Cabot threatening CCJ legal action for Halifax debt

[pip83]

I had an outstanding amount for a Halifax Credit Card after I defaulted when my dad died some years ago

and I was also made redundant.

 

 

I paid this off over 5 years only to then be told that I still owed them over £1000 as this was for fees.

I disputed this and it was when I disputed it I found out that I had in fact had PPI on the credit card

when I demanded copies of my statements.

 

I went into a branch of the Halifax with copies of everything and was told by a staff member that I shouldn't in her opinion be paying the fees (PPI should have covered everything but I was in a very bad place at the time and didn't realise I actually had PPI).

She took it to her manager who agreed.

 

 

I was advised to put everything in writing and told there was no reason I couldn't stop further payments as I shouldn't owe them.

I asked what would happen if I stopped any payments and was told they would probably send demand letters s

o I decided instead to drop them to a token £1 just to stop any threatening letters in the meantime that the complaint was being looked into as it was too stressful.

 

While I was there,

it was also established that a previous loan I had had and paid off had also had PPI on

but they had refused to pay out on it when I was signed off with depression as it turned out I wasn't covered.

This forced me to use the credit card to try cover repayments at the time.

 

 

I was advised to lodge a complaint about that too

- which I did as when I took out that loan the lady who sold it to me told me it covered me for illness.

 

 

The Halifax wrote back and accepted responsibility and refunded me the PPI.

However, they didn't accept it for the credit card.

They have ignored the fact completely that I did have PPI on it until I defaulted when I was made redundan

t and dad died and continued to demand the fees were repaid.

Had the PPI been used then the fees wouldn't even have accrued.

 

I then took it to the financial ombudsman and am still waiting on that.

 

Now, it seems the Halifax have sold the debt to Cabot Financial who are now sending me letters threatening legal action and CCJ's if I don't reply in 14 days.

When i found out the debt had been passed to Cabot I stopped paying the token amount and haven't had any contact with Cabot.

 

What would you do?

I'm seeing posts saying to ignore but at the same time there are posts where it seems Cabot have actually taken people to court.

I can't understand why the Halifax wouldn't take into account the fact that it turned out I did have the PPI on the credit card which I had been paying from the beginning.

 

 

You can clearly see just by looking at my account (I had a current account with them)

at the time I defaulted when my dad died that I had no income at all and that I had been in real trouble.

I literally sank.

 

 

Had I been in a better place at the time we could have discovered this and presumably the PPI would have kicked in and none of these charges would exist but I barely even left the house.

 

I would really be grateful for advice.

The ombudsman is taking forever and I'm not entirely confident in them anyway as they seem to take an easy way out

and not uphold claims from other posts I've read.

I presume I also need to let them know about this latter from Cabot too?

 

Thanks

[SabreSheep]

OK first of all, breathe no need to worry about CCj just yet. There is a long process to get to that point.

 

I see 2 things here that need to be tackled.

 

1. PPI reclaim

2. Credit card default payments

 

Both of which could wipe out any debt.

 

So first thing you need to do is gather information. You need this all in writing and under no circumstances should you have any phone communication with anyone in regards to this debt and or reclaims.

 

1. CCA request to Caboots

 

2. FULL subject access request to Halifakes

 

Send both of these recorded delivery and keep both proof of postage and delivery with a copy of the letters. Templates for which can be found in the CAG library

 

ignore everything else for now UNLESS you receive an N1 claim form

 

Also what are the rough amounts outstanding and what year was the credit card taken out?

[pip83]

The amount the are after is about £1100 - its apparently made up entirely of charges - all the actual credit card debt itself I paid off. I claimed for the PPI through the Halifax for both credit card when we realised it had had PPI on it and the old loan. They upheld the loan as being mis-sold but refuse to look at the credit card charges as in I shouldn't have the charges as there was PPI. Its just that I was in such a state that I didn't know.

 

The card was taken out I believe, in 1999, so many years ago. I defaulted in 2005 when dad died and I was made redundant (happened within weeks of each other).

[pip83]

Also, the manager at the Halifax Branch herself filed the PPI complaint for me. I have her name as I know the lady at the counter that I spoke to when all this first came up. She asked for the amount that they stated I owed to be credited back, plus money for stress and inconvenience due to the circumstances - and still I have that in writing from the counter lady via a facebook message. There was also something about an extra 2% if successful. To be honest, I don't care about money in my pocket. I just don't think it right that I should have to pay those charges when if they went back, I would have been covered as I was also out of work and the charges wouldn't have been accrued.

[SabreSheep]

well heres the thing

 

you have paid compound interest on any of those charges which are unlawful anyway

 

 

A reclaim would first of all be offset against any debt but seeing as it has now been sold on that complicates things more for you.

 

And without anything in writing agreeing to these things you cannot be sure they will uphold it.

 

Halifax will not refund you the charges or interest as they no longer hold the account. You will have to take court action to get that back. The new owners of the debt will try and pursue you regardless. But being a 1999 contract may be difficult for them to enforce anyway.

 

SO

 

do steps 1 and 2 above

[martin2006]

When did you go to FOS?

Was this in relation to the ppi on the credit card?

have you reclaimed the ppi on the previous loan?

[pip83]

Halifax paid out the PPI on the loan in February 2013 after the branch manager lodged the complaint in November 2012. They refused to deal with the PPI issue on the credit card though according to their letter, or the fact that there shouldn't have been any charges so I referred it to the ombudsman when i got that letter - February 2013. Since then I've been getting the occasional "bare with us, we have thousands of complaints" etc from the Ombudsman, so still waiting for them.

 

I just want the charges wiping as they shouldn't have been accrued as I should have been covered. I don't care about any compensation.