Harlands/CRS **WITHDRAW COURT CLAIM**

[slick132]

Hi Fed,

 

I've not heard of Harlands/CRS using Spratt Endicott before. Maybe Zinc told Harlands they would no longer work for them.

 

In any event, I would reply to the sol'rs letter as follows :-

 

Dear sir or madam,

 

I refer to your letter of xxdate about money allegedly owed to Vitality 4 Less.

 

Harlands handle the membership admin for the gym and they are fully aware of why I will not pay them any more. The matter was, and remains, in clear dispute and Harlands decision to pass the debt to solicitors is a serious breach of The OFT Debt Collection Guidelines. Accordingly, if I receive from you any further demand or threat of court action, you will be included in my formal complaint to Trading Standards about Harlands collection tactics.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

I would just send this by ordinary 2nd class post. Let us know how they respond.

 

Edited February 23, 2015 by slick132

[Federalez]

Hey...

 

I responded to Spratt Endicott as you said, and it appears that Harlands claim not to have received my response to them in early December with a redacted card statement?

 

Spratt Endicott have sent me another letter...

 

"We refer to the above named matter and to your telephone call received into our office on 10/02/2015.

 

We referred your comments back to our client.

 

You were required to provide them with proof of your new address to allow them to consider a cancellation due to relocation but you failed to do this despite 2 email and 2 letters.

 

The outstanding amount is therefore due and we would urge you to make payment or an offer of repayment within 7 days otherwise legal action will be taken."

 

I did not call them, my response could only have been the letter I posted.

 

To my knowledge I had no response regard the proof of relocation from Harlands and this continues to escalate.

 

 

Cheers

[slick132]

Hi Fed,

 

Please confirm why you called Spratt Endicott, and what did you say to them.

 

Also, did you get any proof of posting or receipt for the letter in post #23 above.

 

[Federalez]

Hi Slick,

 

As I said in the previous post, the only communication from myself to Spratt Endicott was the letter posted on the 9th Feb - the content of which was similar to that indicated as above by you. I can only presume they've misrepresented this communication because the dates are correct.

 

I've sent both postal items 1st class and have no receipt confirming dates or delivery.

 

Cheers

[slick132]

Ah, ok. So you did NOT call them despite their suggestion that you did.

 

Reply to sol'rs :-

 

Dear sir or madam,

 

I refer to your letter of xxdate and must correct your suggestion that I called your office on 10th February. This did not happen.

 

I have copies of all letters sent to Harlands including that which supplied the necessary address confirmation. If Harlands say they didn't receive it, that is their problem and I can produce copies if you take the legal action you refer to.

 

I can also prove that Harlands, other gym admin companies and other gyms have a reputation for "losing" cancellation letters, etc.

 

I will not be paying Harlands anything more and any court action will be vigorously defended.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Send if you agree with the content. Get a free Certificate of Posting at the PO when you send stuff you need proof for.

 

[Federalez]

Hi Slick,

 

I don't quite understand the economics of ignoring my post and emails, engaging the services of various debt collection agencies and solicitors to pursue and prolong an endless (and presumably expensive) trail of correspendence!?

 

Throughout this I have moved house, notfied Harlands of the intention to cancel, cancelled my membership, spent months responding to threatening mails and emails

- which includes providing them with details of my relocation.

 

However, I'm informed that am liable for over £250 in admin fees and am threatened with debt collection measures including court.

 

The latest letter reads...

 

"My client and previous agent have requested proof of address from you on at least 3 occasions.

 

If no proof id (sic) supplied then the relocation policy hasn't been met and you remain liable for all the above figure.

 

If you do supply proof to us my client is prepared to consider a reduction in the balance.

 

We would therefore urge you to send proof."

 

I'm more than happy to provide proof of relocation and will get a receipt confirming postage on this occasion.

 

Cheers

[slick132]

Hi Fed,

 

The economics are simple - they harass and bully and, as a consequence, some people end up paying. That's why they use these tactics.

 

Is the latest letter from Harlands, CRS or Spratt Endicott ?

 

[Federalez]

Hey Slick..

 

This letter was from Spratt Endicott, the solicitors.

 

Cheers

[slick132]

Hi Fed,

 

I assume you DID supply the proof I referred to in post #23 - [I enclose a copy of a bill from xxxxxxxxx which confirms my new address.]

 

If so, my reply to the Sol'rs would be :-

 

I refer to your letter of xxdate.

 

Harlands used Zinc to demand payment and the proof of address was supplied to Zinc in my letter of xxdate.

 

I have neither the need, nor the desire, to communicate with you further, having supplied all necessary information to Harlands/CRS and/or Zinc.

 

I have copies of all communications and these will be used to defend any action taken by you or Harlands.

 

[Federalez]

Thanks Slick..

 

As suggested by yourself, I posted the letter containing the statement to Harlands

- at no point have Harlands written to me directly.

 

Their communications have all come through CRS, Zinc and now Spratt Endicott.

 

Are you suggesting I send further proof of address to Spratt Endicott along with the text above?

Or simply refer to it?

 

Cheers

[slick132]

Hi Fed,

 

As long as you have a copy of your letter to Harlands that refers to enclosing proof of your new address, that is fine.

 

You don't need to supply anything to Spratt Endicott in my opinion.

 

So you could use my draft above without amendment.

 

[dx100uk]

slick132 has passed info on to us

 

can you fill this in please

and copy/paste the info here:

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?419198-You-have-received-a-Claim-What-you-need-to-do.-**UPDATED-December-2014**

[Federalez]

Hi Guys,

 

DX - Thank you, I'll respond to you shortly.

 

Slick - Thanks for the reassurance about the response to Spratt Endicott. So the current situation is that I responded to the solicitors stating that I'm awaiting a response from Harlands, something I still haven't received, having provided them with details of my relocation.

 

I've subsequently received a County Claim Form registered with CRS as the claimants. I've responded to this (AoS) with the intention of defending the claim in full, and I've discussed this privately with Slick, and expressed my concern about registered debt and CCJ's.

 

The economics of this process continue to baffle me, but I am starting to tire of the agitation and constant threat.

 

What do I need to do to build a defence against this CC Claim made against me? While I'm not entirely sure I complied with the T&C's by informing them of my intention to cancel - the contract does seem wighted heavily in the favour of Harlands.

 

Cheers

[slick132]

Hi Fed,

 

Thanks for confirming receipt of the claim made by Spratt Endicott on behalf of CRS.

 

Firstly, we need the exact Particulars of Claim.

 

We don't need all the info asked for in DX's link in post #37 because this is not a bank or credit card account. It looks to me like Harlands are the cause of all this by NOT communicating with Zinc and Spratt Endicott about the proof you sent them in the first week of December (as per your post #25).

 

[Federalez]

Hi DX,

 

Please see the response to the appropriate questions below.

 

Name of the Claimant ? Credit Resolution Services

Date of issue –5th March 2015 - AoS completed online with the intention to defend in full

What is the claim for –

 

 

The claimants claim is for 275.96

in respect of services rendered at the defendant’s request,

full particulars of which are contained in the claimants account dated 16/08/2014

and which has been delivered to the defendant AND

the claimant claims the sum of 275.95

TOGETHER with interest pursuant to Section 69 of the County Courts Act 1984 from 16/08/2014 to 04/03/15

at 8.00% per annum being 12.10 and further interest on a daily basis until the date of the payment

or request for judgment at the rate stated for the principal sum the daily rate being 6.05p.

 

 

What is the value of the claim?

 

£288.06 Claim

£25 Court Fee

£50 Solictors Fee

Total £363.06

Is the claim for a current account (overdraft) or credit/loan account or mobile phone account? No

When did you enter into the original agreement before or after 2007? After - around 10/03/14

Has the claim been issued by the original creditor

or was the account assigned and it is the Debt purchaser who has issued the claim.

 

Presumably the debt purchaser (Credit Resolution Services) has issued the claim and not the original creditor - Harlands

 

Were you aware the account had been assigned – did you receive a Notice of Assignment?

 

I was made aware by Harlands that the account would be passed to a debt collection agency – I then received a letter from CRS stating that they had been employed by Vitality 4 Less (presumably still Harlands) to manage the debt.

Did you receive a Default Notice from the original creditor?

 

I received two letters from Harlands, firstly confirming they had received the change in DD instruction, secondly instructing that more administration charges had been accumulated and the I am to call them / arrange repayment. Not sure if either count as a default notice.

 

Have you been receiving statutory notices headed “Notice of Default sums” – at least once a year ?

I’ve received letters – none have been headed “Notice of Default sums” to my knowledge.

 

Why did you cease payments? Relocation (House purchase/move)

 

What was the date of your last payment? 12/05/14

 

Was there a dispute with the original creditor that remains unresolved? No

Did you communicate any financial problems to the original creditor

and make any attempt to enter into a debt management plan? No

What you need to do now.

Answer the questions above

 

 

What are the next steps - do I need to request additional information from the Claimant?

 

Cheers

[citizenB]

slick will be along to advise further on this

[slick132]

Presumably the debt purchaser (Credit Resolution Services) has issued the claim and not the original creditor - Harlands

 

I find this interesting as CRS has not bought the debt at all. As we've said many times already Harlands and CRS are one and the same, operating from the same office but using different letterheads.

 

I've no idea why the claim has been issued by CRS, instead of Harlands.

 

What do you need to do :-

 

Write to Spratt Endicott requesting -

 

1. A copy of the signed gym membership agreement.

 

2. A copy of the account detailing the breakdown of the £275.96 claimed.

 

3. Notice of Assignment of the alleged debt from Harlands to CRS.

 

I would also send a SAR request to Harlands enclosing £10 fee. Use the SAR letter in the Library but adapt it to reflect that this is a gym case and not a bank.

 

[Federalez]

Hi Slick,

 

Will this simple letter suffice? And should I note in this letter the intention/delivery of the SAR to Harlands?

 

Dear sir or madam,

 

I refer to your County Court Claim and request that you send me :

 

1. A copy of the signed gym membership agreement.

2. A copy of the account detailing the breakdown of the 275.96 claimed

3. Notice of Assignment of the alleged debt from Harlands to CRS.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

I'm working on the SAR at the moment.

 

Cheers

[citizenB]

Would it be a good idea to put in the letter that this request is being made by way of CPR 31.14, which is a request for information and not subject to any fees ?

[slick132]

CitB is right and you can should add a heading to start your letter :-

 

CPR 31.14 Request

 

And after item 3. you can say :-

 

Please reply within 7 days with the required information.

 

There's no need to tell the sol'rs about the SAR request.

 

[Federalez]

Hi all,

 

Your advice is greatly appreciated.

 

I have send these both, a cheque for £10 included with the SAR.

 

Cheers

[Federalez]

Hi,

 

So having sent these requests, I'm a little confused about a clear next steps - I don't believe this is this all dependent on the responses I receive or should I be doing something else?

 

I'm aware that date of issue was the 5th March, meaning the 28 (+5) days expires on the 7th April?

 

Cheers

[slick132]

Hi Fed,

 

Your next step is to prepare your defence which should directly address the points made in the claimant's PoC. However, looking at the PoC in post #40, their Particulars are very brief and refer only to " .... full particulars of which are contained in the claimants account dated 16/08/2014 and which has been delivered to the defendant."

 

Have they included the a/c dated 16/8/2014 with the N1 or not.

 

In any event, can you post a copy of it, or confirm the detail of it.

 

The defence must, of course, be submitted on time regardless of whether you've received replies from the sol'rs or Harlands.

 

Put a draft here before submission so it can be checked.

 

[Federalez]

Thanks Slick,

 

The POC on the N1 does't carry a great deal of info - However I DID NOT receive a statement of account on the 16th August. I just had another debt chasing letter on the 19th Aug.

 

It wasn't sent with the N1. So I don't believe I've ever received / been sent one.

 

I'm not sure what a prepared defence should look like.. so at this point I may need assistance.

 

Cheers

[slick132]

Hi Fed and I've seen the demand letter dated 19th August which does not include any useful breakdown of the £275.96 demanded.

 

The letter details only that £73.05 was added in admin (penalty) fees making the total demanded. There's no detail of the m/ship fees or of the admin fees demanded.

 

We'll see that you have a defence ready to file by the 7th April deadline ...................