Stevensdrake Solicitors and Credit Corp pty

[natashacat]

Hello all,

 

For over 14 months now i have been harassed and abused by Credit Corp services pty in Australia for an alleged debt from a credit card with ANZ bank.

 

 

They have harassed me with phone calls at all hours of the day including the first call they made at 3 am.

Many other calls at all times of the day.

 

 

For months i had to risk losing business and turn of my phone.

I refused to answer their security questions and told them in writing only but they still called time and time again.

 

I am self employed here in the uk and have a small web design business.

Credit corp found me via the website i have for my business.

 

 

I guess as i would not talk to them they proceeded to call clients from the portfolio on my website

asking for personal details about me.

This not only caused major embarrassment to myself but even caused the loss of one client who i guess lost confidence in me.

They sent emails requesting i call them about an overdue account. I did not answer

I only ever got one letter from them about 9 months ago

 

I came to the uk after becoming homeless after the Queensland cyclone of 2006

and became a debt exile which i have been for the past almost six years.

 

 

In the past couple of years i have only drawn £80.00 a month and if it weren't for my partner i couldn't even eat.

My partner has become more and more ill over the past couple of years with mental health issues

and although holds a full time job its a struggle to make ends meet.

He is often too ill to work.

I have two adult children in Australia who i have not seen for almost 6 years

and my partner has 3 who he has not seen in that time.

 

Why did we come to the uk and not file for bankruptcy in Australia you might be thinking?

because my partner couldn't stand the thought of not being able to leave the country for 8 years

(we were told 8 years at the time)

 

 

He wasn't working there and couldn't find a job.

We thought that once we left Australia we could file for bankruptcy from the uk

but after arriving found that you have to be resident in Australia to be able to do that.

 

So here we are now with

 

 

a letter from Stevensdrake Solicitors of Crawly today asking for payment by return for $38,000 dollars.

Just a letter with a form with payment details plus a return envelope.

No other details of the alleged debt.

 

 

Of course that is totally out of the question and with £80 a month income i cant even think of offering any payment that might be accepted.

I suppose from reading other threads on here that Stevensdrake Solicitors will apply for a CCJ.

 

If they did get a ccj against me what kind of payment would i be expected to pay on my income?

I don't care about not being able to get credit as with my income and being self employed i cant get any anyway.

 

 

I will still defend against it though?

 

Also hypothetical question here.

If Stevensdrake Solicitors do obtain a judgment against me

could i return to Australia and declare bankruptcy in the uk from there?

 

I don't have any assets worth a damn so kind of thinking i have nothing to lose.

I don't want to bother my partner too much with this as his illness would only get worse with the stress and worry.

I know i will have to at some point but hope to learn some answers to some of the questions that will follow.

 

Can anyone help or suggest?

[cerberusalert]

Has there been a clear period of six years where you have not made a payment towards this debt or made a written admission of it?

 

What State did you live in OZ?

[natashacat]

Thanks for your quick reply it has been 5 years and 10 months and I was in

Queensland with the cyclones

[cerberusalert]

Well if you can put up with them for another 3 months & carry on ignoring them the debt will be Statute Barred and they will not be able to take any legal action. If they continue to pursue you can then start complaining to the Oz regulators who have an ever growing file on this outfit.

[krios]

You really need to start putting some complaints in about this. I will make a list and get back to you in a day or so of who to complain to and where to go go.

Others are better at pointing out your rights etc and i'm sure you will get replys soon with help advising what to do.

Best wishes

[cerberusalert]

Have a read of this sticky; http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?307717-Fair-Debt-Collection-Practices-In-Australia

[natashacat]

thanks guys any more help will be appreciated

 

yikes just went to that link you have provided and so many listed there they have done to me like 3 times phone calls at 3 am then daily after that at 7am talking to my clients asking personal questions about me then I lost them as a client because of it! and so forth

Edited January 26, 2012 by natashacat

[cerberusalert]

Even in the unlikely event that they tried to pursue this through a court, as a UK resident it would have to be heard here using OZ law & that is if a UK court agrees that it has jurisdiction. Then Stevensdrake would have the costs of bringing such a case & invest the time and effort, they would be unlikely to do that if they are not certain that you have the assets or the ability to pay.

 

The worse case scenario is that they won and you were unable to pay, the most they could do would be apply for your bankruptcy which would cost them more money & they still wouldn't get paid. In fact they would have done you a favour in the long run by saving you £750 if you wished to declare bankruptcy yourself... which you now can do as you have been a UK resident long enough.

 

Stevendrakes are bullies and are highly unlikely to go anywhere near a court given your circumstance. As I said, if you can just put up with things for another 3 months you will have them by the gonads & can start making their lives a misery.

[cerberusalert]

Also see this site; http://www.creditcorp.net.au/[problem]

[natashacat]

lol £750 to go bankrupt so I can't even afford to go bankrupt lol

well I have nothing of value even the car I drive has no value and I drive that very little because of the price of fuel lol

the business has made a loss for the past 3 years at least which is online in companies house public records I am led to believe so

if they didn't take my word for it they only have to look there to see lol

 

thanks for the link will go and read that I appreciate all of yours and everyone else's help with this

 

oooooooo just looked at the link above and have another name and another phone number they can add to that list this woman harrased me every day for so long with phone calls grrrrrrrrrrrrr

Edited January 27, 2012 by natashacat

[natashacat]

Just a thought about ignoring SD. If i ignore them how will they know about my circumstances? I was thinking about writing and asking for a copy of the original agreement and the Notice of assignment. Then include a very basic note about my income.

Does that sound ok?

 

Again, thanks for the help

[cerberusalert]

If you get into any dialogue with them you will be affectively admitting to the debt. If you do that it will reset the statute barred clock which would give them a further six years to chase you.

 

Tell them nothing.

[creditcorptrouble]

You can communicate with them, but always states that you do not admit liability for the debt and that the correspondence is not an admission of liability.

 

Deny that you have any knowledge of the alleged debt and that even if you are liable, there is no evidence that the debt is capable of assignment without production of a copy of the original contract and terms of conditions. Once those finally arrive, query why you have not been served with a Section 80 notice regarding the assignment. For NSW debts, pursuant to Section 12 of the Conveyancing Act 1919, notice of any assignment MUST be in writing and MUST be served on you.

 

Queensland gave birth to the UCCC, I suggest you have a good close read of it and look for loop holes and potential breaches that you can use to confuse and delay Stevens Drake.

 

http://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/LEGISLTN/REPEALED/C/ConsumCredCode_04B_090622.pdf

[creditcorptrouble]

Or just Google "Queensland UCCC"

 

You might also like to look at the new ASIC debt collection guidelines: http://www.asic.gov.au/asic/asic.nsf/byheadline/Regulatory+guides?openDocument#rg96

 

Regarding the method and regularity of contact.

[creditcorptrouble]

Sorry, I think the updated guidelines (although there has been little change) are at http://www.accc.gov.au/content/item.phtml?itemId=733222&nodeId=701ac447ba70f932e4deaeb83d6e0239&fn=Debt%20collection%20guideline%20reprint%202010.pdf

[natashacat]

thanks again all very valuable and helpful advice thank you

[joesoap]

I'm involved with Stevendrake for an Amex debt; nasty bunch of gits!

[creditcorptrouble]

Well it seems as though nobody has anything positive to say about them, so I guess that speaks volumes.

 

Mind you, over the years I have collected many negative comments from http://www.creditcorp.net.au I'm surprised my hair's not curled.

[krios]

You can communicate with them, but always states that you do not admit liability for the debt and that the correspondence is not an admission of liability.

 

Deny that you have any knowledge of the alleged debt and that even if you are liable, there is no evidence that the debt is capable of assignment without production of a copy of the original contract and terms of conditions. Once those finally arrive, query why you have not been served with a Section 80 notice regarding the assignment. For NSW debts, pursuant to Section 12 of the Conveyancing Act 1919, notice of any assignment MUST be in writing and MUST be served on you.

 

Queensland gave birth to the UCCC, I suggest you have a good close read of it and look for loop holes and potential breaches that you can use to confuse and delay Stevens Drake.

 

http://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/LEGISLTN/REPEALED/C/ConsumCredCode_04B_090622.pdf

 

What about filing a dispute with the aus fos?

http://www.fos.org.au/centric/home_page/publications/archive/enews/issue_3/good_practice_in_debt_recovery.jsp

 

As well as complaints to the other regulators even the ones here?

[creditcorptrouble]

The frequency and times of day that you are being harrassed by Credit Corp fall outside the ASIC debt collection guidelines. They know that you are in the UK and even a Credit Corp idiot will know that there is a time difference. The harassment complaint would normally be handled by ASIC. You can lodge your complaint online quickly and easily at this address:https://www.edge.asic.gov.au/cgi-bin/Lodgement/complaintV006/start/complainant

[natashacat]

Hi Guys,

Received today another letter from Stevensdrake solicitors and this time it states that if i do not pay in full by return of post they will commence legal proceedings without further notice. They didn't even give one week to get back to them on the first letter.

 

They state that if i dispute the claim then i have to advise them before legal proceedings are issued.

 

Other than that they state that if i can not pay in full then i have to contact them to discuss payment by instalments and i should complete a statement of means which they included.

 

No other documents like copy of agreement or notice of assignment etc.

 

I have done some reading this past week and feel almost sure that the assignment would fall into the period when Credit corp did not hold a licence, but i cant say as i don't have the assignment dates.

 

Any ideas on how to proceed? Request copy of original agreement, notice of assignment?

Should i put in a dispute with the aus ombudsman?

 

Any help would be most appreciated. I will defend any action they bring and as i have nothing to lose.

[cerberusalert]

Personally I would ignore them, it seems to be their normal cycle of threat-o-grams.

[natashacat]

Hi Cerb,

Many thanks for the quick reply. Ignoring seems to be the hardest thing to do are you sure?

Honestly I'm just sick and tired of this issue, its been running now for over a year and its time to end it one way or another. My partner who does not do well with these kind of things (suffers from stress, anxiety and depression amongst other things) is prepared for it to go to court but insists that i defend.

 

I have been reading up on jurisdiction and will take my lead from a couple of threads on this site. I will dispute jurisdiction. I will not give in to the threats anymore. If they managed to get a judgment against me hopefully the monthly payment wont be too high on my £80 a month income. They don't take my partners income into consideration do they?

 

Really do appreciate the replies

[cerberusalert]

You only have a couple of months to go before you know for certain that it's Statute Barred, they may have realised this too and began turning the screw in the hope that you will fold and enter into some sort of agreement with them. As I said earlier, they will not throw more money away on instigating court action not knowing whether there is a chance of recouping their outlay.

They don't take my partners income into consideration do they?

No.

[krios]

Got this from one of the older threads by wa newman.

Might be of interest?

 

Credit Corp are a member of

fos

(Financial Ombudsman Service) the online dispute form effectively puts the debt in dispute preventing Credit Corp from enforcing judgement in any court. FOS will contact you in the next week or two for further details of the dispute so start reading up. ASIC (

www.asic.gov.au

) are now the sole regulator for credit card debt. Before Credit Corp can seek judgement it must have done the correct procedure.

 

Your FOS dispute allows you to throw the kitchen sink at Credit Corp. Dispute jurisdiction, validity of the consumer credit agreement, write to Credit Corp for copies all information they hold on you then complain to FOS that it hasn't been provided, inform FOS that no letter of Assignment has ever been received (assignment is only effective from the date it is received by the debtor) this means that Credit Corp are not entitled to make a claim against you, inform FOS that no Section 80 letter has ever been received (which means Credit Corp can't take court action), and anything else you can think of.

 

Until your dispute is resolved Credit Corp will be unable to progress any case against you. Unless Credit Corp has followed the correct procedure all action will be stayed.

 

Be sure to download FOS Terms of Reference to see how Credit Corp will be bound.

 

The icing on the cake is that Credit Corp will have to pay FOS to investigate it

.