Cabot - Please Help

[sammy777]

Hi all,

 

 

Basically a quick rundown, I fell into debt a couple of years back and became unemployed. I have never claimed as I have been fortunate that family has helped me out.

 

I had an overdraft of around £3,000

A credit card of around £5,000

and a loan of around £3,000

 

All the debts were with LloydsTSB and I believe I defaulted on them all, interest was halted as I was suffering badly with depression and I updated them with I/E forms. Later down the line all 3 debts were passed onto Wescott, and 2 onto BLS, I managed to contact these companies and arrange a £10 payment plan per month they accepted and said that it would have to be accessed in around a years time. At the time I had split from my wife and was living in rented accommodation for around 6 months whilst sorting all this out, around 18 months ago, i've been back with my wife and just continued to pay the £10 per month, I hadnt heard anything from them and didnt update my address details do I don't know if they have been sending letters to the old address.

 

Anyway I have recently received a letter from Cabot saying that they have purchased my debt from LloydsTSB and have found out that I live at this address and that I should contact them urgently.

 

Now none of my circumstances have changed but I wanted to ask some questions and get some help if possible.

 

1. I own a property and have a car registered under my name, the equity is limited in the property as there is a mortgage, what are the chances of them placing a charging order on the property I have 3 young children?, also can they find out I own a property and if do I have to tell them?, BTW the mortgage is paid by one of my family members and my wife has contributed to bills etc to the property.

2. I have never asked for Sar's or CCA's on these accounts should I do this, the £10 payments are currently being taken out via direct debit from my sisters account as she is helping me with these and also I do not have an account.

3. At present my wife and I look like we may be on the way to a seperartion due to all the stress etc and may be even divorce, should we divorce how would this affect if a charging order was on the property and if there wasn't one on there and my wife claimed her half of the property there would literally by hardly any equity left in a sole half would cabot then definately not go down that line?.

4. If there are CCJ's on my credit file for this debt does that mean that I can ignore?

5. I am concerned that they may send someone to the property and my wife is also not very well is there anyway to avoid this I appreciate that I should write to them rather than phone.

 

Ideally I would like to avoid paying the debts but £30 a month is manageable my mum and dad have said that they would be willing to help to pay them off once and for all in a one of fee if the companies reduced the debt significantly but again I don't know what the best route would be.

 

Thanks kindly for anyhelp and support

Sammy

Edited January 14, 2013 by sammy777

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Hi welcome to CAG,

 

Have you checjed your credit files recently?

No you can't ignore CCJs.

Have Cabot threatened doorstep collections?

 

So a CCA request to Cabot, and enclose a no doorstep visit letter as well.

Then wait and see what comes back.

[Bazooka Boo]

Firstly try not to worry too much about the 'what ifs' this is not nearly as insurmountable as it first seems.

 

How old are these debts? When did you take them out?

 

Cancel the direct debit, only ever pay via standing order, you have control over this then, as a DD they can empty the account whenever they wish.

 

DO NOT ring Cr@pbot, deal with this trivial matter via letter only, get a paper trail of evidence.

 

If they ring, laugh and hang up, if they persist, simply say "Everything in writing" then laugh and hang up, keep a diary of events regarding the calls and letters you receive.

 

If these accounts are pre 2007 then you should send who ever is chasing you for money a CCA request, http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/content.php?414-CCA-request-letter.

Enclose a £1 postal order (for each debt) marked 'payment for statutory fee', don't sign it, and leave the 'payable to' blank. Do this for the Loan and credit card ONLY.

 

The Overdraft will need a SAR (£10) this will enable you to see what fees and charges they have levied against your account, and you can then go about reclaiming them.

 

Who agreed the amount to pay? Did you tell them what you would pay, or did they have delusions of grandeur and dictate to you what they wanted you to pay?

 

P.S. Brig types quicker than me, must have been LI?

Edited January 14, 2013 by Bazooka Boo
Brig typing ten to the dozen!

[sammy777]

Hi Guys,

 

Thanks for the quick replies

 

@BRIGADIER2JCS with regards to the doorstep collections the letter just states:

 

We have recently confirmed that you live at the above address and then goes on to say that they have bought the debt from Lloyds and as such I should contact them to arrange payments.

 

The letter was dated the 7th of January and doesnt give a timescale to reply, I haven't looked at my credit file to be honest as I'm frightened it may open up a can of worms as you have so many details to enter i.e address etc and i'm also scared what I may see.

 

@Bazooka Boo I know it sounds terrible and unorganized but can't remember when the debts are from but must be around 4-5 years old now if not older, should I be contacting wescot and BLS and updating them with my address as to be honest I feel it pointless burying my head in the sand, at present the £30 £10 for each debt comes out of my sisters account and none of the companies have stopped it, I have also noticed that £200 has come off the loan so the £10's are chipping away at it. BTW can they empty my sisters account using DD?, I basically wrote to them saying that I could afford £10 pm, filled in I/E forms and then phoned them to confirm, they did say by phone that this was acceptable for a year and that it would need to be reviewed.

 

Luckily they haven't got my phone number and I wouldnt speak to them, can I use email as a form of sending things?

 

Thanks again

Sammy

Edited January 14, 2013 by sammy777

[Freddie52]

Very sorry to hear about your problems with Cabot. I had about three years of problems with these people,

but the good news is that they eventually settled for a significantly less figure than that which they claimed I

owed. Like you, I have three children, and it was the fact that they found out - presumably from the

Land Registry - that I was a property owner which particularly concerned me.

 

My advice, such as it is, is to insist that all communication is done by letter. NEVER telephone these

people. NEVER admit to the debt. INSIST that you receive copies of CCA's and insist that these are

legible. If this achieves nothing else, it will give you significant breathing space to get further advice on this

matter. Please don't accept - which I'm sure you wouldn't - any soft soap from them at face value, such as letters saying: "we are here to help".

They will use any information that you provide against you. At a later date, probably 12 months from now,

you can make an offer of payment - making sure that it's less than that which you can comfortably afford.

And eventually you can strike some sort of deal with which you are comfortable.

 

Don't, for goodness sake, agree to pay the inflated figure they have undoubtedly given you. They

will have probably paid peanuts for the debt. But accept the fact that you have a lengthy challenge

ahead of you. My wife was all for paying off the figure they claimed, but we're now glad we didn't......

 

Best of luck.

 

Freddie.

[sammy777]

Hi Freddie,

 

Thanks for your reply.

 

I am going to SAR the overdraft and CCA the other debts first and see how they respond, I will also send a no doorstep visit letter as well.

 

Should the SAR and CCA comeback then I will negotiate a monthly payment of what I can afford then if in a years time my circumstances haven't changed and my parents are still willing to help then I might see if they want to come to a reasonable arrangment to accept an offer but I don't think my parents would go more than 25% of the debt as they wouldnt be able to afford more.

 

Thanks again and if anyone has anymore advice or info it is most welcome .

All the best

Sammy

Edited January 14, 2013 by sammy777

[Bazooka Boo]

Bazooka Boo I know it sounds terrible and unorganized but can't remember when the debts are from but must be around 4-5 years old now if not older, should I be contacting wescot and BLS and updating them with my address as to be honest I feel it pointless burying my head in the sand, at present the £30 £10 for each debt comes out of my sisters account and none of the companies have stopped it, I have also noticed that £200 has come off the loan so the £10's are chipping away at it. BTW can they empty my sisters account using DD?, I basically wrote to them saying that I could afford £10 pm, filled in I/E forms and then phoned them to confirm, they did say by phone that this was acceptable for a year and that it would need to be reviewed.

Luckily they haven't got my phone number and I wouldnt speak to them, can I use email as a form of sending things?

 

Check your credit file ASAP, forget any notion of opening a can of worms, you need to know exactly what is on their.

 

Where are they sending these letters too?

 

There is absolutely no harm whatsoever in giving them your correct address, don't forget, they are powerless debt collectors, they are NOT bailiffs and never will be.

 

You can ignore any rubbish they state in their letters, they are purely lies and intimidation. And yes, any debt being paid via DD regardless of the owner of the account, can end up with it being emptied, you have no control over direct debits whatsoever, you have given them permission to have full access to the account, hence why you should only ever pay these children, if at all, via standing order.

 

What did Lloyds send you to inform you the state of play with your accounts?

[sammy777]

Hi Bazooka Boo,

 

I will check my credit file, have you got any recomendations?, they may be sending letters to my old address. Luckily I spoke to my sister earlier today and there is nothing much in her account she basically only uses it to pay the 3 D/D and only puts in £30 to cover it on a monthly basis.

 

Lloyds don't send me much other than info on my accounts which are all zero, I have used online banking and they all show up as zero, there is no loan anymore on there or credit card and the account is closed and as zero, funnily they have kept one account open the savings with around 1.14 in it?.

 

Lloyds always send to the address cabot have sent to, I was at a different address around 18 months ago when my wife and I split.

 

Oh yeah Lloyds did send some letters basically saying that I defaulted on the debts and that they would be passed on to DCA, then I heard from BLS and Wescott, cabot are new and are saying they have cleared and bought the debt.

Edited January 14, 2013 by sammy777

[Bazooka Boo]

Noddle is free, but you will be best to use Experian, they have a 30 day free trial, OR send them £2 for your report.

 

As for your sisters account that sounds ideal if she is happy to keep it going.

 

Did Lloyds send you a notice of assignment?

Did they ever send you a default notice?

 

Did Cr@pbot send you a letter saying that they had 'bought' the debt, how many 'statements of account' have you received, from Lloyds OR cr@pbot?

 

You might also like to check that they hve not managed to obtain a CCJ by default using http://www.trustonline.org.uk/

[sammy777]

Hi Bazooka Boo,

 

Just looked at the letters I have kept and its a mess to be honest, back in 2010 and 11 I did make some substantial offers around 50/60% as F & F settlements when it was in the hands of Lloyds but these were not accepted.

 

They did send me a letter that my account had been defaulted and also added interest and charges even though I would have made them aware of my financial circumstances and depression. They did also get their solicitors involved SCM back in 2010/11 but to be honest with you it was all a bit of a blur as I was going through a lot, they did threaten a lot!! and sent notice of court proceedings letters but it never came to that.

 

MHA were also instructed for a brief period of time, now Lloyds stopped writing at around Feb 2011, following that I heard from BLS and Wescott so these were apparently instructed but Lloyds have never confirmed this, also the loan was taken out in mid 2007.

 

In short the situation is my sister has always kept the £30 D/D going to BLS and Wescott, I arranged this payment around 2 years ago at a different address, since then I moved back to my old address and returned to my wife so I am unsure if BLS or Wescott are continiung to write and demand more or threaten etc at the old address. Lloyds have the address I am at now and do not write to me or if they do its just a standard letter with no statements at all and as I've said if I go online all accounts are shutdown with zero balances. I am sure BLS or Wescott could have got my details from Lloyds had there been any problems.

 

Lloyds did inform me of a default but other than that there have been no legal docs sent and I really can't see why they would do that as quite frankly I just cant afford to pay and I have no equity other than a car which isn't worth a lot.

 

Cabot have come out of the blue and say they have "bought" the loan account, I have never CCA or SAR'd the debts and don't know if its worth doing as I have made F & F offers in the past.

 

All I would like to do tbh is keep the monthly payments as £30 a month is manaegeable and my sister doesnt mind helping me or wipe off the debts if my family help but I don't want them to get themselves in a pickle. It would also be nice to now the proper amount that I owe and not the one with massive added charges but again tbh wouldn't know where to begin.

 

Many thanks, your help is much appreciated

Sammy

 

P.S

 

Just out of curiosity if CCJ's\defaults\charging orders are on my report then what difference would it make, couldn I get rid of them?, also wouldn't they have had to send a letter explaining that they were going to issue a CCJ\default\charging order to the address Lloyds had on file?.

Edited January 15, 2013 by sammy777

[sammy777]

Hi guys,

 

Just getting some letters ready to send, with regards to Cr@pbot do I send them the CCA letter or do I send it to Lloyds? I have also read somewhere on the forum that it is risky sending CCA's?, something to do with they can create their own if they cant get one or if it is not legible?.

 

Can anybody update me that this is definitely the right route to take and should I ask them for the original?, if so is this the correct letter template link as I want to make 100% sure consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/content.php?414-CCA-request-letter (sorry cant post full links yet add w's or http to start)

 

Finally how do we make sure that there are no Cr@pbot spies on here?? watching our every move? I know might be paranoid but seriously how can we avoid?.

 

Thanks

Sammy

[pennsfrend]

hi sammy stop the paranoia the country is massive they would have to be good detectives to know who you are. i have a ccj for £8500 credit card debt from lloyds they accepted £5 per month admittedly i didnt contest it at the time (2yrs) i didnt know this site existed til last week i would say to you dont make there job easy by telling them things they want to know if it takes them longer tuff i realise you want to get your debts cleared asap but youre still going to have a bad credit score whatever youre paying tell them youll start at a quid if youre forced to tell them anything remember youre not alone and people want to help

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

CCA to the debt collection agency SAR to the creditor.

No way of checking for snoopers but they do often make is obvious so don't worry.

[pennsfrend]

send the dca the cca recorded delivery with postal order for£1 send lloyds an sar postal order £10 DONT PUT YOUR SIGNATURE ON ANYTHING YOU SEND even if you never use these documents you will have them in your possession for future reference also make copies and keep receipts hope this helps

[sammy777]

Hi Guys,

 

Thanks for your replies, I will send a CCA to Cabot was the link the correct one for the CCA?, I have sent things before to Lloyds and various DCA with regards to the debts and unfortunately have signed , but from now on I won't.

 

Thanks again

Sammy

[Bazooka Boo]

CCA request http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/content.php?414-CCA-request-letter.