Capquest/Drydensfairfax - Old Halifax Credit card debt threatening court action

[horsemad1]

Hi this has been backwards and forwards to Capquest for about 18 months, its for a Halifax cc from 2006, my main dispute is that when I requested a CCA I was sent a copy of the application form which had only one of the prescribed terms on it. It did not show the amount of credit, credit limit or repayments, the only thing it has on it is the name and address, rate of interest and signature. They also sent the terms & conditions stapled to it on 8 separate A4 sheets.

 

 

They say this is enough and have complied with my request - is this the case? Where do I stand with the fact nearly all the prescribed terms are missing?

 

 

Now Drydensfairfax solicitors have got involved I need to respond to them asap as they are threatening court action.

 

 

Any advice as to what my response should be would be greatly appreciated.

[citizenB]

They might well have complied sufficiently to cover their obligations in respect of the s78 request, but I think they might need more than what they have provided for any legal action.

 

How long has this account been in dispute and when did you cease payments.

 

Are CapQuest now the new owner of the debt or are they acting on behalf of Halifax.

 

Is there any PPI or are there any default/penalty charges that can be reclaimed - You might want to send a Subject Access Request to Halifax, start collecting information JIC CapQuest do proceed to litigate.

 

Was this a credit card proper or one of their Preference Accounts ?

[horsemad1]

Thanks for your reply CitizenB.

 

Its been disputed since 2009 when payments also stopped.

 

Tried to negotiate a reduced payment plan as financial situation was dire but they piled interest on which was higher than the payments being made and when I requested a CCA they then sent me to their debt collectors and been on the DCA merry go round ever since.

 

it was sold to Capquest but also now owned by LLoyds???? Not sure if Halifax and Lloyds merged.

 

Yes there are interest and charges on there but no PPI. Im not sure what you mean by a credit card Proper?

 

Do I then reply to Drydensfairfax stating that the prescribed terms are missing and therefore they cannot enforce in court?

 

Ok so have started to draft a letter with a little help from another thread. Would this suffice?

 

"

Thank you for your letter dated 8th September 2014. This account is in dispute and has been for many years. Capquest nor halifax have been unable to supply me with true copies of the properly executed Regulated consumer credit Card Agreement in relation to the alleged Account. Unfortunately neither responses have produced any evidence that the Agreement is Enforceable.

 

The alleged Agreement appears to be unenforceable for the following reasons:

 

1. The document is an Application Form and neither carry the correct title if they are to be considered suitable as becoming Agreements once properly executed. The missing Title being 'Credit Card Agreement Regulated by The Consumer Credit Act 1974.'

 

2. I am entitled to receive a true copy of the Agreement and such true copies must be easily legible. The agreement is not a true copy, nor is it easily legible. Various parts of the copies are defaced and are out of sequence the first page states page 4 of 8, the back of this states page 3 of 8, quite clearly it has been cut and pasted together. Both are also hard to read due to poor quality copying. Furthermore where are the missing 6 pages???

 

 

3. The agreement must contain the prescribed terms within the four corners of the agreement, the agreement does not have the prescribed terms within the four corners in fact it does not contain any of the Prescribed terms and furthermore no where on the front is there any reference to terms and conditions being stapled on the reverse.

 

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 including but not limited to Trading Standards, the Office of Fair Trading, the Information Commissioners Office, The Financial Ombudsman Service and my MP .

 

 

If you have the original of my alleged agreement available I request that I be allowed to view it at your offices so I can verify it as the alleged document that I signed.

 

I must also remind you that any court action you may choose to take would require you to produce the original of the alleged agreement. I look foward to hearing from you within 7 days."

 

 

[theoldrouge]

I would just keep it very simple

 

Thank you for your letter dated 8/9 2014 the contents of which have been noted.

 

On xx/xx/xxxx I sent a request under s78CCA1974 to Capquest(current owners??)

 

As of todays date, no reply has been received which complies with s78(1)cca1974

 

and until such a reply is received, the provisions of s78(6)apply

 

Yours etc........

 

in addition have a good read of the following-the current guidelines

 

http://fshandbook.info/FS/html/FCA/CONC/13/1

[horsemad1]

Have also noticed a few more things, the first page of the re constructed application form says page 4 of 8, the reverse of this says page 3 of 8 so obviously cut & pasted together back to front, should I be demanding to see the missing 6 pages?

[Bazooka Boo]

If you feel that they have failed to comply with their obligations in supplying the CCA, then you could send them this, edit to suit,

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?387485-Letter-to-solicitors-threatening-legal-action-in-default-of-agreement-request-%28update-21.04.2014%29

 

Also bare in mind 'why' has it taken them this amount of time to try and reclaim money they say you owe?? Surely Shallowfax would have done it sooner rather than 5 years later??

[theoldrouge]

Have also noticed a few more things, the first page of the re constructed application form says page 4 of 8, the reverse of this says page 3 of 8 so obviously cut & pasted together back to front, should I be demanding to see the missing 6 pages?

 

no, dont tell them what is wrong, let them work it out

[citizenB]

Thanks for your reply CitizenB. Its been disputed since 2009 when payments also stopped. Tried to negotiate a reduced payment plan as financial situation was dire but they piled interest on which was higher than the payments being made and when I requested a CCA they then sent me to their debt collectors and been on the DCA merry go round ever since. t was sold to Capquest but also now owned by LLoyds???? Not sure if Halifax and Lloyds merged.

 

 

Yes there are interest and charges on there but no PPI. Im not sure what you mean by a credit card Proper?

 

 

 

Halifax had this brilliant idea for duping their customers - it was called a Preference Account - primarily it was a loan - but somehow they managed to sneak in a credit card and the inevitable PPI onto the same agreement. These are pretty much unenforceable in that they only obtained a signature for the loan and the PPI was usually automatically ticked. They also failed to provide the prescribed terms for both the loan and the credit card - these would have been different terms .

[horsemad1]

If you feel that they have failed to comply with their obligations in supplying the CCA, then you could send them this, edit to suit,

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?387485-Letter-to-solicitors-threatening-legal-action-in-default-of-agreement-request-%28update-21.04.2014%29

 

Also bare in mind 'why' has it taken them this amount of time to try and reclaim money they say you owe?? Surely Shallowfax would have done it sooner rather than 5 years later??

It's been on the dca roundabout for years, been with cap quest for 18 months & after going through their complaints procedure & them saying they had satisfied my request , they passed it to fairfax.

[Bazooka Boo]

In that case you need to be raising complaints about each new DCA that it is passed to and the previous DCA who passed it on.

 

Each new DCA just needs a simple one line statement,

 

Dear Bill&Ben,

 

Thank you for your recent correspondence, the contents of which have been noted, I have also taken the liberty of

forwarding a copy of your correspondence to the FCA along with my complaint that your consumer credit licence be investigated when it come to renewing it.

 

This account has been in serious dispute with the original creditor since dd/mm/yyyy, you are strongly advised to return this account back to the OC, any further correspondence from yourselves, less for confirmation this matter is now closed, or any other debt collector you may choose to sell or pass it onto, will be reported as harassment.

 

I trust I have made made my position perfectly clear.

 

Regards.

[theoldrouge]

getting back to basics

 

who are the current OWNERS of your account that Drydens are acting for? this needs to be clarified

 

in answer to your previous question Halifax is owned by Lloyds

[horsemad1]

Sorry guys been offline for a while. Thanks for your replies. Crapquest are who drydens are acting on behalf of. Apparently I exhausted capquests complaints procedure after 18 months and then they passed it onto Drydens.

 

 

I wrote to drydens on the 13/9/14 basically saying acc is in dispute, should not have been passed on and that a reconstituted copy of a application form with missing prescribed terms and missing pages was not acceptable. I asked that I be allowed to view the original at their offices, I also at the same time made a formal request under CPUTR 2008 that they put in writing whether they actually do have the original.

 

 

I heard nothing back until today and got a standard response letter saying I must send the £1 fee anduntil the fee is recived they cannot action my request. Erm cheers Drydens, but you obviously don't read your mail properly, you seem to have missed the point, what about the cut & pasted together so called agreement, what about my formal request for you to put in writing whether an original agreement actually does exist for this account???!!!

 

 

Any ideas on a good response to their latest letter please?

[horsemad1]

http://i392.photobucket.com/albums/pp8/julieh2/HalaifaxreconstitutedCCAfrontsid-2.jpg

http://i392.photobucket.com/albums/pp8/julieh2/ReconstitutedCCA.jpg

 

 

Also got a set of current terms & conditions.

 

 

The first page says page 4 of 8 and the second states page 3 of 8, so pasted back to front to make page 4 look like that came first. have never recieved the missing 6 pages?

[Bazooka Boo]

I was trying to find the dispute letter, because clearly this is...

 

Playing letter tennis is getting you nowhere, and is simply getting them excited thinking they have found a mug to fleece..

 

Have a look in the library up the top, and see if you can find the appropriate letter, in a nutshell, you simply want to tell them that what they have sent you in response to your request for the CCA does not satisfy the request, and as such you're not going to enter into any further correspondence, all correspondence sent by them, less for their confirmation that they have now closed their files, will be treated and reorted as harassment,

[theoldrouge]

it would be useful if you could post up the initial letter that drydens sent you in post#1

 

was it if, buts and maybe, or was we will do such and such on a given date

[horsemad1]

Thanks bazooka boo but tried the 'cca received does not satisfy request & will not enter into any further correspondence " letter with cap quest & dry dens but I am worried that if I don't reply again they will initiate court action.

[Bazooka Boo]

Absolutely no chance of anyone doing anything, seriously, if they really wanted the money then the bank would

have acted a lot sooner than 5+ years later.

 

Give a dog a bone and it will keep coming back, they are only harassing you now because you keep responding to

their puerile threat letters.

 

Ignore them, you have made you position perfectly clear, let them carry on willy waving..

[horsemad1]

Hi the oldrouge, Drydens first letter I received from them said "We refer to the above matter and note we have been unable to reach an arrangement with you. We have now received instructions to issue a claim against you in the county court to recover the sum outstanding. it is not too late to stop the claim being issued. Please call us on -------- or if you prefer write to us at the address below & we'll discuss an arrangement with you. if you do not contact us by 22nd Sept our instructions are to issue a claim.

 

 

Information about our Claim

Under the practice direction - Pre Action conduct we need to let you have information about the claim. You can access the Practice Direction at http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/pd_pre_action_conduct#DAVNA2

 

*The claimant will be Capquest Investments Ltd who owns the account. Their address is .........................

*The claim will be for the balance owing on the account

*We will tell the court you made an agreement with Lloyds Banking Group but failed to repay it as agreed, we will explain that your account was then sold to CapquestInvestments Ltd

*If necessary we'll show the court your credit agreement and statements to prove our claim

*You haven't told us of any dispute that you owe the balance of your account. If you dispute the claim we are willing to try to resolve the dispute without going to Court. we think the most suitable way to resolve any dispute is for us to discuss withyour representative.

*We think it is reasonable to ask you tolet us have a response by the 22/9/14. if you need longer please let us know.

*If you don't comply with the Practice Direction the Court can impose sanctions against you and this may increase your liability for costs

*You can make payments by a variety of means shown on the back of this letter

*If you want advice about this letter, you can contact a solicitor. there are also organisations that offer free advice and assistance, we have listed them on the back of this latter.

Please contact us as a matterof urgency to discuss your account".

 

 

I have contacted them and I believeI have a reasonable dispute that neither they nor Crapquest have answered. I have not received a response in wrting form them to my CPUTR 2008 request yet as to whether they have the original agreement.

 

 

I appreciate what you are saying Bazooka Boo but I want to push the fact that they nor Crapquest or any other DCA for that matter have responded to this request

[theoldrouge]

ok, imo their letter does fulfil the criteria for a letter before action and should not be ignored.

 

There is no requirement under cca1974 for them to respond to your request under CPUTR2008, they can just ignore it

 

but read into that stance what you will.

 

I would therefore suggest you reply with the letter as suggested in post#7 but adding "together with the statutory fee of £1" http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?387485-Letter-to-solicitors-threatening-legal-action-in-default-of-agreement-request-(update-21.04.2014

 

 

 

[horsemad1]

Hi again theoldrouge and thank you for your reply, but if I send this letter all I will receive is the same copy of the cut & pasted together application form in post #14 as this is what Crapquest provided me with (and other DCA's as Im guessing its all that Halifax have) and that will fulfil their obligations under an s78 CCA request, they will then be able to pursue me & I'll be back to square one wont I?

[theoldrouge]

yes they most likely will. Then your option would be to await the issue of the claim,if issued, and defend

[horsemad1]

Ok, but could I request that they send me the original and only the original under an s78 CCA request or is there an official letter that you know of that I could perhaps use instead?

[theoldrouge]

Ok, but could I request that they send me the original and only the original under an s78 CCA request or is there an official letter that you know of that I could perhaps use instead?

 

No, they do not have to supply the actual original signed agreement under a s78 request

 

a true and accurate copy will suffice (see Carey v HSBC)

 

have a read of the current guidance from the FCA--

 

http://fshandbook.info/FS/html/FCA/CONC/13/1

[horsemad1]

Another question sorry - if they were to try to enforce in Court would they need to produce the original agreement because its pre-2007. Sorry have been trying to read up about CCA's and came across this remark in another thread. Why does being a pre-2007 agreement make a difference? or am I totally barking up the wrong tree?

[theoldrouge]

s127(3) applies pre 6/4/2007. only