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

[Loser4u]

Don't send them a cheque. They will cash it and will state they thought it was a payment.

Send them a letter offering full and final payment with a % based on the outstanding amount I think there is a template on here you can use.

Start small as you can always increase your offer after a suitable time period has elapsed.

You will need to state that payment will be made by third party

You are are only able to do his due to the help from family and friends for a limited time period.

They will reject your first offer and may counter with their offer.

If they offer to accept as partial settlement do not accept as they or another DCA will come after you for the rest of the balance

 

see this for help

National Debtline England & Wales | Debt Advice | Factsheet 24 Full And Final Settlement Offers

 

It won't be a quick process and the longer you take the more inclined they will be to accept your offer

Edited September 22, 2010 by Loser4u
Added link

[PGH7447]

do not make any payment until the write and agree a full and final, that also stipulates they will NOT sell on the remaining debt

[nikki1982]

Let me know how you get on..... I am currently awaiting some more free paper to clean up any cat accidents!

 

Nik x

[count orlok]

BTW it isn't Mary on the next desk, it is Robert

[babybear39]

Subscribing with interest...

[newman]

OK Here we go with more updates. BTW all of the following have been ignored and are on the file

 

29-09-2010 - Letter from Mr Gavin Flynnead of collections

states - " in times of economic hardship we wish to help you clear your debt"!

We are curently in a position to allow generous discounts to many of our customers (funny didnt I say numerous times that I dont acknowledge any debt t them?)

We will not be able to make this offer indefinitely

we are pleased to offer you a discount of up to 30% - (if paid in ful within 7 days)

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

 

15-10-2010

Another letter -from Mr Flynn- in VERY BIG BOLD TYPE this time with an annual statement showing zero payments ion last 12 months.

YOU PAY 70%

WE PAY 30%

or a reducing percentage if I need longer to pay!

 

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

 

05-11-2010 Notice of assignement from Citi FInancial!!!!

notifying me they had assigned my contract onthe 18-06-07

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-00-0-

 

18-11-2010 - mr Flynn again

 

"County Court PRoceedings"

I regret the sum remains outstanding, we may issue possible County Court Litigation against you.

If successful it may result in ;

 

*substantial legal costs and interest being charged therafter

Debt £6727.12

Court Fees £225.00

Solicitors Fixed Costs £100

Statutory Interest £1,589.44

TOTAL COST £8,641.56

 

Entry of your name in the COunty COurt Judgement Register, making it very difficult to obtain credit inthe future

 

SUbsequent failure to payment could result in

seizure of assetts by County Court Baliff

application for attachement of earnings (- ha ha I am self employred!!)

Charging order on property

blah, blah, blah

 

Take this as a final opportunity to make contact

to avoid any otential litigation please call 000000000000

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

 

Now I have just filed this with the rest of them but my wife is very worried - any suggestions?

 

Keep on ignoring them or if not then what should we do?

 

thank you in advance

[babybear39]

Ifs and maybes...If you do get a county court claim from them give us a shout

[Master Chief]

Subbing

[babybear39]

With the greatest respect - whilst you keep replying to them, they will see you as an easy target and someone who can be "frightened with the right amount of pressure", ignore these powerless clowns and report them to the OFT,trading standards.

They wont take you anywhere near a court as it will cost them money to do so and the court by its very nature/set up, would be on your side anyway in terms of legal rights and protections etc..

 

In an ideal world maybe but we aren't in one even close...

[newman]

Ifs and maybes...If you do get a county court claim from them give us a shout

 

Baby Bear - Thanks very much for your offer - this is very much appreciated.

 

With the greatest respect - whilst you keep replying to them, they will see you as an easy target and someone who can be "frightened with the right amount of pressure", ignore these powerless clowns and report them to the OFT,trading standards.

They wont take you anywhere near a court as it will cost them money to do so and the court by its very nature/set up, would be on your side anyway in terms of legal rights and protections etc..

 

Mr TK1 - Thanks for your contribution, however, I think you may have read this incorrectly because at the very start of my post tonight, I stated that all of the letters that have been received since Sept have been ignored and have been put on the file. I have not replied to this bunch for many months. I was replying to them in the past it is true but no more.

 

I have had years of juggling with numerous creditors and as much as we are trying to do what we can to chip away at our debts and be responsible consumers, it doesent help when people like this try the tactics they employ. I think because I am now ignoring them they are not happy.

 

In a way I hope they do take me to court but at the moment both my wife and I have more important things to worry about like paying next months mortgage and putting food on the table.

 

I have become quite hardened by the antics of these people I am happy to put the letters away no when they arrive instead of feeling some moral obligation to respond immediatley and get into this war of words and arguments over technicalities.

 

 

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0--0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0--0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0--0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0--0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

 

Master Chief - Sorry but I don't understand your comment - Sorry.

Edited November 24, 2010 by newman

[newman]

ignore these powerless clowns and report them to the OFT,trading standards.

.

 

MrTK1 - This has got me thinking - I have threatened to take them to OFT, Trading Standards etc before however, because I am no expert in this area at all I didnt carry through on my treats. Before I do that I need to know what to write and on what grounds I can report them. Also, before now both my wife and I have, to be honest, been worn down by the letter writing and we just wanted some breathing space.

 

I am now however, ready for the next round so to speak and I wonder, as you have suggested that I report them to he OFT & TS, are you able to offer me any help or point me in the direction of a template letter that I can modify.

 

I know the law has changed in relation to a creditor only having 30 days to produce your original credit agreement or they have committed an offence but I do like the idea of being able to report this lot and a couple of our other creditors who have been equally as unreasonable, but because I havent heard from them for a long time I am not going to rock the boat with them.

 

I would be very happy to write to them as long as I knew what legal grounds I stood on to make a complaint.

 

What I dont want to do is write to TS & OFT and open a can of worms and then have to get into another round of trading blows with 1st C because of the complaints I raise, if you understand what I mean.

 

Any help greatly appreciated.

Edited November 25, 2010 by newman

[babybear39]

There IS NO 30 day offence. That was repealed by the CPUTR 2008. Account can be put in dispute after the 12 + 2 WORKING days if the CCA request remains unfurnished. Please be advised that you MUST write recorded delivery that you are doing so with the current chasing DCA/OC.

[newman]

There IS NO 30 day offence. That was repealed by the CPUTR 2008. Account can be put in dispute after the 12 + 2 WORKING days if the CCA request remains unfurnished. Please be advised that you MUST write recorded delivery that you are doing so with the current chasing DCA/OC.

 

Thanks Baby Bear

 

I have done exactly what you have suggested - quick summary here

 

We were making reduced payments as we couldnt pay the min amount and then CF assigned the "debt". I then wrote to CF to ask why when they had accepted my payment proposals had they assigned the "debt". They had in fact sold the debt as 1st C informed me when I called them. Because of this we then registered a formal complaint against CF put the account in dispute in June 2007 with Citi and made a complaint to the Fin Ombudsmen (which was as much good a a choc fireguard!).

 

I then wrote recorded delivery to 1st C recorded del 21 June 07 asking for a true copy of my original credit agreement and paid the £1 postal order.

 

I then wrote to the CHief exec of 1st C in Nov2007 and requested that as they hadnt been able to supply my original agreement that the remainder of my "debt" be written off and the default on my credit file be removed. I Also wrote at exactly the same time to 1st C asking that all data held about me be destroyed and that all data held about me relating to CF be removed from any credit ref agency and I asked for a quarterly statement. -

 

I also said that if I didnt have a response within 12 working days that I would consider the matter closed.

 

Both letters were ignored

 

What they seem to be happy to do is ignore the law in respect to how quickly they are supposed to respond within an alloted timeframe.

 

I think the time has come to now start writing other letters but to the right people this time like the OFT, Trading standards etc but I really need to know which is the correct letter to write r - any thoughts on this.

 

Also I do seem to remember reading on here a while ago that someone had reported a DCA to the police for harrasment as they hadnt supplied the original credit agreement withn th alloted timerames but had still kept chasing for recovery of the "debt" - any thoughts on if this is an option?

Edited November 25, 2010 by newman

[Master Chief]

Master Chief - Sorry but I don't understand your comment - Sorry.

 

Merely stating my interest in your thread and that I have subscribed to it. That way i get notifications when something new is posted

[newman]

Merely stating my interest in your thread and that I have subscribed to it. That way i get notifications when something new is posted

 

Ah I see - thanks for taking an interest - my very own fan club wey hey there's a 1st!

[newman]

Well it seems they dont want to give up.

 

I have just received another letter this morning from 1st C headed "County Court Proceedings"

 

Stating " I regret the sum detailed remains outstanding. As we have no record of a reply to our last letter we are therefore considering County Court Litigation against you.

 

If successful it may result in ..... - Exactly same summary as I mentioned above but this time at the bottom they have increased the amount I would have to pay to 80% and they have offered to pay 20% instead of the 70/30 deal they offered a while ago.

 

For you hardened experts I am sure this may be something you would tell me to ignore but I have to say that I am more concerned now than I was before I opened this letter.

 

If they do decide to take this to court (and i accept that they probably wont) can anyone tell me how to fight this please? I want to be prepared if I get the letter that says they have losged a calim with the county court.

 

I am still interested to know also if anyone can suggest what type of letter I should write to the OFT & Trading Standards and possibly the police.

 

It would be good to know which sections of what act I could use to get them off my backl as the ignore them tactic isnt working at the moment.

 

Help needed please!

[Loser4u]

If your debt was enforcable they would not be offering a reduced settlement & you would have been taken to court quickly after they had bought the account

Do you have the default notice and have you sent a DSAR to the original creditor. If not you should do this and if you have but you still haven't got the default notice make a pest of yourself until you get the original creditor to admit they don't have it

If you do have it scan it in minus personnal data for us to check if it is correct.

Also do you have a notice of assignment from the original creditor

 

Send a recorded letter to 1st credit thanking them for their recent letters and that the contents are noted.

Include in the letter that this account is in dispute and unenforcable with the agreement that you have and this dispute was sent by recorded delivery on dd/mm/yyyy which was signed for on the dd/mm/yyyyy

If you didn't send it by recorded delivery include a copy in this letter.

 

The more reasons you can find for the debt being unenforcable the better and the quicker they will go away.

You may also be able to negotiate a more favourable reduced settlement at a later date.

 

If they do take you to court don't worry about it as the court is their for both parties not just them and if they did win any payment would be based on your payment ability

Edited November 27, 2010 by Loser4u
Typos

[count orlok]

Also please note that they are only considering litigation, and if successful it may result in -------- (insert what ever you wish). On more than one occasion you have proberbly been considering buying a lottery ticket and if you were lucky you may-------- win millions, but it is not very likely.

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

1ST Credit seem to have developed the habit of using the court system to intimidate, starting

off by using Judge & Priesltley LLP real solicitors based in Bromley Kent, to issue court claims then

telling J & P to hand the case over to the mysterious LCS once the claim has been issued,they

then have the action stayed if a defence is entered.

The managers at the Northampton County Court Bulk Centre are aware of this as is The Solicitors

Regulation Authority, I have also written recently to the Department of Justice regarding this,they are

investigating.

[alfwithhair]

It thought Judge Priestly was Conoughts pet monkeys?

Had all this before with 1st Credit

Use there so called solicitors LCS first, then pass the account to Conoughts who they advise Judge Preistly to intimidate

But I read on here that LCS are not in business any longer and haven't been for a while, so how can they be sending letter out?

Mine was similar MO to your only Barclayshark, no CCA loads of discount offers, been round all of them, then back to 1st credit, no sign of any court papers, not even heard from them in 18 months

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

I have spoken to J & P's complaints manager, it does seem that they are being used

to '' misuse'' the court system a small check show a large number of claims going through

this process then being stayed and no further contact being made especially if 1ST Credit

are relying on reconstructed CCA's or spurious mystery payments that set back the statute

barred clock.

All this gives me the feeling that 1ST Credit are in the mire (the deeper the better)!!

[newman]

If your debt was enforcable they would not be offering a reduced settlement & you would have been taken to court quickly after they had bought the account

Do you have the default notice and have you sent a DSAR to the original creditor. If not you should do this and if you have but you still haven't got the default notice make a pest of yourself until you get the original creditor to admit they don't have it

If you do have it scan it in minus personnal data for us to check if it is correct.

Also do you have a notice of assignment from the original creditor

 

Send a recorded letter to 1st credit thanking them for their recent letters and that the contents are noted.

Include in the letter that this account is in dispute and unenforcable with the agreement that you have and this dispute was sent by recorded delivery on dd/mm/yyyy which was signed for on the dd/mm/yyyyy

If you didn't send it by recorded delivery include a copy in this letter.

 

The more reasons you can find for the debt being unenforcable the better and the quicker they will go away.

You may also be able to negotiate a more favourable reduced settlement at a later date.

 

If they do take you to court don't worry about it as the court is their for both parties not just them and if they did win any payment would be based on your payment ability

 

Loser 4 U - thank you so much for such a quick and detailed response.

 

The threat to start litigation actaully started in August with a letter just headed LEGAL PROCEEDINGS and they said thethey intended taking laegal proceedings.

 

On the matter of the default notice, I cant seem to see anywhere in the file where they have issued a specific default notice, however, when I raised this with 1st C in a letter earlier this year, they stated that "following a conversation with Citi Financal in June 2007, we were advised that a default notice had been sent to you the previous May" (which we never received). They also stated "we do not consider the matter of whether a default notice has been sent to you is relevant. Please can you explain why you believe it to be so? We note that the CCA 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 pof a regulated agreement - a) to terminate the agreement or b) to demand earlier payment of any sum. We consider ther is no requirement to terminate your agreemen as we are solely clainming accrued arrears. Nor are we demanding earlier payment

 

What they have issued are 2 Notices of assignment - one on the 11-06-07 and another one they sent though on the 05-11-2010. I have no idea why they have sent a second one three years after the first one.

 

I havent asked for a DSAR - I dont know what this is sorry - Can you give me an explanation of what this is and why I need to request it?

 

In one of my letters earlier in the year I did state that the account was in disupte and that the agreement was unenforceable and their reply was "We are aware that the copy agreement was not supplied within the specified time period, however, on provision of this document, the debt has once again become enforceable and therefore your assertion that this debt is "irredeemably unenforceable" is incorrect".

 

They also state that the "creditor is not obliged to make an actual photcopy of the agreement and that because they have sent me what is supposedly a true copy of my agreement, they have complied with the obligations of the law. As the copy of the agreement and Statement of Account has been supplied, our obligations regarding your request for information under section 78 of the CCA 1974 have been fulfilled and the default no longer continues".

 

They also stated "We advise that your request for us to remove your data from either our records or the credit reference agencies is unjustified as you have a debt tha is due and payable with no clear substantiated dispute".

 

So as someone else stated earlier we are in a bt of a tennis match - they claim they have fulfilled their obligations and that there is no clear substantiaed dispute and as such I owe them the money.

 

As I mentioned earlier I did ask them if they could confirm if my original request for information was complied with within the statutory legal limits an they have actualy admitted that it was not but they maintain that this makes no difference to the fact that the debt is still now due even though it took over three years fro them to produce what they claim is my agreement and as they have supplied this document this means that I dont have a substantiated dispute . - what they suplied could have been anybodies agreement.

Edited November 27, 2010 by newman
typos

[newman]

Also please note that they are only considering litigation, and if successful it may result in -------- (insert what ever you wish). On more than one occasion you have proberbly been considering buying a lottery ticket and if you were lucky you may-------- win millions, but it is not very likely.

 

Thanks very much Count orlok - I agree - I have never done the lottery but hae considered it a few times but ever wasted my money on it.

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

This again is their standard procedure to supply terms and conditions having just your address

and the OC's.

 

SAR is a Subject Access Request there is a template letter in the library here, the fee is £10.00

send postal order by RD DO NOT SIGN IT they are known to ''Misuse''signatures .

This will give you all the data that they hold on you and your account.

The request should go to the original creditor.

 

They have 40 days to comply.

[alfwithhair]

I told them in my last letter;

 

you are fully entitled to an opinion that what you have sent is enforceable. Whether or not that is true in law will ultimately, be a matter for a Court to decide.

I will enter in to no further discussion regarding the matter until a Judge has ruled on the aforementioned document.

Like I said before never heard from them in 18 months or anybody else regarding this matter