Viking Collection (GE Money, Dorothy Perkins Store Card)

[silentbill]

Apologies in advance as I am not sure if I am even posting this within the right forum but can anyone give any advice please? Here goes...

My wife has a Dorothy Perkins store card and a few weeks ago she got a letter passed on through family that had arrived at our previous address which we moved from 2 years ago.

The letter was from Viking Collection Services saying that a balance of £61.89 was owed. This was not from items purchased but from late payments which had accumulated in interest over time. My wife always assumed her account was up to date as we informed them of the change of address 2 years ago and never once received any late payment statements and my wife makes a purchase on the card then pays in full within a few days. My wife rang Viking and gave them all the current information such as address, telephone and married name change.

We sent a CCA request to Viking on 02/06/2009, however this was returned due to lack of my wife’s signature (she originally initialled it) which was then resent signed on 13/06/2009, this was received by Viking on the 15/06/2009 and we are yet to receive a reply.

We are still receiving telephone calls and letters from Viking requesting payment and also received for the first time a Dorothy Perkins Statement to our current address with the balance. I have wrote a letter which I will send to Vikings address and Dorothy Perkins address, would the letter below be satisfactory as I have compiled it from templates posted by various members:

 

I am writing in reference to the Dorothy Perkins account statement which I received dated 12 June 2009 showing a balance of £61.69. I have entered into correspondence with Viking Collection Services (GE Money) concerning this balance of £61.69 by requesting information under the Consumer Credit Act 1974. My first request was sent recorded delivery on 02/06/2009, however this was returned due to lack of my signature which I then resent signed on 13/06/2009, this was received on the 15/06/2009, again stating the information should be supplied to me within 12 days, and I have yet to receive a reply.

The first I was aware of this balance was from a letter sent to my previous address which I moved from two years prior and rather luckily the latest occupant passed the letter onto family members that still live within the area. Two years ago I enquired in store at Dorothy Perkins about a change of address and I informed Dorothy Perkins of the move by both letter and telephone. As you will see from my previous transactions I pay my balance promptly therefore I never assumed that my account was in arrears and obviously never ever received any letters to my current address informing me of arrears.

Upon receiving the debt enforcement letter from Viking sent to my previous address I promptly called Viking informing them of my up to date personal information consisting of my current address, telephone and my married name change. Not only was I surprised that my details at Dorothy Perkins had never been updated and hence me not being aware of any outstanding balance, I was also shocked to find that my details regarding my date of birth were incorrect which prompted me to request the information on the account under the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

After updating my details with Viking I have since been constantly harassed via letters and telephone calls which have become distressing. I have told Viking in both a letter and in numerous telephone conversations that after seeking legal advice I have entered into letter correspondence only, which I am still awaiting a personal reply and do not wish to receive harassing telephone calls until I have received a non automated letter reply and the details which I have requested from Viking Collection Services (GE Money).

My original request for the CCA remains outstanding and Viking Collection Services, GE Money & Dorothy Perkins are now in default of my request. Any account I hold with you is now in legal dispute. Whilst the account remains in dispute, I ask that you not ask for any payment, nor am I obliged to offer any payment to you. Furthermore, whilst the dispute remains, you are not entitled to charge any interest on the account, nor make any further charges to the account. Additionally, you are not entitled to register any information on this account with any credit reference agency, however, I am aware that to register information with a credit reference agency, you must have written consent from the customer to collate and share such information. This consent is given in the form of a signed credit agreement, so until you produce such an agreement, you may not do this.

 

Furthermore, the requirement for consent to share data is a clear requirement of the Data Protection Act 1998. Any such attempts to share my data without my consent will be met with a complaint to the Information Commissioners Office

 

To sum up, I will not be making any payments to you until you provide me with the documents I have requested. Whilst you remain in default of my request, you are not permitted to take any action against this account. This includes adding further charges and passing any information to the credit reference agencies.

 

Should you not have any signed credit agreement in relation to this alleged debt, please confirm this in writing to me.

 

 

I look forward to your reply.

 

Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

Silentbill

[spamheed]

Sounds good enough Bill,

 

although they have no right to demand that your CCA request be signed, there is no basis in law for such a request and there is every reason to be suspicious of such a request.

 

Requesting the CCA is basically aasking them to prove that there is a legal relationship between your wife and this credit organisation and since you have made such a request they can do nothing until they have fulfilled it.

 

If they make any further demands contact OFT and Trading Standards since the non production of the CCA is reason enough to complain without their othger more unscrupulous practices.

 

If they do provide the CCA, send an SAR to dorothy perkins and go after unlawful charges.

[lickthewallfatboy]

I never once even so much as acknowledged a letter from Viking......and there were a lot of those.....

 

 

they just give up once the message gets through

[silentbill]

Thank you for the replies. I will post that letter then if I hear no reply I will send the SAR.

[clemma]

If you hear nothing from them, it may be better for you to save your £10 and just put the account into dispute after 12+2 days

[silentbill]

If you hear nothing from them, it may be better for you to save your £10 and just put the account into dispute after 12+2 days

 

Thanks Clemma, how do I do this?

[clemma]

It depends on what they reply with to be honest, as there are a few different letters you can send them. Once their time is up, post on here, and either I (or another CAGger), will post up the correct one. Once it is in dispute, they are not supposed to take any further action against you (although they may try) and you can stop making payments to them as well.

 

As an example - if they fail to respond altogether, this is the letter you would send:

 

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,

[silentbill]

My wife finally recieved a copy of the credit agreement today along with a letter apoligising about it being late in which they said it was late because their was an error in their records regarding our address (This is why we never received any invoices orr notification of the account being in arrears).

 

What should I do next?

[clemma]

Is it possible for you to post a copy of the agreement on here (minus you personal details) so that it can be checked for enforceablity?

[silentbill]

Thanks Clemma

 

I have enclosed the CCA and a letter which was also sent.

 

 

 

Seeing as how my wife has not recieved a statement in almost 2 years I am going to write to them and ask for them so we can work out how she owes them £61.

 

Thanks for all the help and information to everyone that has responded within this thread. Its much appreciated.

[clemma]

Unfortunately this looks pretty enforceable to me as all the prescribed terms are there.

 

You could request a SAR, but that costs £10, so you may be better sending a letter asking them to prove it.......they are going to blame lack of statements on not having your current address (as that was the reason they gave for not sending CCA).

 

Actually, as I am typing this, as they have admitted to the error of not updating your address details, maybe you could ask them to send out the copies of all the statements they sent accidently to the wrong address........just a thought.

Edited July 4, 2009 by clemma
far too many typos...