court papers and she thinks it may be a catalogue she had some 15 years ago.

[ODC]

Youve got to be joking. This is amazing. Court papers for an alleged debt over 15 yrs old. DCAs must be getting desperate. Are the papers in her name or the name of the person the DCA was looking for?????

[cymruambyth]

I'm not in a position to advise, but I think more information will be needed. Does she know when her last payment was before she was bullied on the phone? Was it over 6 years? What do the court papers say?

[creditcardmug]

Thats got to be obtaining monies by deception at the very least surely:mad:

[mr.ton]

Oh goodness..you shouldnt have paid that £20

But anyway...if you hear from them again, then tell them that you are fully aware of all your legal rights & that no bailiffs can turn up unless intructed by a court, once all other avenues have failed.

Tell them to take you to a county court or to get lost.

Demand that the £20 be refunded otherwise you will seek police advice for deception (not 999) as they have deceived/conned you out of £20.

[Rayne]

easily yes

 

SAR them, CCA them, go the whole hog with them if it were me, and at the same time instigate CRIMINAL proceedings, the hell with civil ones!

 

Out of curiosity, which DCA was it?

[Guest symbio-dek]

You'll get superb advice on here, You really will . . .

But stay off the phone . . . paper correspondence with them while you sort it out.

Force this to be the case if they don't stop bothering you, by sending the telephone harrassment letter.

And stay cool, calm and focused . . think before acting, make no mistakes . . .

[mr.ton]

Whatever DCA it was? - find out the county in which they are based & then look up the number for the police force of that area (not 999) & explain that you were threatened on the phone into paying money up front.

I certainly would

[BubbleCat]

Everyone,

 

Many, many thanx for getting back on this.

 

The DCA was Robinson & Way.

 

The court papers are from our local County Court and it says Claim. They do have my sisters name and address on them as the defendant and the claimant as Robinson & Way and just the amount claimed and a space for her to lodge a defence.

 

I don't hold alot of confidence in the police, as they tend to spend more time trying not to help the public with this type of thing and defending why they consider such issues as 'civil matters'.

 

My Sis is to scared to phone them to demand the money back for fear of the intimidation.

 

I have spent all afternoon trying to convince her to call them and then give me auth to speak, but she's too scared.

[creditcardmug]

Ok, you have a court claim, what does it say in the Particulars of Claim word for word, and what is the issue date of the claim?

[BubbleCat]

Hi CCM,

 

I'll get these off her tomorrow and post them on here. At least then the facts are straight.

[creditcardmug]

Ok, you may need to move quickly at the mo, you only have 14days from the date on that claim

[BubbleCat]

Will do, I think they have put the frighteners on her and she just seems to think they can get away with it and to be honest, until I came across this site I would have thought the same.

[tiglet]

Firstly, she needs to acknowledge the claim - this will give her a further 14 days to file a defence.

 

Then, she needs to get this off to RW or their solicitors by Special Delivery PRONTO:

 

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.

 

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

 

Your client should ensure compliance with its CPR 31 duties and ensure that the documents 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

[BubbleCat]

Thanx Tiglet.

 

Does she just need to put something like ' compiling defence' or 'acknowledge and awaiting reply from DCA' ?

 

I'll get the letter off to RW 2morrow for her and going from what I have read on here, I'll not ask her to sign it.

[Newborn]

You need to fight this all the way. PLEASE PLEASE DO NOT BE INTIMIDATED BY THEM. As long as she has not acknowledged the debt or paid anything to them for over 6 years the debt is Statute Barred despite the recent £20 payment she made. They can do nothing except spout hot air and empty threats at her.

It would be well worth the £1 postal order and unsigned letter to formally request a copy of the credit agreement Letter N here.

Keep us all posted as you will receive a lot of common sense and more importantly moral support.

 

Newborn

[ErikaPNP]

Tell her not to allow them to intimidate her. Tell her to come here and look at this thread: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/131409-cheekiness-towards-dca.html

 

This will possibly make her see what little powers these people actually have. I don't owe money to anyone other than council tax which I pay for, but I was chased by a DCA for someone else's debt for a utility supplier - I'm female, the debtor was male and his name sounds nothing like mine, so they haven't even got the argument of "mistaken identity". I'd never been registered with the utility supplier the debt belonged to. The debtor must have lived in my property at some point. The letters I got were addressed to "the occupier" - I already knew the debt wasn't mine, but it wasn't till I came here I realised much of what the DCA were doing was illegal and though here, I gained the knowledge from other members of how to fight the DCA.

 

It may not be your sister's debt at all, DCA's are notorious for sending threatening letters of telephoning numbers which have the occupant's name the same as the debtors name. They do name traces and basically send blanket threats to any person in the area with the same or a similar name, hoping to catch the real debtor. Without a consumer credit agreement, they can't prove a damn thing.

 

Please tell her not to worry, she will find loads of support on here, I know I have and although I'm sure some members are fed up with my constant questions (!) the members here have been fantastic at educating me. And I've given a little back with my knowledge of other consumer issues, I hope. It's a fantastic site, I cannot praise anyone here highly enough. Tell her if she comes here, she can soon have her worries eased, and it will make her so much stronger. I couldn't say boo to a ghost when I first came here, now though I can't shut up! As you guess from the long post.

 

ONE THING I MUST STESS THAT I HAVE LEARNED HERE: Never, ever speak to a DCA on the phone (unless to wind them up) - and never, ever sign a letter - a signature is not legally required, or she can use an electronic signature which is not like her own. There is the thread on creating an electronic signature, I can't find it - perhaps someone who knows where to find it can post it for this member, please?

Edited November 27, 2008 by ErikaPNP

[creditcardmug]

Can you type out the Particulars of Claim, as on the claim form?

What is the issue date on the claim?

Can you get to the court easily enough say tomorrow?

[BubbleCat]

Cheers both.

 

I will keep the thread updated and I've told her what great support is on here.

 

Looking around on here is amazing, as alot of things you thought you had no recourse for, there are avenues to explore.

 

Support today has been fantastic and I can't wait to spread the news about this site and get a smile back on my sister's face.

[BubbleCat]

I can get to the court for her, would that be ok?

[creditcardmug]

Yes its fine if you go, you are only delivering the docs on her behalf, no problem,

[Newborn]

Hi Bubblecat, Glad your sister's smiling again. Great to hear. Great to hear you're gonna spread the word!

 

Newborn

[creditcardmug]

Can you answer any of the questions in post 18, we cant help any further without them?

[fuzzybobble]

As well as all the help you'll need to get this sorted out. Also by the time CAG is finished with them on here, Robinson Way will be sending you a few hundred quid for your costs too. A nice little shopping spree is on the cards for the new year for you and your sister.

 

Just keep us updated with what's happening, and you'll get all the letter templates and advice you'll need to send Robinson Way running for the hills.

 

It's amazing how quiet they go, once they realise you know your legal rights.

 

I'm busy giving Moorcroft some hassle at the moment. They've had 5 accounts of mine over the last year and a half. They've given up every single time and not got a single penny from me.

[ODC]

I suugest you have a look at what she actually received from Robbinson Way as they send out documents which look like Court Documents. The giveaway is the immortal line ''VALID EVEN IF NOT READ BY YOU''