Cabot/restons Claimform - old Halifax Credit Card 'debt'

[ScabHunter]

If you and your parents can club together and raise the money, I would strongly recommend getting a trueCall - it will have uses beyond just dealing with these creeps. It gives you complete control over your telephone line. You can then decide whether to just zap these jerks away, or engage them in some "interesting" conversation which can then be recorded and reported.

 

trueCall can even record calls from the start if you press the record button later in the call - ingenious!

 

Have you sent the doorstep harassment letter yet? If not, do so now and keep a record of it.

 

Debt collectors don't have "officers", only desperate idiots chasing a commission who have no more rights to harass you than the refuse collector. I even heard of one case where a DCA employed a poor old age pensioner who was desperate to top up his meagre income. He was on commission only, so probably ended up with bugger all apart from insults, abuse and threats of bodily harm if he didn't disappear rather quickly. He was just as much a victim of these vile organizations as the people they harass.

 

Even if these arsewipes got you into court and got judgment, the court could only award minimal token payments given the situation you are in.

 

Unenforceability issues may help with the CC and the loan, but they won't help with the overdraft. If you are ill and on income support, and have no assets, I would seriously think about a Debt Relief Order.

 

SH

[joel.hall]

ok got another love letter from the girls at triton today.

 

this one is from their solicitors green & co (sounds familiar somehow):

 

dear sir/madam, (interesting start dont you think? i suspect a standard threatening letter)

 

we are instructed by our client, triton credit services, who are instructed by national westminster bank plc in connection with the above liability.

 

we understand that, despite formal demand for repayment, the above amount remains unpaid and we are likely to be instructed to commence court proceedings against you, without further notice.

 

however before we commence these proceedings, you have one final opportunity to make payment of the above amount within the next seven days, please make cheques payable to triton credit services and send them to our client, details below we confirm...

 

... should our client not receive payment or acceptable proposals within 7 days, it can only be assumed that you will not settle this matter on amicable and reasonable terms. we are then likely to be instructed to commence court proceedings against you on our client's behalf.

 

yours faithfully

 

green and co. (green and co has actually signed this hehe)

 

small print:

 

principal: j.a.m. green l.l.b. (hons)

this firm is the practicing name of solicitors employed by the royal bank of scotland group.

[joel.hall]

regal are even more annoying, this also arrived today, seems they cant get enough of me either. bare in mind this is the FIRST EVER LETTER ive had from regal.

 

dear sir,

 

we notice that the above balance remains on your account.

 

we have the opportunity for a very short period of time to discuss a FULL & FINAL [their capitals] settlement with you that could result in us being able to negotiate a significant reduction in your liability to our client. to take advantage of this it is important that you contact us on the above number IMMEDIATELY. [their capitals and underlining]

 

our offices are open from 8 am until 8:30pm on weekdays and 9am until 1pm on saturdays.

 

payment can be made by MAESTRO, VISA DELTA, ELECTRON, MASTERCARD or SOLO card. your reference number should be written on the back of any cheque or postal order. a reply paid envelope is enclosed for your use.

 

it is in your own interest to discuss this matter with us TODAY. [they do love those capitals]

 

yours faithfully

 

REGAL CREDIT CONSULTANTS LIMITED

 

signed by the collections department.

[joel.hall]

needless to say i did not react favourably to these. 5 minutes after opening them regal called me on my mobile. apparently this was vicky, and asked me to confirm my details. i simply replied asking if theyd received my letter. they told me no. royal mail say yes which is the proof.

 

i dont like liars.

 

anyway, serious? mere threats? helping my case more than theirs?

 

as much as i am intent on slowing them up as much as possible because of their harrassment and because i simply do not have the money, i need to know that this is just threatening hot air.

 

has anyone else dealt with green and co?

[joel.hall]

another interesting point is that despite today being the 9th of october - theyve backdated the letter from green and co to the first - the date of my cca request. clearly they seem to be covering their backs (or so they think).

 

any further advice on how to proceed?

[mr.ton]

Its the same worthless threats on different notepaper

It will cost them money to take you to court & a judgement would be made for what was in your best interests financially (£1 per month etc...)

So why DCA's see going to court as a bad thing on the debtors part is beyond me?

Anyway..if they ring you, refuse to answer their security questions & report them to the OFT/trading standards if they dont go away after being told to.

[joel.hall]

it seems that green & co is a trade name of the royal bank of scotland, which only covers solicitors they contract.

 

what happens is that this letter is sent out by rbs (not by a solicitor) in a standard template, and they then contract a solicitor under that trade name if they wish to go forward. this is confirmed by the print at the bottom of the letter, that this is the 'practicing name of solicitors employed by the royal bank of scotland'. in other words they are not actually a law firm, and do not retain solicitors on staff, but any who are asked to represent rbs use this name if they are later contracted by rbs.

 

green and co is therefore simply a name under which of rbs pays the contracts to solicitors. however there is the name of the principle at the bottom - j.a.m. green l.l.b. i cannot find any solicitor by that name anywhere other than on letters from rbs. pretty dodgy [problem].

 

pretty good [problem] too, though - got the letter this morning and only just worked it out.

[babybear39]

Wrap up a house brick and post it with their return envelope

[joel.hall]

another update: it just gets more pathetic.

 

regal have actually sent a polite letter. this one reads...

 

'we have submitted your section 77/78 consumer credit act request to rbs.' [this is interesting as they claimed they were entitled to the debt, which obviously they are not]

 

'in order to confirm your identity rbs have requested that you forward a copy of your current driving license or any other form of signed identification.'[correction youve requested it, ive had no letter from rbs] 'once this information is available they will respond with a copy of your original agreement.

 

a pre-paid envelope is enclosed for your use.'

 

i have to ask... are the people who work for regal completely retarded?

 

do they seriously think ill provide them with my sigature, which i dont have to do?

 

do they honestly expect me to believe theyve been phoning me and writing letters, even harassing me for money without checking who i am in the first place? surely you dot constantly threaten someoe for money if you dont know who they are in the first place.

 

in which case their whole business practice is called into question, as it should be anyway.

 

and do they realise that i dont even have a drivers license, or a passport, or ay other form of signed id? this begs the question again if theyre retarded. they do realise they cannot back out of a leal request just because i dont happen to have id dont they?

 

to be fair even triton didnt try to stoop this low. then again when ive spoken to regal before you could tell they were deparate people. hence why they threatened to have my parents phone cut off.

 

now lets see:

 

i dont need to provide a signature

i dont need to provide id

its up to them the confirm id not me

im not giving senitive information of me identity to strangers (basically unless someone has a warrant card then theyre strangers)

i dont own any anyway.

 

i think that clearly puts regal in a dodgy position doesnt it. they wont send the cca unless i provide a signature, and if they dont they default.

 

idiots.

[mr.ton]

They just make it up as they go along.

They have no rights to see your personal id.

[joel.hall]

i received an answer to my cca request from nat west.

needless to say, it wasnt a cca at all just a single, signed page from a credit card application form,

with absolutely none of the terms laid out,

 

 

i replied informing them they have defaulted the debt.

actually sent the letter to the 'dca' - part of rbs.

 

received a phone call out of the blue yesterday from a company called rma

- it seems nat west, despite being told clearly they cannot do this,

have passed the debt elsewhere.

 

 

some chap rang me up asking me to confirm my details and couldnt quite get it through his skull

id never heard of the company and wouldnt be confirming anything.

nor could he comprehend that nat west are not even allowed to pass the debt to their company, nor try to enforce it without a cca.

 

i got all the tricks again - he couldnt tell me what its about unless i confirmed my details.

.. ive enevr received a letter from them 'well nat west have been writing to you for 6 months'..

. yes mate nat west not you never heard of you..

 

 

. 'well a letter was sent out to you yesterday'.

.. well i dont have it,

ive never heard of you..

. 'well if you just confirm your details...

clearly talking slowly and simply is too much for them to take in.

 

 

ill have to get a video phone and explain things to them with pretty, colourful pictures, and dancing teddy bears.

 

when i called nat west to explain what theyd done, and even their in house dca there,

all they would keep saying is 'theyve complied with my request and are now seeking to recover the debt'.

 

this conversation was slightly different, though i suspect theyd grabbed some newly arrived immigrant and only taught them one sentance -

 

youve not sent it unfortunately...

 

'weve complied with your request and will be taking action to recover the debt'

 

yeah well unfortunately you cant...

 

'weve complied with you request and will be taking action to recover the debt'

 

ok ive had a financial advisor and a barrister look at this and theyre positive it isnt a cca,

this means youve defaulted the debt and cannot do much about it until you find that signed copy...

 

'weve complied with your requ...'

 

seeing as the folks over at rbs/nat west are clearly too stupid to understand that

a) they owe me money (id like my quid back hehe), and

b) theyre now breaking the law, what should i do?

 

im rather tempted to take up a legal challenge to stop them in their tracks, after all im entitled to legal aid and even have a barrister in the family.

 

it seems when i posted off a cca request to regal regarding another debt, there wasnt even a struggle.

my £1 was returned along with my original letter,

stamped as being read and an explaination that they couldnt carry out my request.

 

why do nat west assume theyre above the law here?

 

 

is it just being sneaky or do they really think of themselves that highly?

 

 

aching to start legal proceedings though id rather they either go awayf and leave me alone or learn a better style of customer service

and they may just convinvce me to start making repayments.

 

any advice from someone whos been in a similar situation?

[Mr lex]

Hi Joel,

 

Have a read of these letters and see if they fit your situation :-

 

http://www.consumerforums.com/resources/templates-library/86-debt-collectors/582-possible-letter-when-a-questionable-agreementapplication-is-sent

 

http://www.consumerforums.com/resources/templates-library/86-debt-collectors/574-letter-when-account-has-been-passed-on-whilst-agreement-request-is-in-dispute

 

Then send them off ASAP, you may have to amend then to suit your own circumstances.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Lex

[Woodhatch]

Interesting posts. All seem to say Triton are bullies, are rude and ignore letters.

I agree 100%, yet there is more.

 

I tried to make arrangements with RBS/Triton for 18 months through the Financial Ombudsman and finally got an agreement. I then set up sensible payments by Standing order.

Was that sufficient? Oh no

Now I get an e-mail 3 days before the date I agreed to pay as a reminder AND a telephone call to remind me

And when I called to complain, after giving them my life's history, they put the phone down on me :-x

 

So when are we all going to stand up and bring this poor behaviour and harassment to the attention of the media and the authorities? Today, I have written to BBC Watchdog. Unless we all do the same our voice will not be heard. Please, do it now and put a stop to their actions.

[debbbbsy]

I can confirm that Triton is an inhouse recovery department of both RBS & Natwest,

also known as Customer Management Services ("CMS").

 

 

They all have access to your account diary, & each can see what has been occuring on your account.

 

When they threaten legal action, this is to frighten you into paying, thats there job.

 

The people you speak to are working from a script.

 

What I suggest to everybody, is to trawl this site,

learn what your rights are as a consumer.

 

 

Do a CCA, also do a DSAR,

specifically ask for a copy of your "Diary Event History", this can be quite revealing,

 

 

it is an internal log of everything that has occurred since the account was passed to Telford.

 

Once you deviate from the script, make them aware of your rights,

you will discover quite quickley that the person you are speaking to is ignorant of the law.

Tell them, that they need more training, & terminate the call.

 

Debs

[joel.hall]

any ideas how a debt collection agency could find out your new address?

 

im not on the electoral register and i dont bank with the bank who claims the debt (and havent done for a year before i moved).

 

ive a strong feeling that something illiegal has occurred here...

[rameses_qc]

More than likely they have used tricks and foul underhandedness. Probably contacting all your neighbours pretending to be a relative or something is the usual trick.

[cerberusalert]

There are numerous ways they can find out... usually from your credit file. Any bank you have an a/c with will notify the CRAs of a change of address as will utility companies, mortgage companies etc.

[slyspy]

as will mobile phone companies etc

[joel.hall]

looks like im moving again then

[maroondevo52]

What is it they're chasing joel, maybe someone can help.

[twofoot]

You won't break wind without the CRA's finding you. If you have any credit agreements at all they will have your address.

[Guest Cartaphilus]

Quite easily. Years back, I had a problem with mail showing up (this was before I knew better BTW and before CAG came into existence so what you don't know etc ...) for someone who had lived there left no forwarding address. Also I'd never before had any dealings with any DCAs, never seen any letters from anyone like them before. Then they carried on until I got fed up of them, usually I would write 'not at this address' and shove them back in the post box. But after a while whomever wasn't getting the message as they kept coming. So I got slightly fed up of this and actually told the DCA how easy it was for me to find out where the person was living ... purely by looking them up in a publicly accessible manner online. Next village across for example. So, if I could do that, why couldn't they?

 

What annoyed me was they obviously weren't sure of the house number so they put on the envelope like this: 10-15 ... but they kept coming to my house all the time because it was the first number (not 10 BTW, that's just an example).

 

In the years between I have now learned to either bin them or send them back with the usual thing written on the envelope. But on that occassion once I'd located whomever they were chasing I was flabergasted they STILL kept writing to my house whilst I could look it up online within seconds.

 

Asides from that I was annoyed because the person hadn't left a forwarding address with their creditors. It catches up anyway at some point so not really a wise move because then things can get more serious once they do and every other avenue has been exhausted. Usually, by then, it's gone well past the DCA stage.

 

But as cerberus has also mentioned, once your name, address is back into the system as it were, that is how they trace you.

[jhall52]

I was a member of this forum several years ago, and have rejoined with a query relating to the same debt.

 

I took out a credit card with Halifax... around 9/10 years ago.

and haven't used it or made payments since I lost my job around 8 years ago due to ill health.

 

Needless to say my insurance didn't want to know, and

 

I am now lumbered with a debt I've made no movement on at all for around 8 years.

 

This debt is now substantially more than it was.

 

I have of course been threatened and harassed by Cabot over the years, and frankly my health couldn't stand it, so I ignored them.

 

I made an application for a CCA to Halifax around... may have been 3, possibly as many as 5 years ago.

They returned my request saying they didn't have one!

 

I have just received a claim form from Northampton County Court,

for the debt (plus court fees and solicitor's fees)

which I am in no position to pay, and shall be defending completely.

 

Needless to say, I have little intention of even paying the debt as:

 

1. I do not acknowledge the debt to Cabot.

2. I do not acknowledge the amount.

3. An payment plan offer I made years ago of £10 per month was rejected.

4. There is no CCA.

5. Harassment over the years has had a detrimental affect on my health.

 

What are my options here?

[dx100uk]

easy statute barred defence.

 

 

however can you fill this in first please...

 

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?419198-You-have-received-a-Claim-What-you-need-to-do.-**UPDATED-December-2014**(2-Viewing)-nbsp

[jhall52]

Thanks for the reply.

 

 

Does the fact they have admitted they do not have a copy of any contract with me (Halifax, as well as Cabot)

mean they will be unable to push this matter?

 

 

I made an offer to Halifax around 8 years ago (originally the claim is set 9 years ago according to the letter)

and have never acknowledged debt to Cabot, Halifax or made any sort of payment towards it.