1st Credit & LCS Battle - court papers received - help

[newman]

It's basically what you've already done, less the repleading and made more concise.

I think we can word the order to include time for you to act upon their response to the part 18 request, ie submitting a 31.14 plus time for their response and for your defence prep.

Leave it with me..we have till..Friday?

I'm a bit stuck today as OH is day off and we're busy, but I'll redraft it for you tomorrow if you wish, then we can tweak it/get other opinions before it goes off. Meanwhile see what the court says about how to do the dates.

 

Hi Elsa

Sorry I didnt respomnd before now but I have been flat on my back for an hour in the dentist - both sides of my face are very numb!!!

 

Tomorrow is absolutely fine thank you so much - hugely appreciated -

 

The deadline for the the response is actually Monday at 16:00 hrs so no panic to have it finished by Friday - I just want to err on the side of caution if possible to allow time to re tweak and finalise.

 

Sorry Elsa I am being a bit thick here - probably the novacaine but do I just eter the CPR 18 compliance request in box three and forget about the 31:14 until they have responded to the CPR 18?

 

Again apologies

 

OK I will now try to call the court if I can speak coherently!! I will repost when I have spoken to them.

[newman]

I get the impression that J&P aren't too impressed with them either, LOL. Wouldn't it be fun to get them to act on your behalf?

 

now that would be very funny - if they were prepared to work on a no win no fee basis then I would be very happy to get them to act for me!

 

Now that has rasied an interesting point - do you or anyone else here know of a no win no fee firm that would represent me? I dont have the financial capacity to pay for this so if there was a NWNF solicitor then this would probably add extra clout than being a LIP!

 

If no then theres no stress as I am actually beginning to enjoy this now.

[Undercover-Elsa]

We'll go over it tomorrow...you need to get your blood sugar up..the novacaine will have made you hypo. Warm sweet tea (not too hot) but you might need a straw, LOL.

[newman]

##ANother update##

 

Just before I went to the dentist I spoke to a very nice chap at my local Trading Standards office and had a good 20 mins on the phone with him.

 

It appears that TS can only act if a trader has committed a criminal offence as opposed to acting unlawfully - I didnt appreciate that criminal is different to unlawful - I do know the difference now. He told me that they also cant act when an offence is over 3 years old so the fact that back in 2007 when 1st Credit did commit an offence by not responding to my CCA request within the statutory 30 days there is nothing they can do about this now. I did ask him that if anyone committed an offence (I used murder as an example) then irrespective of when they did it - the fact is that they did it and no change in legislation can take away the fact that an offence was committed but he said that even though this argument is actually correct when it comes to contractual arguments and Consumer circumstances we are talking Civil not criminal.

 

So I am kicking myself for being too nice back in 2007 - if I had acted then I dont think we would be having this hassle now - hey ho you live and learn!

 

He did seem to think that 1st Credit may have acted in a criminal way in respect to harrasment and he also was interested in the possible breach of Data Protection act 1998 and he also said that he would look very closely at the fact that Citi sold my account to 1st Credit without issuing me with a Default Notice.

 

So although it is going to take him about a week to look through things and come back to me, this is another body that are at least taking notice - whether or not it will do any good - well thats another question.

 

My hope is that there is enough damning evidence for each individual item that this will make a pitcure that shows this bunch for what they are.

[newman]

We'll go over it tomorrow...you need to get your blood sugar up..the novacaine will have made you hypo. Warm sweet tea (not too hot) but you might need a straw, LOL.

 

Well its funny you should say that - I am sitting in my town office (AKA Starbucks!) having some liquid refreshement as I type - and I am actually managing not ot dribble!!!! I can just about feel my tongue now. :)

Edited July 19, 2011 by newman

[newman]

ANOTHER UPDATE - RE THE N244 PROCESS

 

Well now that the Novacaine has finally worn off I called the NBCC and spoke with another very helpful lady called Sharon. The telephonists there are all so nice and helpful which is very refreshing:)

 

I explained exactly what you told me to do Elsa re the wanting to put the "unless the Claimant complies" bit into the N244 and this is chapter and verse what she said.

 

Firstly when I put in the N244 I have to put in that I want an extension as per CPR 15:5 and this is then given top priority and it means that the application will be dealt with there and then on the same day and there will be a bar on judgement applied immediately.

 

They then send the N244 off to the District Judge who assess it and then sends it back with his directions on there - good or bad depending on how you look at it!

 

When the court eventually receives the DJ's directions they then "draw up an order", which she qualified as meaning that the court will write a letter to both the Claimant and me informing us of the DJ's directions.

 

The date that this letter is written is the date at which the 14 day clock for compliance with CPR 18 starts to tick.

 

I did ask if anything goes to 1st Crappy but apparently they dont even get notified that the form has been submitted. Sharon did say that either LCS or 1st Crappy may contact the NBCC after the deadline of 16:00hrs Monday 25-01-11 but at that point they would be informed that the case has been refferred to the DJ.

 

Sharon also said that they could try to force a judgement as there will not have been any defence submitted by the deadline but it would be at this point that they would be told there is a bar on judgement in force until the DJ has given his directions.

 

I asked if I had to write to the Claimant and inform them of what is happening but this is not needed and so it looks like we will have a three to four week wait whilst the DJ looks at this.

 

This is very useful information to know and definately one to add to the excellent PDF that Elsa drew up regarding the CPR advice compilation - or maybe thats not the right place but its very good to know what actually happens.

 

So now that we know exactly what is going to happen my thoughts are that we need to take advantage of the fact that a DJ is going to review this and go for as much as we can on the N244. I did ask the question yesterday about there being multiple items in the N244 Application and there is no restriciton as to how many items can be put on there.

 

What do you think guys about throwing in as much stuff as we can in the N244 particularly as I have total liberty in box 10 to have a lot of detail in there to support my application? For example - I enclose my 11 page report and state that I want an immediate strike out for the reasons contained in the report!

 

It may be worth reading my official complaint again to see if we can actually go for an immediate strike out as 1st Crappy have acted in such a shocking way. I have slightly amended the report to add the bit about Statutory interest that you siuggested Elsa and from what I can ascertain this could be a pretty damning report for 1st Crappy. - it appears I cant edit that post now so I have reposted it next.

 

what do you think guys? - I am paying good money to submit this report so the more muck i can sling at them in this the better - I ideally want a DJ to look at this and just strike it out immediately if at all possible but failing that then still sling as much mud as possible and make it as difficult as I possibly can for 1st Crud.

 

Whats the general consensus guys - we have until Friday to put in an absolutely stonking N244.

 

If it is easier to do this offline for the next couple of days I am very happy to give my number to genuine Caggers or deal with this by PM just in case there are any eyes from 1st Crappy looking at this thread! Just a thought!

I dont want to give the game away too early.

 

Waiting with baited breath guys :)

 

Once again huge thanlks to all and sundry that are helping me to fight this battle - I will hopefully be able to do the same for others when all this is over!!!!!!!

Edited July 19, 2011 by newman

[newman]

OFFICIAL COMPLAINT RE POSTED AS AMENDED WITH STATUTORY INTEREST BIT ADDED

 

If someone can tell me how to attache a PDF I will do that to save space

 

Wxxxxxx : Sxxxxx

xxxxxxxx

xxxxxxxxx

xxxxx

xxxxxxx

Tel: 00000 000000

Mob: 0000000000

E mail: [email protected]

Saturday 16-07-2011

 

OFFICIAL COMPLAINT AGAINST CITI FINANCIAL AND 1ST CREDIT

Contents

 

OFFICIAL COMPLAINT 2

BACKGROUND TO MY COMPLAINT 2

CITI FINANCIAL ACTED UNLAWFULLY BY NOT ISSUING ME WITH A DEFAULT NOTICE BEFORE SELLING THE BALANCE OF MY “DEBT” TO 1ST CREDIT. 4

DEFAULTED WITH NO NOTIFICATION WHILST ON AN AGREED PAYMENT PLAN 5

UNLAWFUL TELEPHONE & WRITTEN HARASSMENT 6

CONTRAVENTION OF OFT REQUIREMENTS FEBRUARY 2009 8

1ST CREDIT IS ACTING UNLAWFULLY BY PURSUING ME FOR AN ALLEGED DEBT THAT WAS SOLD TO THEM UNLAWFULLY AND ARE ATTEMPTING TO FRAUDULENTLY CLAIM INTEREST FOR A PERIOD WHEN THE ACCOUNT WAS IN DISPUTE. 9

CRIMINAL OFFENCE COMMITTED IN 2007 BY 1ST CREDIT: - 10

PROCESSING OF MY PERSONAL DATA WHILST MY ACCOUNT WAS IN DISPUTE. 11

 

OFFICIAL COMPLAINT

This complaint relates to Citi Cards who are part of Citi Financial Europe Plc PO Box 49920, London, SE5 7ZF and a debt collection company, 1st Credit, 1st credit (Finance) Ltd, The Omnibus Building, Lesbourne Road, Reigate, Surrey, RH2 7JP, and their associated companies and the way they have acted in their dealings with me from October 2006 until the present day.

 

I am making this complaint as it is my belief that both Citi Financial and 1st Credit and their associated companies have acted unreasonably, unlawfully, and have acted contrary to the Office of fair trading guidelines relating to the businesses practices of debt collection companies on a number of occasions since October 2006. It is also my belief that the rules as detailed in the Data Protection Act 1998 may have also been breached because of the on-going processing of my personal data by 1st Credit whilst they were in a default situation because of non-compliance with a request for an original contractual agreement under the CCA 1974. I have also experienced both verbal and written harassment from 1st Credit and Connaught Collections who are a “trading Style” of 1st Credit. Despite several written requests to 1st Credit not to contact me by telephone, Connaught Collections, telephoned me several times in May 2011. I have also received over 17 letters since 2010 from 1st Credit, LCS solicitors, Connaught Collections demanding full payment with threats of various actions if I did not respond. It is my belief that this verbal and written harassment and is contrary to Section 1 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 and Administration of Justice Act 1970 s40. It is also my belief that the failure of Citi Financial to send me a Default Notice or set out the Default Notice in accordance with the Consumer Credit (Enforcement, Default and Termination Notices) Regulations 1983 (SI 1983/1561) did unduly prejudice me as it failed to allow me the required time to remedy the alleged default.

BACKGROUND TO MY COMPLAINT

In 2006 I had a credit card with Citi Cards and on the 23rd October 2006, I wrote advising them that I was experiencing financial difficulties and requested that they accept a reduced payment of £3 per month. I also sent them an income and expenditure statment. Citi Cards accepted this offer in a letter dated 28 October 2006.

Having informed Citi that I was experiencing financial difficulties they sent me a letter dated 11-11-06 informing me that they had increased my credit limit to £15,000! This seemed somewhat irresponsible to me that a Creditor would increase a credit limit of a customer that had already informed them they were experiencing financial difficulties.

 

I received another letter dated 14-11-06 from Mr Paul Campbell, Head of Collections at Citi, requesting that I complete and return an income and expenditure form that was enclosed, which I then completed and returned to Citi.

 

On the 18-01-07, I wrote again to Mr Campbell and informed him that I was in a position to increase my payments to £5 per month and enclosed an up to date income and expenditure statement. I requested that Mr Campbell acknowledge receipt of my letter and also confirm that interest had been frozen on the account, however, I have never received a response to this request from Mr Campbell or anyone else at Citi Financial.

 

I wrote again to Mr Campbell on the 23-03-07 to notify Citi that I was in a position to increase my monthly payments to £10 and that I had registered with the CCCS. I also enclosed the official CCCS statement of income and expenditure. Once again I requested an acknowledgement of my letter and again I have never received one.

Citi accepted my offers of reduced payments as well as the money that I paid them. At no time did they give any indication that they were unhappy with this arrangement. I never missed any payments from the time that Citi had accepted my first offer of a reduced payment.

 

I received a NOTICE OF ASSIGNMENT (NOA) dated 11-06-07 which appeared to be a photocopy as the Citi logo was in black and white, whereas all previous letters from them were on coloured headed paper. The NOA informed me that with effect from the 11-06-07 Citi had assigned my account to 1st Credit Finance Limited.

 

Citi gave me no warning whatsoever that they were intending to assign my account to a debt collection company and when I subsequently contacted 1st Credit on Saturday 16-06-07 by telephone, I learned that Citi had in fact sold my account to them and a default had been placed on my credit file on the 31st May 2007 which was eleven days before the date on the NOA.

 

Before selling my account to 1st Credit, Citi never gave me any indication of their intentions to sell my account to a third party debt collector, nor did they ever send me a Default Notice, which afforded me no opportunity whatsoever to rectify the situation that had led to a default being registered on my credit file.

I spoke with Mr David Fell, a Citi Financial manager, on the 16-06-07 who admitted to me that he had no record on his file of any letters being sent to me from Citi Financial informing me that a default was going to be registered on my credit file.

 

I contacted the Financial Ombudsmen Service on the 18-06-07 to make a formal complaint against Citi financial. I also made a formal complaint to Citi Financial and 1st Credit and informed Citi and 1st Credit that my account was then officially in dispute. I was advised to write to Ms Singh, Service Quality Director at Citi Financial.

I wrote to Ms Singh, on the 18-06-07 after speaking to the FOS and confirmed that I had a written agreement with Citi to make reduced payments which I had been doing, without missing any payments since November 2006 and that I had not received any warning that my account was going to be sold or that Citi were unhappy with the payment arrangement. I enclosed a copy of the letter from Citi Financial which confirmed that they would accept my offer of a reduced payment.

I received a letter dated 18-06-07 from 1st Credit informing me that my account had been assigned to them from Citi Financial and that the full amount outstanding was due immediately to 1st Credit.

 

I wrote to 1st Credit on the 21-06-07 to a Mr Joe Simms informing him that as my account was officially in dispute I had sought further advice on this matter from the CCCS and that I had been advised that if 1st Credit were to attempt to recover an alleged debt whilst my account was in dispute, this would be a contravention of the OFT guidelines. I also informed Mr Simms that I would continue to make payments to Citi Financial.

 

I stated to Mr Simms that I did not acknowledge any debt to 1st Credit and I requested that 1st Credit provide me with a true copy of the original Credit Card Agreement under the Consumer Credit Act 1978 that they had referred to in their letters. I also requested a true copy of the deed of assignment of the agreement they referred to. I also provided them with the reference number provided by the FOS in relation to my formal complaint against Citi Financial.

 

The rest of my dealings with Citi Financial and 1st Credit are summarised in a separate document from 2007 to current date in Chronological order.

 

Since I have started to deal with 1st Credit they have displayed an extremely arrogant attitude towards me and they seem to feel it perfectly acceptable to:

• totally ignore numerous questions that I have asked without ever having the courtesy to provide an answer,

• to commit criminal offences,

• to act unlawfully by harassing me by making unlawful demands for an alleged debt that they have not proven they have the authority to collect.

 

On the 21st June 2011 1st Credit instigated legal proceedings against me. I have stated on several occasion in previous letters to 1st Credit that if the instigated any legal proceedings against me, they would be defended vigorously and I would also not hesitate to report them to the OFT as well as other statutory bodies. It is my belief that 1st Credit has no lawful case against me which is why I am now making this formal complaint.

 

1st Credit are obviously intent on still harassing me by trying to recover an alleged debt whilst my account has been in dispute which is in contravention the Office of Fair Trading guidelines. This continued harassment has caused me much stress and I have informed 1st Credit a number of times that unless they stopped this harassment, I would take steps to report them relevant enforcement authorities as well as, Trading Standards, the police, the OFT, The Information commissioner’s office, the CSA, the FOS, local and national press and my local MP. A copy of this report is being provided to all of the aforementioned bodies.

 

My specific points of complaint are detailed in the following pages.

 

By bringing this complaint against Citi Financial and 1st Credit I am seeking the maximum financial compensation available for the way I have been treated.

 

I also require that any default that is registered against my credit file be removed.

 

I also require a full investigation into the way that both Citi Financial and 1st Credit have dealt with me.

 

I also require that the legal proceedings that 1st Credit have instigated against me be struck out as it is my belief that they have no legal case upon which to take me to

court. 

 

CITI FINANCIAL ACTED UNLAWFULLY BY NOT ISSUING ME WITH A DEFAULT NOTICE BEFORE SELLING THE BALANCE OF MY “DEBT” TO 1ST CREDIT. Before Citi Financial sold my account to 1st Credit in June 2007 I never received a Default Notice from Citi Financial and as such I was never given the opportunity to rectify the situation under the statutory timescales that had led to them issuing a default on my credit file.

 

Citi Financial never informed in writing or otherwise that they were unhappy with the reduced payments they had agreed to and they never informed me that they were going to register a default on my credit file or sell my account to a third party debt collector.

 

I have written to 1st Credit on numerous occasions asking them to provide proof that a default notice had been issued, however, evidence of the default notice nor has proof of postage ever been provided. I received a letter from a Gemma Jackson; Compliance Officer at 1st Credit dated 18th May 2010 in response to a letter I had sent on 22nd April 2010 in which Ms Jackson stated;

 

“Further to your allegation that the default notice was not issued, on examination of our file, I find a conversation with Citi Financial in June 2007 we were advised a notice had been sent to you the previous May.

 

In addition we do not consider the matter of whether a default notice has been issued or not is relevant. Please can you explain why you believe it to be so? We note that the Consumer Credit Act States “Service of a notice on the debtor or hirer in accordance with Section 88 (a “default notice”) is necessary before the creditor or owner can become entitled, by reason of any breach by the debtor or hirer of a regulated agreement, - a) to terminate the agreement or b) to demand earlier payment of any sum.

We consider there is no requirement to terminate your agreement as we are solely claiming accrued arrears. Nor are we demanding earlier payment”

 

Ms Jackson seems to have totally missed the point in my reason for asking for proof that a default notice was issued and she has shown arrogance by stating that the matter of whether or not a default notice had been issued is relevant and also asking me to explain why I believed it was relevant. She then goes on to quote from the Consumer Credit Act to show the very reason why it is totally relevant.

 

Despite Ms Jacksons statement that 1st Credit were told in a conversation by Citi Financial in June 2007 that a default notice had been issued to me in May 2007, neither 1st Credit nor Citi Financial have provided proof to corroborate this statement nor have they provided proof of postage of a default notice. It is therefore my belief that a Default Notice was never issued and as such as Citi have never issued me with a Default Notice they therefore acted unlawfully by terminating my agreement. As my agreement was terminated unlawfully by Citi Financial this then leads to the obvious conclusion that 1st Credit have no lawful right to try to collect on an alleged debt that that they bought unlawfully.

 

It is my understanding that a creditor must under Section 87(1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 serve a valid Default Notice before they can demand early payment of sums not yet due under a Regulated Credit Agreement, which is exactly what 1st Credit have been doing. It is also my understanding that for a creditor to be entitled to terminate a regulated Credit Agreement where there is an alleged breach, demand repayment in full or take any legal action to recover any monies due under the Agreement, a creditor must serve a Default Notice under section 87(1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 which states:

 

Section 87. Need for Default Notice

(1) Service of a notice on the Debtor or hirer in accordance with section 88 (a "Default Notice ") is necessary before the creditor or owner can become entitled, by reason of any breach by the Debtor or hirer of a regulated Agreement –

a) to terminate the Agreement, or

b) to demand earlier payment of any sum, or

c) to recover possession of any goods or land, or

d) to treat any right conferred on the Debtor or hirer by the Agreement as terminated, restricted or deferred, or

e) to enforce any security.

The Act also sets out via Section 88(1), that the Default Notice must be in the prescribed form, as below:

 

Section 88. Contents and effect of Default Notice

 

(1) The Default Notice must be in the prescribed form…

The wording must make it clear that no variation is acceptable. Therefore it cannot be dispensed with as a De Minimus issue.

 

I note that the regulations do not allow any variation in the form of these statements and therefore it is suggested that where the statements are not as laid down in the regulations the Default Notice is rendered invalid as a consequence.

 

In the case of Woodchester Lease Management Services Ltd v Swain & Co - [1998] All ER (D) 339 in the Court of Appeal, the Court addressed in some detail the issue of the contents of a Default Notice and should the notice fail to comply with the Consumer Credit (Enforcement, Default and Termination Notices) Regulations 1983 (SI 1983/1561) it would render the Default Notice invalid.

 

I quote the comment of KENNEDY LJ: "This statute was plainly enacted to protect consumers, most of whom are likely to be individuals" the judgment appears to confirm the consumer credit legislation made under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 as plainly enacted and set out to offer protection to the consumer.

Therefore it is my belief that the failure of Citi Financial to send me a Default Notice or set out the Default Notice in accordance with the Consumer Credit (Enforcement, Default and Termination Notices) Regulations 1983 (SI 1983/1561) did unduly prejudice me as it failed to allow me the required time to remedy the alleged default.

 

Citi Financials failure to issue a valid Default Notice must surely prevent a right of action and would make any termination of the Agreement unlawful, as statute provides the procedure that must be followed. Since Citi Financial and 1st Credit have failed to adhere to statutory procedure it is averred that 1st Credit does not have a right of action against me and can never now have a right of action as Citi Financial terminated the Agreement unlawfully.

 

If the agreement I had with Citi Financial was an Agreement Regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974 then there is no provision in the Act that allows a large financial institution to terminate an Agreement that is in alleged default or breach simply by giving notice to the Consumer, which is what they did to me. Section 98(6) makes that quite clear. The Creditor must follow the steps outlined in Section 87 and Section 88 if they are to lawfully Default and Terminate, and enjoy the benefits of Section 87.

 

Furthermore it is my understanding that an invalid Default Notice cannot be remedied by simply issuing a new Default Notice. A creditor may not serve a second effective default notice in prescribed form post-termination of the agreement. Any such second default notice will necessarily state a date by when I would be required to comply after which in default the agreement would terminate. The second default notice would therefore contain the fiction that the agreement endured when that cannot be the case, as my agreement was defaulted and terminated on 31-05-2007.

 

It is my contention that terminating an agreement on the back of a non-existent or defective Default Notice, simply confirms the undeniable truth that Termination of the agreement by Citi Financial was carried out in circumstances which then prohibited them or 1st Credit from enjoying the benefits of Section 87, namely the opportunity to seek early Payment of a sum that was, prior to Termination, only payable in the future.

 

Not only have Citi Financial acted unlawfully by not issuing me with a default notice but 1st Credit have also been acting unlawfully since May 2007 by harassing me by trying to pursue me for a debt they have no lawful right to try to collect on when my account had been sold to them unlawfully in the first place.

 

DEFAULTED WITH NO NOTIFICATION WHILST ON AN AGREED PAYMENT PLAN

 

Citi Financial never gave me any indication that they were unhappy with the payment plan they had agreed to before they issued a default and sold my account to 1st Credit. I increased my payments twice since they first agreed to me making reduced payments.

 

A default was registered on my credit file on the 31-05-07 and as I was never sent a default notice it is my belief that the failure of Citi Financial to send me a Default Notice or set out the Default Notice in accordance with the Consumer Credit (Enforcement, Default and Termination Notices) Regulations 1983 (SI 1983/1561) did unduly prejudice me as it failed to allow me the required time to remedy the alleged default.

 

 

UNLAWFUL TELEPHONE & WRITTEN HARASSMENT

 

Since early 2010 I have been bombarded with numerous letters (17 in total) from 1st Credit and their associated representatives, solicitors and other companies that are “trading styles “ of 1st Credit, either threatening me with legal action or demanding immediate payment of the total alleged “debt” that they say I owe them.

They have, I believe, acted unlawfully as they are demanding repayment for a debt that they have no legal right to try to collect on as my account was assigned to them by Citi Financial unlawfully in the first place due to the fact that Citi Financial never issued a Default Notice before they sold my account to 1st Credit.

I wrote to 1st Credit on the 30-11-07 confirming the following:

xxxxxxxx

xxxxxxxxx

xxxxxxxxx

xxxxxx

xxxxxx

1st Credit

Administration Dept

PO Box 278

Reigate

Surrey

RH2 7WB

CC – Mr Ross Darbyshire, Citi Cards, Office of the Chief Executive.

Friday 30th November 2007

Dear Sir/Madam

Your Ref xxxxxxx

Client Citi Financial Europe PLC

Relating to Account Number xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Balance Outstanding £6,747.12

 

Before I continue I wish to establish that I am not seeking to avoid responsibility for any alleged debt or breach of any alleged agreement that I may have or have had.

 

I wrote to Mr Joe Simms on the 21st June 2007 requesting a copy of the executed agreement under the Consumer Credit Act (1974). I also asked for a statement of account. A copy of that letter is attached for ease of reference.

I also requested an executed deed of assignment documenting your involvement; this too has not been supplied.

 

Accordingly, it is my consideration that you have been unable to supply an agreement because no such agreement exists. Also as you may be aware my account is in dispute and I have made an official complaint to the Financial Ombudsmen Service.

 

Consequently I am unable to acknowledge any debt to your company

 

Your non-compliance with my request means that your company has committed an offence under Section 77 (4) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, summarily punishable by a Level 4 fine on the standard scale. I have also informed Citi Cards of the same information as detailed in my enclosed copy letter.

 

A credit agreement that is not properly documented and signed by the customer is totally unenforceable under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and is therefore a complete defence to any court claim that is issued. Please take note that any legal action you may contemplate will be vigorously defended and contested.

Furthermore your actions arguably do not comply with the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) Debt Collection Guidelines of July 2003, in that you have ‘communicated with [me] in an inaccurate or misleading manner (section 2.1) by ‘presenting information in that it creates a false or misleading impression’ and ‘failing to provide [me] with information on the status of debts’.

 

The fact that you have not provided me with a copy of the agreement negates any Notice of Default being served on me, as required by the conditions of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

 

Incidentally, if the documentation were to be produced, you will be aware that a default notice serves to cancel any original terms and conditions and as such cancels any right you or my creditor might have, implied or otherwise, to share my information without my consent.

I would then be looking to receive substantial compensation from your firm for this breach of my rights.

 

What I require

I require you with immediate effect to ensure that all data held by you regarding the alleged agreement/debt is removed from any and all Credit Reference Agency database.

 

Ensure that all data held by you regarding me is fully destroyed.

 

I require written confirmation of the above together with a quarterly statement that no data has been processed by you regarding me.

 

Failure to comply

• Failure to comply with my request under the Data Protection Act 1998 will result in the matter being referred to the Information Commissioner.

• Failure to comply with the requirements of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 will cause me to refer the matter to the Office of Fair Trading, and Trading Standards.

• Failure to comply with the requirements Office of Fair Trading guidelines will lead to a report being submitted.

• If you fail to comply with any or all of the above I reserve the right to take action against you without further contact.

I expect to hear from you within 12 working days from the date of this letter.

 

Failure to do so will be taken that you failed to comply with my request and I will consider the matter closed.

 

Any further action on your part or that of my alleged original creditor pursuant to your and/or their breaches of my statutory rights will be taken as a wilful act of harassment and each instance will be reported to the police.

 

Please note, I have also sent a copy of this letter to Citi Cards.

 

Yours faithfully,

xxxxxxxxx

 

Despite never providing any of the requested information in the aforementioned letter 1st Credit has insisted on harassing me for full payment of the alleged debt that they say I owe them. After sending the above letter, I have written several times subsequently to 1st Credit stating categorically, that I wished to only be contacted in writing and also requesting that my number be removed from their database which they have refused to do. They have ignored my requests on numerous occasions and have harassed me by calling me numerous times to speak about this matter.

 

The latest occurrences were in May 2011 when Connaught Collections, who are a “trading style” of 1st Credit phoned me several times to try to get me to reveal personal details and when I refused to do so the person on the other end of the phone stated that because I wouldn’t tell him who I was he wasn’t going to tell me who he was!

 

Following 1st Credit’s initiation of legal proceedings, I wrote to Mr Gavin Flynn, Head of Collections at 1st Credit on the 27-06-2011 informing him that because of the continued harassment, I intended to take action under Section 1 of the protection from Harassment act 1997 and Administration of Justice Act 1970 s 40 which makes it a criminal offence for a creditor or a creditors agent to make demands for money which are aimed at causing alarm, distress or humiliation, because of their frequency or manner, which 1st Credit have succeeded in doing.

 

This bombardment of written and verbal demands has caused me much stress, distress and alarm as well as humiliation within my family, due to the frequency and the manner in which 1st Credit have sought to make unreasonable demands on a debt that they have not proven they have a legal right to collect on and which was unlawfully sold to them originally.

 

Since 1st Credit started this harassment I have not responded to any of these threats of legal action and unreasonable demands for payment because I had already stated in my letter of 30-11-07 that as 1st Credit have acted unlawfully and have been unable to provide proof that I have any lawful obligation to them, I considered the matter closed and I would not communicate any further with them in this matter.

To date I have tried to be reasonable and have not reported the sustained harassment from 1st Credit to the police, however, as 1st Credit seem intent on continuing this harassment and have even instigated legal proceedings, it is now my intention to contact the police imminently and bring charges against them as well as contacting other organisations. I will also be seeking the maximum compensation available for the unlawful harassment I have been subjected to.

The last letter I sent to 1st Credit prior to them instigating legal action was dated 18-06-2010 and then from that point they have harassed me with demands for full payment and with threats of County Court Proceedings that “may” be instigated and threatening that a statutory demand would be issued under the Insolvency Act 1986. In total I have received 17 separate items of written communication as well as several harassing phone calls.

 

CONTRAVENTION OF OFT REQUIREMENTS FEBRUARY 2009

It is my contention that 1st Credit have contravened the requirements set out in a report dated 19-02-2009 by the OFT who imposed requirements on them over debt collection practices as they have now instigated legal action on the 21st June 2011 for a “debt” that they have no legal rights to collect upon.

In the OFT report dated 19th February 2009 entitled:-

REQUIREMENTS BY THE OFFICE OF FAIR TRADING (‘OFT’) PURSUANT TO SECTION 33A AND SECTION 33D(4) OF THE CONSUMER CREDIT ACT 1974 (‘the Act’) It states

“THE OFT REQUIRES AS FOLLOWS

1) That as of 19 February 2009

1.2 1st Credit shall not discuss legal action or the implications of such action with debtors unless one of the following applies

a) The debtor is unreasonably refusing to make payment;

b) The debtor is refusing to provide suitable evidence to justify an offer of payment;

c) The debtor is actively and unreasonably seeking to avoid the debt;

d) The debtor is not prepared to make a firm arrangement to clear the debt or to take appropriate steps to deal with the matter

e) The debtor has failed to adhere to a previously agreed arrangement;

f) Ist credit is invited to do so by the debtor, or their representative

g) A repayment offer is made which is unreasonable when the debtors financial circumstances are considered ; or

h) 1st Credit limited reasonably doubts the debtor has a commitment to make payments;

AND

i) There is a realistic prospect of legal action being taken”

 

It is my belief that by instigating legal proceedings 1st Credit have breached at least the following points a, c, d, (highlighted above)

 

I have, on several occasions in letters I have written to 1st Credit made it clear that I was not seeking to avoid responsibility for any of my financial obligations and at no time have I ever refused to make payments nor have I ever actively and unreasonably sought to avoid any debt I might lawfully owe and I have never given any indication whatsoever that I was not prepared to make a firm arrangement to clear the alleged debt or to take appropriate steps to deal with the matter.

 

I have actually written to Mr. Gavin Flynn, Head of Collections at 1st Credit on the 27-06-2011 and 05/07/2011 and categorically stated that I would be very happy to settle any financial obligation I might lawfully owe as soon as I received the following documentation from them:

1 Verification of their claim against me (a sworn affidavit or a hand signed invoice in accordance with the Bills of Exchange Act (1882) );

2 A Copy of a lawful contract signed by both parties and therefore binding both parties.

3 Validation of the debt (the actual accounting)

To date I have not received a response from Mr Flynn or anyone else at 1st Credit.

 

Statutory Demands

Connaught Collections (who are a trading style of 1st Credit and are located in the same building as 1st Credit) wrote to me on the 19-01-2010 and threatened that if I did not contact them within 7 days with a view to settling the account immediately or provide them with a good reason for non-payment, the matter would be passed to their Bankruptcy Department for the immediate issue of a Statutory notice under the Insolvency Act 1986.

The threat that a Statutory Demand would immediately be issued contravenes the requirements set out in the above mentioned report in relation to the threat of Statutory Demands being issued.

 

1ST CREDIT IS ACTING UNLAWFULLY BY PURSUING ME FOR AN ALLEGED DEBT THAT WAS SOLD TO THEM UNLAWFULLY AND ARE ATTEMPTING TO FRAUDULENTLY CLAIM INTEREST FOR A PERIOD WHEN THE ACCOUNT WAS IN DISPUTE.

1st Credit instigated legal proceedings against me on the 21-06-07 following two letters I received from Judge and Priestly Solicitors dated 03-05-2011 & 13-05-2011.

 

In both of the above mentioned letters, Judge and Priestly stated “We have been instructed by our client that you have failed to respond to all reasonable requests to settle the outstanding debt and have failed to identify any reason why the debt is not due or owing”.

 

In the last paragraph of both letters, they also stated “If you believe that there is a good reason for your failure to settle our client’s account, please advise them immediately upon receipt of this letter. If you do not respond to this letter it will be taken that you have no good reason for your failure to pay the account and that such sum is properly due and payable. We will refer to this letter on the question of costs should proceedings subsequently be issued”.

 

I wrote to 1st Credit on the 27-06-11 confirming that I had received the two letters from J&P and as stated above I have agreed to settle any financial obligation I might lawfully owe as soon as 1st Credit have provided the documentation I have requested.

 

It is my understanding that as I have offered them a conditional settlement this has removed any contention upon which a case in a court of law could be adjudicated on.

 

In the Particulars of Claim issued by 1st Credit from the Northampton County Court Bulk Centre they state that they are claiming statutory interest of £2,171.85 pursuant to Section 69 of the County Court Act 1984 at a rate of 8% per annum from the 08-06-07 to 20-06-2011 & thereafter at a daily rate of £1.47 until judgement or sooner payment.

 

I have the following contentions with this statement;

1) The Notice of Assignment (NOA) I received from Citi Financial was dated 11-06-07 and it stated that “with effect from the date at the top of this letter (11-06-07) under a written assignment, we have assigned your contract to 1st Credit Finance Limited.

 

Therefore as 1st Credit has stipulated a date of 08-06-07 as the date from which they are claiming interest, they are fraudulently and unlawfully trying to claim interest for a period before the date of the NOA.

 

2) As soon as I received the NOA in June 2007, I telephoned Citi Financial to try to ascertain why they had assigned my account to 1st Credit without issuing me with a formal default notice. I then registered a formal complaint with Citi Financial and the Financial Ombudsman on the 18-06-07.

 

As my account has been in dispute from the 18-06-07 (and potentially still is), 1st Credit have acted unreasonably and unlawfully in trying to claim for interest for a period when the account was officially in dispute.

 

3) I wrote to 1st Credit on the 08-03-2010 and stated categorically;

 

“In the 33 months that have elapsed since I first requested a true copy of a credit agreement, I have never received a copy of the agreement as required by S78 Consumer Credit Act 1974, nor any other information relating to same. As such, this account has become irredeemably unenforceable by law. As you are no doubt aware subsection (6) states:

If the creditor under an agreement fails to comply with subsection (1)—

(a) He is not entitled, while the default continues, to enforce the agreement; and

(b) If the default continues for one month he commits an offence.

As such, when the 12 working days expired (from your receipt of the request for the agreement and supporting documents) the account was in dispute, which your company was informed about and a complaint was lodged with the Financial Ombudsmen.

As you are aware whilst an account is in dispute the agreement is unenforceable and no interest can be added to the account nor can any action be taken against me. No adverse credit references or defaults can be listed against me with Credit Reference Agencies. The account should not have been passed to a Debt Collection Agency such as yourselves. And lastly, I am not obliged to make any further payments to the account. Essentially, the account was ‘held’ as it was on the date of the CCA request expiring (6th July, 2007)

 

4) 1st Credit is trying to charge Statutory Interest and it is my understanding that Statutory interest cannot be charged on a Consumer Credit Act regulated debt. It is also my understanding that the only interest that can be claimed is that specified in the Terms &Conditions of the agreement. So not only are 1st Credit frauduletnyl trying to claim interest for a period when the account was in dispute but the actual amount they are claiming is wrong.

It appears that as my account has been in dispute not only is the agreement that 1st Credit are seeking to recover payment on unenforceable, but 1st Credit are fraudulently trying to obtain interest unlawfully.

 

1st Credit has demanded payment when it has not been proven by a court of law that:

a. They are acting lawfully and

b. that my account is no longer in dispute (despite 1st Credit asserting that because I received a pile of photocopied papers from them they have complied with my previous requests for my original agreement and as such there was no longer a dispute!).

1st Credit has never provided me with:

• Any evidence that they have proof of agency in this matter.

• A true signed copy of the deed of assignment

• Evidence of any Default Notice or proof of postage

• A copy of a lawful contract signed by both parties

• Validation of the actual debt (the actual accounting)

• Verification of their claim against me (a sworn affidavit or a hand signed invoice in accordance with the bills of exchange act (1882))

 

CRIMINAL OFFENCE COMMITTED IN 2007 BY 1ST CREDIT: -

Having requested a true copy of my original credit agreement on 21-06-07 from 1st Credit under the legislation contained within section 78 (1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (s. 77 (1) for fixed sum credit), they did not respond within the statutory timescales which allowed 12 working days for my request to be carried out.

 

It is my understanding that as 1st Credit were unable to provide me with the information I requested within the 12 days, that they entered into a default situation on the 06-07-07. It is also my belief that because 1st Credit was unable to satisfy my request after a further calendar month on the 06-08-07 that they then committed a criminal offence.

 

It took 1st Credit over 33 months to send me what they claimed was a true copy of the agreement I had requested, although I have no evidence that this is the original credit agreement I had requested on the 21-06-07, as there were no signatures, either from myself or anyone at Citi Financial anywhere on paperwork they sent me.

 

I received a letter dated 01-06-2010 from a 1st Credit Compliance officer called Gemma Jackson in which she confirmed that comments I had written in letters to them in 2007 relating to 1st Credit having committed a criminal offence in 2007 may have been correct in 2007 but that because the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 section 3.12 states that this claim is “incompatible with the contract law” that my statement was now incorrect.

 

I appreciate that the regulations have changed since 2007; however, under the law as it was in 2007, 1st Credit did commit an offence on the 06-08-07 (before the regulations were changed). As they have committed an offence then it is my contention that they are guilty of acting unlawfully and I feel they need to account for this criminal offence.

 

PROCESSING OF MY PERSONAL DATA WHILST MY ACCOUNT WAS IN DISPUTE.

 

I believe that as Citi Financial failed to issue a Default Notice and then unlawfully sold my account, that following this it was unlawful for them or 1st Credit to process my personal data and they have contravened the Data Protection Act 1998.

 

I have requested that 1st Credit cease and desist all manual and automatic processing of my data within their company and any other company within their group which they have refused to do.

 

As stated above, in a letter dated 30-11-2007 to 1st Credit Admin Department, because they had failed to provide a copy of an agreement under the CCA 1974, I stated:

 

“What I require

I require you with immediate effect to ensure that all data held by you regarding the alleged agreement/debt is removed from any and all Credit Reference Agency database.

 

Ensure that all data held by you regarding me is fully destroyed.

 

I require written confirmation of the above together with a quarterly statement that no data has been processed by you regarding me.

 

Failure to comply

• Failure to comply with my request under the Data Protection Act 1998 will result in the matter being referred to the Information Commissioner.

• Failure to comply with the requirements of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 will cause me to refer the matter to the Office of Fair Trading, and Trading Standards.

• Failure to comply with the requirements Office of Fair Trading guidelines will lead to a report being submitted.

If you fail to comply with any or all of the above I reserve the right to take action against you without further contact.”

 

These very specific requests were totally ignored by 1st Credit and it is my belief that they have continued to unlawfully process my data against my will and as such 1st Credit are guilty of breaching my statutory rights.

[newman]

##UPDATE##

 

2 page Letter just arrived from LCS Solicitors and a Notice of Change of solicitor form signed by Colin Watts Paralegal with LCS.

 

I have scanned all three pages and blacked out my personal details and I want to paste it up but I have absolutely no idea how to do that. If someone can help me I will either paste the text or the actiual letter. At the moment my PC wont let me copy the text from the PDF Doc to the clipboard so I will have to attend to this later as I have to go now and give blood.

 

One other thing too - I the colour icon isnt working so I cant apply different colours to the text.

 

They have responded to all the points - not satisfactorily imho and have also agreed to an extension of time. there are some things which are just incorrect so hopefully I can get this letter posted up as it is as it will take a while for me to type it out if I cant, which I am happy to do if all else fails.

 

One funny bit in this letter is as follows - "We note you consider that you have a CPR PART 18 request outstanding and that you require further time within which to serve a defence. As to your request under Part 18, we refer to your letter dated 4 July 2011 addressed directly to our client at a time when you were well aware that Messrs. Judge and Priestly were on record as acting for the Claimant. The format of the request is familiar to us a being one freely available on the usual internet debt forums. Rather than take the procedural point, we will respond to the questions raised and will use your numbering to respond.

 

As Arnie said - I will be back - less 1 pint of my blood - given to a good cause I hasten to add - not the blood suckers I am dealing with in this !

[alfwithhair]

Try DX's guide

 

if users need to attach images they should use:

 

scan the required letters/agreements/sheets

as a picture file

remove all pers info inc barcodes etc using paint

but leave all figures and dates.

goto one of the many free online pdf converter websites

convert the image to pdf format.

or ir you have PDF as an installed printer drive use that

open a new msg box here

hit go advanced below the msg box

hit manage attachments below that box

hit the add files button on the top right

hit select files, navigate to your file on your pc

hit upload files

NB:you can set where it goes in the post by hitting insert inline.

the hit reply button

dx

[Undercover-Elsa]

Hmmmm. Got stuff to do, I'll be back a bit later...was just working on the N244 but looks like the goalposts have moved again.

 

Elsa

[count orlok]

Robert David Marr is a solicitor (I had made a comment but decided to remove it because of libel laws), but he works for 1st Credit and there is no such firm as LCS Solicitors, it only exists as an e-mail address and letterhead. One gets the feeling that they wheel out the LCS name to scare people into paying up, but then they wouldn't do that as it could be construed as a criminal offense under CPUTR and they are under warning from the powers that be (after all if they did anything wrong [as if] they might get told off again!).

[newman]

Alf thanks very much for that - my scanner does scan it as a pdf so I copied all the pages and marked out the personal stuff before I scanned it. So I will give this a go and see how I get on.

 

Elsa - Nothing is wasted and thank yoiu so much for your effort. It was a really good exercise and it focussed my mind as to what I would have said in the N244. We will use it all dont worry.

 

Count Orlok -

Robert David Marr is a solicitor (I had made a comment but decided to remove it because of libel laws), but he works for 1st Credit and there is no such firm as LCS Solicitors, it only exists as an e-mail address and letterhead. One gets the feeling that they wheel out the LCS name to scare people into paying up, but then they wouldn't do that as it could be construed as a criminal offense under CPUTR and they are under warning from the powers that be (after all if they did anything wrong [as if] they might get told off again!).

 

This is very interesting information and I have a note in my file that LCS went out of business on the xxxxxxx (sorry still at the blood donor session so will insert the date when I get back to the office.

 

These fools do not intimidate me now and I want to utilise everything I possibly can to make them work.

 

Ok lets see if I can get this PDF posted up. - Ideally both documents will be posted into the thread as it will be easier to compare whjat they have said in line with what I wrote in my CPR 18.

[newman]

Ah well that worked very well thank you Count but what I wanted to have the actual letter copied into the actual post. - I still cant copy the text of all the PDF to the clipboard so not sure whats going on there - I will try to convert the PDF to word format and then see if I can paste the text that way.

 

Anyway you can have a look at it now and by the time I get back to the office I will then have the rest of the day to sort this out.

110720 letter from LCS RE CPR 18 & Notice of Change Doc0001.pdf

[count orlok]

you've left your name on the pdf

 

BTW I got virtually the same letter from Robert when I sent him a pre-action request.

[Undercover-Elsa]

Yep you need to get your name off pronto. Are you there Newman? I've asked the site team to unapprove it for now.

 

Can you post up what they say they say is the agreement, supplied in 2010.

[newman]

110720a letter from LCS RE CPR 18 & notice of change.pdf

Yep you need to get your name off pronto. Are you there Newman? I've asked the site team to unapprove it for now.

 

Can you post up what they say they say is the agreement, supplied in 2010.

 

AAAgh - didnt see that - I will rescan in and repost it!!!!!!!! it must have been the loss of blood that left my head!!!!

 

The agreement for 2010 - blimey thats a lot of pages - i need to scan those (after checking for my name that is!)

 

how do i remove the PDF completely - or can the team do this for me?

 

Any thoughts on how to just paste the details straight into the post

 

Now you all know who I am

 

OK its done again - now to see if I can paste the actual content!!

Edited July 20, 2011 by newman

[Undercover-Elsa]

Edit post > advanced > scroll down > manage attachements

 

Was the agreement a recon in response to a CCA request?

[maroondevo52]

 

how do i remove the PDF

 

I've unapproved it, only Site Team and Admin can veiw.

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

LCS has not ceased to trade and is registered with the

Solicitors Regulation Authority Robert Marr is ''principal solicitor)

the office is staffed by paralegals.

[Undercover-Elsa]

Thanks Maroondevo

[newman]

Thanks guys - I cant seem to delete docs from the storage place - i am going to reboot and see if that sorts out things cos I just attached the newly scanned doc into my post above and it hasnt worked.

[newman]

OK try this one for size

 

lets see if I can get the whole thing pasted up too

110720a letter from LCS RE CPR 18 & notice of change.pdf

[Undercover-Elsa]

Hang on, if it's a recon just the front page, the page with the interest rates on and the page with anything about post judgement interest will do. Plus the letter they sent with it.

[Undercover-Elsa]

Please don't send anything back to them without getting other opinions first..you need to tread carefully now.

Elsa xx

 

PS: Cheeky devils, even if they'd sent a signed copy in 2010, you have a right to ask for a copy whenever you wish providing a month has elapsed since your last request, under s77-79.

Once proceedings start they should produce the original.

Edited July 20, 2011 by Undercover-Elsa

[newman]

Hang on, if it's a recon just the front page, the page with the interest rates on and the page with anything about post judgement interest will do. Plus the letter they sent with it.

 

AH ok but they sent through two separate lots of papwer work - let me scan as two separate docs and see what you think - apologies in advance if I scan too much

 

Please don't send anything back to them without getting other opinions first..you need to tread carefully now.

Elsa xx - Dont worry I am not doing anything until the A team has had a look at it!!

 

PS: Cheeky devils, even if they'd sent a signed copy in 2010 No Sigs anywhere at all), you have a right to ask for a copy whenever you wish providing a month has elapsed since your last request, under s77-79.

Once proceedings start they should produce the original.I am hoping and praying that they dont have a signed copy but a CPR request for the signed original will tell if they have it

 

OK I have managed to get the PDF converted to word doc and have tidied it up. The letter is fine but the Notice of Change is garbage - too many boxes so I willl leave that as per the attached PDF.