Paragon not acknowledging the limitation act, please help me

[itsmeagainsttheworld]

Hi my name is rebecca, the debt is actually in my mothers name but due to my mum being ill i have had to take everything over from her and help. My mother had a loan with paragon but have not spoke to or contacted the company in a long time, at a guess i would say more than 6 years.

In december i received a letter from paragon saying to contact them asap so i sent a letter under the limitation act and they responded with a letter saying again to contact them as no contact has been made this has been going on now since last week when i once again sent them the letter along with the recorded mail slips (photocopies).

When i got home i then seen that they had put the account in to default so immediatley rang them, i didnt tell them i wasnt my mother becuase they didnt even ask my name or address just account number. I asked why had they said i hadnt contacted them, i worded the letter with the "alleged debt" the guy said oh yeah we had a letter about the limitation act stuff. So they confirmed they had it but as of yet they wont acknowledge it. They once again sent a letter today with no mention of the limitaion act just saying about more charges they are adding for telephone and visits and traces etc etc.

The visit that they made was actually to my dads home at the beginning of last year becuase when they did a trace on my mother and who lived in my property and becuase my dad moved out and remarried years ago they linked him to his new address with his new wife, same surname. When they got there his wife had to show id and she said that she dont know my mother she only knows her adress.

 

Can someone please advise me what to do next. Ive sent them another letter clomplaining that they havnt replied to my first letter and that they lied when they said they hadnt heard from me.

 

So any ideas, its really stressing me out and my mams in £30,000 worth of debt and there is charges on the house and im trying to deal with it all so some help would be fantastic, im 24 years old and dont have much experience of dealing with things like this

[cerberusalert]

They are in breach of OFT guidelines & you should make a complaint to both your local Trading Standards and the OFT; Contact us - The Office of Fair Trading

[dx100uk]

if the last financial transaction was more the 6yrs ago or there has been a clear 6yrs gap its SB'd

 

is anything on your mums CRA file?

 

if not then TBH i'd report them as stated and just ignore them totally.

 

leechers.

 

generally, i would also stay off that phone to anyone regarding your mothers debts.

 

NEVER use the phone, demand it all in writing that way you have a paper trail.

not only for this issue but ALL debt isues

 

HTH

 

chin up

 

dx

[itsmeagainsttheworld]

Hey Guys

 

So i got a letter off paragon today (mums debt) And it says here is a detailed breakdown of your account as requested.

 

It then goes on to the payments and additions to the account, unfortunantly the last payment made was £10 that was made 01st June 2006, so the limitation act will not apply....sadly.

At that time the account balance was £5443.18, now the account balance is £10,399.29!!! ( it says this is the agreed shortfall- dont know what that means) the other charges are made of telephone calls, letters, interest, trace costs.

Seriously i am having palpitations here!!! i am so stressed out! Any ideas where to go from here. I havent requested the credit agreement yet shall i do that??

Your advice would be very much appreciated!!

[cerberusalert]

What is the debt for?

[itsmeagainsttheworld]

Its for a loan

[havinastella]

Next is to send the CCA request.

 

You may also want to send the SAR, remember they cannot claim a penny in phantom charges.

 

Also ask for proof as to how this £10 was paid, as most of these parasites have been known to make a payment themselves to prolong the life of the account.

 

Jogs

[itsmeagainsttheworld]

Thanks Jogs i will do that, there is something a bit odd though. When i found out my mum had all the debt in her name i did a experian on her and it showed on her credit history with Paragon she did not pay from march 2003 onwards, on the breakdown march 2003 is when the payment went from direct debit to standing order. However in the breakdown it says that the payments continued till 2005 at the original amount!?

[itsmeagainsttheworld]

Sorry, also another thing on the breakdown of payments in may 04 it says a payment was made by cheque and then goes back to standing order. but in may 05 it then goes back to cheque till june 06. Thing is my mam has never in her life had a cheque book, there's something not quite right about this

[dx100uk]

mixed up a/c's and phantom payments, nothing short of what i'd expect from them.

pers i would not believe a word of it.

experian would be my best bet as being correct. why suddenly did they stop reporting in 2003 at exactly the time they claim it went to SO...yea right mate.

 

as advised the SAR will be the cream on the cake, watch them wriggle.

 

as far as you need to be concerned, it IS statute barred and they have to prove otherwise, its not for you to prove it is!!

 

dx

[itsmeagainsttheworld]

Hi

I just have a quick update with Paragon I requested the credit agreement and they then sent me a letter saying that they couldn’t give me the agreement with sufficient evidence I am who I say, so they needed a hand written letter and a signed signature. Of course I did not send them this; I typed a copy of the letter that says you don’t need my signature (If you know what I mean).

Anyway I have just had this reply back off them, can someone give me advice on where to go next, they seem to be ignoring any letter I send.

Dear *********

This is a notice of default sums applied to your account and provided to you in compliance with the consumer credit act 1974. We would ask you to call the telephone number above as soon as possible, should you wish to discuss your account. Additionally, should you experience any financial difficulties; we will also be pleased to discuss any options that may be available to you.

Please note that is not a default notice as required by section 87(1) of the consumer credit act 1974

Default sums applied to your account

Date Description Amount

23/02/2010 Review/instruct litigation fee £20.00

Total £20.00

This notice does not take account of the default sums which we have already told you about in another default sums notice, whether or not those sums remain unpaid.

Where we are charging you interest on your arrears under the terms of the contract, fees and charges will generally attract less interest that arrears of monthly instalments. Therefore, if you are unable to clear your arrears including fees and charges in full, it is better for you to reduce your arrears of monthly instalments first. In view of this, unless you clearly tell us otherwise, we shall use any payment made by you to pay off your arrears and then to pay any fees or charges that are owing.

Interest

We are not entitled to charge you interest on default sums for the first 28days after we have given you this notice. However, if the sum is not paid in full by that day interest will be charged at the rate of 16.610%

Yours Sincerely

Paragon the Parasites

So anyways, I request the CCA on the 19th of feb 2010, and can someone explain the £20 fee as I don’t know what they mean by review/instruct litigation fee. Im thinking next step now is subject access request. what do you think?

Many thanks for any advice

[emandcole]

Would agree with all of the above, glad you didn't send your signature off too. Once the SAR has gone off I would ignore anything else they send you as it's likely to be them playing mind games with you.

 

Of course if anything of a more serious nature arrives let us know but I stongly suspect they've acquired this debt for very little in the hope of finding someone ignorant who just starts to pay them. It is likely, based on the many similar threads on cag, that Paragon may have tried to blur the facts on this account with various stories all designed to make you worry.

 

So...please don't. Get the SAR back in, let us know what you've got and it can be taken from there. It would be wrong to tell you they are unlikely to have any legitimate right to this money but equally given the circumstances and the facts you've outlined to us it appears probable that Paragon are just trying their luck. Either way don't let them get to you .

[dx100uk]

agreed

 

ignore them totally.

 

sounds like you've gotton on a phishing list for old debts and they are chancing their arm to see if you are mug enough to pay them.

 

dx

[itsmeagainsttheworld]

Thanks for the above info

 

I'm sending the letter off in the morning, just wondering is it best to send the £10 fee by postal order? i dont have a cheque book.

x

[cerberusalert]

A P.O is fine & do not sign the request, at least not with anything like your normal signature.

[The GodMother]

Sorry, also another thing on the breakdown of payments in may 04 it says a payment was made by cheque and then goes back to standing order. but in may 05 it then goes back to cheque till june 06. Thing is my mam has never in her life had a cheque book, there's something not quite right about this

 

 

Have you checked with your mams bank about this? Some banks do issue cheque books.

 

Also have you checked with mams bank re payments comming outta her account if this is her cheque book?

[itsmeagainsttheworld]

hi just an update

 

i had a reply from them saying that they recevied the letter from me about the not needind a signature and they will not send me the credit agreement till they get a signature. sounds like they aint going to budge. i did send a request for all the infomation they have yesterday but i assume they defo wont do that without a signature, any ideas?

[itsmeagainsttheworld]

the godmother; we are still waiting for bank account statements from barclays. but i do know the account she has wont allow her a cheque book due to her credit status

[JonCris]

hi just an update

 

i had a reply from them saying that they recevied the letter from me about the not needind a signature and they will not send me the credit agreement till they get a signature. sounds like they aint going to budge. i did send a request for all the infomation they have yesterday but i assume they defo wont do that without a signature, any ideas?

 

Yes send them a signature that's not a 'true' signature;) ..... & make sure you keep a copy

[The GodMother]

yep sign a piece of paper and put lines threw it so if they do copy it then you know its faulse.

 

As CAGgers have been known to put othere markers in like a discreet smily face or a discreet v sign but have made it look like part of the signature.

 

Personally l refuse to sign and if they dont provide then report them or even threaten to report them. If they have any problems about you possibly notbeing the person they want then why are they sending you letters demanding money.

 

Re the bank. Just because you know the bank it does not mean they wont have made a mistake/computer glitch.

 

I had a halifax account which was not ment to have a cheque book on it via a request from me but due to a glitch they sent me one out several months later. The same happened with my partners natwest account he got sent a cheque book by mistake and was not ment to have one. Ok the banks are not known for admitting when mistakes made but these 2 did and luckly we both realised they must ave made it.

[itsmeagainsttheworld]

Hi

 

I had a letter off them regarding the subject access request and they sent a form to complete which will obviously require signature, i really dont want them to have signature at all to be honest so im a bit stuck at what to do now. i may complain about them that theywont release this information, would that be wise?

[emandcole]

Clearly they're still playing awkward and as stated earlier they have satisfied themselves already as to the identity as they've sent all manner of personal information to the address you're using. So...I would complete their little form and where they ask for a signature merely initial in two very seperate capital letters as this is not a signature, merely an acknowledgement.

 

Bung some horizontal straight lines through them as well if you feel like it. If they reject this you'll have serious grounds for complaint but it will also send you a clear message that they're perhaps fishing for something they presently do't have. Of course if you do need to make a complaint time continues to tick away edging you ever close to limitation

[bbilly]

Clearly they're still playing awkward and as stated earlier they have satisfied themselves already as to the identity as they've sent all manner of personal information to the address you're using. So...I would complete their little form and where they ask for a signature merely initial in two very seperate capital letters as this is not a signature, merely an acknowledgement.

 

Bung some horizontal straight lines through them as well if you feel like it. If they reject this you'll have serious grounds for complaint but it will also send you a clear message that they're perhaps fishing for something they presently do't have. Of course if you do need to make a complaint time continues to tick away edging you ever close to limitation

 

 

 

As with my previous posts - re Ratio Money, the debt collection agent is Paragon - Be aware I only found out after 2 years of asking for a breakdown how the charges had amounted from £7,000 total original loan with Universal Credit (almost repaid) to a settlement fee with an outstanding amount to £27,500 somehow reduced to £22,000 (almost) because PARAGON had been charging DAILY INTEREST!

[itsmeagainsttheworld]

Hi thanks for your replies. On checking the form they want me to sign, its also a declaration to say that i agree to them to do any kind of checks on me in anyway they need to, to confirm i am who i say i am (well my mam anyway) i really dont like to give them any kind of power like this. What i really want to do is send them a letter giving them one last chance to provide me with everything i request and state why i do not want to give them a signature and personal information(i dont want them to forge a document) and state that if they still refuse to supply me with these then i will make a official complaint about the company. do you think that will go down well??? lol

[bbilly]

I am not a lawyer but DO NOT GIVE them any personal information especially work contacts, these people in my experience are very sneaky and will not only contact your employers pretending to be solicitors, banks but also your neighbours trying to 'SHAME' you in to making payments, as soon as you do they have you! Please do not use a debt company these forum including my posts are a catalouge of horror stories which I am afraid are all true! Contact the Debt helpline, they are a free charity service who can guide you next: telephone: 0808 808 4000 - I spoke to a very friendly operator earlier today who really helped me! PLEASE PLEASE watch out for Paragon they are sneaky bstrds who will lie at every turn, they are only interested in getting you to pay the interest and will continue to add it daily! RING THE HELPLINE!