Amex - Settlement Offer

[Csol2001]

Hi

Firstly, I hope that the attached letter helps anyone who is in a similar position.

 

Background

I sent a CCA request to Allied Int'l (DCA) who were chasing the account in May 2K10. No reply but confirmed as received by Royal Mail. AND they cashed the postal order.!!

 

Follow up letter after 12 days and again after 30 days - No reply to either but Royal Mail confirmed as received.

Basically the account became unenforceable on July 15th 2K10 as they did not respond to any correspondence regarding the CCA.

 

Received a standard letter from Allied Int'l on 21st July threatening legal action so fired off a letter requesting info under Pre Action Practice Directions. Received a reply, suggesting that Allied wanted to settle amicably without recourse to the courts on 3rd August. I followed this up with the attached letter which was confirmed received by Royal Mail Tracking Service.

 

Today

Received a letter from Amex suggesting that they had been contacted by an outside debt collection agency - interesting that Amex have not confirmed that they instructed Allied Int'l.

 

Bottom line is that I have been offered a 21% reduction on my account to settle. IS THIS A TACTIC ?

 

1) Given that the account is clearly in dispute by the actions of Allied, the agreement is now unenforceable. ( I accept that the debt is still on the book but not recoverable by Amex)

 

Q - Is there a standard template letter that I should use to reply to their offer ?

 

Q - What should be my opening counter offer and final offer in % terms off of the account.

 

I have to say that without sight of any statements, I cannot assess how much interest and charges have been applied. They just won't send to me this information.

 

Again hope the letter helps and look forward to comments and suggestions

 

SLDAllied-AmEX .doc

[dx100uk]

if anyone offers a 'discount'

i usually means one of two things:

 

1, there is no CCA or not one that is enforceable.

2. the unlawful charges or mis-sold PPI far outweight the outstanding balance.

 

pers i'd ignore them

 

no cca = no pay

 

dx

[Csol2001]

Hi Thanks for the heads up. I am a bit concerned that if I do not reply it could be deemed as refusing their offer and possibly opening the gate for Amex to have a crack at me again.

 

Clearly - there must not an enforceable agreement if they are offering any discount.

 

Should I send Amex a copy of the letter that I sent to Allied, stating my position in relation to actions of Allied and them placing the account into an unenforceable position. At some point I want to get rid of this default on my credit assessment. Is there a template letter in the library that I could use that sets the record in place from a legal position if Amex get heavy.

 

SLD

[dx100uk]

give us the history of the debt please

 

dx

[Csol2001]

HI

The card was offered to me in late 2007 / early 2008 - not sure of the exact date. Application form was on line. Never any paperwork.

Had to stop paying the card off in mid 2009 due to work drying up. Offered £150 through a DCA. That DCA was changed by Amex to someone else. Excess charges were mounting up. Decided to request a CCA after finding this forum in April and new DCA contacting me regarding the account. Following a series of letters and requests - the DCA will not send me the info to see if the online form exists in hard copy. I think will no signature, it is not enforceable. I did read that the Act had been updated to reflect Internet forms ??

 

Hope that this helps

[dx100uk]

well that confirms things then.

no cca = no pay

 

and pers i'd ignore everyone.

 

as for the unlawful charges, don't forget you can reclaim all those + int and their cash/purchase rate.

might that well lnockdown the balance?

 

the debt still exists, even IF the cca is un-en, just means they cannot go to court.

 

and what about poss missold PPI? too

 

dx

[the_shadow]

Hmm couple of key dates to do with this issue:

 

December 2004, After which online agreements come into force... that is.. they no longer need a paper copy of your signature.

April 2007, CCA2006 in force which rescinds s127(3) so even if the agreement (online or paper) doesnt contain prescribed terms its enforceable just by showing a signature.

 

The "signature" can be a tick in a box for an online form I'm afraid. If they dont seem in a hurry to take you to court then you could reason from this that there is some good reason why not, amex are not normally slow in coming forward to court.

 

S.

[Csol2001]

Hi

Could it be that the doc was not executed correctly. I received a letter today with a copy of the agreement purporting to bare my signature. The T&Cs state YOUR RIGHT TO CANCEL - Once you have signed this Agreement, you will have a short time in which to cancel it. The Creditor will send to you exact details of how and when you can do this - I have not received any copy information on this from Amex.

 

It also state - ADDITIONAL RIGHT TO CANCEL - Once this Agreement is made you will have the right to cancel it before whichever is the later of either (a) 14 days after you receive your card, or (b 14 after the day on which you receive a copy of the agreement signed by us) The Agreement that I have been sent only purportedly bares my signature. The "Official Use Only" box underneath my purported signature is empty. This is all framed in one box. However, this copy document is stamped - dated 17 Feb 2008 with; what looks like a signature underneath. It looks like a pre cut rubber stamp job.

 

Am I right in thinking that to execute this document correctly, both mine and the authorised Amex representative signature, must be within one framed box on the left hand side of the Agreement.

 

SLD

[the_shadow]

Hi

Could it be that the doc was not executed correctly. I received a letter today with a copy of the agreement purporting to bare my signature. The T&Cs state YOUR RIGHT TO CANCEL - Once you have signed this Agreement, you will have a short time in which to cancel it. The Creditor will send to you exact details of how and when you can do this - I have not received any copy information on this from Amex.

 

Ok, I'm not good on the distance selling act and the mixing of this with the CCA but it sounds like they dropped a clanger... technically... I'm certain a judge would look to see how you were affected by them NOT sending these details.. and the answer will be not in the slightest as you obviously used the card.[i say this as you need to be aware that the judiciary appear to be clamping down on Technical complaints/cases]

 

Am I right in thinking that to execute this document correctly, both mine and the authorised Amex representative signature, must be within one framed box on the left hand side of the Agreement.

SLD

Fraid not, They can sign the document anywhere I believe...and a rubber stamp job is sufficient... in online applications they normally show two tickboxes, one for you to tick to show you have read terms/conditions and agree to the application and underneath a preticked one which goes with an authorised bankers name and the date. At least that was on my amex online application screen.

 

S.