1st credit Stat demand

[zolajack]

I hope someone can give me some advice here. Had a man called at my door and handed me a load of forms , when I asked said what were they he said it was from 1st credit and a demand , not having my glasses with me , although i made out the words statuary demand , I handed them back , said I didn't want them and went to close the door he said they have been served and picked them up from the floor I had by then closed the door so wasn't in possesion of them.

I admit that I owe the over £3000 and did have a payment plan with them untill last year when the threats and phone calls got too much, so I stopped paying. I have been down the cca route and recieved the agreement from them and various Solicitors letters /threats, and untill today thought they had gone away.

Was I wrong to refuse the papers , and do you think they will go down the bankrupcy route now evev though I have not got the demand. I did not sign for them btw.

Thanks in aprehension.

[harrassed senior]

It is best to always consider the receipt or service of a Statutory Demand serious.

 

Even though you havn't got the papers it may well be deemed that they have been served - all it would require is a sworn affadavit from the guy trying to deliver.

 

A difficult one this as if they go down that route they could well end up getting it through Court because you will not be able to defend not having the papers.

 

Hopefully, what will happen is that they will now be sent by post and you will receive them in the next few days.

 

Are you sure that the Agreement they send in response to your CCA request is enforceable, have you had it checked out on here yet.

 

Having said that, I would think they are assuming it is ok as that would why they have issued the SD.

 

In answer to your final question, if the SD goes to Court with you not defending, then yes, they could go down the bankruptcy route, but hopefully we can help stop that before it happens.

[zolajack]

Thanks for the quick reply. I have just found the SD on my doorstep. I don't think i have a leg to stand on really, as the cca they sent me was above board. It was a MBNA loan agreement and looks like a copy of the original.

Would Connaughts (the server) usually accept another repayment plan in your opinion? or will they carry on with the bankruptcy.

Cheers

[harrassed senior]

Firstly, are you a home own, a car, etc. This would make bankruptcy proceedings more likely, but it costs them, the DCA an awful lot of money to issue bankruptcy proceedings.

 

If you are sure that all paperwork is correct and above board, then I would make an offer of payment.

 

Work out an Income and Expenditure for yourself, make sure all priority debts etc. are taken into account , then living expenses, before deciding how much you can afford to comfortably afford to maintain.

 

If you are in receipt of any benefits then it would be probable that even if this went to Court, a judge would only order you to pay £1 per month

 

If you do go ahead and make an offer, do not under any circumstances set up a Direct Debit always insist on paying by Standing Order.

[lilly white]

OK Mbna have sold a debt to these people......I may be of the pace here however may i ask did you received An assignment...notice

[zolajack]

Hi Liliwhite, yes, gone the whole hog with these people. Default from MBNA, letter of assignment from 1st crud set up a repayment with them, then they got greedy and started with the threats of doorstep calls, Bailliffs etc, unless I upped the payments. Untill I came across this exellent forum, I was absolutley terrified of them. I CCA'd them and they sent me a copy of the agreement, (I had the Original) which was basically the same with my signature. When I stopped paying I had letters from amongst others J&P, Debt Help Services, LCS Solicitors, DLA Direct.

Looking through the 1st credit file I have found another SD from 2007 signed by David Barry Davies solicitor, which wasn't acted upon, so i wonder if this is another shot across the bows.

[jimbo45]

Hi there

I think DCA's now who used to GREEDILIY go down the Charging Order route have decided that issuing SD's is much more likely to get results for them.

 

First CO stops INTEREST stone dead for any debt covered by the CCA's. They've finally realised that getting a CO is not the Cash Cow they thought it was.

 

Secondly they can often have to wait YEARS until you move or sell the house before they get paid -- often by then inflation will have eaten away the debt to almost nothing.

 

Thirdly -- there is displeasure in various govt circles at this mechanism for turning unsecured debt like Credit Card debt into secured debt especially for amounts of under 25,000 GBP.

 

Finally -- a forced order of sale will almost NEVER EVER be granted-- only a handful of these are ever granted and then for really extreme cases so it really isn't a solution for them.

 

Getting an SD means that YOU actually have to take some sort of action --meanwhile Interest and other charges pile up.

 

The best thing in this case IMO is to offer either a full and final amount or try and make some payment arrangement - even though paying ANY slimy DCA goes 100% totally against the craw.

 

SD's actually are a better weapon for DCA's than CO's although a lot haven't changed yet --expect more to do so as the CO process becomes more discredited.

 

 

Note of course Doorstep calls are NOT allowed unless you want to make an appointment -- you can have such callers removed by Police and charged with trespass if they don't go away and as for Bailiff's -- the less said about these obnoxious vermin the better. But before these can be used a Court judgement has to be obtained --say a CCJ and then this not complied with, The creditor then has to go back to court to get a warrant of execution and I doubt that a typical house these days have enough saleable items to make this a worthwhile option -- and in any case Bailiff's for civil debt can't force their way on to your property either.

 

Cheers

jimbo

Edited February 11, 2011 by jimbo45

[zolajack]

Has anybody come across Assist debt recovery and creditor service.

A letter arrived today to say that an agent called to serve a Bankruptcy petition on behalf of 1st credit and I was unfortunately not available. (I'm virtually house bound and allways in)

A further attendance will be made on (time & date) for same purpose. It also says that if I'm not available on that date to please ring this no 01992501037, to arrange another time.

If I fail to keep this appointment an application may be made to court for Substituted Service of the petition.

I was served with a SD last month, and I wrote to Connaughts to make arrangement to pay monthly and also offered a full and final offer of 50% of debt .This was ignored so sent another letter recorded delivery which was also ignored even though it was signed for.

What do you think of it ?

thanks in anticipation.

Edited March 28, 2011 by zolajack
double post

[zolajack]

Anybody?

[babybear39]

Who is the OC?

[zolajack]

Thanks Babybear, It was our friends MBNA for a loan.taken out in 2002. I was paying 1st credit under agreement untill they started to get greedy and kept phoning me with different threats unless I upped the payments. I cca'd them and they sent me the cca which was kosher . As I said I got a SD three weeks ago, which I ignored and now this letter.

Getting a bit worried now .

Thanks again

[Bazooka Boo]

Have you got records of all that you sent them?

 

SD's MUST not be ignored. you should ALWAYS reply and state that you will be defending the claim.

[babybear39]

Keep an eye on this as 1st crud are under OFT scrutiny for allegedly using the insolvency service as a means of debt collection which is not what it's there for. DJ's almost always prefer companies to go via the CCJ route.

[zolajack]

After the Sd I sent the named person on the SD a letter to offer A Full and Final or a payment per month, it was ignored, so sent another recorded also ignored.

I'm relying on this to be my defense if they do go the Bankrupt way.

Yes Bazooka i have a record from the first Default from MBNA.

[hennessy13]

If you have copies of the offers made, and proof they were both posted and delivered, then at least you can show a court evidence that you tried to, and were willing to honour the debt. Also, if you were paying under an agreement that they have had second thoughts about then for me that isn't your doing - and they may end up with less awarded in court. Seems reasonable to me, anyway.

 

Defending a claim seems the way to go mate.

 

Good luck with it, too.

[zolajack]

Thanks everyone for the thumbs up I'll post when I hear some more.

[babybear39]

Have you applied to get the SD set asside yet?

[zolajack]

"Have you applied to get the SD set asside yet?"

 

No I haven't Babybear and it is too late now, it's well after the 18 days allowed. As this was the second one I've had from 1st crud and the first wasn't acted on, I thought this might have been another threat from them.

Still don't know who Assist Debt Recovery is though.

[Bazooka Boo]

If this is the second SD you have received from them then, as BB says, this is them using SD's as a means of debt collection and MUST be reported to the OFT&TS via http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/contact

[babybear39]

Report them to TS and the OFT for using SDs as a form of debt collection. They're already under a warning from the OFT for this.

[MONX]

It also sounds as though because you ignored the first one, they are attempting to "serve" another one so that they can attempt to pursue it.

 

In order for a Statutory Demand to succeed, one of the qualifiying conditions is that the DCA can prove that you received or were "served" with the SD form. Having ignored one they are possibly using Assist to serve it personally. It may be that they are affilliated with Ist Crudit and Con-nought (they all have very incestuous relationships) and have offices in your area so it would be easy for one of their agents to serve you with it.

 

I agree that the letters offering to make some payments are your evidence that you have made efforts to deal with the situation however it might also be used as proof that you recieved the original SD! If they are trying to serve you with another it may be that they are making sure on this one that all the i's are dotted and the t's crossed.

 

I suggest that any further SD's are set aside...or not acknowledged in any way dependant on your stance on the best way to deal with them, (personally i would always set aside).

 

MONX

[zolajack]

An update , a young oink arrived today from Assist and served me a bankruptcy petition. I've got a form 6.19 ready to send to the court and 1st credit solicitors with my defence to fight the petition on the grounds that I have tried to get in touch with Connought with an offer of payment, or a Full and final offer , both letters ignored.

Any thing else I need to do? Don't really want to go BR for £3500.

[babybear39]

How did you send the F & Fs?

[zolajack]

Hi Baby Bear, the first one was about 6 months ago for 5% of total just to test the water and it was refused. Wrote again after the SD with a £30pm offer or a 40% F&F,Two letters were sent, second one recorded , and both have been ignored .

[zolajack]

I wonder if a moderator could merge this thread with the Assist 1st Credit thread please .

Thanks