HFC Bank taking me to court :(

[so*fed*up]

Hello Everyone,

 

First post here, but this site has been such a help to me over the last few months. I'm self-employed with a low income and lots of debt. I started to get into trouble with some of my creditors in July, being simply unable to pay, and have consequently defaulted on 3 accounts, the largest of which is with HFC Bank (credit card). One of my other creditiors has accepted my offer of payment, one other hasn't, and HFC have gone from sending the nice 'we're very sorry to hear of your financial difficulties and shall do all we can to help you at this difficult time' letters, to sending me a court summons today.

 

The amount they are claiming (over £13k) includes over £1800 in 'collection chage' that has been added by Restons solicitors, and there are also some overlimit fees & late payment fees added on. All of these 'extra' fees I dispute - I will pay what I owe, but not a penny more.

 

What do I do now? Do I fill in the admission form and the defence form? I have offered then £20.00 per month on several occasions, which is more than I can afford, but they would not accept it, despite me sending them an income and expenditure sheet. I can't offer any more money.

 

Will it be a problem to the courts that I have kept up to date (but usually late) payments with most of my other creditiors?

 

Please give me some advice, as I can't bear living with this constant pressure - I can't sleep at night, and worry about things 24 hours a day, making me snappy with my kids and everyone else, they must wonder what's happening to me

 

Have to go now I'm crying again - what a mess

[Gaou1]

Hello and welcome.

I'm in the same situation as you regarding hfc and restons. I'm actually going to court in Jan 07 to find out what the courts are going to set as the payment.

Have a look through this thread:http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-bailiffs-advice/46344-please-help-being-taken.html

 

I have found Karnevil who posts on here incredibly helpful. But you are not alone, and i'm sure with the helpful people here, you will be feeling better soon.

[so*fed*up]

Hello and welcome.

I'm in the same situation as you regarding hfc and restons. I'm actually going to court in Jan 07 to find out what the courts are going to set as the payment.

Have a look through this thread:http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-bailiffs-advice/46344-please-help-being-taken.html

 

I have found Karnevil who posts on here incredibly helpful. But you are not alone, and i'm sure with the helpful people here, you will be feeling better soon.

 

Hello

 

Thank you ever so much for replying I've don't feel so alone now - I've been trying to keep it all bottled up inside me, and I just can't do it anymore. What do I do now? Is it best to do the acknowledgment of service? That will give me 28 days to respond won't it? I will need to sort out my defence.

 

Thanks again

[sequenci]

Hello

 

Thank you ever so much for replying I've don't feel so alone now - I've been trying to keep it all bottled up inside me, and I just can't do it anymore. What do I do now? Is it best to do the acknowledgment of service? That will give me 28 days to respond won't it? I will need to sort out my defence.

 

Thanks again

 

yup. acknowledge it and then use the time to take a look at some of the threads on here with regards o HFC.

 

i wish you the best of luck with it.

[FANTASY CHARGES]

POINT OF INFORMATION :--

PLEASE CLICK ON THIS LINK

 

https://secure.creditgate.com/search/search.aspx?businessname=RESTONS

 

AND YOU will see just looking at the relevant restons

 

A)Available Reports Details

 

 

Business Name:

 

Restons

Business Status: Full Non-Limited Ref No: NB101948Established: 01/01/1800

Address:

 

Arpley Ho

59 Wilson Patten St

Warrington

Cheshire

WA1 1NF

------------------------------------------

B)Available Reports Details

 

 

Business Name:

 

Restons

Business Status: Full Non-Limited Ref No: NB101948Established: 01/01/1800

Address:

 

Arpley Ho

59 Wilson Patten St

Warrington

Cheshire

WA1 1NF

------------------------------------------

C)Available Reports Details

 

 

Company Name:

 

RESTONS SOLICITORS LIMITED

Company No: 05584055

Registered Office:Incorporated: 05/10/2005ARPLEY HOUSE

59 WILSON PATTEN STREET

WARRINGTON

CHESHIRE

WA1 1NF

 

Company Type: Private LimitedReport Status: Full DataAccounts Type: UnknownLatest Accounts to: ?Latest Return to: ?

Please note that this company has not yet filed any accounts at Companies House and therefore no financial information will be available.

----------

COMPANIES A & B HAVE been around since 1800 ( not 6 o'clock tonight !!!!!)

but company C one could argue possibly might be "attempting to pass itself off as companies "a" or "b" They have undoubted a true history ! " It is hoped that the "ethics and "good name " of the original founders of the company back in 1800 be upheld by all companies using the name restons in whatever form .

 

Indeed the 1901 census reveals

George K D Reston44years old resident in Gt Yarmouthto be a Solicitor

[FANTASY CHARGES]

so who is the " BENEFICIAL " owner of company "C" ???

 

WILL A MOD PLEASE CHECK THE ABOVE TWO POSTINGS :rolleyes:

[payingonlyencouragesthem]

I wouldn't be at all worried about going to court. If £20 a month really is too much the judge will almost certainly order a lower repayment than this. I've heard of courts ordering repayments of as little as 50p a month to cc companies. Also make sure they provide a copy of the original agreement (the debt is unenforceable without it). Demand a complete breakdown of all charges and interest applied to the account over the last 6 years so you can check for any unlawful charges. You will need to do a Data Protection Act SAR (see appropriate section on this site) and indicate on your court forms that you will be relying on this information for your defence.

[PriorityOne]

Whatever you do, maintain your payments of £20 per month !. If they still want to take you to court, then let them. The court will then be able to see that you have tried your best. They cannot make you pay what you haven't got.

[Bailiffchaser]

Personally send a sar off to hfc. Pm me and i will explain .

[Bookworm]

Personally send a S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) off to hfc. Pm me and i will explain .

 

Bailiffchaser, please stop asking people to PM you. Either what you have to say is legit, and can be posted here for everyone's benefit, or it's not, and you shouldn't be advising people of doing dodgy things.

 

I have now noticed a few of your posts where you said this, and suggest you stop it right now.

 

So*fed*up, please think carefully before pm'ing a user who doesn't want to say what he has to say in public.

 

Karnevil's advice is sound, and she is not afraid to post it publicly. I know who I would listen to. ;-)

[Movingon]

Hear Hear booky

[so*fed*up]

Hi Fed up - Sorry i havent found your thread before - have a read of my thread (HFC Loan in Debt & Baliffs) What have you done so far ?

Basically get your acknowledgement in, admit the loan and interest part - defend the collection charge as unlawful. My judge removed it from their claim, ordered I pay at the same rate I had been paying through CCCS, and allowed only minimal costs were awarded against me. He did however give HFC permission to apply for a charging order, but they havent done this as yet.

I'm happy to help you out with this if you need it, don't worry about the viability of restons - you need to concentrate on YOU at the moment.

I have subcribed to this thread so i'll check back with you.

 

DON't WORRY - I looked at it like this, my credit records shot for 6 years anyway so what difference will a CCJ actually make on it ???

 

Restons will not reply to letters - but you should still send them and copy them to the court.

 

The collection charge is added by HFC NOT restons. It WILL show on oyur default notice. They WILL NOT supply a breakdown of it and they claim it is a term of the agreement they can add 16.3% to and defaulted loan amount. YOU CAN DEFEND THAT.

 

SEND :- a CCA letter requesting the original signed agreement

:- S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) - you wont get it in time if ever but it shows you are trying

:- Letter requesting a statment of your account

:- Letter requesting a breakdown of the collection charge

I also, when they didnt respond, sent a formal PART 18 request to obtain this information, which they also didnt respond too.

 

Also re the other debts - have you spoken to CCCS or anyone ? they can help you prepare a financial statement to send in to your creditors when agreeing repayments, which is accepted by the court too.

 

YES continue paying the £20....keep a reord of your payments.

 

 

 

Have a read of my thread anyway (search on restons to bring up mine and others in similar positions)

 

Hope that helps a little. I know it is hard - but you have to try and detach yourself personally from this. Deal with it methodically and DONT WORRY about the outcome. The judge will not order you to pay any more than you can afford.

 

Karne

x

 

 

 

note for fantasycharges - yes restons is part of beneficial bank, in turn part of HFC. Not that it makes a huge (or any) difference when defending a claim against you.....

 

Hello Karne

 

Thank you so very much for replying - I've read through your thread, and it's fantastic to have someone to talk to that has been in my situation. I did try to PM you a couple of days ago, but your inbox was full, so it wouldn't work!

 

I have today acknowledged the claim, and I now have 2 weeks left in which to defend the collection charge (and late payment/overlimit fees?), and also to fill in the income and expenditure form for the court.

 

I'm going to get all of my paper work together and try and go through it all this weekend - is it ok to pm you then as I will have a couple (well at LEAST a couple!) of questions I'd like your advice on?

 

If you could help me in how to word my defence, that would be such a great help. HFC are currently adding interest at over £5 a day If that carries on, there will never be a hope of me paying off what I owe them.

 

I haven't spoken to CCCS about my other debts - I was under the impression that as I am self-employed with fluctuating income, they would not be able to help me, though I could be totally wrong!

 

I am trying to keep up to date payments with most of my other debts - none of them are as big as this one. I've long since passed worrying about my credit file, lol!!! It's the very least of my worries.

 

Once again, thank you for replying - I feel a lot better today, though I seem to have days when I feel I can cope, and then other days when I feel at the bottom of a very dark hole, with no escape.

 

I'll speak to you soon if that's ok.

 

Thanks Karne

x

[FANTASY CHARGES]

NICE WORK KARNEVIL i honestly did not know Beneficial Bank was part of the HSBC web it was a freulian slip using the word "beneficial"

[so*fed*up]

Fedup - hows it going ?

 

Hi Karnevil,

 

Thanks for thinking about me - I'm just off to drop the kids off at school, then I'm going to sit down with a cup of tea and finally get the forms filled in, as the 28 day deadline is this Friday.

 

I'll post here a copy of my defence - if you could have a look through it that would be fab.

 

I think I'll be pinching a lot of wording from your defence if that's ok with you

 

I only have £60 in late payment/overlimit charges but I do intend to defend them - can you advise how I would word that in my defence?

 

Hope things are going well for you.

 

Speak soon

x

[so*fed*up]

Yes, PM me when you post in case I miss it.

 

re the penalty charges - use bits from the POC. Remember you are defending not reclaiming.

 

Use as much of mine as you like.

 

Have you got your financial statement sorted to send with the defence ?

 

 

My kids finished school yesterday (hence they are still in BED ) so I probably wont be around much....but I will check back later to see how you are doing.

 

Hello

 

I can't thank you enough for helping me

 

I have completed my financial statement - a huge amount more outgoing than incoming, but that's how I got into this mess in the first place!

 

I'll post my defence below. Any comments welcome from anyone!!

 

Can I add anything about the interest that's being added at over £5 a day? :o Plus £100+ interest that they've added onto the claim?

 

Speak soon

x

[so*fed*up]

IN THE NORTHAMPTON COUNTY COURT Claim No: ********

BETWEEN:

 

 

HFC BANK LIMITED

-and-

So*Fed*Up

 

It is admitted that the Defendant has a Credit Card Account with the Claimant numbered **** **** **** **** ****

 

It is admitted that the Defendant has an outstanding balance on the account to the value of £******, as detailed in the particulars of claim.

 

The Defendant contests the amount of £*****, the ‘Collection Charge’ as entered in the particulars of claim by the Claimant.

 

The Collection charge is a disproportionate penalty and therefore unenforceable as it is contrary to common law.

Further, as a disproportionate penalty, it is invalid under the Unfair (Contracts) Terms Act 1977 s.4 and under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 Para 8. and sch.2(1)(e).

 

In the event the Collection Charge is not a disproportionate penalty then it is unreasonable within the meaning of the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 s.15.

 

The Defendant has asked the Claimant to give a breakdown of this charge in order to justify the amount but they have declined to do so.

 

The Defendant also contests the amount of £60.00 added to the account in Late Payment & Overlimit Admin Charges.

These charges are a disproportionate penalty and therefore unenforceable as they are contrary to common law.

 

Further, as a disproportionate penalty, they are invalid under the Unfair (Contracts) Terms Act 1977 s.4 and under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 Para 8. and sch.2(1)(e).

 

In the event that these charge are not a disproportionate penalty then they are unreasonable within the meaning of the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 s.15.

 

The Defendant has repeatedly offered a reduced monthly payment, to the Claimant for repayment of this account. This offer was made to the Claimant on 21st August 2006, 11th September 2006, 30th September 2006, 1st November 2006 & 8th November 2006. This proposal included a full financial statement with regards the Defendant.

 

The account was transferred to Restons Solicitors by the Claimant on the 3rd November 2006.

 

The Defendant contacted Restons Solicitors on the 8th November 2006 to discuss the repayment proposal.

 

All letters sent to the Claimant were sent via Royal Mail Recorded Delivery - Proof of this is available to the court.

[so*fed*up]

that sounds fine

 

number your paragraphs.

 

indicate you have copies of letter and FS which you will submit to the court.

 

 

But yes sounds good. Good luck

 

 

Thank you - I'll keep you informed of how I get on.

 

Have a great Christmas

x

[so*fed*up]

Just a thought - as the debt is growing daily with the added interest - is it worth mentioning to the court that IN THE FIRST LETTER i RECEIVED FROM rESTONS, IT MENTIONED THAT 'OUR CLIENT HAS ASKED (sorry for the caps) us to draw to your attention an opportunity for you to clear the account at a specially discounted settlement figure which could represent a substantial saving for you'.

 

Funny how they would reduce the debt then to clear it, but are increasing it every day now.

[so*fed*up]

I dont think so.

 

I called Restons when i got the special disount letter and they said cause I was CCCS I couldnt afford to pay it off even discounted (I had just won against Abbey so could have used that but they weren't having any of it)

 

I didn't think so either, but never mind, it was worth a try, lol!

 

x

[so*fed*up]

Well - I've got news to report I'll update this thread over the weekend, as I don't think I'll get time today.

 

Karnevil (or anyone else who has a CCJ from HFC!) - do I send my monthly payment to Restons or to HFC? If you have an address & details of who to make the cheque payable to that would be fab.

 

Thank you for your help & support,

not quite so*fed*up now

[Gaou1]

I've got a ccj with HFC / Restons but, and i'm sure Karnevil is in the same situation, as i'm with cccs all the money for creditors goes to them and then they distribute it accordingly.

I would have thought that when the court issued the ccj they should have said how to pay ?

Have you had confirmation from the court about the ccj ? This might contain the correct info ?

 

 

Sorry i couldnt help with exact details but i'm sure someone on here will be able to.

[Jaranius]

xx

[so*fed*up]

Hello Everyone

 

I'm really sorry it's taken me so long to update this thread - I'm only just about getting on top of sorting out my financial mess, and have still been around, put posting under another name just in case the men in black are spying!!

 

Well - I got the CCJ, as expected

 

However, the judge struck out the couple of late payment/overlimit charges I'd received, and also, the 'collection charge' from Restons.

 

The claimant objected to the rate of payment that I offered (roughly 10% of the original monthly payment), therefore the court had decided the rate that I should pay (the rate that I offered)

 

So, I am really pleased with the outcome

 

I've had an awful few months financially, but am currently feeling more 'on top' of the situation. I really and truly don't know what I would have done without you all & this site to help me (especially you Karnevil )

 

Thank you all so very much