Halifax and Notice of Legal Action

[mevsthem]

Hi Thanks for your response. I will try to explain the situation of events the best I can.

From the begining of last year the company I worked for announced that my pay would have to be reduced due to the credit crunch and there was a good possibilty of redundancies throughout the year.

May last year I found out that there was going to be an unexpected new arrival to the family which made me look into my finances a little more deeply due to the threat of redundancy.

After looking at my credit card statement for May I noticed that the APR had rose to 23.95% for purchases and 29.95% for cash advances. I previously never looked as I assumed its was 10.8% for the life of the card, which I was led to believe when I opened the account.

The balance was about 12k, and I noticed the monthly intrest was around £280.

Due to the threat of redundancy I approached the bank to see if they would stop the intrest for a few months to try and sort out my finances a little. This was in May 2009 but I dont remember the exact date as I didnt keep any records then. I was advised it was not possible to so as there were no arrears on the account and I was still in work etc.. Basically fobbed off.

This is when I came across CAG. After reading peoples threads I decided to send a cca request to see if my agreement was enforcible or not.

On the 3/06/09 I sent a cca request and a sar request.

On the 10/06/2009 I recieved a reply with the previous and current terms and conditions ( which looked like they had just been typed up ) and no agreement.

My initial Idea was to see if there were any unfair charges applied, In hope that I may be able to claim these back

Due to no agreement being sent I placed the account in dispute on the 15/06/2009.

06/07/2009 recieved a copy of agreement which had my signature on but didnt seem to contain any of the prescribed terms and when I looked at the intrest rate it said 10.8%, no where does it say variable.

After posting the agreement on cag, someone also noted that the terms and conditions printed on the reverse did not seem to match the page I had signed as the codes did not match and there was two paragraphs about cancellation rights that seemed to differ from each other.

15/07/09 I sent a letter stating that there were no prescribed terms on the cca.

 

Sept 09 Due to money being tight and the account in dispute I cancelled payments on the card.

 

This is when I started recieving up to 6 phone calls a day.

 

After advice from here I sent a letter on the 10/09/2009 stating account was in dispute and for them to contact me in writing only due to frequency of calls I considered it harrasment.

 

16/08/09 received a reply stating they have supplied me a signed statement of account and terms and conditons. And although there is no requirement under section 78 to provide a copy of the original signed agreement, They now enclose a copy of this for my records (same cca as before). It goes on to say they can confirm the reverse of the agreement contained the prescribed terms required, and can be proved by the documents they sent me previously.

to which I dont believe they are the same document.

I then just kept ignoring the nuisance phone calls every day.

(Dated) 26/10/09 I recieved a default notice posted second class giving me until the 16/11/09 to remedy the default.

Managed to keep in work for a while and was made redundant 1st nov 2009

7/11/09 (Dated) I recieved a termination notice posted second class saying the account has been terminated and will be passed on to a debt recovery agency.

 

From the 24/11/09 I started recieving demands for full amount from Albion collections, Blair along with phone calls so I sent them a bemused letter 04/01/2010.

26/11/09 received letter from halifax saying an agent my call at my house and they would charge me £21.85 for the privalige.

Someone did call and tried to get me to speak to hailfax, which I refused but I cannot remember the date.

On the 02/06/010 recieved a Letter before action which I replied to stating the account was in dispute and I intend to defend vigorously.

recieved a reply 23/06/2010 stating they do not feel able to agree with my complaint. Sending same typed terms and conditions and agreement. It also stated that if they did not hear from me within 8 weeks they would close the file.

Then on the 08/07/2010 I received another Notice of legal action letter, to which I was going to reply to and point out my complaints, but was advised not to before going to court.

Then Dated 01/09/2010 received clam form from northampton.

Sorry for such a long winded post, I am trying to explain the situation as best I can

Hope this helps and is not confusing

regards

P.s here is agreement and default notices

 

http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/o...reement1-1.jpg

 

http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/o...reement2-1.jpg

 

http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/o...0/dnotice1.jpg

 

http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/o...0/dnotice2.jpg

[mevsthem]

Hi, Just a gentle bump as time is ticking away, Could anyone give me a bit of advice please

[citizenB]

Just having a read back over your thread to see what advice you require

[citizenB]

Ok,

 

Question - was this a telephone /online application originally ? I see from the alleged agreement in the first post that it states "you had previously supplied them with the personal information shown" and that you were just to confirm this and return the document in the prepaid envelope. There appears to be no reference to terms and condiitions that I could see.

 

It also states quite clearly that the flat rate is 10.8% and that the card had already been approved for sending.

 

On the separate terms and conditions I can see no clause 2.2. Which is the clause you were supposed to have broken according to their Default Notice.

 

Also, you say that 2 payments of £24.00 have been made to the account, but there is no explanation as you havent made those payments.

 

Were there any default charges on the account at all ? If so, then you could argue that the amount requested on the DN was incorrect in any case.

 

Default Notice. Dated 26/10/2009 which just happens to be a ... Sunday....!! So the earliest it could have gone in the post would have been the Monday - if they sent it 1st class post then there would have been the legally required 14 days allowed to remedy by the 16/11/2009 If 2nd class or UK Mail then that might not be the case. Although I rather suspect that it would still have crept in.

 

Now where they appear to have fallen into a self dug hole is by Terminating the account PRIOR to the final date for remedying the breach. In fact by a whole 9 days

 

I think you can say in your defence the following. Will need to be tidied up somewhat, but the basics are there.

 

Build up to Action:

 

On DATE you telephoned Halifax in order to advise them of your change in financial circumstances. They were not prepared to allow any relaxaing of their terms for payment advising that if you did not make the agreed minimum terms then your home would be at risk. As this was an unsecured borrowing this concerned you and you requested information under the CCA1974 in order to establish exactly what you had in fact signed up to.

 

In addition to the above, you noticed from your statements that the interest/APR which you believed to be 10.8% for the life of the card had suddently shot up to 23.95%. You hadnt fully appreciated this before due to the way in which interest is shown on statements as 1.99% (or whatever).

 

Before you had a chance to investigate further, you were sent a Default Notice, dated 26th October 2010 (a Sunday). Before you had a chance to consider this further development, you were then sent a Termination Notice. This was dated 7/11/2010, a full 9 days prior to the remedy date given on the Default Notice.

 

I am not sure if you would mention unlawful recision of the contract, diddydicky and/or vint1954 would be able to advise on this. I will send out an S.O.S. for you, to see if they can look in on you.

 

You do not deny having had the benefit of the account. However, in the first instance, you made attempts to come to an arrangement until your circumstances improved and in their haste to attempt to get a judgement against you, they have failed to adhere to the regulations made by Parliament.

 

HTH

 

Will send out some S.O.Ss for you right away. I think you have until 4th October to submit a defence. Depending on how long it is (8,000 characters permitted on MCOL) you may have to consider being ready to post to both court and opposition by the 30th September (Special Delivery posting)

[mevsthem]

Hi, Thank you so much for your advice. From what I remember this was an online application from 2001 if thats any help.

Regarding the defence, can this be written in normal words so to speak or would it have to be written in law terms

thanks

[mevsthem]

Hi, I have one week left to build a defence. Can this just be wrote in a normal explanation ? Checked the date of default notice and it appears to be a monday by my calculations, this won't make a difference will it

many thanks

m

[middenmess]

As CB pointed out they terminated your account by letter on 7th November and thereby did not allow you the 14 days to remedy the breach as determined by the CCA and are therefore only entitled to the true arrears due at that time.

 

If you haven't heard from DD or Vint it would be probably be in your interest to do so.

[mevsthem]

Thanks Middenmess, would love a little advice from dd or vint but I dont like to pester and I was waiting and hoping cb had asked them to look in. Trying my hardest to work this out but the more I read the more confused I get. I just dont know where to start and dont want to state anything that I should not.

Thanks for looking in, its really appreciated

[mevsthem]

Hi, gentle bump as I only have a few days left. Just about to write something along the lines of what citizen b has advised, Do I need to go deeper into it or would a brief summary be surfice for my defence?

thanks

[mevsthem]

Hi, well defence submitted, short sweet and to the point. What will happen next ? What do I need to prepare for next course of action

[AndyOrch]

You will receive notification that the defence has been forwarded to the Claimant and they have 28 days to respond.If they do you get an AQ and the claim transfered to your local CC, if they dont your the claim will be stayed.

 

Regards

 

Andy

[mevsthem]

Thanks for that Andy, Its all getting a bit clearer now after hours of reading. Just have to wait and see how they react to terminating before giving enough time to remedy.

From what ive read a brief defence to the brief poc, then go into more detail when aq comes

thanks again really is apreciated

[vint1954]

Hi Mevsthem,

 

Sorry for the delayed reply to your PM, however I have been away for work.

 

Your getting good advice. The DN is complient, issued on 26th October last year, second class service would be 30th October. Rectification date should be 13th November and they gave you until 16th. However if they terminated the agreement on 7th November then they have jumped the gun spectacularly. Parliament set out the time period allowed for you to rectify the default, not Halifax.

 

With regards to your agreement, the second page is just terms on card use and I cannot see any of the Prescribed terms on that.

 

Vint

[mevsthem]

Thank you Vint for your reply its much appreciated. Dont know what I would have done without Cag. Just panic set in last week due to time scales.

thanks again

[mevsthem]

Hi, Received a letter from Northampton today saying they acknowledge receipt of my defence and the claimant has 28 days after receiving a copy of my defence to proceed or the case will be stayed. I guess I just have to wait and see what they want to do.

[babydoll0141917]

IMHO ..I think Haliprats will more than likely CAVE IN ;-)

[mevsthem]

Hi Babydoll,

I wish I wish lol. But knowing my luck they will want a fight. Got my teeth into this one now, Ill fight till the end. There is no way im giving up after the year of grief ive had from them.

regards

[babydoll0141917]

Never say never,,If they hav nothing concret ..i can see why they would go ahead..!! i wish you all the luck in the world!! Good for you fighting ..thats the spirit CAG gets us into !! ;-)

 

Routing for you all the way x

[mevsthem]

Thanks for the vote of confidence. Its much appreciated. Without Cag I would probably be laid in a doorway under a cardboard box with the **** taking every last penny. Just looked at my SAR they have had over 10k in interest since I took the card out in 2001, make no wonder I cant pay it off. And I know its my own fault, I have spent it, but was I not wise as to how they operated then.

Thanks again

[babydoll0141917]

Totally understand!! i havent had to go that far yet with SAR ..but my minimum payment was over 300.00 per mth ..for a good few yrs ..so im prob not far behind you with the intrest..the way i look at it is ..they hav had the money back that i borrowed!! actually i didnt borrow most of it ,,they kepted uping my limit..;-)..good luck to you ..

[mevsthem]

Hi, Right thinks I b***s up. When I filled defence I did not tick yes for counter claim. Can i do this at a later stage or av I messed up?

[AndyOrch]

Defendant’s counterclaim against the claimant

 

20.4

 

(1) A defendant may make a counterclaim against a claimant by filing particulars of the counterclaim.

 

(2) A defendant may make a counterclaim against a claimant –

(a) without the court’s permission if he files it with his defence; or

 

(b) at any other time with the court’s permission.

 

 

(Part 15 makes provision for a defence to a claim and applies to a defence to a counterclaim by virtue of rule 20.3).

(3) Part 10 (acknowledgment of service) does not apply to a claimant who wishes to defend a counterclaim.

[mevsthem]

Hi, Thanks for that andy. Strange thing arrived through the post today. A credit card statement for this account, but it was terminated last November. Any Ideas ?

Not had one all year then this

[mevsthem]

Also it includes £300 court charges

[AndyOrch]

Yes amendments in the CCA 2006 brought into force last year, they now have to send an annual statement of account.Not sure about their costs being included in any amount,that is a debt yet to be proved:!:

 

Andy