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    • I'm not sure on the best option here, I'm happy to go with Tomlin, however I can afford to pay this one in full if needed and wonder whether I should be trying to get a reduced amount, perhaps in the court hallway before going in? that would require submitting a WS of some sort. What I 'like' (strong word) about TO in this instance, is that it allows me to keep my savings to hand for further accounts needing attention in the near future and I would hope gives me some control over the pcm amount.. I've read a number of TO threads now (fell to sleep at the keyboard last night ) but have a few questions please: - Do I specify the payment arrangement in a TO or the claimant? I'm thinking 20% lump upfront plus 96 months of circa 60 squid. - Who decides repayment amounts if CCJ is granted? if the judge, then do I submit I&E at any point? Given the amount of total debt across all my claims, I need to ensure anything I commit to is future proofed. I wouldn't want all my disposable income sent to this one debt, only to have another one in a month or two.
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    • Few tweaks as the run order was completely messed up and the main point of your defence (reconstituted agreement) pushed to the bottom of the statement.   I, XXXXXX, being the Defendant in this case will state as follows; I make this Witness Statement in support of my defence in this claim and further to my set aside application dated 1 November 2022. 1.The claimants witness statement confirms that it mostly relies on hearsay evidence as confirmed by the drafts in person in the opening paragraph. It is my understanding they must serve notice to any hearsay evidence pursuant to CPR 33.2(1)(B) (notice of intention to rely on hearsay evidence) and Section 2 (1) (A) of the Civil Evidence Act. 2.  I understand that the claimant is an Assignee, a buyer of defunct or bad debts, which are bought on mass portfolios at a much reduced cost to the amount claimed and which the original creditors have already wrote off as a capital loss and claimed against taxable income as confirmed in the claimants witness statement exhibit by way of the Deed of Assignment. 3. As an assignee or creditor as defined in section 189 of the CCA this applies to this new requirement on assignment of rights.  This means that when an assignee purchases debts (or otherwise acquires rights under a credit agreement) it also acquires certain obligations to the borrower including the duty to comply with CCA requirements (such as the rules on statements and notices and other post-contractual information).  The assignee becomes the creditor under the agreement. This ensures that essential consumer protections under the CCA cannot be circumvented by assigning the debt to a third party. 4.  I became aware of original Judgement following a routine credit check on or around 14th September 2020. 5. The alleged letter of claim dated 7 January 2020 was served to a previous address which I moved out of in 2018, no effort was made to ascertain my correct address.  I have attached a copy of my tenancy agreement which is marked ‘Appendix 1’ and shows I was residing at a difference address as of 11 December 2018 and was therefore not at the service address at the time the proceedings were served.  I have also attached an email from my solicitors to the Claimants solicitors dated 14 July 2022 which was sent to them requesting that they disclose the trace of evidence they utilised prior to issuing the proceedings against me.  This is marked ‘Appendix 2’. The claimants solicitors did not provide me with these documents. 6. Under The Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims 2017 a Debt Buyer must undertake all reasonable enquiries to ensure the correct address of a debtor, this can be as simple as a credit file search. The Claimant failed to carry out such basic checks. Subsequently all letters prior to and including ,The Pre action Protocol letter of claim dated 7 January 2020 and the claim form dated 14th February 2020 were all served to a previous address which I moved out of in 2018. 7. Upon the discovery of the Judgement debt, I made immediate contact with the Court and the Claimant Solicitors, putting them on notice that I was making investigations in relation to the Judgement debt as it was not familiar to me.  I asked them to provide me with a copy of the original loan agreement but this was not provided to me.   The correspondence to the Claimant Solicitor's is attached and marked ‘Appendix 3’ 8. On (insert date) I successfully made application to set a side the judgment. The claim proceeded to allocation, 9. The claimant failed to comply with the additional directions ordered by District Judge Davis on the 2 February 2024 'The Claim shall be automatically struck out at 4pm on 3 April 2024 unless the Claimant delivers to the Court and to the Defendant the following documents.' None of these documents were received by the court nor the defendant by that date. (insert date you did receive the documents) I then sent a Data Subject Access Request to Barclays but no agreement was provided. Details the timeline of communication between myself and Barclays are attached and marked ‘Appendix 4’and the copies of correspondence between myself and Barclays are attached and marked ‘Appendix 5’. Remove irrelevant 10.The claimant relies upon and has exhibited a reconstituted version of the alleged agreement. It is again denied that I have ever entered into an agreement with Barclaycard on or around 2000.  It is admitted that I did hold other credit agreements with other creditors and as such should this be a debt that was assigned to Barclaycard from another brand therefore the reconstituted agreement disclosed is invalid being pre April 2007 and not legally enforceable pursuant to HHJ Judge Waksman in Carey v HSBC 2009 EWHC3417.  Details of this are attached and marked ‘Appendix 6’. The original credit agreement must be provided along with any reconstituted version on a modified credit agreement and must contain the names and address of debtor and creditor, agreement number and cancelation clause. 11. Therefore the claimant is put to strict proof to disclose a true executed legible agreement on which its claim relies upon and not mislead the court. 12. It is denied I have ever received a default Notice pursuant to sec 87(1) CCA1974.The claimant is put to strict proof to evidence from the original creditors internal document software the trigger of said notice.  13.   As per CPR 1.4(2)(a) the court encourages parties to cooperate with each other in the conduct of proceedings in order to try and save time and costs for the parties and to also save the time and resources of the court however, despite vast attempts at mediation the claimants have been most unreasonable and have remained unwilling to mediate. 14. Until such time the claimant can comply and disclose a true executed copy of the original assigned agreement they refer to within the particulars of this claim they are not entitled while the default continues, to enforce the agreement pursuant to section 78.6 (a) of the Credit Consumer Act 1974. I believe that the facts stated in this Witness Statement are true.  I understand that proceedings for contempt of court may be brought against anyone who makes, or causes to be made, a false statement in a document verified by a statement of truth without an honest belief in its truth. Signed                 ………………………………………………….. Name                  XXXX Date                     30 April 2024   Run 3 copies Court /Claimants Sol/File
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Fitness First - unfair notice of fee increase?


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Hi,

 

I'm after some advice about how to proceed with FF.

 

Background

I cancelled my membership in December after the fee increase notice they sent out coming in to effect in January(which I gather most members of FF received); I did this in the gym and was told I wouldn't have to pay for January so cancelled my direct debit. I recently received a letter from head office saying that I owed for January. I phoned up proceeded to have a 'discussion' with one of their credit people that I considered it unfair that I should follow the T&Cs regarding membership cancellation dates when they, in my opinion, haven't followed the T&Cs and given me a month's notice of the fee increase. So I refused payment.

 

I then wrote them a letter and told this to them, citing up the The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 and that I think they are in breach due to the fact that they sent out their letters on 30th November and thus there was no way I was notified with 1 month, as it was impossible for the letter to reach me in time. I have since received a final demand for payment prior to forwarding on to a debt collection agency.

 

Question

Have FF gone against trading standards or regulations by sending out these letters on the last day of the month with the intent of giving a month's notice? And if so, can I use this as reason not to pay the 'extra' month that resulted? I don't really want the debt collectors after me, so can I keep things in play without that happening? It's not a case of a large amount of money, but on principle I believe they should be called to explain their actions.

 

Thanks

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Hi Plimsol,

 

If you read other threads here, you'll find many that refer to FF as well as other gyms that folks are having problems with.

 

This one, in particular, may be of interest to you - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?290534-Loz-v-Fitness-First-re-Gym-Membership

 

8-)

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Hi Plimsol,

 

Noooo !! :!:

 

Read other threads to learn about other cases but use THIS thread to discuss your own case. Otherwise we end up with cases being mixed up and threads being hijacked.

 

I see you've posted on Loz's thread which is fine and you've had a useful reply.

 

8-)

Edited by slick132
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so i spoke to a legal advisor, they reckoned that my argument using the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 wasn't going to be much good. In fact, she said that whatever the fault of FF in their failure to give notice, they still are within their rights to expect the notice period in the contract. Not what I wanted to hear. She thought the best I could argue for was not to pay the fee increase.

FF still haven't responded to any of my letters. Last I heard they were giving me 7 days notice before sending me on to the debt collectors. I suspect I will hear from CARS any day now. I will give them a ring tomorrow to see if they will acknowledge anything, but to be honest in the face of the advice I've had I can't see much point in carrying this game on.

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Hi Plimsol,

 

I wonder if the CPUT Regs 2008 may offer you help. See here - http://www.consumerwiki.co.uk/index.php/The_Consumer_Protection_from_Unfair_Trading_Regulations_2008

 

Sections 1,2 and 3 may be relevant.

 

Was the Legal Advisor from CAB or elsewhere.

 

Gyms, their Admin Companies and the DCA's that act for them are having an increasingly hard time now. The OFT case against Ashbourne Management will, I'm sure, have a significant impact on the way gyms run their m/ship admin in the future.

 

If you feel you are being unfairly treated, fight them. They may threaten court action but I've not seen any cases go to court apart from individuals taking court action AGAINST the gym or Admin Co.

 

The only thing to watch out for is the posting of any adverse data on your credit files. Keep an eye out for this and, if they do this, challenge them vigorously.

 

8-)

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Hi Slick,

 

the legal advisor was from DAS through my home insurance. What do I need to be careful of regarding my credit files? I haven't looked at them for a couple years; once something is on there will I be able to get it removed? That's what bothers me most about a DCA chasing me. Whether I'm in the right or wrong, I could get lumbered with something on my history which I can't really afford to have on there.

 

thanks, though, that's an interesting set of regs. I may change tack on my argument and see if this can be acted on by the OFT.

 

cheers

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Hi Plimsol,

 

You can get a copy of your credit file by sending a request and paying £2 to Experian, Equifax or the other one (that I can't recall just now).

 

You can also get a free 30 day trial on-line with Experian but you have to ensure you cancel in accordance with their requirements or you WILL be charged.

 

You will be looking for any adverse data posted by the gym or their administrators, saying you are in arrears. If something is posted incorrectly, you can challenge it and get it removed. However, this may take some time and effort on your part.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

well I decided to pay them the final month of membership, it was at the original rate and not the increased rate. Unfortunately now isn't a good time for me to take risks with my credit rating plus as an obsessive it was preying on my mind a bit much - which is annoyingly part of their tactic!

 

I would still like to take action against them; does anyone know if the OFT has any teeth if I make a complaint? Or is there any mileage in trying to claim off FF?

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Hi Plimsol,

 

The OFT don't deal with individual complaints - that would be the FOS.

 

Personally, I don't think it 's worth your while making a formal complaint. You chose to pay, so now enjoy the peace of mind, knowing this is dealt with.

 

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thanks for the advice slick.

 

It disgusts me that companies like FF get away with what they do - they aren't worth my time or energy. I'll just have to take satisfaction that they will never have a penny of mine again and will lose far more revenue in the long run through my bad mouthing than they gained from me through their petty money grabbing :mad2:

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