Weightmans LLP chasing an old debt

[dunnie1]

Hi,

 

It seems Weightmans have taken it upon themselves to chase a a debt from 2002/3 they've presumably bought from Equidebt. I have never paid or acknowledged the debt, with the only contact being a CCA to Equidebt in June 2007. It's the usual stuff, threats of County Court proceedings, Petitioning for my bankruptcy etc..

 

I assume therefore this is:

 

1. Statue barred
   
2. In breach of CCA (already in default as CCA not provided) and therefore unenforcable
   

I wonder why they're contacting me now, is there any evidence of dca's trying to "re-set the clock" on statute barred debts by writing threatening letters now I wonder? I assume a CCA, as it's intended to do exactly the opposite doesn't do this?

 

I was gonig to respond with:

 

1. SAR to Equidebt
   
2. A letter to Weightmans explaining that Equidebt are already in default of a request to supply a true copy of the CCA, encloseing the a copy of the letter below, and also mentioning that the debt is statute barred.
   

Is there anything I'm missing or any further advice anyone could give me?

 

Cheers,

 

Dunnie1

Verification required ofAlleged Debt

I do not acknowledge ANY debt toyour company. I require you to supply the following documentation before I willcorrespond further on this matter.

1. You must supply me with a true and original copy of the allegedagreement you refer to. This is my right under your obligation to supply acopy of the agreement under the legislation contained within s.78 (1) ConsumerCredit Act 1974 (s.77 (1) for fixed sum credit) - your obligation also extendsto providing a statement of account. I enclose a £1 postal order in payment ofthe statutory fee, PO Serial Number 08358149. Iunderstand that under the Consumer Credit Act, creditors are unable to enforcean agreement if they fail to comply with a request for a copy of the agreementunder these sections of the Act.

2. A signed true copy of the deed of assignment of the above referencedagreement that you allege exists.

3. You are notified that you areobliged to supply these documents, whetheryou are the original creditor or not under S189 of the CCA 1974.

Non-compliance with my request isa criminal offence under the above Act and will result in a report beingsubmitted to the relevant statutory authorities.

As you are aware, a creditagreement that is not properly documented and signed by the customer is totallyunenforceable under the CCA and therefore is a complete defence to any courtclaim that is issued.

Take note at this stage, that anylegal action you may contemplate will be both vigorously defended and contestedand consider this matter to be “in dispute”.

YoursSincerely,

[ims21]

If it is SB then you don't need to go through all that malarky....just send them the SB letter from the CAG library.

[dunnie1]

A version of this to Weightmans:

 

ACCOUNT IN DISPUTE

 

Your Reference:

Client reference:

 

 

Dear Sir or Madam,

 

I must admit that I am rather bemused as to why this account has been passed to you, as it is in dispute with ***DCA*** and has been since ***Date***

Not only is this a breach of OFT collection guidelines, but also in breach of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and Data Protection Act 1998

 

 

As ***DCA*** is now in default of my Consumer Credit Act request, Office of Fair Trading Collection Guidelines and s10 Data Protection Act request, I consider this account to be in SERIOUS DISPUTE.

 

As you are aware while my Consumer Credit Act request remains in default, enforcement action is NOT permitted; under s127 this constitutes a complete defence at law. Consequentially any legal action you pursue will be averred as both UNLAWFUL and VEXATIOUS.

 

Now I would respectfully suggest that this account is returned to ***DCA*** for resolution of these defaults and breaches, as ***DCA*** cannot lawfully pursue any enforcement activities.

 

If ***DCA***chooses to ignore my dispute and attempt enforcement, I will initiate legal action and file reports with the appropriate authorities, including, but not limited to, Trading Standards, Office of Fair Trading, Information Commissioners Office, Financial Ombudsman Service and possible court action.

 

I hope that this will not be necessary and an acceptable solution can be accomplished.

 

I would appreciate your due diligence in this matter.

 

Yours faithfully

 

 

 

Regards Mrs Z

And a version of this to Equidebt + a SAR

 

 

Account In Dispute

 

Ref:

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Thank you for your letter of xx/xx/xx, the contents of which have been noted.

 

You have failed to respond to my legal request to supply me a true copy of the original Consumer Credit Agreement for the above account.

 

On **DATE** I made a formal request for a true signed agreement for the alleged account under consumer credit Act 1974 s77/8. A copy of which is enclosed for your perusal and ease of reference.

You have failed to comply with my request, and as such the account entered default on **DATE**.

 

The document that you are obliged to send me is a true copy of the executed agreement that contained all of the prescribed terms, all other required terms and statutory notices and was signed by both your company and myself as defined in section 61(1) of CCA 74 and subsequent Statutory Instruments. If the executed agreement contained any reference to any other document, you are also obliged to send me a copy of that document.In addition a full statement of this account should have been sent to me detailing all debits and credits to the account.

 

Furthermore

 

 

You are aware that the Consumer Credit Act allows 12 working days for a request for a true copy of a credit agreement to be carried out before your client enters into a default situation.

 

This limit has expired.

 

As you are no doubt aware section 77(6) states:

 

If the creditor fails to comply with Subsection (1)

 

(a) He is not entitled , while the default continues, to enforce the agreement.

 

Therefore this account has become unenforceable at law.

 

As you have Failed to comply with a lawful request for a true, signed copy of the said agreement and other relevant documents mentioned in it, Failed to send a full statement of the account and Failed to provide any of the documentation requested.

 

Consequentially any legal action you pursue will be averred as both UNLAWFUL and VEXATIOUS.

 

Furthermore I shall counterclaim that any such action constitutes unlawful harassment.

 

Please note you may also consider this letter as a statutory notice under section 10 of the Data Protection Act to cease processing any data in relation to this account with immediate effect.

 

This means you must remove all information regarding this account from your own internal records and from my records with any credit reference agencies.

 

Should you refuse to comply, you must within 21 days provide me with a detailed Breakdown of your reasoning behind continuing to process my data.

 

It is not sufficient to simply state that you have a ‘legal right’; You must outline your reasoning in this matter and state upon which legislation this reasoning depends.

 

Should you not respond within 14 days I expect that this means you agree to remove all such data.

 

Furthermore you should be aware that a creditor is not permitted to take ANY

Action against an account whilst it remains in dispute.

 

The lack of a credit agreement is a very clear dispute and as such the following applies.

 

* You may not demand any payment on the account, nor am I obliged to offer any payment to you.

* You may not add further interest or any charges to the account.

* You may not pass the account to a third party.

* You may not register any information in respect of the account with any credit reference agency.

* You may not issue a default notice related to the account.

 

 

I reserve the right to report your actions to any such regulatory authorities as I see fit.

You have 14 days from receiving this letter to contact me with your intentions to resolve this matter which is now a formal complaint.

 

I would appreciate your due diligence in this matter.

 

I look forward to hearing from you in writing.

 

Yours faithfully

[dunnie1]

Thought I'd cover all bases whilst I was contacting them!

[ims21]

If you are sure this is SB then I don't see any point in all the irrelevant correspondence.

 

The more you pull their chain the more they will think they have you and can get you to cough up.

 

If it were me I would just tell them it is SB, that you won't be paying anything and they they should cease contacting you.

[Bazooka Boo]

Yep forget letter tennis, just send the SB letter, then if they persist in chasing you you can then complain to the OFT&TS.

[marmaris30]

I agree - there's no point in letting on more than necessary so just tell them that it's SB and that's the end of the matter. Chances are a SAR wouldn't turn anything up for something older than 6 years, which this is, so even that would be a waste of a stamp.

[ScarletPimpernel]

This is almost certainly Equidebt's last-ditch effort to extract some money before giving up. Weightmans are solicitors, but this rather grubby end of their business is really no more than a DCA.

 

The SB letter is all you need.

[dunnie1]

fair enough, seems pretty unamimous to me.. Just the SB it is then. Thanks everyone!

[dunnie1]

Yep forget letter tennis, just send the SB letter, then if they persist in chasing you you can then complain to the OFT&TS.

 

Btw, who are TS?

[tedney]

Btw, who are TS?

 

Trading Standards?

[dunnie1]

Trading standards..

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

To be sure check your credit reference files to see if there is any entry, defaulted accounts are removed after six years so if there is no record on file there is a good indication the debt is statute barred.

[dunnie1]

The last defaulted account was removed in June, so record is now clean..

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Ok as the cause of action ie the date when a payment was due and not made after which no further payment was ever made can be up t 5 months prior to the default date you can be pretty sure the debt is statute barred.