LEtter to Solicitors? What should I say?

[Regulus]

So one of my creditors has had their solicitors send a letter demanding full immediate payment etc etc. Now, I am sending a CCA to this creditor tomorrow, and I wish to send a letter to their solicitors informing them of what is happening, but what do I say exactly? "Please don't issue me with a summons because I'm claiming my charges back" doesn't quite seem right somehow. Any suggestions of what I should put in my letter?

 

The basic idea is a simple 'To whomever it may concern, with regards to your recent correspondance to me, I am writing to inform you that I have written to your client requesting CCA for the account I hold with them'.

 

But the real question is, do I have any legal standing to say 'you cannot move this action further until my dispute is settled' and so forth, and should I even put that in?

[faza]

hi, you might want to have a read of this:

 

Account in Dispute Letters - Consumer Wiki

[maroondevo52]

Hi, Regulus.

 

Are you claiming charges back on the account ?

If so, how far have you got.

 

Regards.

 

Scott.

[Regulus]

Thank you for that, it is very interesting, however I'm not sure it now relates to my circumstances as I have received the solicitors letter today, but was not intending to send the CCA until tomorrow.

 

Would informing them of my sending a CCA request and thus placing my account into dispute be legally binding and force them to halt legal proceedings? I was thinking of using that 2nd letter and just amending it slightly to say as such.

 

 

Hi Maroon, Im going to try and claim back charges from all my creditors, its just that this account has jumped to had of the queue after my receiving this letter form the solicitors.

 

Truth to tell Im not sure I will get anywhere with this particular one as a couple of years ago they halved what I owed them and put me on a set £12 per month repayment, its only that I've been out of work since December that I couldn't keep up. Really I'm just trying to tie this one up in legal wrangle until I can get back into a position to keep paying them. If I can get anything back from them though, that would be stellar. My other creditors though.....heh, a LOT more straightforward.

Edited June 13, 2009 by Regulus

[faza]

once you send off for the cca then from your point of view isnt the account in dispute?

[Regulus]

From mine, yes, but will that stand legally, or could it be considered retaliatory action from receiving this letter form the solicitors?

[silverfox1961]

Hi,

Chances are the "solicitor" is the in-house one for the creditor. If I'm right, they say that they MAY do this or they COULD do that. If so, it's a threatogram and nothing much to worry about.

 

Get your CCA request in as soon as possible but they won't be in default of your request until the 12+2 working days have passed so you can't put the A/C in dispute that way.

 

A few more details would be helpful.

 

Is the debt still with the original creditor or has it been sold to a DCA?

 

Is the debt a credit card, loan or HP (overdrafts and mobile phones aren't covered)?

 

Have you been defaulted?

[faza]

from what i have read and i maybe wrong, even if you had sent a letter just say a month back and the account was "officially" in dispute, this status has no legal bearing, but is an accepted practise of banks who have signed up to the banking code.

 

so if you do send off saying the account is in dispute giving reasons i dont see you have anything to loose, if the solicitors agree you will just get a bit of time, if they dont they are going to do what they would have done anyway.

 

 

 

I am not a legal expert I might have made mistakes in what i have written. If you have found any mistakes please feel free to point them out. Anything posted on this forum is for discussion purposes only. It should not be considered as legal advice. Different people have different needs and what is right for one person may be different for another. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an legal expert who can advise you after finding out more about your situation.

[Regulus]

Okey Dokey

 

The Solicitors are Reston's Solicitors Ltd Restons Solicitors Limited

 

They appear to be independent.

 

My account is a loan with HFC and is still held by them. The Outstanding amount is less than £1000, with an additional £165 on collection charges.

 

Im not sure what you mean by 'defaulted' exactly. I've certainly missed payments recently, and HFC have called me to ask and I've explained to them my being out of work and that I wouldn't be able to meet the prior agreed £12 pcm repayments. But I haven't had any written correspondance from HFC prior to this letter from Reston's.

 

The letter itself is a basic 'pay up or contact us, or we will issue a summons letter'. They want to talk, and HFC are wiling to accept installments, they also have a reduced settlement figure which isn't quoted in the letter. Im guessing it will work out to be a few hundred pounds off, and If I could afford to pay it, I would, but I can't.

 

Would I be better served calling these Solicitors and trying to explain my circumstances and asking them to accept a token £1 pcm repayment until I find work, at which time I will call back and agree a better repayment?

[heliosfa]

OK, can you just clarify a few points please

 

• When you say collection charges, do you mean late payment?
  
• By defaulted, we mean have they sent a Default Notice and registered a Default at the Credit Reference Agencies? (If they haven't, demanding full payment is termination...)
  
• You say you were paying £12 per month, was this a payment arrangement?
  

 

Hopefully this info will help us to help you

 

Thanks,

H

[Regulus]

OK, can you just clarify a few points please

When you say

 

Sure thing, just let me know what you need me to clarify and Il get right on it

[heliosfa]

Sure thing, just let me know what you need me to clarify and Il get right on it

 

sorry, my laptop decided to go a bit bonkers on me, I have now corrected my post

 

H

 

** EDIT** PS. Don't Call Restons, they are as bad as/if not worse than a DCA and i hate to call them solicitors:|

[Regulus]

sorry, my laptop decided to go a bit bonkers on me, I have now corrected my post

 

H

 

** EDIT** PS. Don't Call Restons, they are as bad as/if not worse than a DCA and i hate to call them solicitors:|

 

 

OK I won't call Restons

 

 

When you say collection charges, do you mean late payment?

Collection charges is the exact term stated on the letter from Rentons, so I assume it refers to their fee for collecting this money, and that they are trying to claim the fee from me rather than HFC

 

By defaulted, we mean have they sent a Default Notice and registered a Default at the Credit Reference Agencies? (If they haven't, demanding full payment is termination...)

I honestly don't know. I don't recall seeing a default notice letter, and whether they have registered one at the CRA's, I couldn't say. Sorry.

 

You say you were paying £12 per month, was this a payment arrangement?

 

Yes. This debt is 8 years old, and I got into trouble early on, no one to blame but myself, I could have paid, but I was 18 and stupid. about 4 years ago, HFC called me on my mobile phone and offered to halve my total outstanding bill and set me on a standing £12 pcm repayment, which I snapped up. That was about £1400 off my bill (which included charges etc) and cut my repayments down by about 60%. Was a great deal, and I've paid it ever since, up until December when I lost my job, and have been out of work ever since. I've managed an occasional payment to them in that time, but they've stood steadfast and refused to change since that, and my being out of work and having 0 personal income means nothing to them. Annoying thing is, in about 3 months time, My girlfriends wage increases by £50 and I would be happy to go back to paying them their £12 a month then because prior to now they've actually been very good with me.

[heliosfa]

OK, I take it from what you are saying that there are lots of charges on the account going back a way? Definitely look at claiming these PLUS the collection charge back if the CCA turns out to be enforceable.

 

It would be a good idea to go through and add up how much they have if you have the statements as it can be a "backup" to the CCA aspect should it ever get to court.

 

 

If you haven't got the statements and want a copy of any Default NOtices / the account logs, you could send a SAR to them. This will cost £10 but if they respond properly, you end up with a mountain of useful information.

 

I beleive you can get free access to your credit reports from "free anual credit report". This would let you see any Defaults.

 

To be honest, they won't go back to the £12 now probably. it is all money to them and they don't care about personal situations

 

 

 

Definitely CCA them ASAP

 

H

[Regulus]

OK, great, I'll get that straight into the post tomorrow.

 

Should I send a letter to Reston's then advising them that issuing CCA to their client because Im not convinced HFC will tell Restons anything and will leave them carry on badgering me.

[heliosfa]

I'm not sure to be honest. Personally, with Black Horse and Sechiari, I have copied all correspondance to the Sols with a snotty letter...

 

 

You could always straight up dispute if there are penalty charges. Here's a letter that I just whipped up and I would send something similar to the OC. It should atleast make them go "WTF?" and get you some time to get the agreement. I suggest sending it 2nd class recorded

Account In Dispute

 

To whomever it may concern,

Re (their reference)

 

On receiving your letter of (date), I have taken the time to re-evaluate my account with your client and I note that a substantial amount has been debited for charges that are either unfair or penalty in nature.

 

It is now my intention to reclaim all of these charges and it is my beleif that they account for a substantial amount of the balance that you allege is outstanding.

 

 

I trust this clarifies my position.

 

Regards,

Mr X

 

Hope this helps,

H

[Regulus]

I'm not sure to be honest. Personally, with Black Horse and Sechiari, I have copied all correspondance to the Sols with a snotty letter...

 

 

You could always straight up dispute if there are penalty charges. Here's a letter that I just whipped up and I would send something similar to the OC. It should atleast make them go "WTF?" and get you some time to get the agreement. I suggest sending it 2nd class recorded

 

 

Hope this helps,

H

 

Groovy, thankees.