Hoist/Cohen - letter of claim - old EGG/Barclaycard Debt from 2014

[caged bird]

Hello

 

A couple of days ago, I received a Letter of Claim dated 28/10/2020, from the above writing to inform me of their

"... intention to issue proceedings in the County Court for the above outstanding amount that you have failed to repay" 

 

I wonder if you can help with advice on how to respond or what action I need to take.

The debt is £4,619 and was from a Barclaycard originally.

The remainder of this latest letter is shown at the end of this message.

 

I know it may be unhelpful in the long run, but I've been ignoring this issue as I'm not in full time employment.

I had 5 months work last year at minimum wage - it was a seasonal summer job.

And this year, I have earned even less.

So this is a huge worry.

 

I received the following correspondence prior to getting this letter:

 

27/03/2014 Barclaycard – Letter stating that as they had been unsuccessful in contacting me about overdue payments, that they had exercised their legal right to set off part of the outstanding arrears on my Barclaycard against my Barclay's account. The set-off amount was £1,433 against the total of £5,421

 

14/05/2019 Barclaycard – Notice of transfer to Hoist Finance

 

14/05/2019 Hoist Finance – Notice of Assignment

 

16/05/2019 Robinson Way – Letter stating they'd been appointed as the collection agent

 

04/10/2019 Barclaycard – Letter offering a payment of £75 as an "Inconvenience Payment" relating to the above mentioned set-off amount in recognition that they 'may not have contacted' me before the transfer and of the "potential distress and inconvenience" I may have suffered as a result of the transfer. I did not respond.

 

04/11/2019 Barclaycard – Regarding the previous letter about the one-off payment of £75

 

25/112019 Robinson Way – Please contact us

 

01/02/20 Robinson Way – Pre-legal Assessment stating that the account may be transferred to Howard Cohen

 

27/05/20 Robinson Way – Letter offering a 40% discount

 

14/07/2020 Robinson Way – Letter asking me to contact them and how they could help with a payment plan

 

06/10/20 Robinson Way – Pre-legal Assessment stating that the account may be transferred to Howard Cohen and warning that if it goes to court the amount owing will increase

 

So that's where I am.

 

Thank you for taking the time to help.

 

Sincerely

 

caged bird

 

 

 

The remainder of the 28/10/2020 letter is as follows:

 

"This debt originates from a written agreement dated 30/11/07 between the original creditor detailed above and you. The agreement was subsequently terminated when its terms were not complied with.

 

Our client later purchased this account and it was legally assigned on 29/04/19. The Notice of Assignment has previously been provided to you.

 

There have been no interest or administrative fees/charges applied to your account since we acquired it.

 

You should note that is letter is being sent in accordance with the Pre-action Protocol for Debt Claims of the Civil Procedure Rules. The Court rules confirm the actions either party must take before a matter goes to Court. We should point out the Paragraph 7 sets out is expectations for you and our client in how to comply with the Protocol. the full protocol is available from the Court Service at: https://...

 

Despite our client or its agents, Robinson Way Limited, attempts to engage with you to agree a suitable payment plan, the above amount remains unpaid.

 

Enclosures:

To respond to this letter the following documents are enclosed and would need to be completed:

1. Information Sheet

2. Reply Form

3.Income and expenditure form.

 

Payment/Action Required

You are required to make payment of this outstanding balance with in the next 30 days.

 

If you do not respond to this letter, a Claim will be issued in the County Court without further notice. I a Claim is issued and you do not respond, a County Court Judgment ("CCJ") may be obtained against you. However if you are unable to pay the full balance in 30 days, our client is prepared to enter a suitable payment instalment arrangement with you to prevent legal action being taken.

 

To submit your proposals please complete the attached Reply Form, or alternatively, contact our client's agent, Robinson Way Limited who will be happy to discuss this with you. Should you want to respond via the attached reply form, please complete within 30 days of the date of this letter sending it to: Robinson Way Limited...

 

This Reply Form should still be returned even if you are receiving advice and assistance from a Debt Advice firm. Details of where can find such organisations that may be able to assist are contained in the attached Information sheet.

 

Ways you can pay

...

 

Court Action for no Response

Should you not respond or engage following receipt of this letter by 29/11/20, by making payment to our client or providing any other response. We will instruct the Count Court to issue a Claim for the outstanding balance without further notice, together with Court cost.

 

We recommend that you respond as requested to prevent such action...

 

 

 

 

[Andyorch]

 

[dx100uk]

when did YOU last pay or use the card?

you state above 2014 is that correct?

 

dx

 

[caged bird]

Thank you Andyorch, I'll take a look.

 

dx100uk,

this goes back to an Egg card I had a long time ago that was transferred to Barclaycard.

I'm pretty sure I called them when they set-off the £1,433 in March 2014 but don't think I've had any dealings since.

 

I understand that if no payments or use of the card has been registered for a period of 6 years that the debt may be too old for them to collect (?)

 

but how do I find out the last transaction or use and who should I contact?

And if I contact any of the parties, will that be some kind of admission?

 

Thanks so much

[dx100uk]

just send arrows our statute barred letter from the debt collection section of our library

no need to use the PAPLOC reply pack nor our form in that link.

 

the debt is statute barred 

 

you could contact the CITI/EGG operations centre at canadian square london

but pers i wouldn't bother

 

dx

[dx100uk]

why did i say arrows...

hoist or robbersway, one of their trading names...

 

dx

 

[caged bird]

Thanks dx100uk, so I send that to Hoist or Robinson Way rather than in reply to the latest letter from Howard Cohen? Just want to be sure I'm doing the right thing!

[Andyorch]

You must respond using the Pre Action Protocol response.....irrespective of whether it is Statute Barred or not.

 

Do not acknowledge the debt simply attach the Statute Barred letter to the form and return it to them.

 

7 COMPLIANCE WITH THIS PROTOCOL 7.1

 

If a matter proceeds to litigation, the court will expect the parties to have complied with this Protocol. The court will take into account non-compliance when giving directions for the management of proceedings. The court will consider whether all parties have complied in substance with the terms of the Protocol and is not likely to be concerned with minor or technical infringements, especially when the matter is urgent.

 

Andy

[dx100uk]

and return it to cohens.

[caged bird]

Okay, thank you both very much. I'll update you on how it goes.

 

Thanks again

[caged bird]

Just reading through the PAP thread – it's a lot to take in all at once! Can I clarify some things?

 

Andyorch, do you mean that I should not fill in the Reply Form at all, just attach the Statute Barred letter? Or do you mean, as I think you do, that I should fill in the form as outlined below and attach the Statute Barred letter? Sorry if this is an obvious question.

 

And if I do fill in the Reply Form, I should use the one on your recommended PAP thread rather than the one they sent – out of curiosity, why is this? 

 

Reply Form: Just to confirm, I send this to Howard Cohen & Co Solicitors and not to Robinson Way?

1. Tick BOX D – "I dispute the debt because... it is Statute Barred and the debt purchaser has yet to provide all of the required documentation" 

2. Tick BOX I – "I need more documents or information"

 

"I have requested by way of a cca request the signed agreement from the debt purchaser" Do I send the cca request to Hoist Finance?

 

"I also require you to supply the following

• A copy of the written Contract
• A copy of the Default Notice
• A copy of the Notice of Assignment
• A complete set of statements detailing exactly how the debt has accrued detailing:

                  i)   All Transactions

                  ii)  All Call Usage (what does this mean?)

                  iii) Details of all contractual interest added by whom and on what date explaining how they have been calculated

                  iv) List of ALL Payments made toward the Agreement

                  v)  Any additional charges, be them by the original creditor or the debt purchaser or any predecessor DCA"

                  vi) Details of how much this debt is inflated by charges until end of contract after termination by the provider

 

3. Print name (don't sign) and date

4. Attach Statute Barred letter

 

So, in summary:

1. Send a cca to Hoist Finance as they are the Debt Purchaser

2. Fill in (as above) the Reply Form (using the one from your PAP thread rather than the one they sent) and attach Statute Barred letter

 

Does this all sound right?

 

Thanks so much.

 

 

[dx100uk]

if a debt is statute barred it doesn't matter what info they hold or might get.

 

pers i would  

 

NOT include to section d - 'and the debt purchaser has yet to provide all of the required documentation" 

 

nor tick / fill out box I

 

nor send a CCa request

 

print out the relevant page from our PDF

fill as above

staple the SB letter to it

don't sign anything

pop it in the post to the PAPLOC sender Cohen's 

get free proof of posting from any PO counter.

 

job done

 

dx

 

 

[Andyorch]

As above......You must return the PAP to whoever sent it ...Solicitors.

[caged bird]

Wonderful, thanks so much!

 

Last question (hopefully), so there is no need to send a cca to Hoist Finance at this point?

[dx100uk]

go back and read my post carefully

 

dx

 

[caged bird]

Hello again

 

I have an update on the above at last and wondered. if you could let me know what you think?

 

I received a letter dated 21 January from Hoist about ‘My Recent Request’ saying ‘we have not yet received a response from your original creditor’ and that they are continuing to seek an update and that action on my account has been temporarily stopped while they await a resolution.

 

A few days later, I received another letter dated 22 January. Here are the main points:

’Further to your request for a copy statement for the above account, please find enclosed the documentation for your attention.’

Forward my affordable payment proposals.

Account on hold for 14 days after which collection activity will resume.

Enclosed were two pages with showing 51 rows of transactions, in 5 columns (Loaded DM/Loaded Host/Description/Amount/Balande) starting 09/08/2013 and ending 26/04/2016. There is no other information like account number etc.

 

Shall I attach those pages?

 

Thank you

 

 

[Andyorch]

SO everything but the actual agreement...then they remain in default of said request and unable to enforce the agreement until they can comply......14 days 28 days 64 days what ever they wish ...they cant enforce the agreement.

 

 

Andy

[caged bird]

Hi!

 

Thanks for replying.

 

So, should I send them a letter saying just that?

 

Also, the last transaction they did send supply was dated 26/04/2016 – nearly 7 years ago. And weren’t they meant to reply to the request within 28 business days – I sent the request in early November and their first reply was 21 January? Do either of these points help and should I mention them and if so, how should I put it?

 

Thank you again!

[Andyorch]

No...they are fully aware of the CCA1974 and being in default...don't get into pointless letter tennis.

 

They have 12 + 2 days to respond to a CCA request

[caged bird]

Okay, so I’ll just see what happens.

 

Huh, so they were even later in responding than I thought.

 

Will update again when – and I’m sure i will – hear more.

 

Thanks for all your help. Wishing you all the good things! x

[Andyorch]

Also bear in mind that this was part of the PAP request...so should they proceed to issue a court claim having failed to comply with PAP then this will come into play within any defence to a claim.

 

See what transpires.

 

Andy

[caged bird]

Okeedokee, thank you

[caged bird]

Oh my goodness, just realised that the last transaction showing on that list wasn’t nearly 7 years ago but only nearly 5! 

 

But they didn’t comply with PAP by not sending the actual agreement and taking way over the 14 business days to respond, so they’re in default of CCA1974. That’s something, I guess.

x 

[Andyorch]

Check the transaction ...make sure its yours.