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CAS / Heatons / Equidebt (Doorstep Collection Threat)


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Hi,

 

I need some advice regarding a threatening letter I received this morning from CAS - Credit Ancillary Services who are threatening doorstep collection.

 

I find myself in a really wierd situation and I don't know who to contact or what to do to get this resolved.

 

This all started in 2007 when I was contacted by a debt agency called Heatons about a debt from a credit card account. I acknowledged the debt and set up a standing order in August 2007 for £30 a month using the account details which Heatons provided.

 

I have spent this afternoon going through my bank statements and have collected up the dates and amounts of every payment I have made:

 

£30.00 30th August 2007

£30.00 1st October 2007

£30.00 30th October 2007

£30.00 30th November 2007

£30.00 31st December 2008

£30.00 30th Jenuary 2008

£30.00 3rd March 2008

£30.00 31st March 2008

£30.00 30th April 2008

£30.00 30th May 2008

£30.00 30th June 2008 PAYMENT BOUNCED

£30.00 30th July 2008

£60.00 1st September 2008

£60.00 30th September 2008

£60.00 30th October 2008

£60.00 1st December 2008

£30.00 30th Decemeber 2008

£30.00 30th January 2009

£30.00 2nd March 2009

£30.00 30th March 2009

£30.00 30th April 2009

£30.00 1st June 2009

£30.00 30th June 2009

£30.00 30th July 2009

£30.00 1st September 2009

£30.00 30th September 2009

£30.00 30th October 2009

£30.00 30th November 2009

£30.00 30th December 2009

 

As you can see I have been making regular payments to this debt. In June 2008 I did miss a payment due to insufficient funds in my account. I contacted Heatons (after getting letter) and increased my payment from £30 a month to £60 a month for a few months to catch up on the missed payment and repay a bit extra as at the time I could afford to. After the first December 2008 payment I contacted them again and requested to reduce it back down to £30 because I couldn't keep up, they agreed. I didn't miss a single payment in 2009 and as far as I am concerned I am paying my debt.

 

Everynow and then I get a letter from CAS threatening me and telling me I haven`t made a payment. This happened in early 2009 and I contacted them and told them the debt was being repaid by standing order to Heatons. I then contacted Heatons to confirm and they told me to ignore the letters from CAS and as long as I keep up the repayments there shouldn't be any problem.

 

So we get to 2010!

 

On 7th of January I received two letters from CAS.

 

Letter 1 (Dated 5th Jan): Was a do not ignore this letter, making reference to my original creditor being 'Equidebt - COOP Bank Plc'. The letter went on to state that my lack of response to their previous letter (what previous letter???) concerns them and that I should contact them as they may be able to help. The reference number matches exactly with the debt I am paying to Heatons as it has done on letters in early 2009.

 

Letter 2 (Dated 5th Jan): Received the same day as letter 1 stated that Equidebt Limited has instructed CAS to collect the debt which has been outstanding for some considerable time and must be paid. In bold they go on to state that they are now the authorised debt collection company dealing with this account.

 

I did nothing, having previously been told to ignore letters from CAS by Heatons.

 

This morning I received another two letters from CAS:

 

Letter 3 (Dated 12th Jan): We confirm receipt of your payment, this has been credited to your account accordingly. It does not appear that a repayment plan has been agreed with you and neither have proposals for future payments with regard to clearing this debt. If you do not get in touch with us within 7 days further action may be taken...

 

Letter 4 (Dated 13th Jan): Doorstep Collection Notice. Our records indicate that we have been unable to come to an arrangement to clear the outstanding balance on this account. This is your last chance to voluntarily offer us payment on this account before we arrange for a Debt Collector to visit you at your home. You have until January 23rd 2010 to respond.

 

Ironically and despite letter 3 thanking me for a payment (I assume was the payment sent to Heatons on the 30th of December) all four letters state the same amount as being due.

 

I have not yet contacted Heatons or CAS about these letters as I wanted to come here and try to get some advice first.

 

I have been paying this debt, I have my bank account statements to prove this, every payment is recorded on my statements as a standing order payment to 'Heatons Client Acc' and then the reference number of the debt.

 

So what can I do to get this company off my back?

Can I report CAS to the OFT?

 

Who should I continue paying? Heatons haven`t written to me since I missed the payment in June 2008 because they are satisfied I am paying the debt. Guarantee if I stop paying them and start paying CAS then Heatons will start up again.

 

Please help.

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- SilkySmooth -

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to whom it may concern

following from your letter of the xx/xx/xxxx

 

For your future reference :

 

I am only prepared to communicate with you in writing. Should it be your intention to send 'doorstep agents' to my premises, please remember that there is only an implied license under English Common Law for certain people to visit me on my property without express permission; (Armstrong v. Sheppard and Short Ltd [1959] 2 Q.B. per Lord Evershed M.R.) and doorstep agents representing your company are not of the afore mentioned prescibed list.

 

Take note therefore that I revoke license under English Common Law for you, or your representatives to visit me at my property and if you do so without my permission, you will then be liable to damages for a tort of trespass. You would also be conspiring in a trespass if you sent someone from a doorstop collection service company to visit me and should it be necessary, I will seek an injunction.

 

Note also , each and every further breach you make of the Office of Fair Trading debt collection guidelines that you are obliged to abide by will not only be reported to them, but will also be followed up by another formal complaint to yourselves that may require the arbitration of the financial ombudsman, and subsequent fee incurred by yourselves, should I not be satisfied with your response.

 

yours faithfully

 

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HI and welcome.

 

Might I suggest you read thread Brooks Dad v Woolwich?

 

Hi hughes690, I have just finished reading your thread. One big difference is that your account was/is in dispute. Mine is not nor can I put it in dispute.

 

The thread did remind me of ECI and Highland Associates... two further debt companies which have chased me for this debt despite it being paid on a regular basis. In those cases I called them, told them it was being paid and they left me alone. This CAS company won't despite previous attempts.

 

what is this debt actually for? i wouldnt worry too much about any doorstep collection i will dig out letter putting a stop to that and post up for you in a min..

 

Thank you for the letter. Just one quick question, the letter refers to 'my' premises / property. I am currently living with relatives while I sort my debt problems and they rent the property. Will the letter still suffice or do I need to reword it because the property is not owned by either me or my relatives?

 

As for the debt.... I had a current account with overdraft and a credit card with Smile (Co-operative). In 2006/07 I took them to court for the charges (with the help of this forum) during which time both accounts went to debt collectors. When I won the court case I used the money to repay the smaller current account debt in full and then proceeded to setup the repayment plan for the credit card account and have been paying it ever since.

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- SilkySmooth -

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you can reword if you like, however the same thing is implied..you do not want them knocking your door, whether you own the property or someone else does..

if the debt refers to a credit card, i would certainly send the cca request.. the agreement may be absolutely naff and not worth the paper its written on.

if they do not come up with agreement you then have the legal right to put the account into dispute.. or if the agreement is not enforceable again you can stop payment.. its normally greed on part of dca's that drove most of us into the arms of this site... they will never learn... i no longer have sleepness nights and think to hell with em... they get all they deserve..in my case NOTHING

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debt4get,

 

Thanks for your advice. I have just printed out the letter and I will pop that into the post when I walk the dog tonight.

 

With regards to sending a CCA request. I am pretty sure I did one of these when the debt collectors first started coming after me and they did produce, but it was such a long time ago (and I have dealt with quite a few debts) that I don't honestly recall. Back in 2006/07 I was in quite a big mess and it has taken a lot of work and organisation to get to where I am today.

 

So I will get one of these printed out too and send that off with a £1 cheque. Would I be better off sending recorded delivery or will snail mail suffice?

 

If they do produce again, are there any good links on the forum I can read which will help me to determine if the agreement is enforceable?

 

Again, many thanks for your help.

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- SilkySmooth -

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