Hamptons Legal have served a Statutory Demand In Person - cap1 debt

[derek1]

Hi there

 

Please can someone help me. Last week a company called Lowell telephoned the house but didn't speak to anyone, This evening at 7pm a man knocked on the door and asked for me by name and gave me the letter saying I was to call the telephone number and sort out a payment plan.

 

The debt was originally with Capital One bank and is for £1143.78. The paperwork says that the debt was assigned (?) on 25/11/08.

 

The letter also says that if I fail to respond to the demand 'we will be presenting a bankruptcy petition against you'.

 

It goes on to say:

 

' You still have an option to avoid Bankruptcy, we WILL accept a realistic offer from you be it a monthly payment plan or an offer for full and final settlement. To make us an offer please call the number below'.

 

Yes the debt is in my name and I know that I took out the card to get quite a bit of dental work done in November 2004. I do not work as I am a stay at home mum. The house is mortgaged and in both my husband and my names. I have 1 ccj against me from 2004 which I am obviously paying each month. My husband has 1 ccj from 2005.

 

What should I do?

 

Many thanks

[ukaviator]

Hi derek1

 

I have moved your thread here for more help.

 

A statutory demand gives a person 21 days warning to pay the debt.

 

After that the statutory demand has runs it course and it can followed by a bankruptcy petition.

 

A Statutory Demand is the first step to bankruptcy against an individual and this is prepared and served without any court involvement.

 

A statutory demand can be served as soon as the debt is due and a judgment is not necessary.

 

If the debtor disputes the claim,

 

he or she can apply for the statutory demand to be set aside. T

 

he bankruptcy court will halt the bankruptcy if there is any dispute about the sum outstanding.

 

It can be relatively easy for a debtor to have a statutory demand set aside and the process can result in an order for costs being made against the creditor.

 

A statutory demands is supposed to make sure the person in debt pays the amount owing by either paying in full straight away or by installments.

To avoid bankruptcy if you can reduce the debt to less than £750, and offer to pay the debt by instalments.

 

The first thing you should do is get all of the paperwork they hold on you.

 

To do this you would need to send in an S.A.R. (Subject Access Request).

This is your right under the Data Protection Act, and you do want to make sure that you are not paying someone else's bills.

It will cost £10 for the information.

 

You will find a template letter in the library here:

 

http://www.consumerforums.com/resources/templates-library/86-debt-collectors/576-subject-access-request-debt-a-dca

 

Also do an income and expenditure spreadsheet when you find out if the debt is owed. They will look at this to see what you can afford. There is a spreadsheet here:

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=17158&d=1268687658

 

You can bet there are charges on the account also, we can highlight those when you get the statements back and claim them with some interest.

 

Was there any PPI taken out when you took out the card?

[derek1]

Hi there

 

Thank you for the reply. Will the SAR stop the 21 days that I have before the bankruptcy?

 

I will send off the SAR today. Do I send just the one SAR to Lowell Portfolio, it is their telephone number that they want me to contact?

 

How worried should I be??

 

Once again many thanks for the quick reply

Edited March 23, 2010 by derek1

[ukaviator]

You will have to write a letter to Lowells to hold fire on any further action as there are unlawful charges on the account which you will be getting back. Lowells need to be informed that the account is now in dispute.

 

Have a look in the templates libary for a letter, i have left links below.

[derek1]

Many thanks - so the SAR goes to Hamptons Legal and the letter to say I am querying it goes to Lowell - yes?

[derek1]

Anyone?

[shafted]

I would thing not, if i,m right they are part of the lowells group which means they are just basic debt collecters so i would think they dont have the powers to do that, what problems are having with them?

[derek1]

Hi there

 

Hamptons Legal served a Statutory Demand on me stating Lowells were going to petition for bankruptcy in 21 days unless I call them. The debt is for £1143.78 for a capital 1 card. It was assigned to them in 2008.

[cerberusalert]

Have you sent them a CCA request yet?

[Hardupnotfedup]

It costs around £1500 to make someone bankrupt, makes sense then don't it:rolleyes:

[debt4get]

you will need to have the stat demand set aside...

.i believe you have 18 days in which to do this from the date it was served...

 

the first thing to do is as cerberusalert has said is to send a cca request.

...if you already havent.

..if you want a hand to fill out set aside forms give us a shout and we will try to work out a defense.

 

.courts do not like stat demands being issued in order to collect debts

[debt4get]

have i just read it correctly ...they have said they MAY issue if you dont ring? they wont....or they HAVE issued?

Edited March 25, 2010 by debt4get
wrong post

[Hardupnotfedup]

I was a bit confused as well,sounds like a threatogram

[derek1]

Hi there

 

The letter says:

 

You have failed to clear your outstanding balance despite previous written and/or verbal requests and therefore we enclose by way of service upon you a Statutory Demand for payment.

 

this is an important document, the contents of which you should read very carefully and seek advice if necessary. Should you fail to respond to the demand we will be presenting a Bankruptcy Petition against you.

 

(It then lists what I could reasonably expect if I were to be made bankrupt such as an extended meeting with the official receiver, lose any rights to assets etc)

 

It goes on:

 

You still have an option to avoid bankruptcy, we WILL accept a realiatic offer from you, be it a monthly repayment plan or an offer for full and final settlement. To make us an offer please call the number below

 

To avoid this action being taken we request that you call us on 01133946327.

 

 

There is no court reference number on the form only that in accordance with Rule 6.4(2) of the Insolvency Rules 1986 the appropriate court is Medway County Court and gives its address and that any application to set aside should be made to that court.

 

It again repeats the telephone number 01133946327 and a reference GD1/93264363. The name that all communication about this demand should be addressed to is:

 

Greame Danby and his address is Enterprise House 1 Apex View Leeds.

 

Hope this clarifies things!!

[debt4get]

stat demands are fairly easy to set aside and you would be able to claim costs against the muppets as well....can you tell us what the story is with this account...have you asked for cca? do you dispute what you owe.? also is the stat demand signed? and by whom?

[derek1]

Hi there

 

Yes I did have the card and yes the debt is mine from 2004 when money was more tight than it is now!!

 

It is signed by Graeme Danby.

 

I was told to send of for a SAR??

[debt4get]

http://www.insolvencyhelpline.co.uk/downloads/pdf-files/form6-1.pdf

does the form look anything like this? if not they have not sent a stat demand

[debt4get]

have you actually paid anything since 2004 cos if you havent it is statute barred

[BuzzMan]

Presumably capital one agreement was enforceable and lowells have a proper title to the said debt?..

 

What section of the insolvency act is cited?

[derek1]

Yes it is that form.

 

Graeme Danby has dated it the 16th March and the front letter also signed by Graeme Danby but ion Hamptons Legal headed paper is also dated the 16th but a company based in Sevenoaks hand delivered it to me on Tuesday night. They didn't take a signature just told me to call the number to sort out payment.

[debt4get]

right do you want to go for set aside and hopefully a pay day to the tune of a few hundred quid? can you also confirm when you last made a payment on this alleged debt?

Edited March 25, 2010 by debt4get
question

[derek1]

Yes I did make payments but can't remember when the last one was made.

 

The letter states that the debt was:

 

Original creditor Capital one bank (europe) plc date of assignment 25/11/08

asignees Lowell portfolio 1 ltd date of assignment 25/11/08

 

It states Rule 6.4(2) of the Insolvency Rules and goes oin about the court that i would have to present at.

 

There is another page that says:

 

'particulars of debt:

 

The claim of the creditor for payment of £1143.78 being the balance of monies due against a credit card account made between the Debtor and Capital One Bank (Europe) PLC in respect of a Credit Card, under acount number ....., such agreement being regulated under the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

 

The rights and benefits of the said account were duly assigned from Capitla One Bank (Europe) PLC to the creditor by way of a Debt Sale Agreement dated 25/11/08 and notice of assignment having been served upon the debtor by the creditor on 4/12/08 in accordance with the provisions of section 136 of the law property Act 1925.

 

The balance of the debt at the date of this demand remains outstanding and due for payment by the debtor in the amount of £1143.78. Despite previous written and verbal requests for payment being made by the creditor to the debtor.'

[derek1]

Have I got grounds to have it set aside?

[debt4get]

yep courts do not like stat demands being used for debt collection purposes.

 

...i am presuming you have sent for any documents relating to this account?

 

have you seen the credit agreement?

 

do you in any way dispute the amount actually owed?

 

in other words is the account made up of a large amount of charges which could be reclaimed..

 

if you think the last payment you made was in 2004 then the debt could very well be statute barred...

[derek1]

OK so do I send a CCA to Lowells or a SAR? Or do I just send the form to the court to get it set aside?

 

I can't remember if there were late charges etc on the account.