Perch/TM Claimform - old Lending Stream PDL

[Aki8381]

 

Many years ago, I had financial problems and took out a few payday loans with Lending Stream.  In 2012, between April and September, I took out 3 loans, almost back-to-back.  The last one was a 6-month loan for a capital of £515 and a total repayment of £1030.  I only made one payment and did not manage to pay the rest. 

 

I then entered into an arrangement (with interest and fees frozen) but then broke the arrangement.

 

The debt was then sold a few times between 2016 and 2020: Credit Resources Solutions, Asset Collections and Investigations, and now finally since July 2020 with TM Legal Services (TMLS) who are acting on behalf of Perch Capital.

 

On 12 August 2020, TMLS advised that the debt stood at £1003.75 and offered a settlement at £752.81.  I countered with an offer of £300 which was rejected.

 

In September, I received a County Court Claim for £1,480.01.  The paperwork received from the Court did not include the credit agreement.  I asked for this as well as a breakdown of the amount claimed.  They provided the credit agreement and the breakdown as follows:

 

Original Creditor: GAIN Credit LLC trading as the Lending Stream

Original balance: £515.00

Interest: £643.75

Fees and charges applied by the original creditor: £32.00

Total Paid before import: £185.00

Balance on assignment: £1,003.75
Court Fee: £70.00
SRC Fee: £80.00
Interest (8%): 326.26
Current outstanding balance: £1,480.01

 

Their claim is almost 3 times what I originally borrowed.

 

In my response to the court, I accepted mediation however this was rejected by Perch Capital and I was notified that the claim had been assigned to a London county court. 

 

In order to try and resolve this, I contacted TMLS and offered them £600.  In calculating the amount, I deducted the extortionate £643.75 from the original loan but left the fees and the 8% interest claimed.  TMLS advised that Perch Capital rejected my offer and that the minimum they would accept would be £1332.01 (i.e. 90% of their claim).  It appears that they are hard-balling this to an extreme, particularly given that they most probably bought the debt from Lending Stream at a deep discount.

 

I have 3 questions:

1-     Is it too late for me to raise a complaint regarding irresponsible lending and asked for the court action to be stayed pending a resolution of the complaint?  I understand that there is a limit of 6 years.  I did not make the complaint before because I thought that the debt had been written off.

2-     Do I have any grounds to fight the extortionate interest element (£643.75) of their claim? 

3-     If this were to get to a court hearing, what is the probability of a judge awarding them the extortionate interest (£643.75) which they are trying to claim?

 

Many thanks in advance for any help.

[AndyOrch]

Hi and Welcome to the Forum.

 

I have moved your topic to the Financial Legal Issues forums which deals with court claims from creditors.

Please continue to post here.

 

Andy

[AndyOrch]

If you would read the following link and  copy the Q,s and your responses back here so we have all the history of the debt and claim in one post.

 

 

[dx100uk]

1.yes

2. yes by doing as above

3. zero.

 

complete out sticky please

and pop up on mcol and tell us the status of the claim.

and when is the court hearing?

are you at the witness statement stage?

[Aki8381]

Name of the Claimant ? Perch Capital Limited

 

Date of issue – 07 September 2020

 

Particulars of Claim

 

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

1.The Claimant claims this amount in respect of an unpaid loan, regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974.  The loan was funded by GAIN Credit LLC. 

 

2.The Defendant has failed to make payments in accordance with the terms of the credit agreement. 

 

3.The credit agreement was assigned to the Claimant, upon which a Notice of Assignment was sent to the Defendant. 

 

4.The Defendant has either failed to respond to the Claimant or has failed to maintain regular payments. 

 

5.The Claimant has issued a Letter of Claim providing the Defendant with a further opportunity to arrange repayment of the outstanding balance to no avail. 

 

The Claimant claims interest under section 69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at the rate of 8% a year from 13/08/2016 to 04/09/2020 on £1,003.75 and also interest at the same rate up to the date of judgment or earlier payment at a daily rate of £0.22.

 

What is the total value of the claim? £1,480.01
 

Have you received prior notice of a claim being issued pursuant to paragraph 3 of the PAPDC (Pre Action Protocol) ? Yes on 30/07/20
 

Have you changed your address since the time at which the debt referred to in the claim was allegedly incurred? No
 

Did you inform the claimant of your change of address? N/A

Is the claim for - a Bank Account (Overdraft) or credit card or loan or catalogue or mobile phone account? A payday loan
 

When did you enter into the original agreement before or after April 2007 ? After (October 2012) 
 

Do you recall how you entered into the agreement...On line /In branch/By post ? Online
 

Is the debt showing on your credit reference files (Experian/Equifax /Etc...) ? Not any more
 

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 assigned to the Claimant 
 

Were you aware the account had been assigned – did you receive a Notice of Assignment? Yes I was advised of the transfer
 

Did you receive a Default Notice from the original creditor? Yes
 

Have you been receiving statutory notices headed “Notice of Sums in Arrears”  or " Notice of Arrears "– at least once a year ? Yes
 

Why did you cease payments? 16/06/18
 

What was the date of your last payment? 16/05/18
 

Was there a dispute with the original creditor that remains unresolved? No
 

Did you communicate any financial problems to the original creditor and make any attempt to enter into a debt management plan? Yes. I was paying £1 per month until 16/05/18

 

If you have not already done so – send a CCA request to the claimant for a copy of your agreement.  I requested a CCA as part of my defense.  The Claimant provided it on 09/11/20 after the County Court Claim was filed

 

[AndyOrch]

Thank you .....if we could have a redacted copy of the defence you submitted and details of the n157 Notice of Allocation dates and directions and statements if your at that stage yet.

 

Andy

[Aki8381]

@dx100ukThank you for your response. 

 

We are still at the stage of waiting to hear from the local London Court for a date and instructions.  

 

From a procedural point, they seem to have followed the rules.  I am not looking to walk away from the debt entirely.  I want to settle this in a reasonable manner where I repay the outstanding principal plus reasonable interest, and put it behind me.  Unfortunately, they are hard-balling it. 

 

In view of your answers to 2 and 3 above, how do I communicate to them clearly and legally that they have no real prospects of being awarded the extortionate interest which they are claiming?  Is there case law I can refer to?  

 

Also, in my preliminary defence (N9B), I simply stated that the Claimant had not provided a copy of the credit agreement.  How/when can I amend my defence?  I am unable to see this option on MCOL.

 

Thank you for your help.

 

Thank you Andy.

 

My defence was simply: "I do not recognise this alleged debt as the Claimant has failed to provide a copy of the credit agreement."

 

They subsequently provided a copy of the agreement.

 

I am still awaiting the n157 notice.

[dx100uk]

scan up yo one multipage PDF the CCA return

read upload carefully

 

id also be sending a CPR 31:14 to get all the other docs they will need to gain a successful judgement like the Default notice.

you don't need to amend your defence.

 

the IRL claim would be against LS directly nothing to do with the claim other than as ref'd poss in your witness statement.

the debt cant be SB'd as you've paid within 6yrs so i've amended the title.

 

[AndyOrch]

Quote

 How/when can I amend my defence?  I am unable to see this option on MCOL.

 

There isnt one.....your defence is as submitted...you can amend it manually by making application (£100) with the claimant's permission but there should be no need as you can particularise in your witness statement ...the next stage.

[Aki8381]

As suggested above, I am attaching the redacted CCA.  

CCA 04.10.2012 Redacted.pdf

 

I am also attaching the Default Notice and the Termination Notice.

 

Default Notice 04.12.12 Redacted.pdf Termination Notice 18.12.2012 Redacted.pdf

[dx100uk]

Default notice under section 87 cannot include fees.

 

 

[Aki8381]

A few questions as I am not familiar with some of the terminology:

 

1- What is IRL Claim?

 

2- Is there anything I can say to Perch Capital at this stage to suggest to them that they have no real prospects of achieving a judgment for the full amount they are claiming (£1,480) and that my offer of £600 is a reasonable one?

 

3- Should I go ahead and pay the £600 in full and final settlement, in the hope that they will drop the rest of the claim?  The rationale is that I don't have a defence for not paying the original principal, interest at 8% and court fees.  Also, by paying the £600, I stop the 8% interest accruing.

 

Many thanks for all your help.

[dx100uk]

Irresponsible lending claim look in our pdl general forum for our guide

 

let the claim run . 

 

have you a date yet?

[Aki8381]

Thank you dx100uk.

 

There is still no date yet and no further directions.

 

I am somewhat confused by your last message as  I understood from an earlier response in the thread that a complaint/claim for irresponsible lending was no longer an option given that it is more than 6 years?

 

Also you said "Default notice under section 87 cannot include fees."  How can I use this in practical terms?

 

Thank you.

[AndyOrch]

Im not sure about the DN containing fees makes it invalid on a fixed loan...but if you look at the dates.....issued 4th Dec 2012 ..allowing you 14 days exactly to rectify the breach (so 18th Dec 2012) and then the termination notice dated the 18th Dec 2012...no allowance for postage ( service )... you probably only received it say 8th Dec 2012..therefore the full prescribed period was not afforded to you.

 

Which makes the DN and TN invalid.... pursuant to sec 88(2)

 

(2)A date specified under subsection (1) must not be less than [14] days after the date of service of the default notice, and the creditor or owner shall not take action such as is mentioned in section 87(1) before the date so specified or (if no requirement is made under subsection (1)) before those [14] days have elapsed.

 

Andy

[Aki8381]

Thank you Andy.

 

The DN and TN were sent by email so I received them same day.  I have no recollection if they were also sent by hard copy.  Is it deemed as legally served by email?

 

[AndyOrch]

Not sure..I dont recall of any legislation that prevents it......but there is no reference on the DN to being sent electronically and of course its impossible to prove when you read it.....4th Dec 2012 was a Tuesday.....Im sure you were away that week and had problems with your computer ?

 

.

[AndyOrch]

Amendment of the Consumer Credit (Enforcement, Default and Termination) Regulations 1983

3.  After regulation 2(4) insert—

“(4A) Any notice to be given under a provision of these Regulations shall be in writing and given to the debtor or hirer in paper form.”.

 

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2004/3237/regulation/3/made

 

4. Legislative Background

4.1 These Regulations amend the existing regulations which prescribe the form and content of certain notices to be given under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 before
a creditor (in the case of a credit agreement) or owner (in the case of a hire agreement) may take certain steps to enforce a regulated agreement against a debtor or hirer.

The amendment expressly requires that such notices must be provided on paper as notices are generally issued to borrowers who have breached the regulated agreement (e.g. fallen behind with their repayments) or where the creditor or owner wishes to terminate the regulated agreement for reasons other than a breach.

The effect of default action or termination will have a significant impact on the rights of the debtor or hirer. The likelihood that default is a result of financial hardship – and that individuals who are experiencing such financial difficulties may no longer have access to the equipment or network access that enabled them to contract by electronic communications in the first place – makes an insistence on paper communication an essential safeguard for the rights of debtors and hirers.

 

 

.

[Aki8381]

Thank you Andy.

 

So if the prescribed period was not afforded to me, what does this mean?  Does it mean that the agreement is unenforceable?

 

[AndyOrch]

No the Default Notice is invalid...and therefore they cannot enforce the agreement.

[Aki8381]

Is the Default Notice which is invalid or the Termination Notice?  Just to be precise.

 

From a tactical point of view, do I advise them of this now or do I let the claim run?  I just want to knock this on the head.

 

[dx100uk]

Read andyorch s last post again

no you dont play your cards yet

 

what you need to understand is these people are bad debt buyers

they pay the original creditor less than 10p=£1 for the debt..

then they issue speculative court claims for the whole amount hoping mugs wet themselves and cough up ..big profit!! They buy with no paperwork and couldn't care less about that as 99% of mugs cough up blindly.

 

.what you might want to ask yourself is why didn't a big international creditor not want to crush you in court themselves...urm...

[Aki8381]

Thank you for your help.  I will advise when I receive a court date.

[jotty]

Any update on this yet?

[dx100uk]

open