Bryan Carter & Co solicitors - please help

[sapphirey1966]

Hi can anyone give me sum advise, firstly i have been having a lot of trouble with receiving my mail, this has been going on for around 3 years or so now, (some days i will get my mail and other days i will either get someone elses for someone elses address or no mail at all, when i should be receiving some), i have now finally got this sorted (hopefully) with my local royal mail sorting office for my area, (it has taken me all of the 3 or so years and a lot of complaining to finally get something done).

 

I have now just received letters from Bryan Carter & Co Solicitors, start dates from around april 2009. The address on the letters are:

 

De Havilland drive, Weybridge, surrey, KT13 0NT.

I have one letter from them stating the following:

 

Our ref: Edited Account number: Edit,

Re: Phoenix recoveries (uk) Ltd S.a.r.l, Balance: Edit.

 

Our client: Phoenix recoveries Claim No: Edit

Dear Ms XXX

As you have failed to make repayments on the above account we have now issued litigation proceedings in the county court. You will receive the claim form in the next 48 hours direct from the court.You can telephone us on 0845 3133128 and discuss this case with your account manager.If judgement is entered against you and remains unsatisfied it will remain on the judgment register for six years and you may have difficulties obtaining future credit.

 

Then signed by Bryan Carter.

 

this letter is dated 12/05/09. I have no idea whom Phoenix recoveries are and what this is for, this is the first i have heard of this debt and the first time i have received any contact, no one has visited my address (as i thought debt collects do before it gets to this stage) i would have then had knowledge of it if someone had visit my home address.Then there is a claim form from northampton (CCBC)county court, this is dated 13/05/2009 and from reading it i think i was supposed to fill the forms out to say if i agreed with this claim or not within 14 days from date of service (which the form states date of service is taken as 5 days after the issue date shown overleaf – which is the 13/05/2009 - bit useless i have only just received it this week, not even sure if this is genuine - it also states that i can respond to this claim online, log onto moneyclaim.gov.uk and put in a password that is on this form). The next letter is from the above solicitors again stating the following:

 

Our client: Phoenix Recoveries (uk) Ltd S.a Our ref: EditAccount no Balance: £xxx

 

Dear Ms xxx

 

We have issued proceedings against you for recovery of this debt but you have failed to respond with either reasons as to why the debt is disputed or with proposals for payment. Unless we hear from you within the next 14 days we will take steps to enter judgement against you.

 

If you subsequently fail to pay the judgment within prescribed time period, it will be entered on your credit file and may seriously affect your ability to obtain credit in the future. Once we have obtained judgement we will seek to enforce the judgment by either instructing bailiffs to take possession of your property or by applying for an attachment of earnings, or we may ask the court to make an order to secure the debt by obtaining a charge over your home.

This letter is dated 27/05/09.

 

The next letter is again from Northampton county court (again not sure if genuine – the court stamp is different on this one) this letter states:

 

judgement for claimant (in default), it has the claimants details (phoenix recoveries), the solicitors details (bryan carter) and my details (name and address), it also has a claim no. Edit, the courts name and address, and then it states: you have not replied to the claim form, it is therefore ordered that you must pay the claimant £xxx for debt (and interest to date of judgment) and £xxx for costs. You must pay the claimant a total of £xxx by instalments of £50.00 per month the first payment to reach the claimant by 05-july-2009 and on or before this date each month until the debt has been paid. If you ignore this order your goods may be removed and sold, or other enforcement proceedings may be taken against you. If this happens further costs will be added.

 

This is dated 05-jun-2009 (what happened to the 14 days i had to reply that the solicitor stated in there last letter of above – this means i had until at least 10th June 2009 to respond to their last letter but it looks like they have gone against their own letter).

 

Also have one from fredrickson international LTD, from Weybridge, surrey. This one is a yellow card stating confirmed resident and then this account is seriously in arrears and you have failed to reply to correspondence or make a payment arrangement despite trace enquiries showing you as living at this address. (what trace enquiries?). Contact us now on 0845 3133128 to arrange a payment or your account will be passed to solicitors with authorisation to proceed with immediate litigation proceedings against you at the above address. It does not state anywhere what this debt is supposedly for and this card is dated 30/04/09.

 

i have no clue what this debt is for, or even whom Phoenix recoveries ltd are?

 

Can anyone advise me of what i can do, as i am on income support, with 2 children, and i have had really bad depression for years but have finally (with the aid of treatment) been clear of depression for the last 3 years or so, and this is causing me a great deal of stress and worry that i don’t need. Can somone please help.

Edited June 10, 2009 by sapphirey1966
Remove identifying details and correct formatting

[Dinkjames]

Hi there

 

I suggest you go back and edit your post. You have the claim numbers and account numbers in your post. It is known that DCA's also visit this site and you should remove any identifiable information from your posts.

 

Also, I would recommend that if you are copying and pasting from Word, that you paste to notepad first, that you don't get all the html formatting. Will make things easier to read.

 

Good luck.

[the_shadow]

Please can you repost that as its very hard to read.

 

Have you got anything in writing from royal mail as regarding the problems with delivering your mail?

 

S.

[sapphirey1966]

Hi there

 

I suggest you go back and edit your post. You have the claim numbers and account numbers in your post. It is known that DCA's also visit this site and you should remove any identifiable information from your posts.

 

Also, I would recommend that if you are copying and pasting from Word, that you paste to notepad first, that you don't get all the html formatting. Will make things easier to read.

 

Good luck.

 

Thanks for your help. This is my first time in doing this sort of thing as i have neber had any of these before. Have now edited it hope its ok now.

[sapphirey1966]

Please can you repost that as its very hard to read.

 

Have you got anything in writing from royal mail as regarding the problems with delivering your mail?

 

S.

 

Yes i do have a letter from the post manager for my area, and since i received the letter i still had mail go missing as i was expecting somthing on a certain day and it didnt arrive (i didnt receive any mail on that day), so i contacted her again and turns out i should have received 2 peices of mail on that particular day but i never received it and now i have to email her everyday to say what mail i have received for that day, so as she can check with wat should have gone out her end, as she has a daily check on my mail now and knows exactly what is being sent out. If there is any discrepancies then she phones me (if i dont receive the right amount of mail) and im also to contact her if i receive anyone elses mail not for this address.

[42man]

If you have had problems with your post and you can demonstrate this/provide evidence, then you will get a CCJ set aside.....in a bankruptcy hearing a few years ago, one of the first questions a judge asked to the person who was going for an annullment was have you had problems with the postal services.....!!

[42man]

You need to do this quickly though - Removal of CCJ's - Step by step guide to the process - may I ask what the POC's are ? (Particulars Of The Claim) but don't be too specific with the numbers / dates ?

You could also set aside due to you having never had any kind of relationship with Phoneix SARL BLEH (or whatever they are called)...

[sapphirey1966]

Hi there, i filled with the courts to have the judgement set aside, i had a court date for 23rd Sept 2009 @ 10am, I attended court (even though i had just been told on the saturday before by my GP that i may have either ME, MS or brain tumor and that i had to visit my doctor again on 23rd sept at 11.30am for further checks and to arrange to see a nuro surgeon), but neither of the other party turned up in court instead they just sent in a statement which the judge stated that they was saying the debt is for a catalogue (Great Universal), they state it is for £130.50 and was for goods received between 12 feb 2003 and 11 feb 2008. I do recall i owed them roughly between £60 and £90 but the last time i had any goods from them was well before 2003 and the last time i possibly contated them was around 2002/2003 i had seperated from my ex husband and we had a joint bank account, part of the goods was wat he ordered, i wrote to catologue company at the time and explained things and asked if i could pay by instalments, then my ex said he would pay it before closing our joint account down. I thought this had been done until now. the judge has given me 28 days from 23 sept to file a defence. up until now i have been dealing with a lot and havent had the time. i dont know wat i am now supposed to do or how to do it. Can i still ask for a CCA? Can i go Statue barred? should i go to a solicitor for help? I am on income support. i look forward to hearing from somone with some help

[sapphirey1966]

just to add i have not had any goods since 2002 beginning of 2003 (i cannot be 100% sure of time scale as so long ago - can i ask for proof of dates of orders and payments the catalogue would have received), and i have not had any contact with my ex husband since then also, my children have not had any contact with their dad either (as he was a violent man to both me and my children) and i do not know of his where abouts to find out if he paid it or not.

[TokSik]

Bryan Carter are selective about who thay state they have received letters from, so it is often best to send them a copy of your letter by fax to use the fax report as proof that they have in fact received your letter.

 

Their fax number is 0845 223 5656

[rev.ian]

Unfortunately Bryan Carter now state on their letters that they do not accept correspondence by fax. Always send recorded.

[sapphirey1966]

to everyone out there, here is the latest on my case with this company, they applied for and got a judgement against me, i then took them to court to get the judgement set aside, the judge gave me 28 days to file my defense, which i did stating i had not had any contact with this company and that i actually thought that i only owed less than a qauter of wat they was claiming and that i also thought that this was statue barred, i also asked for a copy of the cca if it existed and i sent that of last month. today i received a notice of discontinuance against me which has been forwarded to the court. so there is hope for all u out there.

[rev.ian]

Very well done, but please check with the court that Carter has discontinued. You can now look for threads on how to get some costs out of him.

Edited November 3, 2009 by rev.ian

[42man]

I'd agree with Rev Ian....will it make it to the court in time !! especially so with the postal problems....

[rev.ian]

2 here to get you going on costs http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/203365-default-costs-certificate-issued.html

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/show-post/post-1701510.html

[sapphirey1966]

Hi here is an update since my last post in 2009. Bryan carter acting on behalf of Phoenix recoveries filed a ccj in 2009, I applied to have this set aside and attended court in oct 2009 (no one from other party attended instead they sent in a letter to the court). The judge sent me away to file a statement, I had to send one to the court and one to the claimants solicitor, which I did. I also asked for details of what the money was owed for (I wanted a detailed breakdown and details of all my payments to the company and date of last payment/default -as I found out from the judge that it was for a catalogue account that I was sure had been fully paid and that I had not had anything from them since approx 2002/3.). End of October and just before it was due back in court Bryan carter sent me a letter stating notice of discontinuation (wholly). I thought that would be last of it until last night I had a debt collector knock at my home for this self same debt (collector is provident). Can anyone advise on what to do, I didn't say much to the collector only that I thought it had been dealt with and I needed to check paperwork. I hope to hear from anyone on how to deal with this.

 

Just to add to this I am very ill, I have a tumor on my ovaries that is due to be operated on, b12 deficiency,fibromyalgia the latter causes me bad pain all the time and any stress makes the pain worse.

[rev.ian]

I would say that after old Bryan gave up Phoenix sold the debt. First of all don’t worry about this at all others will be along to help.

 

As Bryan discontinued and you therefore did not admit the debt I would say it is statute-barred.

[sapphirey1966]

I would say that after old Bryan gave up Phoenix sold the debt. First of all don’t worry about this at all others will be along to help.

 

As Bryan discontinued and you therefore did not admit the debt I would say it is statute-barred.

 

Thanks, I only stated that I did have goods of the catalogue but the last I remember being end 2002 begin 2003 and that my ex said he had paid the final payment as it was stuff he had me order for him, I remember giving him the payment voucher and the next time I saw him he said he had paid it. I have had no contact with him for years now, my children (who are now adults) have not had any contact with him for years either as he was violent, so can't even ask him to confirm it. The first I heard of this debt was wen BC got in touch in 2009. I admitted to ordering of the catalogue (as that was true) but not to the debt and owing money. They never ever sent me the breakdowns I asked for or a list of all items I had ordered and all payments made and when the account was supposedly defaulted or non payment.

[Signaller]

Hi, glad you got the discontinuance.It seems Carter realised they were not getting anything from you, so the debt was sold on to get them at least something for it.All 'Statute Barred' means is that a company cannot enforce a debt through the Court, but they can pursue a debtor or sell the debt on. I know someone who works for Provident, and over the last few years they have been buying up small(ish) debts, although not having much luck in pursuing them.IF you hear from them, or any other company regarding this debt, just send the 'Statute Barred' letter.I'm quite certain you'll not end up in Court again over this, but you may well hear from some company.They will give up eventually.I hope you come through your health issues successfully.RegardsSignaller

[TokSik]

Regarding the doorstep collector - be advised that these people have NO powers whatsoever, so you can safely tell them where to get off in whatever (non threatening) language you feel like using. They have likely bought the debt at £0.06 in the pound (the going rate for debts sold to other companies who then just chance their hand with some doorstep intimidation).

 

Then just send the company concerned the following letter :--

 

Name & address of the creditor

 

Todays date :

 

Your ref :

Their ref :

 

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Re:Your name & address

Account No: #[ORIGINAL + THEIR REF] #[ORIGINAL CREDITORS NAME]

 

I do not admit any liability for your claim and will not be making any payment towards it, as it is now more than six years since any cause of action may have accrued. Any claim would, therefore, appear to be statute barred under Section 5 of the Limitation Act 1980 and any County Court claim will be defended on that basis.

 

In addition, Section 2.14 of the Office of Fair Trading Debt Collection Guidance states that it is unfair to pursue such claims where (as here) the original creditor (and/or their agent(s)) has/have made no contact during the relevant limitation period.

 

If, however, you have substantive evidence that your claim is not statute barred, then please supply it to me directly within the next 14 days.

 

If you are unable to provide such evidence please confirm in writing that no further action will be taken against me on this matter.

 

Yours faithfully

[Your Signature]

 

I hope this helps

[sapphirey1966]

thanks everyone for your advise and i will send the letter of to provident, hopefully that will be the end of it or until they sell it on that is. I will keep you updated on anything i get back. thanks again.