Fredrickson/ Brian Carter help required

[ooopsy]

Back at the end of the 90's I had a loan with First Direct of about £5k, I missed one payment, which they then passed straight to debt collection without giving me the chance to try and fix it. It was originally passed to Phoenix Recoveries ( from memory) and they allowed me to pay the debt off at £20 a month.

I went to live abroad for 5 years and was still paying at the same amount. ( Did not know about the statute term back then.) When I came back I moved to a different area. In the meantime Phoenix sold the debt on to Fredrickson-which I was unaware of. Somehow the got my new telephone number, even though I had no contact from the previous apart from to pay the £20 each month. Unfortunately FI caught me on the hop and managed to extract the fact that the debt was mine and the upshot was that they forced me to pay a much higher £50pm fee.

I have never missed any payments. In the meantime, I got wise, had all the interest payments stopped and after hundreds of phone calls from FI, which I stopped answering, I sent a letter re harassment.

I have offered in the past to pay off the remainder as a lump sum, it was refused.

Now I have received a letter from Arrow Global ( who I have never heard of or had dealings with) who is persuing this debt.( £2,600)

It states that payment must be made in 14 days or the will 'recommend' proceedings are issued. Previously they threatened a CCJ plus the usual costs etc.

I cannot pay more than I do already, I believe that if it goes to court the court would say the same.

Could someone please advise me of the best course of action as Im unclear of which letter I should send them or where I stand legally.

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Arrow Global is a debt purchaser, personally I would check credit

reference files to see what shows.

Note the say they will recommend court action not that are going

to take action.

Have you received a statement each year for this debt?

Telephone ''admissions'' don't affect the status barred clock anyway.

Have at any time requested a copy of the loan agreement.

You are correct the courts will not force you to pay more than you

can reasonably afford to pay.

If you haven't requested the agreement do so now the cost

is £1 and they have 12+2 days to reply.

Use the template in the CAG library and amend to suit, address

it to the Compliance Manager at Arrow.

[ooopsy]

Does that mean the BC have now purchased the debt from FI then? I have not been informed of that if it's the case.This debt has been passed on twice already- as I said above. Other people on here state that Brian Carter are part of Fredrickson.

I have never received a or requested statement from them as such or from FI.

Is it worth sending the loan agreement to FI too or just to Brian Carter?

Many thanks for the help

[ooopsy]

oops! Sorry, forgot to say, if the telephone conversation does not effect statute barred block, then can I now dispute this claim they have on the remainder of the debt? Its very old now. Does the bar mean that they simply cannot chase debts over 6 years old or are there circumstances to the rules?

thanks again

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Arrow Global are a debt purchase comany Fredrickson are are

debt collection company, Carter is a ''solicitor for rent''

Just to Carter the last muppet to contact you..,

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Statute Barred == No payment or written acknowledgment of the debt in 6 clear years from the very last payment ( No payments ever)

The debt although stat barred and remains collectable but cannot be enforced in court, OFT Guidance states that the debt is still live BUT

once the debtor has informed the creditor in writting that the debt is SB and they will not be paying, it is unfair to continue to pursue and to continue may be considered harassment.

[ooopsy]

hmm, unfortunately its approx 5 years ago now when they caught up me by phone and caught me on the hop. At that time I did agree in writing that I could only afford £50 p month and submitted a statement of finances minus any interest additions etc ( as advised by a debt person back then).

So does the stat barr thing now kick in again at the next 6 years- which will up be late next year?

Is it likely they are now being even more heavy handed than previous because this long term is nearly up and a new stat barr comes into play?

Not sure if it works that way or differently?

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

If you offered the payment in writting the clock restarted the day the letter was received.

Statute barred = no payment or written acknowledgment of the debt in 6 clear years.

[ooopsy]

So after I sent the reg letter suggested above, just received one back from BC, returning my £1 postal order and stating:

The debt is not covered by the consumer credit act as it relates to a current account and that if I want copies of my original statement that I have to get them direct from HSBC myself.

This is for an account I no longer have a access to in more than 10 years. Surely this cant be right? Is it not their responsibilty to provide proof that they can chase this debt?

They also state that the £50 per month I am already paying on my payment plan is expected as normal on the usual date each month. No mention of courts or anything else.

Do I need to chase this further?

Technically when the next 6 years is up can I stop paying?- its not for about 18 months I think.

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

No you cannot stop paying the debt willnot become statute barred

as you are payng, the default will be removed after 6 years paid

or not, in this case the debt is live and will remain so.

If you stop paying now it will become statute barred in 6 years as

long as no payment or acknowledgment is made in that 6 year period.

[ooopsy]

Since I wrote this morning I have had another letter from Fredrickson to say that it's fine to continue paying what I do now! To be reviewed in 6 months.

Is it correct or not that a bank debt originally from HSBC is not covered by consumer credit act? If that's true, why have they stopped chasing the potential court case?

[MandM]

Hi ooopsy.

 

You might want to clear up exactly what this is. In your first post it's a loan of 5k from First Direct. By the time you reach Post 9 it's a current account with HSBC with nothing in between as to how this happened!

 

What exactly is the debt for as it affects how you deal with it. As Brig says, forget statute barred, this won't help you here.

 

I'm sure this crowd will be more than happy to take your £50 every month but where is the money going? Have they been sending you statements? Doubt it.

 

A bit more info please and I think you'll find others will be willing to help you here.

 

Mike

[Jamesx81x]

Do you have copies of the agreement and default notice?

 

No legitimate default notice then no legal grounds for them to take further action against you

 

You need to be more clear as others have said above

 

James

[ooopsy]

OK, sorry if was confused there. From memory this was a 5k loan with First Direct. The letter I received today from Brian C states that it "relates to a current account"- which is partially true as it was linked to my then current account, but Im sure it was a loan, not an overdraft etc.

 

As I said above- I have never received any statement from them or anybody else the account was passed to for chasing.

It's so long ago now ( back end of the 90's) I can't truthfully remember. Surely they have a duty to tell me/ prove what it is they are chasing in any case?

[ooopsy]

OK, so just had a check through all paperwork and found the original letter from HSBC which does not state either what type of debt this is in regard to loan/ OD etc, though I do have the account numbers, so I would guess it is possible still to find out? I was earning about £25k back then so I cant imagine it would be an overdraft for over 5k. Ive a feeling it was some kind of consolidation loan for which may have incorporated the existing OD and paid into the acct direct.

FI took the debt on in nov 2007

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

If this is a bank account with or without

an overdaraft it is not regulated by CCA

1974.

[MandM]

OK. I would send an SAR out to the original lender as you have the account number now. Not sure what you'll get back as it's sometime ago now and they may state that records over a certain period are archived or deleted to make space. But worth a try IMO.

 

You need to establish what sort of borrowing it is/was. But as stated above if it is a bank account then it won't be covered by CCA.

 

Maybe SAR to the others involved as their info will be more recent but at £10 a pop unfortunately.

 

Mike