Regal Credit Consultants / Barclays

[leehuk1982]

Hi All,

 

I'm new on here, and in desperate need of some help!! I'll give you an insight into the past first...

 

I'm 26, and took out an unsecured loan with Barclays for £25,000 about 6 years ago. Their bank manager came to my old place of work with the paperwork and had me sign for the loan in the car park!!! I was making paymens fine, but eventually things just got worse and worse, and basically I ended up not being able to pay them, so I went with a debt helping company thingy called 'Debt Free Me', who reduced my payments down to £206 per month. I was paying that for about a year, and then couldn't even afford that after a while!

 

So basically, I had to leave my parents house (my choice), STOPPED paying altogether, and basically ran scared I guess!! I simply could not, and still can't afford to repay this loan!! I have a place of my own with my partner which we RENT (so nothing they can secure aganist, not even a car), we have a joint account for the 'housey' and bill side of things, but I still have this debt looming over my head, and today, much to my surprise at them being able to find me, I received a letter from Regal Credit Consultants stating the following...

 

"Dear sir,

 

Client: Barclays Bank PLC

Ref No: ########

Amount: £21000

 

We write to advise you that we are INSTRUCTED by our client to demand the immediate settlement of the above debt.

 

We would ask that you forward the outstanding amount in full, quoting your reference number. Your cheque or postal order should be made payable to: 'RCC Ltd' and crossed and sent in the enclosed 'reply paid' envelope. Alternatively you may pay by switch / maestro / visa delta / electron / mastercard or solo card.

 

If you fail to make apayment or contact us regarding this matter we will need to explore all options to recover this debt.

 

This may result in us recommending to our client that legal action is taken against you which will add firther interest and legal costs to your debt and may be detrimental to your creditworthiness.

 

Our client has SUSPENDED interest whilst the account is with us; if you fail to make a payment any accrued interest is likely to be backdated upon closing with us.

 

We would strongly recommend that you DO NOT IGNORE this letter, but telephone our offices..." blah blah blah...

 

 

What my partner wants to do is to basically say that we split up, I don't live there and I've sodded off abroad or sommat! I really don't know what to do for the best cos I simply CANNOT afford to pay them anything! The cost of living is just too high these days. What do I do, where do I go!!??

 

HHEEEELLLPPPPP!!!! :?

[ScarletPimpernel]

Regal are choppers of the first water. The letter is a standard threat template.

 

The first action you need to take is send them a CCA request - Letter N in the Templates section, then come back here when (if) they respond.

[leehuk1982]

Can't I just get my other half to say that I don't live there anymore, and that we split up, and as far as he's concerned, he has no idea where I ran off to?? Or do you think that would make things worse, and that I should follow proper procedures?

 

Thanks in advance,

[twofoot]

Telling them you don't live there is not the answer. They'd be back again in a few months. Face up to your problems and take them on. Send that CCA request asap. Use a £1 postal order and don't use your normal signature on the request. Post up the CCA on here in this thread and we'll take it from there. 25k may be a lot of dosh but you'll be surprised how lapse the banks are at keeping the correct paperwork.

[mr.ton]

Oh how kind of them to suspend interest

If that were me, id be on the phone begging the fools to carry on adding the interest as it just means more time to repay at £1 per month once it goes through the county court system

Its standard DCA threatogram nonsense with no legal authority whatsoever.

[PGH7447]

Was any PPI attached to this loan that was perhaps mis-sold

[leehuk1982]

Ok, I'll get that letter sent out straight away with a postal order, but I won't sign it.

 

Will let you know what sort of a response I get. Thanks for your help so far!

 

PGH7447 - Sorry to sound daft, but what do you mean by PPI? Is that some sort of insurance thing? If so, there was no insurance that I was aware of.

[PGH7447]

Payment Protection Insurance

[leehuk1982]

No pretty sure there isn't any, but will check that when I get home.

[leehuk1982]

By the way, the address I need to send my first registered letter to is a P.O. Box address, so if I send it off recorded delivery, no one will sign for it will they!??

[leehuk1982]

Hi,

 

I've sent my CCA request off today via Specail Delivery. It will get there on Monday by 1pm, and will be signed for at the other end. I enclosed my £1 postal order made payable to the debt collection agency - want happens next? What are they likely to reply with? What if they send me my signed agreement?

[leehuk1982]

Anyone...?

[angry cat]

Knowing Regal,

they will most likely ignore your request.

 

However, do not worry as you have the proof that it has been made.

 

RCC will not have a copy of the purported agreement, they will have to request the documents from Barclays...

the clock is ticking, as soon as they are in receipt of your legal request.

 

Sit back, wait and enjoy your christmas;

nothing will happen until after the new year.

 

AC

[leehuk1982]

Hi!

 

Regal Credit received my CCA letter yesterday, and already today have sent a reply!!!! It says the following...

 

"We are in receipt of your recent correspondence requesting a copy of the signed agreement relating to the above liability. We have requested this information from our client.

 

Please be advised that as this above amount is likely to relate to a historic bank account / loan, it is possible that a copy of the signed agreement cannot be provided. In this event, your responsibility for the liability remains, although we acknowledge (on behalf of our client) that in accordance with current consumer credit legislation, no legal action can be taken as part of the recovery process. If you do not hear back from us, you should assume this to be the case.

 

Our client does fulfil their obligations to provide frequent statements. "

 

So - what does this all mean then? If they can't find a signed copy of my agreement, does that mean that I don't have to pay a penny!? What if I do not hear from them, should I then ignore the matter altogether?

 

Your thoughts and comments are most welcome!

 

Thanks,

Lee

[leehuk1982]

Anyone? Should I just sit back and forget about it?

[PGH7447]

sit back and see what other rubbish they come up with

[leehuk1982]

Hi all,

 

I have today received the following letter from Regal Credit. This is the only correspondence I have had since their reply which I posted above in post number 14 (that was their response to my request for a signed agreement letter, and still no copy of a signed agreement received, and now I have received this....) ...

 

 

NOTICE OF SALE

We have made every effort on behalf of our client to contact you in order to come to an acceptable agreement to clear the above liability, without success.

 

This letter is to formally advise you of our intention, in 14 days, to pass your account back to our client with the recommendation to them for the account to be sold. The impact of this to you will be that whilst the interest has been frozen during the period of our management of your account, this will be applied retrospectively and the full fees and charges detailed within our clients 'Terms & Conditions' will be added to your liability.

 

We are familiar with the process of the businesses that purchase debt from our client, their actions include extensive use of the Courts (including exploring all methids of Executing a Judgement) and/or a Collector will visit your home to duscuss this matter with you.

 

We strongly recommend that you contact us IMMEDIATELY to put in place an affordable arrangement plan before the account is no longer under our control.

 

Yours faithfully,

REGAL CREDIT CONSULTANTS LIMITED

Legal Department

So, as I said, this is now the second letter I've had from them after requesting a copy of the signed agreement, and still no agreement to date. I sent that request to them on the 20th December, and received their reply in post 14 on the 23rd December. How long do they have to provide me with the signed agreement before it becomes unenforcable?

 

What steps should I take next? Should I refer them to my CCA request that I sent in December, and send them a copy of their initial response to it, and tell them I'm still waiting?? Or should I send something different?

 

Best regards, and thanks for your help so far - you've all been a great help!

 

Lee

[bazaar]

Hi Leehuk

Yes you now remind them of your legal CCA request that they have not complied, The account in dispute letter will be the one you want from the template section.

They havent got the agreement by the sounds of things so are threatening you.

Legally they cannot pass this on, but they will, so send the letter off and wait for them to respond, If after 14 days you get nothing, its just wait and see who raises their head, but you can deal with this later

[leehuk1982]

Ok great - thanks for your help! Will get a letter off tomorrow and see what happens!

 

Are they not now in default though beings they haven't supplied me with a copy of the agreement? Doesn't that mean that they can't do anything about the debt?

[ScarletPimpernel]

NOTICE OF SALE

 

We have made every effort on behalf of our client to contact you in order to come to an acceptable agreement to clear the above liability, without success.

 

We have sent you some template threat letters, and failed to comply with the CCA request you sent us.

 

This letter is to formally advise you of our intention, in 14 days, to pass your account back to our client with the recommendation to them for the account to be sold.

 

We have been given a limited time to collect; because we haven't, we'll have to admit defeat - and probably not get paid.

 

The impact of this to you will be that whilst the interest has been frozen during the period of our management of your account, this will be applied retrospectively and the full fees and charges detailed within our clients 'Terms & Conditions' will be added to your liability.

 

We haven't mentioned that this is all immaterial because we are in default of a CCA request.

 

We are familiar with the process of the businesses that purchase debt from our client, their actions include extensive use of the Courts (including exploring all methids of Executing a Judgement) and/or a Collector will visit your home to duscuss this matter with you.

 

We are familiar with the businesses that purchase debt because they inhabit the same sewers as us. We're still pretending not to know that there'll be no court action or anything else because of that pesky CCA.

 

We strongly recommend that you contact us IMMEDIATELY to put in place an affordable arrangement plan before the account is no longer under our control.

 

Please give us some money; pleeeaaase...

 

Yours faithfully,

REGAL CREDIT CONSULTANTS LIMITED

Legal Department

Risible as this silly nonsense is, hiding or omitting material fact is a contravention of the CPUTR 2008. It's probably not worth pursuing, however; because the CCA request is in default it's now unlawful to demand payment, as any debt purchasing throbbers will find out in due course.

[leehuk1982]

hahahaha!!! Scarlet that's so funny what you added to the quote! lol! I am literally cacking myself (NOT!) lol!

 

I found the 'account in dispute' letter, and have added certain little bits in, can you please just check over it and make sure it's ok to send off? Items in Bold are the bits I added...

 

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Thank you for your letters of 22/12/08 and 16/01/09, the contents of which have been noted.

 

You have failed to respond to my legal request to supply me a true copy of the original Consumer Credit Agreement for the above account.

 

On the 16th December 2008, I wrote to you requesting a copy of the credit agreement and other information under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (Sections 77-79). A copy of this letter is enclosed for your reference.

 

On 21st December 2008, a member of your staff signed for delivery of my written request and I have an electronic proof of delivery showing their signature and the date.

 

These documents I requested should be readily available as proof of your legal right to collect this account under the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

 

Inmy letter of the 16th December 2008, I made a formal request for a copy of the signed, executed credit agreement for the above account under section 78(1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. In addition a full statement of this account should have been sent to me detailing all debits and credits to the account.

 

Furthermore, you are aware that the Consumer Credit Act allows 12 working days for a request for a true copy of a credit agreement to be carried out before your client enters into a default situation.

To date, the only correspondence I have received from you regarding my request for a copy of the signed agreement is one dated 22nd December 2008, stating that you were “in receipt of my correspondence” and that you had “requested this information from our client”. A copy of your letter is again enclosed for your reference.

I have today received a letter from you of a “Notice of Sale” of the alleged debt. As you will be fully aware, a credit agreement that is in dispute cannot be sold onto a third party.

 

The 12 working day limit has expired, and you have been unable to supply me with a true signed copy of the credit agreement, and as you are no doubt aware section 78(6) states:

 

If the creditor fails to comply with Subsection (1)

 

(a) He is not entitled , while the default continues, to enforce the agreement.

 

And

 

(b) If the default continues for one month he commits an offence.

 

Therefore this account has become unenforceable at law.

 

You have failed to comply with a lawful request for a true, signed copy of the said agreement and other relevant documents mentioned in it, failed to send a full statement of the account and failed to provide any of the documentation requested.

 

Consequentially any legal action you pursue will be averred as both UNLAWFUL and VEXATIOUS.

 

Furthermore I shall counterclaim that any such action constitutes unlawful harassment.

 

Please note you may also consider this letter as a statutory notice under section 10 of the Data Protection Act to cease processing any data in relation to this account with immediate effect.

 

This means you must remove all information regarding this account from your own internal records and from my records with any credit reference agencies.

 

Should you refuse to comply, you must within 21 days provide me with a detailed breakdown of your reasoning behind continuing to process my data.

 

It is not sufficient to simply state that you have a ‘legal right’; You must outline your reasoning in this matter and state upon which legislation this reasoning depends.

 

Should you not respond within 14 days I expect that this means you agree to remove all such data.

 

Furthermore you should be aware that a creditor is not permitted to take ANY

Action against an account whilst it remains indispute.

 

The lack of a credit agreement is a very clear dispute and as such the following applies.

 

* You may not demand any payment on the account, nor am I obliged to offer any payment to you.

* You may not add further interest or any charges to the account.

* You may not pass the account to a third party.

* You may not register any information in respect of the account with any credit reference agency.

* You may not issue a default notice related to the account.

 

I reserve the right to report your actions to any such regulatory authorities as I see fit.

You have 14 days from receiving this letter to contact me with your intentions to resolve this matter which is now a formal complaint.

 

I would appreciate your due diligence in this matter.

 

I look forward to hearing from you in writing.

 

Yours faithfully

 

 

Any speedy replies would be very much appreciated so that I can get it sent off first thing tomorrow morning.

 

Thanks - Lee

[leehuk1982]

P.S. - Sorry about all the font rubbish that it's come up with, I don't know how to get rid of it!! And it's only the longer sentences in bold that I added, not the odd word!! lol!

[leehuk1982]

Can anyone help? Is the letter above ok to send to them? (sorry about all the rubbish it came up with! Don't know how to get rid of it on here!!)

 

Thanks,

Lee

[bazaar]

Hi Lee

Looks good to go