Direct Legal & Collections - Direct Auto Financial Services

[Youngandsilly]

Hey all - need some help with this one - might be a bit messy.

 

Back in Aug 2005 I bought a car on finance from Yes Car Credit in London - When I became unemployed a few months later my payments became more sporadic and eventually, I couldn't afford the monthy payments at all - My last payment to them was in December 2005.

 

Following this in May 2007ish (I can't be sure to be honest) the car was repossessed off my private driveway. I was told in Scotland (where i now live) it is illegal to repossess property from private property, no matter how much had been paid, without a court order - which was not presented when the car was uplifted, in fact I wasn't even in the house, my Uncle was.

 

So I contacted the solicitors at the time who were dealing with it - Messrs Irwin Mitchell - and explained to them that I had not seen a court order, and would like to know how the car had been removed with it. Someone at their office said they would call me back to explain. No one did. I thought it was the end of it. I did not receive any further communitcation from them (no notice of sale, updated account details etc)

 

Fast forward 3 years(!) and this is the first letter from Direct Legal & Collections explaining that the debt had been recently sold by Direct Auto Finance Services Ltd to Hillesden Securities Ltd and that I should contact them immediately to pay within 10 days or they would instruct scottish solicitors to continue court action again me. Joygasim.

 

Further more I seem to remember to debt being mostly made up of insurances that they said I needed to take in order to get the finance, such as PPI, GAP insurance, and another...

 

So I need to know a couple of things -

 

1. Is it correct that in scotland you need a court order to uplift property no matter what?

 

2. Where does that leave the account seeing as it would appear they didn't have one.

 

3. Can I still CCA DLC at the moment?

 

I have 10 days from the letter which means I need to have a reply by 14th March.

 

Can anyone offer help?

[dx100uk]

i would think that you havev got what we call a FISHING LETTER there, fishing for mugs they can con money out of, cause they dont lnow any diff...you do!

 

use the search above for Hillesden Securities , and do a bit of reading.

 

oh and ignore the court threat...total rubbish!

 

dx

[Youngandsilly]

Rightyo -

 

Attached is the letter I've received from DLC.

 

 

See that they make mention of the previous court action taken - I've not been subject to any court action (that I know of at least) and Messrs had my address the entire time (as I say, they uplifted the car off the driveway).

 

I've just sent off for my credit report however to make sure, as I wouldn't put it past them to apply for a CCJ without my knowledge.

 

As I said in the OP - I'm 99.9% sure Messrs (or their agents) uplifted the car without an order - the only catch I can see is that I hadn't paid 1/3 of the cost - I know this is the clincher in England, but as I say, in scotland, I was told they need an order either way.

 

Putting aside the fact that if this is true, I'm entitled to everything I had paid under the loan, I actually just want it over and done with (that and it's 3 years down the road).

 

Again, does this look like a threatogram? CCA letter is being sent of Monday (frikken post offices are closed!) - Thinking about sending of a SAR as well.

 

Reading a previous post about DLC, it would appear that they've actually bought a batch file from Direct Auto and don't have any documentation at all.

 

So im faced with two options - Either DLC don't have a signed CCA and they can bog off, or Messrs secured some sort of court order against me, didn't tell me, let me stew for 3 years and then sold the debt.

 

If the latter is the case, where does that leave me CCA wise?

[dx100uk]

its a threat-o-gram, just carefully worded.

court proceedings issued - means a previous dca sent you another threat-o-gram letter, saying if you did not respond, they would start proceedings.

 

typical bull

 

i'd ignore it

dx

[postggj]

do me a favour

next to welcome, yes car my favourite.

check your agreement for me

any deposit paid would have gone to the insurancies not the car,

end result

game over for any dca

deposit not used for purpose intended

dlc/marlin/go debt, or any other dca out of the woodwork know this

[Youngandsilly]

do me a favour

next to welcome, yes car my favourite.

check your agreement for me

any deposit paid would have gone to the insurancies not the car,

end result

game over for any dca

deposit not used for purpose intended

dlc/marlin/go debt, or any other dca out of the woodwork know this

 

 

Right -

 

Well I've just received today a copy of my original agreement, statement of account, deed of assignment and Fair Processing Notice requested from DLC.

 

Now I'm quite sure that there is part of my agreement missing - the entire section dealing with the trade in of my own car which was £1000 - This isn't shown on the statement of account either.

 

However it does look like it enforceable - I'll need to wait until tomorrow until I am able to scan the details up.

 

However looking at the agreement they've sent me, it quite clearly says that the £250 deposit I paid went to insurance.

 

I think i'm buggered.

[Nottsdave]

do me a favour

next to welcome, yes car my favourite.

check your agreement for me

any deposit paid would have gone to the insurancies not the car,

end result

game over for any dca

deposit not used for purpose intended

dlc/marlin/go debt, or any other dca out of the woodwork know this

 

As Postggj states above, game over deposit not used for purpose intended.

I think its them thats buggered not you

 

Notts

[Youngandsilly]

do me a favour

next to welcome, yes car my favourite.

check your agreement for me

any deposit paid would have gone to the insurancies not the car,

end result

game over for any dca

deposit not used for purpose intended

dlc/marlin/go debt, or any other dca out of the woodwork know this

 

As Postggj states above, game over deposit not used for purpose intended.

I think its them thats buggered not you

 

Notts

 

So what's my next step then? DLC have stated that collection activity will begin again in 7 days (form a letter dated on the 11th). Should I be writing back to them to tell them to bog off?

[Nottsdave]

DLC have stated that collection activity will begin again in 7 days,

Hi

 

What it means is,

More threats and crap through the post saying the May do this they May do that its all just crap to get you to pay,

 

File it

 

Notts

[Youngandsilly]

Muhaha!

 

I think I further have a breakthrough!

 

On the agreement it states that if one third of the amount had been paid a court order is required to reposses the goods, in this instance £2243.84

 

Having checked the statement of account they provided I've actually paid £2267.2

 

Now I didn't give them permission to reposses the car, and I'm damn sure they didn't have a court order, in fact nothing was provided - In fact I wasn't even in the house, my uncle was, then am I entitled to all monies paid under the agreement?

[debt4get]

you are one of many that have tried to screwed over by the wonderful dlc as previous poster indicated their cca agreements are invalid due to the way they used the deposit against the insurances, which in themselves were a right [problem], and now being used to exhort money from many unsuspecting people who were unfortunate to get involved with this bunch of clowns. most of the agreements ive seen from the defunct yes car credit have been improperly executed and the chances are yours is as well. if you can post up as soon as poss we will be able to have alook and advise accordingly

[Youngandsilly]

Righty - As requested, scans of the agreement for your comments

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers guys

[42man]

You need to get a solicitor on to this and sue their backsides off....did you ever get a default notice too ? - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/legal-issues/170345-tale-dodgy-dn.html

[dx100uk]

WOW!

what rip-off merchants!!

 

licence to print money at a consumers expense!

 

dx

[Youngandsilly]

You need to get a solicitor on to this and sue their backsides off....did you ever get a default notice too ? - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/legal-issues/170345-tale-dodgy-dn.html

 

 

In all honesty, I don't know, but I think I remember getting a DN through, but I might not of.

 

I have a question though - Is there anyway to doubly make sure that they didn't get a court order for repossession?

[Youngandsilly]

Righty - drafted a letter i'm thinking of sending them.

 

Dear Sirs

I DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE ANY DEBT TO YOUR COMPANY

 

Account Number – 0001160397000/Your Ref - LIT/121141956

Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for your documents dated 11/03/09 the contents of which have been noted.

You should be aware that the Consumer Credit Act 1974 lays down certain requirements for my protection which were complied with agreement that you forwarded to me.

You will be aware that with regards to possession, if I do not keep to my side of the agreement but have paid at least one third of the total amount payable under the agreement (in this instance £2243.84 as shown on page 2 of the document package you provided) then a creditor must obtain a court order to take back the goods against my wishes (and in Scotland may need to get a court order at any time).

You will be aware that if a creditor does remove the goods without obtaining a court order, then I am entitled to get back any money that has been paid under the agreement.

As you can see on the statement of account that you have provided, the total amount paid amounts to £2267, meaning that the creditor required a court order to remove the goods from the property.

It is my assertion that no such court order was obtained, and as such I will be instructing a solicitor with regards to my legal right to obtain all monies paid under the credit agreement, unless such a court order can be proven to exist within 21 days.

As the debt has been bought by your company, as seen by the deed of assignment provided to me by you, I have no choice but to claim again yourselves for monies paid, totalling £2267.20

I am also disturbed by the fact that in the documents you have provided there is no mention of the trade in of my previous car, which was worth £1000. You will notice that there is also no mention of this on the statement of account.

You will also be aware that the use of the deposit to pay a down payment of the insurance XXXXX? Not sure why this is bad?

I will however be willing to accept, to close the matter, the closing of the account, the waiving of all account charges and the removal of all adverse credit information that you have added to my credit file.

I look forward to your response

 

Would appreciate comments

[debt4get]

However, at the time of taking out the finance, the Griffiths-Peets also took out payment protection insurance. They were told this was not optional, and this should have been added to their bill as a separate charge for credit. However, in the Yes Car Credit agreement, it was not. This meant the credit was mis-stated and the agreement was irredeemably unenforceable.

Andrew Leakey, managing partner of Stephensons consumer department, said: “There were discrepancies with Mr and Mrs Griffiths-Peet’s agreement which meant it was ultimately unenforceable and we’re pleased to say the loan has now been written off, with MIM Servicing paying our clients’ legal fees. Most importantly, a family’s home has been saved.

this is why the agreement has been declared unenforceable, the very fact that the insurance should have been added to the bill as a seperate charge for credit it has also been succsefully defended in court that the deposit should not be taken off the price of the insurances which should have been seperate from the price of credit given

if that makes sense

[debt4get]

I see from your financial statement that on a 4grand car they have added nearly 3 grand in insurances, if you were also told at the time that you had to have this otherwise no car, then again this makes the policy missold and you are entitled to a refund of all monies paid into this insurance [problem]

[postggj]

i wish i had agreements like this all the time

 

muppetts

 

now dont fight all at once, even though this is in the bag

[Us versus Debt]

Ive got a solicitors letter than says why the deposit on the ins is a big no no. this was in a solicitors letter to daf

[Youngandsilly]

Ive got a solicitors letter than says why the deposit on the ins is a big no no. this was in a solicitors letter to daf

 

Would be able to send me the details of that?? Would be useful to put in my letter to DLC

[postggj]

Dlc Are Fully Aware On The Failings Of Yes Car Agreements

 

Keep Your Letter Simple So A Five Year Old Can Understand

[Youngandsilly]

Right - so an update

 

Sent off my letter to them and got a reply yesterday, nice bullet pointed list of information for me to read.

 

They've explained that although the total paid is above the amount shown as a third on the credit agreement, the actual payments were split with £140 going to the car and £58 going to the insurances. Fair enough, so I'm below the 1/3 amount by approx £700. As such, they didn't need a court order to reposses!

 

They have also stated that they're waiting for DAF to contact them about the part exchange value of the car, which was £1000.

 

So taking all that into consideration, they've very kindly offered me a discount on the amount paid, knocking 40% off the amount owed! Nice!

 

However - i'll will be addressing another letter to them shortly, explaining that until DAF confirm the amount the car was traded in, then I won't be paying anything, as the £1000 is completly missing from the statement of accounts, which when taken together with what I've already paid bumps the amount paid to £2556 or there abouts, once again puting me over the 1/3 amount - This isin't including the deposit (which we know was paid to the insurances - Naughty, Naughty!)

 

But - What I need to know now is, on the agreement it has "in scotland a court order may be required at any time" - Should DAF come back and deny all knowledge of the part exchange, should they have gotten a court order anyway?? Where in the Consumer Credit Act does it refer to this so I can rebut their comments?

 

Any help would be awesome!

[Us versus Debt]

have you found out yet the cost of the insurances that DAF 'paid' NIG?

You need to write to NIG to get this, Not that you particularly need it but rather revealing...

[postggj]

youngandsilly

 

ime going to be blunt on this

 

sod any crap a dca comes back with

 

your deposit was used for the insurance

 

its game over, end of

 

the dca merry go round are well aware of this

 

dont let them try and confuse you by going off subject