Cabot/Morgans claimform - 2 debts cap1 card + Barclaycard - *** Settled on F&FS ***

[heathrow]

Well done Manface and you know as much as I do how this does cause marital problems. As you say the DCAs love all of this because they can play on an individual's vulnerability. Like you, I don't sign letters to these people ... instead I do the typical solicitor squiggle; what is good for the goose is good for the gander and all that.

[Stigman]

Like an idiot I had a lot of stuff stored on computer, much of it scanned and then the hard drive packed up and I lost the lot.

 

If you have a hotmail account - if not opening one is free - they offer a facility called Skydrive, an online cloud where you can store photo's, video's (shows my age when I remember Video's ) and Documents but if you scan in, it's mainly scanned in as JPEG format anyway.

 

Their is a limit on the amount of data you can store and also you can choose whether you want it private or public etc.

 

Also Photobucket etc. is another online based system.

 

Happened to me thanks to Dell so got everything backed up now.

 

Stigman

[citizenB]

No.. the 40 days for the SAR is CALENDAR days

[heathrow]

Thanks a lot Stigman for that advice ... I'll certainly take a look.

[heathrow]

Ah well that is good news I guess. I'll amend the date in my diary to chase them. I'll come back to you later Citizen b with those last payment dates. Thanks again for your support.

[Michelangelo48]

Yes the banks/dcas try to stress partners! This illegal-visit your doctor and get a report! Malicious Communication Act 1998 bCommunication Act 2003, Protection from Harassment Act 1997.

[citizenB]

It has been proved time and time again on CAG that the retention of ALL paperwork in respect of financial dealings is mega important.

 

The Harrison v Link court case showed just how important it truly is.. even to keeping the envelopes that letters come in.

 

People move more often than they used to, so of course they always have a mega clear out before doing so. So data storage is now becoming an important weapon for those who are likely to be caught up in the financial meltdown.

 

If you arent going to be able to store hard copies then at the very least you should try and scan everything into the computer and save it on a portable storage disk.

 

If you are going to enter into correspondence with your creditors,you should make sure you understand what you are saying to them.

 

Lots of people have simply copied and pasted from threads without really checking that it suits their situation. That can be very dangerous.

 

Template letters should be personalised in some way. If a creditor / DCA receives a template letter, they tend to ignore them or you simply receive a templated response.

[citizenB]

[Michelangelo48]

I agree-but see why people not trained struggle Records-records-records! Get it in writing! Telephone attendance notes -TAN's etc all useful stuff! Record all calls if you can! Write rather than ring!

[merlin100]

The problem is Merlin 100 we all know this in hindsight but most of us can be a bit lax at times or we lose correspondence etc. Like an idiot I had a lot of stuff stored on computer, much of it scanned and then the hard drive packed up and I lost the lot. I agree however with your reasoning about putting the DCAs on the ropes. We really have to play them at their own games and stand up to them. Another problem of course is that it can cause an awful lot of family strife for those of us that have partners. My wife for example cannot take the pressures of all of this and it gets her depressed whereby I tend to fight so I have to keep the details away from her.

 

Totally agree with you Heathrow.

Some years ago I got rid of a very greedy and vindictive ex wife. I eventually beat her on almost all claims to property she made but the most destructive thing for me is she walked away from all joint debts and refused absolutely to contribute to them. I found out later that as each creditor traced her she told them she had no assets but I still had the house - that turned them all on me.

But luckily I found CAG and I learned a hell of a lot in a short space of time, but over the first year I didnt save any paperwork either and because of that I got a CCJ - its not happened since because this site taught me all about CCA Requests, SARs and in particular, how to stall them with a stalemate situation - and then keep that stalemate going for six years with some nicely worded letters.

I found out recently that the ex has been paying £40 a month for the last seven years to a DCA on a £3500 debt that she never owned ( nor me) but sometimes irs true that what goes around, comes around!

Another feather in CAGS cap is this - one year after I met my current wife, we found out that her ex had taken a Credit Card out in her name with a £1k limit. When the DCAs finally came calling, they were demanding well over £2.5k. She too was very worried about it but no need, thanks to CAG and all its info, it went away.

[Valleywalker]

Don't know if this is the right place for this post buthere goes.

I know the OFT licences debt collectors for CCA debts but does anyone licence or regulate collectors for non-CCA debts? Do they have to be members of any professional body or carry ID?

[dx100uk]

WHY?

 

they have NO powers to do anything anyway!!

 

doorsteppers - tell them to go away or you will call the police

 

dx

[clairedcat]

Agreed when you finally see DCA's for what they are, they have no real powers. But I bet they are responsible for a lot of depression and

 

stress in the UK. What I find most irritating is how sneaky they are, especially when they start autographing your CRA file the minute they get

 

there hands on a debt, without any proof it's yours.

 

Claire x

[heathrow]

I am delighted to see some good contributions to this thread and thank you all. Please keep them coming.

 

Merlin100 I agree with your comments and I too have gained a lot from fellow CAGers. By pulling together seems the only way that we can beat these b*****ds. However, no matter how resilient we may be, if we have a wife or partner who crumbles at the first phone call or letter dropping through the door from a DCA you are then having to fight on two fronts. I had a case many years ago involving a dispute over my business rates with the local council Unlike other debts, councils can appoint bailiffs without first obtaining a judgement (as I understand). While I was working abroad this sinister bailiff from a firm that is well known turned up at my business premises and threatened my young female member of staff. She was scared witless, called my wife who went to my premises with my niece and all three women were similarly threatened. Not knowing what to do my wife fell for the bully's tactics. The bailiff was acting beyond the law by involving third parties (you7ng women at that) in a claim for what was only an alleged debt of a couple of hundred pounds that they knew absolutely nothing about. As the firm in question are also private investigators (of which I have some experience) I believe they knew i was away and hence used the opportunity to harass my staff and family. When I complained to the then local government ombudsman they sided with the council and refused to take any action. My wife was frightened stiff when the bailiff said he would come to my home and take our property that she went to the bank and drew the money out and paid up. Now, had CAG existed then I would have responded quite differently and would have known more of my rights and would have sued the bailiff. The problem is, in cases such as this, that involved trespass, the police are meant to intervene but they often refuse to get involved or to protect the victims.

 

I won one case against a DCA who was trying to enforce a Claim for a Goldfish card that I have never had. The judge happened to be naive (he'd only recently been appointed from being a solicitor (in fact he had been my ex-wife's solicitor's clerk although he obviously didn't remember me but I knew him)) and he said they could have time to produce the CCA. I informed him that the DCA had already advised me under an SAR that they didn't have this. They were using an agent solicitor who was out of his depth and the judge ordered an adjournment. I consulted a client who happens to be a Judge and he advised me to write to the court quoting the appropriate clause in the Consumer Credit Act regarding CCAs and I got the case struck out. My current case is proving to be a lot tougher and tricker (please see my other thread) although I believe I have a strong case for harassment against the DCA over the way I have been pursued and badgered.

[heathrow]

SARS documentation has arrived in a huge bundle that contains some spread sheet information that has a load of blank sheets of paper when there is nothing entered; copies of my own WS and exhibits and copies of their WS and attachments. Really nothing substantial although there are pages and pages of telephone logs that proves just how many times they called me. I think some of this could be quite damning especially as my WS includes letters written to Cabot informing them that I will never discuss my financial affairs on the telephone? It also contains some, but not all, of the credit card statements and clearly shows that PPI has been paid of over £1000 but they still refuse to acknowledge this issue.

[citizenB]

SARS documentation has arrived in a huge bundle that contains some spread sheet information that has a load of blank sheets of paper when there is nothing entered; copies of my own WS and exhibits and copies of their WS and attachments. Really nothing substantial although there are pages and pages of telephone logs that proves just how many times they called me. I think some of this could be quite damning especially as my WS includes letters written to Cabot informing them that I will never discuss my financial affairs on the telephone? It also contains some, but not all, of the credit card statements and clearly shows that PPI has been paid of over £1000 but they still refuse to acknowledge this issue.

 

Harrison v Link is a good one to quote regarding the telephone calls.. the Judge was pretty scathing of the way Link/MBNA used the phone to hound the "debtor" and said it had no place in debt collecting.

 

The PPI, you need to reclaim that from the original creditor.. or perhaps use it as a counterclaim. Have you done a spreadsheet ?

[heathrow]

Sorry Citizen B ... a spreadsheet for what?The PPI?

[citizenB]

Sorry Citizen B ... a spreadsheet for what?The PPI?

 

Yes

[heathrow]

Just to let you guys know; I opted for mediation because I considered the risks of fighting this in court against counsel was too risky despite still believing a had a strong case. The process, although costing around £550 because of the amount of the claim, went very well and was actually conducted very amicably. The outcome was that I was able to settle for a little over one third of the original amount Cabot were claiming in full and final settlement.

[AndyOrch]

Well done Heathrow.

 

Litigation is not for the faint hearted and what you have opted as your course of action is still a success.The matter is now resolved and to a mutually agreed conclusion.

I will amend your thread title to reflect your result.

 

WEll done

 

Regards

 

Andy

[DonkeyB]

Well done mate. The most important thing is getting a result you are happy with, and which you can afford.

[citizenB]

Excellent, if you are happy with the outcome, then that is all that matters