MBNA and missing CCA

[SiBannister]

Hi,

 

I am having an issue with MBNA - I have twice now issued them with CCA requests (the 12+2 days for the second one is actually tomorrow, 19th March) and have not heard a peep from them. I know that they have received the letters, and cashed the postal orders, but other than than, it's as if they have completely ignored me - I am still receiving bills and promo stuff from them. Is this normal behaviour for them?

 

Also, in a more general way, I have a question about the general principles behind the CCA-request tactic. Is it being used solely by people who feel that the banks (in this case MBNA) are treating them in some unfair way, whether it be excessive interest rates or charges or such, or are some people just trying to get genuine debts written off at the banks' expense?

 

The reason I ask is that the whole basis for me even starting down this route was that I got another credit card from GE Capital, and they lost the CCA and sent me another one asking me to fill it in and sign it again - I refused as the boxes for the interest rates were empty and could easily be filled in later to look like I had agreed to something I hadn't! That started me thinking that I could get away with not paying back the money (it is only a few hundred pounds, nothing too drastic), so upon searching, I came across this website and the rest you can work out for yourselves. Then it occurred to me - why not try it with my other credit cards? And out of 3 other cards, only 1 responded with the proper signed copy of the CCA. I have not yet decided on any course of action yet, but as I am faced with imminent unemployment, I may out of desperation be forced to try anything to get rid of these debts, and be forced to ignore the moral issues of this.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice

[clemma]

Tomorrow send them the dispute letter (make sure you send it recorded delivery). Again, PRINT, do not sign your name.

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

I DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE ANY DEBT

 

ACCOUNT IN DISPUTE

 

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 **DATE** I made a formal request for a true signed agreement for the alleged account under consumer credit Act 1974 s77/8. A copy of which is enclosed for your perusal and ease of reference.

 

You have failed to comply with my request, and as such the account is now in default as of **DATE**.(12+2 days after you sent the CCA request)

 

The document that you are obliged to send me is a true copy of the executed agreement that contained all of the prescribed terms, all other required terms and statutory notices and was signed by both your company and myself as defined in section 61(1) of CCA 74 and subsequent Statutory Instruments. If the executed agreement contained any reference to any other document, you are also obliged to send me a copy of that document.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. This limit has expired

 

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.Therefore this account has become unenforceable at law.

 

As 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 in dispute.

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 therefore request a copy of your official complaints procedure which you are obliged to supply.

I would appreciate your due diligence in this matter.

I look forward to hearing from you in writing.

 

 

Yours faithfully,

 

They will no doubt ignore that too, but at least you have put the ball firmly back in their court. If you receive nothing then there is another route you can got through to get a copy of you CCA. See this thread - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/legal-issues/173201-why-you-shouldnt-use.html

[SiBannister]

Thanks for that - I am intending to do exactly that as soon as I confirm that nothing from them arrived at home this morning...

 

With reference to my earlier post - are people simply trying to get debts written off because generally banks are evil, money-grabbing corporations and it's about time they got a taste of their own medicine, or have most people on these forums been particularly unfairly treated in some specific, individual way or other?

[clemma]

CAG does not promote debt avoidance. The advice given is to allow people to check that these companies (especially DCA's) are entitled to make the demands for payments etc. If an agreement is unenforceable then that gives the person the upper hand as they can then decide what payments to make or even offer full and final settlement. Yes, you can stop paying them altogether, but that choice is down to them.

 

A lot of people who come to CAG are being threatened by DCA's and are genuinely scared and believe the threats of court action, repossession, bailiffs etc. The advice given is intended to help them feel in control of their financial situation.

[Fernando Torres]

Hi there,

I was reading through this post and thought I would offer some advice of my own. If they (MBNA) do not have a signed CCA, which seems to be the case after it being requested twice with no success, but you do still accept that the debt is yours, can you not just ask them to remove all the interest they have charged you, as they have no documentation of you agreeing to pay interest? I'm not sure, and you should check it out with some of the experts on this forum, but perhaps this might help.

 

Although there is the possibility that if you accept the debt is yours, it could be implicit that the terms & conditions of the account, and by association the interest charged, will therefore apply - not sure about that?