Seahorse v Cabot

[Seahorse]

Well, I have had a letter back from them. Don't know exactly what it says yet, as I'm still at sea. BUT. They have sent me a cheque for £1, in response to me querying their right to it, since they don't accept they have any duties under the CCA 1974.

 

So obviously I won't be cashing it, as I would imagine that should I do so, I would be accepting their nonsense about having the rights but not the duties under the CCA. Not sending it back either for it to disappear in mysterious circumstances.

 

My advice to anyone who has CCA'd Cabot is, write to them. Tell them that if the duties of the original creditor truly do not apply to them, then you would like the £1 statutory fee back that they cashed under false pretenses. After all, if as they say, the duties do NOT apply to them, they should never have accepted or cashed your payment in the first place. So false representation is till a valid accusation, IMHO.

 

I still advise new Cabot victims to CCA them, and include the statutory fee. And it will be interesting to see if they have learned any lessons now, and if they will return the payment uncashed. I suspect not, though. They seem to think they can con you into accepting their sh1te about the payment being in part payment towards an alleged debt. And I think that will be their standard tactic for a while.

 

If nothing else, this will cause them more trouble than it's worth. I'd imagine it costs them more that a quid to process and return that £1. And if it ruins someones day down at Cabot Towers, then it's another small victory in the ongoing war to try to get them to act in a lawful, instead of just plain awful, way.

[andrew1]

And if it ruins someones day down at Cabot Towers, then it's another small victory in the ongoing war to try to get them to act in a lawful, instead of just plain awful, way.

 

Now Seahorse, why on earth would you want to spoil anyones day? :D

[Seahorse]

Erm. Because they totally feck up people's whole LIVES, Sarah. Like, for EVER. And not just a bit of inconvenience either.

 

Imagine the scenario. You've got yourself into a bit of bother. It seems never ending, and the bloomin banks do nothing to help except get you deeper into debt. And suddenly, POW!!!! A huge debt that you thought was the end of the world has been sold on to a Nice Company who Only Want to Help. How can they help? I hear you ask? Well, sometimes, the answer to your financial woes ISN'T to pay it off it dribs and drabs that you can afford. No!!! SOMETIMES, the best thing to do is to remortgage your house to pay off this debt. Apparently.

 

But wait. I'm in such financial diffs that nobody would touch me for a mortgage now, would they?

 

Probably not. But we just happen to have a company that WILL be willing to take you on. At VERY special rates. Those nice people at Morley won't mind helping you out of your situation. In fact, would absolutely relish the idea. And you get to be our own special customer for ever and ever. Isn't that nice?

 

Or something like that.

[Richard Spud]

Regards to All

[tbern123]

Greetings Mr Spud, always a plesure to read your posts. Take a look at my signature, this is something I am trying to put a stop too. I just need more people to sign up

[tbern123]

typical my signature isn't showing in my last post, maybe it will in this one

[Seahorse]

Nope. But we know where to find it.

[debt_mountain]

If nothing else, this will cause them more trouble than it's worth.

Well said Seahorse, I would also SAR them as I think that was the best £10 I have every spent. Probably 2 full packs of a4 paper, with some ones having to hand write a line of text on the top of about half of them.

 

 

I will now write and ask for my £1 back.

[Notty]

What a great shame some people have managed to get rid of Richard Spud. I wondered how long it would be before the gremlins got to work! Shame, shame.

[joesoap]

What a great shame some people have managed to get rid of Richard Spud. I wondered how long it would be before the gremlins got to work! Shame, shame.

 

At least Richards' brilliant replies are still on the threads. How could he be mistrusted? To the clowns who have seen him off - shame on you. No doubt you'll be rounding on some of the other knowledgeable people now!

[djdave]

I've never found Richard Spud's posts to be anything but informative and constructive. If it's true that he's gone that's a genuine shame, and I hope he'll reconsider.

[Seahorse]

What???? Where's Richard gone? How am I supposed to finish The Complete Works of Richard Spud now?

 

:(:(

[hisholinessthepope]

At least Richards' brilliant replies are still on the threads. How could he be mistrusted? To the clowns who have seen him off - shame on you. No doubt you'll be rounding on some of the other knowledgeable people now!

 

 

Unfortunately they are not, have checked a few including last three pages on here and they are all removed. There are two threads that are about his withdrawing

 

regards

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collectors-debt-collection/100466-thanks-richard.html

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-consumer-issues/100730-richard-spud-cags-loss.html

[Seahorse]

OK, I've a couple of things to get through, so I'd better get my typing fingers out. First one is, I have Cabot's Complaints Resolution pamphlet...

 

Putting the pieces together... resolving your complaint with us. (With a nice little piccie of bits of a jigsaw fitting nicely together. Sweeeet.)

 

about us

 

Cabot Financial (Europe) Limited is part of the Cabot Financial Group. e are the Group's servicing company and contracted agent.

We collect outstanding balances on accounts which the Cabot Financial Group has purchased.

Cabot Financial (Europe) Limited is a member of the Credit Services Association who operate a Code of Practice sanctioned by the Office of Fair Trading.

The Credit Services Association is the trade body that serves the debt collection and debt purchasing industry an complaints may also be referred to them.

 

our service promise

 

Cabot Financial (Europe) Limited has a reputation for providing excellent customer serice and it's a reputation we work hard to maintain. But we also recognise that sometimes things can go wrong. In the event we have made a mistake, or we could have done something better, we will do our best to put this right for you.

This leaflet sets out the steps we take to ensure your complaint is fully considered.

 

tell us if things go wrong

 

step one

 

If any issues arise in the course of your dealings with us, please talk to us and let us know what your concerns are. The chances are things can be resolved quickly by the Collections Team Leader, Collections Manager or another member of staff - so please speak to them early on so any issues can be settled as soon as posible.

 

step two

 

If no one can address your concerns at the first instance, the matter will be referred to the Complaints department. A comlaint in relation to a specific individual shall immediately be referred to the Complaints department.

If you referred your complaint to the Complaints department or we have referred your complaint on to them, you shall receive formal confirmation and acknowledgement of your complaint in writing within 3 business days of receipt of your complaint. We will then look into your complaint and write to you within 10 working days of receiving notice of your complaint. Our letter will set out our understanding of the issue and any proposals for resolving matters which we think are appropriate. If, for any reason, we are still investigating your complaint after 10 working days, we will write and let you know how things are progressing.

 

step three

 

If you are unhappy with our response, we shall pass full details of your complaint to an appropriate manager for final review, unless our "final response" has been issued.

In the event hat we are unable to settle your complaint after an appropriate manager has carried out a final review, we will send to you in writing our final response. We will send you our final response within 8 weeks of receipt of your complaint. Our final response shall provide details on referring your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service for an independant review. That service is a free, independant service for consumers with unresolved complaints about financial firms. The decision of the Financial Ombudsman Service will be binding upon us, unless the Court orders otherwise.

 

If your complaint has not been resolved by us after 8 weeks and you have not received our final response, you are entitled to take the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service without waiting any longer. It is, however, very unusual for investigations to go on this long.

 

The Financial Ombudsman Service will only consider you (sic) once you have tried to resolve it with us and have followed the process set out in this leaflet.

 

Contat details for the Financial Ombudsman Service and the Credit Services Association can be found overleaf.

 

independant advice

 

You can contact the Financial Ombudsman Service by writing to them at:

 

Financial Ombudsman Service

South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall

London, E14 9SR

 

Telephone: 0845 080 1800

 

You will find more information on the Financial Ombudsman Service website:

 

Financial Ombudsman Service

 

You can also contact the Credit Services Association in relation to your complaint by writing to them at:

 

Credit Services Association

Wingrove House

2nd Floor, Ponteland Road

Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE5 3AJ

 

Telephone: 0191 286 5656

 

You will find more information on the Credit Services Association website:

 

welcome to the csa group

 

We may monitor or record cals with you in case we need to check we have carried out your instructions correctly and to help improve our quality of service.

Cabot Financial (Europe) Limited (Company no. 3439445) is registered in England with registered address: 10 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent, ME19 4LT

 

Data Protection Act

 

Under the Data Protection Act you have the right to obtain a copy of the personal information Cabot Financial (Europe) Limited holds on you. If you would like to request a copy of your file, please contact the Customer Relations Department in writing.

There is a charge of £10 for this service which should be payable tp Cabot Financial (Europe) Limited. Please make sure when requesting your information under the Data Protection Act that you make it clear in your letter that the fee for £10is for a "subject access request".

Please note that only Cabot Financial (Europe) Limited processes customer data. Any payments made payable to any other company in the Cabot Financial Group shall either be returned or refunded if cashed.

[Seahorse]

Feel free to pick fault with anything you object to in the above post.

[Seahorse]

Right, I've also got a letter from my pal Patrick, along with a cheque for £1 as a refund for my payment sent with my CCA request...

 

15th June 2007

 

Mr Seahorse

etc, etc

 

Thank you for your email dated 5th June 2007. Only took 10 days to answer this time then.

 

As previously stated Cabot does not agree with your interpretation and believes that your arguements are unfounded. However I will respond to the points raised in your email. Notwithstanding, I believe that Cabot has clarified the multiple points raised by you on previous occasions.

 

You have stated in your email that Cabot Financial (Europe) Limited has failed to provide you with a copy of the credit agreement. I would advise that Cabot Financial (Europe) Limited has previously supplied you with a copy of the credit agreement, which you areed and consented to with Barclaycard, which is sufficient. As previously stated it is clear that you have signed the application form supported by the statement "This is a Crdit Agreement regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974. Sign it only if you want to be legally bound by its terms." I would advise therefore this is a regulated credit agreement for the purposes of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. Furthermore, in consideration of your acceptance of the agreement, you received the availability of credit from Barclaycard by way of a credit card. In addition I would again reiterate that it is not Cabot's obligation undr section 78 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 to supply you with a copy of your credit agreement as no company within the Cabot Financial Group, which includes Cabot Financial (UK) Limited and Cabot Finanial (Europe) Limited, is the creditor.

 

With regards the statutory fee you sent to us, please find enclosed a refund for that £1 fee as this was processed in error.

 

We have previously sent you the "hello" and "goodbye" letters, which you have received, and these are proof of legal assignment. The "hello" letter we issued on 15th February 2007 was a duplicate copy of the letter we sent you on 11th December, shortly after Cabot purchased your account. As for the copy of the "goodbye" letter we issued, that was not dated and purely sent to you for your records and to confirm the change of ownership of this account. The letter you refer to in your second paragraph, as being dated after the original date it was sent is in fact the "hello" letter and was not issued by Barclaycard.

 

You state in your email "is to be in no way construed as an attempt to dodge any aleged debt". In our letter dated 17th May 2007, we referred to your email of 16th February 2007 in which you indicated that you would be prepared to enter into an arrangement to settle the outstanding balance on your account. As previously stated, we have clearly stated our position to you on several occasions but as yet, you have still not offered any repayment proposals.

 

You have requested a copy of our complaints procedure, which I have enclosed for you. You have mentioned that you may consider lodging a complaint with the Financial Ombudsman Service ("FOS") about the account if you do not receive a satisfactory response within 8 weeks from the date of your email. I would respectfully advise you that the FOS is only able to take on investigations about our industry from 6th April 2007. Given that your concerns were raised prior to this date, in January 2007, you will have no recourse to the FOS.

 

Cabot has at all times acted appropriately and in accordance with all laws, regulations, codes of practice and guidance applicable to its industry. Regrettably if no arrangement to settle your outstanding balance is forthcoming, we shall have no other option but to return your account in our collections process. Therefore I would recommend you contact us on 0845 0700 116 in order to discuss the options available to you in settling the outstanding balance of £2,032.14 on your account. Interest has been accruing on your account, but has yet to be added to the outstanding total.

 

If you have any other queries in relation to the above account, please do not hesitate to contact me on 01732 775105. The Customer Assurance department is open from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday.

 

Yours Sincerely

 

Patrick Hill

[Seahorse]

And I'm just about to email this to them...

 

Dear Mr Hill,

 

Thank you for your letter of 15th June 2007, he contents of which are noted.

 

However, I am having some difficulty in reaching the same conclusions as you, and can see no further point in continuing any sort of dialogue, as your beliefs are so obviously at odds with my own.

 

Therefore I wish to inform you that, as you have in no way proved to my satisfaction the there IS an outstanding balance due to Cabot Financial (UK) Limited, and that Cabot Financial (UK) Limited has any right to any outstanding balance in any event, and that the amount stated by you is correct, I shall NOT be entering into any proposals to repay the amount claimed. If you wish to reconsider your attempts to sidestep my questions and concerns, and provide the information requested, I shall of course be only too willing to discuss this matter further. Until then, I shall not be contacting you again.

 

I would also like to thank you for the leaflet containing the Complaints Procedure relating to Cabot Financial (Europe) Limited. However, if you had read my previous email properly, you would have seen that I clearly wished you to inform me of the procedure relating to Cabot Financial (UK) Limited. That being the company who’s Complaints Procedure I wish to invoke. As I have yet to make a complaint to them, your advice regarding the date from which the FOS will consider a complaint has no relevance, as that date passed some time ago.

 

I also take exception to the information in that leaflet, under the heading Independent Advice. Am I honestly expected to believe that the Credit Services Association is truly impartial, with your Chief Executive, Mr Maynard holding the position he does within the Association?

 

In this respect of the above, you may wish to consider the following:

 

My local Sheriff Court details are:

 

Peterhead Sheriff Court

 

Queen Street

Peterhead

AB42 1TP

DX: 521376

Telephone: 01779-476676

Fax: 01779-472435

 

Yours Sincerely,

Seahorse

[Donel261]

Good response, you should start getting the standard computer generated letters now, god knows how many it takes to clear the collections process before they enter finally initiate court action. Good luck!

[elizabeth1]

Seahorse - good response - they make us laugh with their "you should complain to CSA" Bunch of jokers aren't they?

 

KM can't find the time to answer his own Cabot Mail - let alone the stuff at CSA - our friend Patrick is having a laugh?

[debt_mountain]

Excellent reply Seahorse, I love the CSA comment, I will keep that one for later.

 

As for the CSA dodge they are trying, as soon as they start the collection process again you can then complain about that to the FSA as a completely new complaint which is after the date your buddy Patrick mentioned.

 

Also, mention again, the fact that there is some question about the "hello" letters and the "good bye" letters they are saying proves (bullshoit) that they have been assigned the debt as it look like Cabot (we already know they do) produce both letter.

[Guest Battleaxe]

They will never learn. Their motto 'Let's razzledazzle them'

[Seahorse]

Well, if any of Cabot's MIB just happen to be reading this, and are STILL under the misapprehension that they can take this to court relying on an application form as proof of a debt.... might I suggest you have a wee read of the thread that THIS post is on...

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collectors-debt-collection/90012-just-been-court-cl-3.html#post951903

 

Guess what my defence will be if you decide to try.

[debt_mountain]

Excellent, are you going to send this info to Dean and Ken or will I?

[Seahorse]

Hmmmm. I might just have to send it using my new email addy.

 

(Where's the smiley for Big Evil Grin.)

 

I'll email the Club to ask for advice.

[Seahorse]

Check your email DM.