Bully boys First Credit

[minkymonky]

I realise that I am one of many many people being harrassed by First Credit. My husband has been hassled by them for the last couple of years for a debt they say relates to the Bank of Scotland. He doesn't know what it is but says that he took out a number of credit cards when he was 17 so it may be one of those. He's now 32 so it was a long time ago. We keep asking for some supporting evidence and they keep ignoring us. They call all the time - lots of silent hang ups. We get about 2 letters a week - some from 1st Credit, some from LCS Solicitors and some from Bank of Scotland (they are all 1st Credit but they try and pretend they're all different organisations). The debt is £1300. We were chased a few years ago by a company called Logic for the same debt but it was only £617 then - we refused to pay and they said they wouldn't be taking it any further.

We are so very fed up. First Credit have owned this debt for almost 2years. They take a little break from contact and then bombard us again probably hoping to wear us down. We've contacted the Ombudsman who has allocated a case number to us and written to First Credit telling them thay they must address our query within 2 weeks. Do they care? Seems not as we got a phone call yesterday. Someone asked my husband if they were speaking to the right person, he said yes and they hung up. How on earth do they manage to flout the Law with impunity? We've written to them one last time giving them one last chance to drop the matter but we're so mad that we want to pursue a Civil Action. Is there any leeway here? Is it worth it?

We won't speak to them on the phone - we just hang up. What they do is tantamount to extortion. Scumbags. Will post an update asap.

[godpikachu]

send them a CCA request to estabish is they have a valid credit agreement.

also, by the sounds of it it will more than likely be statute barred, so they have no right to pursue nyone for it anyways.

[dx100uk]

yep welcome to the club.

i wouldn't even waste £1 to CCA them.

fire them off a telephone harrassment letter & a statue barred letter.

but dont sign them.

 

dx

[pmhcfc]

send them a CCA request to estabish is they have a valid credit agreement.

also, by the sounds of it it will more than likely be statute barred, so they have no right to pursue nyone for it anyways.

 

Just to clear things up with what you say here...The fact that a debt is statute barred does not mean anyone doesn't have the right to pursue the debt - they have every right to chase it, the money is still 'owed' it's just they can't enforce it in a court of law.

 

With that being said, it does sound as this 'debt' is statute barred Minky. If no payment has been made, nor no written acknowledgement of the debt made in the last 6 years, it is indeed statute barred.

[rory32]

The CCA request costs a quid and personally I wouldn't give them any money. If it's statute barred then the statute barred letter is the letter you should send first.

 

Have you kept a record of these telephone calls and there frequency? Have a read here for advice on harassment http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/99376-telephone-harassment-action-plan.html?highlight=telephone

 

You should also make a complaint to the OFT under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/consumer-protection-unfair-trading/147892-complaint-about-telephone-harassment.html

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/consumer-protection-unfair-trading/147893-complaint-about-being-threatened.html

 

Regarding the harassment there are a number of laws which protect you from this. The main two are Section 40 of The Administration of Justic Act 1970 and The Protection from Harassment Act 1997. Have you reported these phone calls to OFCOM?

 

You can take 1st Credit to court for harassment but you should consult a solicitor before doing this.

[rory32]

Just to clear things up with what you say here...The fact that a debt is statute barred does not mean anyone doesn't have the right to pursue the debt - they have every right to chase it, the money is still 'owed' it's just they can't enforce it in a court of law.

 

And just to clear it up even further they have the right to ask for payment but they must substantiate any debt and if you say that you are not paying a statute barred debt then that should be the end of the matter. Causing people distress and continually demanding payment is harassment.

[42man]

The statute barred letter is letter 'M' from here - (send recorded) -

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt-issues/20758-creditors-dcas-letter-templates.html

[Kraken1]

Regarding the harassment there are a number of laws which protect you from this. The main two are Section 40 of The Administration of Justic Act 1970 and The Protection from Harassment Act 1997.

 

I don't beleive that this is entirely correct. The AJA was amended by the Consumer Protection Regs and this was removed. S40 now no longer applies to anything done that is a commercial practice (as defined by the cprs)

 

This means that harrassment law is now in the CPRs and the Protection From Harrassment Act '97, s3 I think. The PHA '97 goves both civil and criminal remedies, but it is fairly hard to make the criminal bit fly. As per Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead the courts will have in mind that irritations, annoyances, even a measure of upset, arise at times in everybody's day-to-day dealings with other people.

 

Criminally, there needs to be two courses of conduct.

 

The CPRs also have the problem that the conduct or harassment must significantly impair, or is likely to significantly impair the average consumer's decision to take a 'transactional decision' that they might not have taken otherwise. Pressure to pay I suppose.

 

CPRs also criminal I beleive so not much use for civil stuff unless you want to get... creative...

 

So, civil wise, an application for an injunction to prevent the contact, based on PfHA, is perhaps best bet. If they then break it, mucho fun to be had.

[ScarletPimpernel]

It's also worth noting that the OFT Guidance on Debt Collection is clear that pursuing a statute-barred debt when the DCA knows that no payment will be forthcoming is an unfair practice. Yoes, it's guidance and not law, but compliance is a condition of the consumer credit licence that a DCA needs.

 

Secondly, the CSA (Worst Cretin's MD is the chairman) have a code of practice that requires members to act at all times within the law and regulatory rules. In the past this was just window-dressing, but the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 considers that failing to comply with a code of practice that a company has subscribed to is unfair trading, for which they can be prosecuted.

[minkymonky]

just thought i'd post an update. We received a letter from Connaught Collections recently saying that they intended to issue a statutory demand and make us bankrupt. I sent an official letter of complaint to 1st credit, quoting our Ombudsman case number (as we've already opened a case with them about this).

This morning we got a letter from 1st credit. It goes like this:-

 

"Thank you for your letter. Our cllient, Halifax, Bank of Scotland has been unable to furnish us with the original credit agreement pursuant to your request. We have closed our files in relation to this debt but reserve the right to reopen our files should our client, in the future, provide the original agreement"

 

We have written back saying that this is unacceptable and we want confirmation that no further action will ever be taken again. They've been threatening us for almost 3 years to recover this debt so we just want them to go away and never come back. If they won't write it off, we'll refer to the Ombudsman. I am almost positive that the Ombudsman would find in our favour. 1st Credit have treated us appalingly.

 

I'll let you know what happens.

 

Liz

[42man]

I would check that there is no adverse information left by them on your credit records too....and DEMAND they remove that too...