Mortimer Clarke / Marlin / First Direct Summons Received - Help required

[Keepingabraveface]

Good morning all,

 

First post so apologies if its a bit of a ramble,

 

I received today a claim form from Northampton County Court,

claimant MCE (Marlin) in respect of an debt with HSBC.

It mentions a bank account facility and they are claiming over £10K.

 

I got myself into debt in the mid 2000's trying to support my business with credit card and overdrafts and it all went horribly wrong.

 

The weird thing is, this debt is actually 2 debts. One for the current acc and one for a credit card.

 

I was harassed by Marlin in 2007, 2008 and 2009 and as I lived with my parents,

they were getting most of the calls to their home number and the rest to my mobile.

 

I know I shouldn't have but I paid monies to Marlin in 2009 but then received some debt advice

and was advised to write to Marlin as it was felt that they did not officially own the debt.

 

 

I made a CCA request but it was returned and refused as they said it related to a Bank account and was not covered by CCA.

 

 

I wrote to HSBC and asked them to clarify the situation (no response) so

I wrote back to Marlin and made another CCA request and never heard anything more.

 

I got a letter from Mortimer Clarke a couple of weeks ago saying I owed them £10K

and had to contact them as soon as possible and

 

 

today I got the Claim for from the court.

 

Can someone confirm my position regarding the CCA request,

 

 

can Marlin combine 2 debts,

a bank account and

a credit card and

then add on £4K worth of interest??

Do I have grounds to defend the case in respect of this?

 

I am scraping by on less than minimum wage at present as I became a full time carer to my father in 2009

and since he passed in 2013, have struggled to get back into work.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice offered.

[citizenB]

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

 

As you have received a claim form, I have moved you to the correct forum. Can you please have a read of the thread I have linked above - copy and paste the first post of that thread, into this one and respond to the questions so we can advise further.

[dx100uk]

urm smells of the managed loan syndrome by HSBC to me.

 

 

we need the details from the claim form and the length of the account numbers they are listing.

 

 

credit card will 16 digits

 

 

the bank account will be shorter.

 

 

dx

[Keepingabraveface]

Name of the Claimant - MCE Portfolio Ltd

Date of issue – 3/11/14

What is the claim for – the reason they have issued the claim?

Please type out their particulars of claim (verbatim) less any identifiable data and round the amounts up/down.

Monies due under current account overdraft.

The Claimants claim is for the balance outstanding under a bank account facility

HSBC Bank PLC (HSBC) agreed to maintain for the defendant.

It was a term of the bank account that any debit balance would be repayable by the defendant in full on demand.

Despite a demand being made, the Defendant has failed to repay the amount due.

The debt was assigned xx/xx/2011.

The claimant therefore claims 1. 6217.78 2.

Interest pursuant to section 69 of the county courts act 1984,

namely 4001.76 & continuing until judgment or sooner payment at the rate of 1.3.6

 

What is the value of the claim - Over £10K

Is the claim for a current or credit/loan account or mobile phone account? - It is for two things combined, a credit card and current account.

When did you enter into the original agreement before or after 2007? - Before

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. Debt Purchaser

Q. Were you aware the account had been assigned

– did you receive a Notice of Assignment?

 

A. No, I had initially agreed hardship payments with First Direct but then I challenged them on charges to my account

for the previous six years which would have cleared the debt.

The debt on both accounts was derived from Charges.

 

October in 07 Letter from Marlin saying they owned the debt.

Constant phone threats all day to my dad

made token payments until early 2010,

then National Debt line suggested I stop making payments

and send them a CCA request.

It was returned saying Current accounts not covered by CCA.

 

Debt then chased by Bamber Debt Recovery. (Part of Marlin).

Wrote to First Direct for clarification, no response.

More letters from Marlin, then chased by Newman Debt Collection.

 

 

Issued a CCA request to Newman, no response.

 

 

Nothing more till 2013, than a letter from Marlin appointing McKenzie Hall.

 

 

Alternate letter from Marlin & McKenzie Hall. Sent a CCA request to McKenzie hall, no response.

 

Nothing more till 2014, letter from Marlin saying McKenzie Hall no longer responsible,

 

 

then a claim form today.

 

Did you receive a Default Notice from the original creditor - No.

Have you been receiving statutory notices headed “Notice of Default sums” – at least once a year ? No.

 

 

Why did you cease payments:- As per above.

Was there a dispute with the original creditor that remains unresolved -

Yes, I was in financial difficulty and they kept adding charge after charge.

They did not warn me they were going to move this to a DCA.

 

Did you communicate any financial problems to the original creditor and make any attempt to enter into a debt management plan?

Yes, but then Marlin appeared as per above.

[dx100uk]

the poc says nowt about a credit card

 

 

 

 

dx

[Keepingabraveface]

Hi DX,

 

No, no mention of it. But the debt definitely relates to both.

[dx100uk]

sadly nothing to do with it .

 

 

it matters not if you 'think' its a merged debt.

 

 

so no marlin have not merged them.

 

 

if they had they would have to disclose that.

 

 

ok first step is to ack the claim on MCOL

 

 

dx

[Keepingabraveface]

Hi DX, OK, is it better to ack sooner or later?

[dx100uk]

makes no odds but you MUST do it by day 19

where day 1 is the date on the claimform

 

 

dx

[AndyOrch]

Should have fun with your defence then..."It is denied that I have ever held a current account with an authorised overdraft of £6K."

 

Keepingabraveface

 

On their particulars have they not stated the dates of interest from and to on section 69? or have you edited it?

 

" Interest pursuant to section 69 of the county courts act 1984,

namely 4001.76 & continuing until judgment or sooner payment at the rate of 1.3.6 ?

Regards

 

Andy

[Keepingabraveface]

Morning Andy,

 

I have just checked and that is it word for word. I am assuming that they are asking interest from the date of assignment?

[AndyOrch]

A lot of interest for 4 years at 8%....what does "at the rate of 1.3.6 " mean?

[Keepingabraveface]

HiAndy,

 

Have no idea what those numbers refer to.

[AndyOrch]

And neither will the Judge...if they have not particularised it correctly they wont be getting it:wink: