Cabot Cr*p

[Mutley48]

Hi, can someone offer me some advice! I used to have a Citi Bank Credit Card,which i fell behind with my payments on. Around two or three years ago i received a letter from Cabot telling me that they had taken over the account. After some dialouge with them i agreed to pay off the debt at £75 per month on the understanding that all interest was stopped.The original debt was around the £4000 mark. I have kept up payments and never been late either, however, i have never received a statement from them showing just how much i have paid or owed. (I can work out very easily just what i have paid, by trawling back through my bank statements as they were all by direct debit). Now very recently i tried to get myself a mortgage with a well know high street bank, which failed due to four defaults on my file! I contacted both experian and equifax for a copy of my credit file and was a bit p****d off to discover Cabot had defaulted me for three different accounts!! Once i tokk a detailed look at the file, i realised that Cabot had actually defaulted me twice with the same details and account number. There was also another default for an account which i have no idea what it was for. I called Cabot and was told that they did not know why the same account appeared twice,(and it should not have done) and the other account should never had been on there anyway, it was sent to them for action and found to be incorrect so it was returned. They told me that they would need details sending through to their operations department and they would correct it immedietly, which they have not done so! So i hit them with a CCA request and the one pound postal order, stopped the direct debit and just sat back to wait. Now the calls have started and i explained the situation and their lack of action of these discrepancies and they just fobbed me off. Then today i recieved a letter from them,(below). Where should i go from here and is this a normal course of action by CABOT.

Edited March 11, 2010 by Mutley48

[Delta-Charlie-76]

First of all, stop talking to Crakbot over the phone, they will lie & bully you, golden rule never speak to any DCA over the phone.

 

If they say they have no CCA on them & that they need to retrieve it from the original creditor just sit back & wait, any begging letters just file under ignore. Once they have gone past the 12 + 2 working days for the CCA request send them the Account In Dispute letter, also send them the Telephone Harassment Letter too.

 

If they phone just say to them 'correspond in writing only' then put the phone down or just tell them to go away in your own words! Crakbot in my experience of them are full of c**p so don't worry.

[Mutley48]

Thanks for that, i intend to ignore any calls from them, so i guess i will have to sit back and wait:(

[Pinky69]

Pity you ever paid them a penny because they will have bought your debts for pence in the pound with no paperwork. Never mind. It is never too late to tell them to Foxtrot Oscar.

[Mutley48]

Well i received the attached letter from Cabot today, basically stating that they are still trying to retrieve the info from Citi Bank and they have suspended all collection activity until the can get me the info. I am going to send off the 'Account in Dispute' letter, but i guess i will have to see what unfolds.

Edited March 10, 2010 by Mutley48

[Fred Bassett]

Hi Mutley,

 

Does this account belong to Cabot or are they collecting on Citibank's behalf. I ask because of the statement "Your client owes...". Normally with Cabot, it would say "You currently owe ...". It just makes me think they don't own the debt.

 

Also, I've sent you a private message.

 

Regards.

 

Fred

[Mutley48]

thanks for the PM, and noted for the future!

 

I have three letters from Cabot, one says 'Current outstanding balance', one says, 'your client currently owes' and the latest one says 'you currently owe', however, i do beleive that cabot own the debt!

[Fred Bassett]

Hi Mutley,

 

I would send Subject Access Requests to Cabot and to the original creditors. It will cost £10 per request (The request is to the creditor for information about you), so one request to Cabot will cover all 3 accounts, and then 1 each to the original creditors.

 

Cabot are absolutely famous for not following the necessary procedures and it is more than likely that the Subject Access Requests will throw up some serious anomalies in terms of termination letters, defective default notices etc. I can't find the template for the SAR at the moment - perhaps somebody else could point you in the right direction.

 

Regards.

 

Fred

[silverfox1961]

Hi,

I am subbing as I am in a similar situation (Citi debt with Cabot)

 

I do think it is a good idea to SAR Cabot. Include the reference numbers you got from your credit file search (if there are any)

 

It all depends on how long ago you took out the card with Citi to whether they will be able to supply the agreement.(it's been 16 months and I'm still waiting) I would still SAR Citi though. Be prepared to be fobbed off by them saying what you are asking for is not covered by the DPA 1998.

[Mutley48]

Thanks for that. I will do as you suggest, but i think if i am right it will only be two requests, one to Cabot and the other to Citi Bank. I only ever had the one account, but Cabot seem to have messed up somewhere along the line,(based on what i have read so far, it does not seem unusual for them), they defaulted the same account twice and the third is non existant.

[ncf355]

Sounds like a complaint to the ICO is in order?

[Mutley48]

Ok guys, i have managed to get three of the defaults removed from my file, but there is the one remaining. I have sent of the account in dispute letter, SAR, etc and recieved back diddly squat! Cabot state they are trying to retrieve the infomation from Citi Bank, however, they say they will not remove the default. The question is, are they legally entitled to to this, or do they have to remove the default whilst it is in dispute? Any suggestions would be great, thanks:?

[Pinky69]

Make a complaint to the CRAs and ask them to ask Cabot to send the CRAs verifiable evidence in writing to support the default entries. Point out to the CRAs that if Cabot cannot do this, the CRAs must remove the entries under S41 and 43 of the Data protection Act 1998.

 

It's time the CRAs stopped just accepting the word of banks and DCAs and it's time we questioned it everytime they do. It's time for us to fight back against unlawful default entries and not accept the cosy relationship between DCAs and the CRAs.

[Mutley48]

Well, a little more advice needed now! I received a rather large envelope from Cabot today,(seven months later), and inside was a whole bunch of photocopied statements as well as two different photcopies of credit agreements. Now when i say credit agreements, it is just really terms and conditions. there is no signature's, dates or any of the usual stuff you would expect when taking something like this out. Cabot are also still reporting on my credit file as default, even though they still cannot supply me with the correct paperwork. where do i go from here?

[DonkeyB]

When was the account originally defaulted by the original creditor? Cabot cannot change that date.

[Mutley48]

It was back in 2005,(this is the date showing on my credit file) i do not ever recall Citi Bank defaulting me, only Cabot announcing they own the debt!

[silverfox1961]

Getting a default removed is nigh on impossible unless you can prove they didn't default you correctly. The problem is that they don't have to prove you were defaulted, only that a default was issued.

Considering you were defaulted in 05, it will fall off next year so is it worth the hassle to get legal with them?