GE Capital / Santandar to Howard Cohen. Court papers issued

[Herb]

Hi All,

I took out a BHS store card in 2002 and due to unemployment and other issues have been unable to make payments lately.(store card maximum was £250)

At some point Santandar have taken over from GE Capital and I received a notice from Northampton in December stating that something had been filed by Howard Cohen for £420.00

I sent an “embarrassed defence” in January and Howard have replied last week with a GE contract and four statements maximum dated 2009 and 2010.

I do not know what my next step should be and i was thinking that good people here would be able to help.

Many Thanks,

Herb

[alfwithhair]

What are the Particulars of Claim (POC) on the court papers

Did you receive a default notice

Are there penalty charges in the balance claimed

When did you stop making payment to the account

Have you heard from the courts since entering your defence

[Herb]

Hi Alfwithair,

 

I don’t have the POC to hand but will post the details here later.

 

hi alfwithhair,

Yes the store card was for £250.00,although in years i have been charged late payments and not making payments.

 

I wrote to them and other creditors in September 2010 with a budget breakdown and my income with me requesting to pay £1.00 which was rejected.

 

I have not been able to make payments at all and now they want me to pay £400+

 

Since entering my defence i have not heard from the courts although i have received a letter and GE credit agreement from Howard and friends!

 

Regards,

 

Herb

[alfwithhair]

Any chance you could post the agreement up on here (minus personal details) so we can see if it enforceable

[Herb]

I have them on PDF and trying to convert them to word so i can put them here.

 

having a bit of trouble. will do it though today.

 

Thanks.

[Herb]

Hi,

 

Attached GE capital agreement and Howard Cohen letter.

 

Regards,

 

Herb

GE Capital-Santander-Howard Cohen.pdf

[alfwithhair]

It not that clear, but even though it an application form it does seem to contain all that is necessary.

One thing that does puzzle me is Cohen's statement of why they can't supply NOA.

I have never heard of Santander using Cohen's. CL Finance/Lewis's are Cowen's bum chums.

They are correct in that Santander own GE Money now, but is very unusual, if fact I have never seen it for the original creditor to take action using this slimy bunch of solicitors and especially not for a few hundred quid.

 

It ponders the question, are they rearly acting on behalf of Santander? I am sceptical on that one.

Now they want you to pull your defence.

I smell a rat.

 

I think you need to get a CPR request off to Cohen's ASAP

 

The POC would be a great help. We can see whats what then.

 

I have seen a few recent threads around the various advice sites regarding Cohen's starting court action on ex store cards, which they claim have turned into credit cards, but no new agreement signed.

 

Did you receive a Default Noice from Santander?

Have you had any notification from Santander regarding this account?

[cerberusalert]

Now they want you to pull your defence.

I smell a rat.

 

Why the 'Without Prejudice' on the letter? After all there is nothing in there untowards.

[alfwithhair]

Will move this threat to Legal Issues for you, it is better placed there.

[debbbbsy]

This is odd. Santander don't directly instigate proceedings. They pass it to the Lewis Group, which encompasses a few DCA's.

 

Do the CPR 31.14 request.

 

If it hasn't been assigned, then a copy of the instruction from there client.

Have they supplied the Default Notice.

 

I'm afraid the application/agreement looks good. So you need to concentrate on looking at the procedures followed prior to instigating the claim.

 

Go through the statements & deduct all those charges.

[alfwithhair]

This is odd. Santander don't directly instigate proceedings. They pass it to the Lewis Group, which encompasses a few DCA's.

 

.

 

Thats exactly what I thought.

I think their asking for you to pull the defence might be to try for judgement by default.

[Herb]

Hi,

 

The claim form from Northampton states "the claimants claim is for the sum of £420 being monies due from the defendant to the claimant under a regulated credit agreement made in writing under reference XXXXXXXXXX.

 

The defendant has failed to make payment in accordance with the terms of the agreement and a default notice has been served upon the defendant pursuant to section 87(1) of the consumer credit act 1974.

the claimant claims the sum of £420.

 

Speaking of Lewis Group-i have just come across a letter from Howard Cohen that came in the same week as the county court form which says that if i want to discuss the county court claim i should contact LEWIS DEBT RECOVERY.

[alfwithhair]

There is something not right here.

Cohen state they are acting for their client SANTANDER, but they then say to contact LEWIS. Therefore the account MUST have been assigned to them.

But Cohen say it hasn't?

 

They again mention a Default Notice in the POC. Have you received a Default Notice ?

 

I am not an expect on the legal side of things, but, as far as I am aware LEWIS cannot initiate court action unless they are the LEGAL owners of the debt. So the account would have to have been sold to them. Having said that, they would be refering to their client as 'LEWIS then. As they are not, it would be assumed they are only acting as agents for SANTANDER. There is also no mention of an assignment in the POC.

 

Yes Cohen can start proceeding for SANTANDER but not without being instructed to do so.

 

A CPR 31.14 request is the way to go here I think.

 

You need some expert advice from one of our legal eagles on the site rearly as to what you need to request.

I am sure we will get to the bottom of this.

 

There might not be much in the way of replies today as its weekend, but sure someone in the know will be available tomorrow

Sit tight.

[Herb]

I did do a CPR31:14 about 5 weeks ago as soon as i made the defense to northampton and what came with the attached letter above from Cohen was a default notice from Santander dated end april 2010.

 

Its all puzzling.what should my next step be? will the courts write to me in due course?

 

the fact that the default notice received is dated 6 months old could it mean that its actually lewis and not santander?

[alfwithhair]

Can you post the DN on here (minus personal details) so we can have a gander.

Have you checked your credit file recently to see if this default is recorded on it..

 

You need to look back through all the Letters from both LEWIS and SANTANDER. See if any of them state this account has been either SOLD or LEGALLY ASSIGNED and when

[Herb]

i will have access to a scanner tomorrow so it will go up here.

 

i will also try and get a credit check to see if the default is on there.

[alfwithhair]

Picked this up from another threat that may be appropriate

 

In order for the original creditor to sell (or assign) the debt to someone else- YOU have to be informed- and the law of property act says that you must be served with the Notice of Assignment- this must be by personal service or by some form of "recorded" delivery (signed for by you).

 

if you are not thus served- then the assignment has not been lawfully completed- so if the claimant in any proceedings against you is not shown as the original creditor- then they have no "cause of action" - in other words they cannot satisfy the court that they are the proper owners of the debt since you were not served properly.

 

thus their claim cannot proceed against you.

 

there may of course be other arguments in defence

 

(OP Diddydick)

[cab1ne]

this little gem, is more confusing than mine.

 

cab

[Herb]

Hi ,

 

Attached is the default notice from Santander.

 

does anyone please know what my next step should be.

 

Thanks very much.

 

Herb

Santander Def Notice.PDF

[cerberusalert]

The DN is defective it is not date specific as to when the default has to be remedied by + it is not dated itself.Consumer Credit (Enforcement, Default and Termination Notices) Regulations 1983.pdf

[Herb]

Thanks for your response. So if the DN is defective due to Santander stating when all should be remedied by what should i do now?

 

The DN is dated in May 2010, i have removed the date for ID purposes. i.e the DN sender could look up the date and trace my case.