Dealing with Cabot 101/Cabot threads.

[JonCris]

How very convenient that the statement claims in increase upto 2009. I suspect the increase is entirely based on their additional charges added by them to make it look as if the debt is still enforceable.

 

Write back & tell them you do not acknowledge any debt AND whilst your fully aware of their unlawful attempts to make the debt enforceable you will not be making any payment whatsoever & that you will dispute any such claim most vigorously.

 

Furthermore if they persist in harassing you you will report them to the authorities

 

Please note Cabot really are a appalling firm who have a lot of enemies both here & elsewhere so don't weaken............ their day of reckon approaches

[thrubolt]

Hi folks, I have just sent a letter today to the Cabot jokers, they sent 5 letters from January to present with the same waffle about trying to get CCAb but were experiencing difficulties, then in last letter admitted twice they were over the time limit set out but would continue to try, they even suggested I should approach original lender myself - I couldn't stop laughing at that one. I did not mess around - told them that as no proof - i consider the matter closed and if they continued to send me drivel I would report them to every conceivable authority even my M.P,

Its like me asking a company for a copy of prices that I have paid in the past because my accountant needs the info within a certain time, if they can't supply in time then I would say that I have never bought the goods in the first place because they failed to supply in legally requested time, in other words CABOT - NULL AND VOID.

[Batemans Bay]

My mum, who has held a Halifax Visa Card for a number of years, recently passed away leaving an outstanding balance on her credit card in the region of £15,000. The account was passed to Blair, Oliver, & Scott for recovery, which was enforced over 12 months ago. My mum was paying these people a minimum amount of £40.00 per month with an additional 'cash' payment of £500.00 every 6 months after they reviewed the case, Now that mum has passed away, could any one advise me on what I should do now before I complete the probate forms as I can see that any monies left in my mums estate will not even be enough to pay them 'off' let alone the verbal bequest my mum left to her 2 grandchildren. My mum had no assets apart from 2 life assurance policies & approx' £3,000 in her bank account (not Halifax or BOS)

Please Help!!!

[andrew1]

My mum, who has held a Halifax Visa Card for a number of years, recently passed away leaving an outstanding balance on her credit card in the region of £15,000. The account was passed to Blair, Oliver, & Scott for recovery, which was enforced over 12 months ago. My mum was paying these people a minimum amount of £40.00 per month with an additional 'cash' payment of £500.00 every 6 months after they reviewed the case, Now that mum has passed away, could any one advise me on what I should do now before I complete the probate forms as I can see that any monies left in my mums estate will not even be enough to pay them 'off' let alone the verbal bequest my mum left to her 2 grandchildren. My mum had no assets apart from 2 life assurance policies & approx' £3,000 in her bank account (not Halifax or BOS)

Please Help!!!

 

Hi and welcome to the forum, my condolences to you. Not a pleasant way to have to finalise things, but I would suggest you sent Blair Oliver & Scott, who are the solicitors of B O S (one of the same) a request for a copy of any agreement your late mother had. I've never had a bereavement to deal with personally like you so there may be other remedies available, but first thing we'd tell anyone on here is to establish there was an agreement, a legally enforceable agreement at that to be dealt with. We call that a CCA request which costs £1. they have 12 working days + 2 for postage to supply then they cannot enforce anything until it is supplied.

 

If it is possible, post the agreement with personal details removed on the forum for us to look at and we can give you an idea if there are any abnomalities with it which means they will have difficulties enforcing anything.

 

The CCA request letters are here in the debt Collectors templates library http://www.consumerforums.com/resources/templates-library/86-debt-collectors/581-cca-request-letter

 

Good luck, come back and let us know how you get on..

[Lilythepink]

So sorry to hear about your mum. My mum died a few years ago, owing around 8000 to Cahoot, when I wrote to Cahoot, they asked for a copy of the death certificate and then wrote it off. I would also look at getting any monies your mum had left, to be "appropriated" to her funeral costs and to other costs. the Nationwide tried to take nearly 1000 from my mum's account to pay her Nationwide credit card off, I got advice from the Citizens advice bureau, and I would have to go back to my paperwork, but maybe someone on the forum would know, it is called "right of appropriation or something.... Help anyone

 

Bump

[JonCris]

Rest assured like any debt it must be proved & you have a duty to ensure the estate is liable to pay it. As the estates representative you should now write to them requesting they provide proof of this is the case ie true copy agreement etc

 

My BH works in private client & she now challenges every such demand for payment on the basis of 'prove it' & if they can't tough! Her duty is to the beneficiaries not the lenders ............ most credit cards & many loans carry life insurance........... have you checked

Edited October 7, 2009 by JonCris

[spartathisis]

Finally had a CCA supplied to my request 03/09, Cabot bought from MBNA 10yrs ago, I had been paying small amounts each month until the request. O/S at that time was approx £8200, they now want £9900!! It works out at approx 60%pa.

 

The CCA is actually a App form (says all over it;)), MBNA have confirmed to me in writing that they cannot the original due to storage issues, destroyed methinks. The T & C's have no link to the app, just terms from about the right time, so their scuppered there as well.

 

Can anyone advise if they have cocked up by adding the extra on (not the first time, 6yrs ago £1700)?

 

Thanks

[cymruambyth]

I think you'll find that they cannot claim this interest. Cabot try do it all the time amd when they take people to court claim s. 9 County Court Act (or something similar, it's late) in their poc.

[pmhcfc]

I think you'll find that they cannot claim this interest. Cabot try do it all the time amd when they take people to court claim s. 9 County Court Act (or something similar, it's late) in their poc.

 

If they haven't got a valid CCA they cannot claim the debt at all

[spartathisis]

Had a look at the County Court Act, interesting, cannot claim any interest apart from that stated in the agreement if it is regulated by the CCA 1974. Sent a letter off today, so will see how it goes.

[andrew1]

I think you'll find that they cannot claim this interest. Cabot try do it all the time amd when they take people to court claim s. 9 County Court Act (or something similar, it's late) in their poc.

 

I was informed once a long time ago that when Cabot buy the debt they automatically began charging 12% on it for their own coffers. So, a £1000 debt bought for say 10% cost Cabot £100 to buy. They then charge you interest on the £1000 @ 12% = £120 in the first year. There's something very wrong with that morally.

 

I was then told that they can claim the contractual interest on the agreement as they buy the 'rights' to the debt .

 

I was then told that once they buy the debt and they write to you, if you come to an agreement with them to repay and default they then have a right to charge their 12%.

 

But then I also discovered that Cabot do not get copies of ANY agreements from the original creditors and have to send away for them which invariably puts the account and Cabot into default (because they haven't supplied your CCA request within the 12 + 2 working day prescribed period) which means they cannot take any further action until they can supply it which is why Cabot showed a £9.7 million profit when we were not asking for our agreements and why they turned that into a £6.2 million loss when we did - a swing of £17 - £18 million loss in one year.

 

Keep it Simple - ask for the agreement...CCA them ..

Keep up the good work everyone

[Stephan56]

That issue regarding interest is, well, interesting!

 

If what Andrew1 writes is indeed the case, in his example of a debt bought for £100, with 12% interest charged on the "£1,000 face value" of the debt, then that is 120% profit in year one.

 

That said, it is only an ACCOUNTING profit, and unable to be ever collected in the majority of cases. Much like the firms of OCs, banks and DCAs, they can accruw massive amounts in interest, penalties and other "charges" which flatter their "accounting profits" but are never likely to ever turn into real cash. Hence they eventually have to write this off as "uncollectble" and losses arise to them.

 

It would be interesting to actually see a detailed breakdown of what thes firms can and cannot charge by ay of interest.

[cymruambyth]

That issue regarding interest is, well, interesting!

 

 

That said, it is only an ACCOUNTING profit, and unable to be ever collected in the majority of cases.

 

You say it is only an ACCOUNTING profit, but how many people have been and continue to pay Cabot through ignorance? How many people have been taken to court without the guidance of CAG and lost, thus having CCjs?

I know that they buy debts for a fraction of their value, however their letters and threats do intimidate people and they will pay, often more than they can afford and for a period of time that will ensure that they do startto pay interest on interest.

[cymruambyth]

I was informed once a long time ago that when Cabot buy the debt they automatically began charging 12% on it for their own coffers. So, a £1000 debt bought for say 10% cost Cabot £100 to buy. They then charge you interest on the £1000 @ 12% = £120 in the first year. There's something very wrong with that morally.

 

I was then told that they can claim the contractual interest on the agreement as they buy the 'rights' to the debt .

 

I was then told that once they buy the debt and they write to you, if you come to an agreement with them to repay and default they then have a right to charge their 12%.

 

But then I also discovered that Cabot do not get copies of ANY agreements from the original creditors and have to send away for them which invariably puts the account and Cabot into default (because they haven't supplied your CCA request within the 12 + 2 working day prescribed period) which means they cannot take any further action until they can supply it which is why Cabot showed a £9.7 million profit when we were not asking for our agreements and why they turned that into a £6.2 million loss when we did - a swing of £17 - £18 million loss in one year.

 

Keep it Simple - ask for the agreement...CCA them ..

Keep up the good work everyone

 

Thank you for that information, their method of adding interest does appear to be interesting, with vast quantities being added the moment that you stop playing nicely and question them.

[andrew1]

That issue regarding interest is, well, interesting!

 

If what Andrew1 writes is indeed the case, in his example of a debt bought for £100, with 12% interest charged on the "£1,000 face value" of the debt, then that is 120% profit in year one.

 

That said, it is only an ACCOUNTING profit, and unable to be ever collected in the majority of cases. Much like the firms of OCs, banks and DCAs, they can accruw massive amounts in interest, penalties and other "charges" which flatter their "accounting profits" but are never likely to ever turn into real cash. Hence they eventually have to write this off as "uncollectble" and losses arise to them.

 

It would be interesting to actually see a detailed breakdown of what thes firms can and cannot charge by ay of interest.

 

That said, it is only an ACCOUNTING profit, and unable to be ever collected in the majority of cases.

 

If Cabot collect from just one person that is one person too many. Accounting profit my foot! , if they could get away with it like they did for the years and years prior to us getting at them don't tell me they wouldn't. The WHOLE practice has to STOP and it's about time the OFT and the likes put and end to it. The more people complain about them, the more chance this will come to an end..It is immoral, will remain immoral and should be against the laws of common decency and proper business practice. I ran a business for 30 yrs and I have no issues with people making a profit, even a healthy profit, but they do this on the backs of people who know no different and cannot often fend for themselves like some of us can.

 

I sat in a cafe a while ago and a young girl with a baby was called on her mobile by one of these dross dca outfits who were obviously giving her hell. I saw what she was going through fending them off...she was shaken to say the least. I didn't know her from Adam, but she was left in no uncertain terms on how to deal with them and the name of CAG to go to. The Majority sadly don't have access to what we do and therefore all that is keeping outfits like Cabot going are these rip-off charges nobody knows how to deal with. One girl said to me she was going to go bankrupt for £5k's worth of debt because she didn't know how to handle these people. It's an outrage and these people must continue to be shot down at every opportunity UNTIL they abide by the law and have some kind of moral code, THEN and only then will they be able to ply their trade legitimately for the purpose for which they are there - and there is a need regrettably because not everyone on our side of the fence is a 'can't pay' they are 'Won't pays' and they have a moral responsibility and to be chased.

 

A1

[Stephan56]

I agree 100% with Andrew1's last post. To clarify, by "accounting profit" in my recent post, I meant that they just add and add interest and penalties. A lot/most of that is NOT collected in the end so the DCAs are deluding themselves that this is real "money" profit.

 

That said, I wholehearedly agree that one person paying them when they should not is one person too many.

 

For those of us who know their rights, it is hard enough fending off these leeches. For those that do not, and think DCAs have some form of legitimacy, then it is a real shame. The only remedy is to somehow get the message out to more and more people.

 

I note in some letters from OCs they try to suggest people contact CCCS or Citizen's Advice. Maybe they shoud also be forced to put a reference to the Consumer Action - which is about the only place people can get proper advice.

[spartathisis]

I would point out that I think Cabot are on shaky ground on the interest issue, with regards to the rights n duties bit. They sent me an app form and a sheet of T & C's, supposedly the reverse of the app form;), in there it states MBNA can cancel the contract only after giving 30 days notice (not done so) and it also says that they can assign the "Rights and Benefits". Note not just part but both. When it comes to interest charges, they say will notify of any amendments (another never have done), never received anything from Cabot either. So they have allegedly bought a debt that the T & C's they rely on state they buy the rights n duties, something Cabot always say they dont.

 

Comments on how can interest be charged when a contract has been terminated then sold, no agreement exists so why do they think they can interest? Different if assigned, but not terminated methinks.

[beanbaby]

am in the process of a f+f with cabgrot have only been paying token £1 since june on a £9230 debt they bought off halifux [ oops sorry my spelling is so rubbish ]

 

ive offered £3200 they want £4800

they have cca

but know they only paid p/nuts im off sick = lost my job

any advice do l stick to my offer ???

[ScabHunter]

am in the process of a f+f with cabgrot have only been paying token £1 since june on a £9230 debt they bought off halifux [ oops sorry my spelling is so rubbish ]

 

ive offered £3200 they want £4800

they have cca

but know they only paid p/nuts im off sick = lost my job

any advice do l stick to my offer ???

 

Do you have your own thread on this case?

Are you sure the CCA is enforceable? Has it been checked out?

Did you ever receive a default notice before the account was terminated?

Is there a significant amount of the balance made up of unfair charges?

Was this a loan or credit card? If so, was there any mis-sold PPI?

 

Without knowing more of the circumstances, it is impossible to give specific advice.

 

If you haven't yet started a thread, that is the first step.

 

SH

[elizabeth1]

That issue regarding interest is, well, interesting!

 

If what Andrew1 writes is indeed the case, in his example of a debt bought for £100, with 12% interest charged on the "£1,000 face value" of the debt, then that is 120% profit in year one.

 

That said, it is only an ACCOUNTING profit, and unable to be ever collected in the majority of cases. Much like the firms of OCs, banks and DCAs, they can accruw massive amounts in interest, penalties and other "charges" which flatter their "accounting profits" but are never likely to ever turn into real cash. Hence they eventually have to write this off as "uncollectble" and losses arise to them.

 

It would be interesting to actually see a detailed breakdown of what thes firms can and cannot charge by ay of interest.

 

What Andrew1 is stating here is very much the truth - don't doubt it for a moment.

 

The key to seeing how Cabot operate is within the SAR papers we can all get off them. There will be a section which is like a diary of events within the SAR. The section usually reads "landscape" across the pages it'll read often as follows -

 

DAY xx/xx/xxxx - date of purchased debt

Send goodbye letter on headed paper from Original Lender.

Send Hello letter from Cabots = often we'll see these in same envelope depends on which member of staff deals with it - but post mark on envelope is usually the give away. You'll see where they add the interest commented on the screens diary. (on the sale document is where the interest amount is usually written - I found it was 12% on the document I had they forgot to blank it out)

 

they'll sit on the account for years till year 5 allowing it to accumulate interest till they ready to collect - the diary pages are updated monthly showing how the balance rises with the added interest. You'll see loads of telephone calls made by their messaging services - where their automated dialler calls to annoy you. They'll do this till they ready to try collect debt. THEN

 

DAY XX/XX/XXXX - DO LAND REGISTRY SEARCH TO ASSESS - this way they see whether it is worth taking person to court, going for a charging order cause they can more or less guess whether there is equity in the property and whether person is renting or buying property. Land Registry will show loans with dates already charged to a property = a useful tool inassessing when last loan was taken out and who with (they'll see whether subprime lenders/high st banks etc.., when loan was taken out etc.. ) so it's a pretty useful tool for them to use? They can pretty much cherry pick the people they think have the money to pay them by looking and guessing the equity available in a home.

 

DAY XX/XX/XXXX - Send pre lim letter asking for money. Using their solicitors letter headed paper (It used to be Hodsons - but more recently it's Morgans acting as their in house solicitors)

 

DAY XX/XX/XXXX - Send LBA letter threatening court action.

 

And then they'll file an online court claim.

 

This is all in the Subject Access Request diary pages - you'll spot the patterns and see the templates being used and the interest being added.

 

It's all there if you read the details - Cabots seem to follow same patterns with their collections.

[make them aktiv runners]

If a valid cca arrives. Assignment cannot put debtor in a worse position, therefore if OC is charging a lower interest rate now surely Cabot are bound by the same terms? If contract terminated by OC interest cannot be charged unless there is a clause within cca allowing so.

[Fester Tester]

What this Aktiv guy says is true. A debt purchaser CAN charge interest up to the contractual rate allowed for in any agreement (if one existed in the first place obviously), but cannot charge more, which would effectively be prejudicial to you, the debtor.

 

As Andrew1 says, Cabot's standard rate is 12%, irrespective of the original interest rate that may have been applied. Which is fine if you were originally paying say, 50%. But clearly ridiculous if you were paying below their 12% rate.

 

And I do have it in black and white that Cabot do this. It's on a recent SAR. So effectively, Cabot have stated in writing that they make the rules up as they go along, completely disregarding the law in this matter.

 

I do like the sound of Cabot's profits being hit so hard though. How do I join this Cabot Fan Club I keep reading about?

[abroadgirl]

Hello I got the copy from cabot, which means they got the cca from vanquiss and they sent me a copy.

 

now i have this morning got another letter

your account has been escalated to our pre litigation department

 

i dont know what to do and i have noticed that the amount has gone up again to £1603.44 so more charges have been added this amount is nearly all charges from vanquis.

cabot also says in there letter that one of the following will occur

warrent of execution

chargeing order

attachment of earning

order to obtain information external debt collection agency/legal agency

 

 

i dont know what to do or do i just give up and offer 50p a month

i disagree cause most of the amount here is made up from charges

ty for any help and advice ( i have done everything now i dont know what to do they have even had hardship forms filled in as so has vanquis)

 

 

abg

[lowdown]

Hi all,

New to this thread and looking for some advice.

I am on a DMP with payplan at the moment and everything is going fine.

Today i got a letter, well two in the the same envelope.

From Cabot.This letter is saying they have purchased the debt from Citi Cards.

And i must contact them.The thing is that the debt is being collected from another collection agency called Collect Direct on behalf of Citi [ Through Payplan of course]

The second letter is from Citi saying that they sold the debt to Cabot on the 2nd of september.The problem is the so called letter from Citi looks very suspect,even fake.

Registered vat and various other numbers all wrong as from previous Citi letters.The Citi logo is even black and not red and without the small R on top of the logo.Before i go calling Payplan, Citi and Collect direct, is this the normal thing Cabot do? or in fact are they just trying it on and trying to defraud me out of money?

 

Thanks for any advice.

[24233513afw]

Hiya

 

Great informative thread weel done. Will take an eternity to get through all the extra threads but here goes....

Could somebody have a look a my thread Cabot Harrassment - Please help. Have just received aletter from them. They seem a bit scarey.

Cheers

AFW