Ruthbridge LTD

[Bigbearuk]

I have just got a letter today from Ruthbridge and like an idiot i called them and spoke to a guy called Derek Maxwell who told me he wanted the full £6000 by the 27th July or he would make me bankrupt, I tried tell him i could not pay the full amount by then but he was not having any of it. he then said ok you can pay in 2 instalments but that is it or you will be made bankrupt. I moved home 5 years ago and mistakenly forgot 1 credit card i'm sure it was not for £6000

 

I made the mistake of giving him my mobile number

 

can anyone offer any advice

[Seahorse]

Yup. Next time he phones, tell him to smear some vaseline around his phone, to make insertion easier.

 

Oh, but don't forget to tell him not to bother phoning again, or you will report him for various criminalities. Letter only. He is also in serious breach of other laws, rules and guidelines, more of which later.

 

But first. Who is this idiot collecting on behalf of? Is it Cabot by any chance? To put your mind at rest, Ruthbridge tend to be employed when it is highly unlikey there is any lawful way to collect on a debt. Such as when it is nearing the 6 year (5 year in Scotland) limit. Oh, look! They're nearly out of time with you!

 

Do tell us more. We all hate these nasty feckers. Nastier than most, IMVHO. And we'll all pitch in to help.

[Bigbearuk]

hi Seahorse,

 

Yep the company is Cabot i asked him that last night when he was getting nasty on the phone. Telling me he was going to take control of my bank account and pay the people he thought you get the money and he would do this for 1 year. then telling me the baillifs are coming at the weekend and he is going to court to make me bankrupt unless i agree to pay half (£3000) by the 27th July at this point i just said whatever and put the phone down

[rory32]

Next he'll be telling you that he'll be banning Christmas and cancelling your birthday.

[lemma1968]

Bah Humbug!

[Bigbearuk]

I know tell me about it

 

I was trying to find who Cabot are i think there a company in West Malling Kent but not sure

[Goldlady]

A letter I faxed to Ruthbridge on Monday this week - haven't heard a word since. Must give full credit to Scouser9 who wrote the original. Some parts of it might be relevant to your situation, particularly the harrassment bits. Best of luck - Goldlady

 

Fax to Ruthbridge Limited 0208 734 3535

 

Dear Sirs

 

Your ref:

 

Further to your telephone calls, letter addressed to the occupier alleging a parcel requires collection and your letter dated 2 July, I would point out that DLC were asked to provide an original copy of my Consumer Credit Agreement in relation to the alleged debt on 16 May 2007.

 

To date they have failed to comply with my statutory request for a true, signed copy of a regulated credit agreement and have therefore defaulted in respect of the above account.

As you are aware, a credit agreement that is not properly documented and signed by the customer is totally unenforceable under the Consumer Credit Act, 1974 and is a complete defence in any court claim that is issued. It also remains unenforceable until such time as a default is either removed or enforced by a court of law. This means that any attempt by your company to enforce this alleged agreement will represent a further offence until such time as it can be produced in court.

 

As DLC have been unable to provide me with the requested information within the legal timeframe, it is my belief that they were never in possession of a true copy of the alleged agreement, or of a signed, true copy of a Deed of Assignment. In light of this, I find it astonishing that you have had the audacity to claim for an alleged debt, without being able to provide any legal evidence that the debt exists, within the time frame allowed by law.

 

The law set in the Consumer Credit Act, 1974 must be abided by everyone; people and companies alike and taking the above into consideration, no court would look favourably upon your failure to provide true, accurate information which I assumed that you already had in your possession, prior to issuing letters demanding payment, these letters must cease whilst in dispute, otherwise these can and will be deemed harassment by letter, which again is against the law.

 

Furthermore, at no time did I consent to the processing by you of my data in any manner which would be unfair or inaccurate, or which in any way would breach The Data Protection Act, 1998. If this alleged debt had been legally assigned to you, then any personal data relevant to the credit agreement allegedly entered into may only have been passed to you provided that my (the borrower's) authority was obtained in the original agreement.

 

However, you have certainly not requested and I have not given any permission for my personal data to be passed/shared/received by you.

 

Please note that I am only prepared to communicate with you in writing. Should it be your intention to arrange a "doorstep call", please remember that there is only an implied license under English Common Law for certain people to visit me on my property without express permission; the postman and people asking for directions etc (Armstrong v. Sheppard and Short Ltd [1959] 2 Q.B. per Lord Evershed M.R.).

 

Please therefore take note that, I revoke license under English Common Law for you, or your representatives to visit me at my property and if you do so without my permission, you will then be liable to damages for a tort of trespass. You would also be conspiring in a trespass if you sent someone to visit me nevertheless.

 

Ironically, your failures prompt me to again focus your attention on the content of both the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and the Data Protection Act 1998, the substance of which should clarify your current position, future conduct and direction regarding both my personal data and unenforceable debts.

 

With regard to my personal data and your failure to produce the aforementioned documents, I also require that you remove any reference to this alleged debt from my credit file and request an immediate cessation of any processing of unsubstantiated data to third parties under provision of The Data Protection Act, 1998 & The Consumer Credit Act, 1974.

 

I shall also complain to the Trading Standards also the Office Of Fair Trading, and my Member of Parliament about your conduct in this matter and your liability for holding a Credit Trading Licence.

 

Take note at this stage, that any legal action you may contemplate will be both vigorously defended and contested. In the meantime please be aware that I consider this matter to be “in dispute”.

[Seahorse]

Bigbear, ask a mod to shift this one to the Cabot sub forum. I would tend to bypass Ruthbridge completely, but do keep all, if any, letters you get from them. If they phone, politely tell them that you do not want them calling again, and then back that up with a letter. (We'll tell you what to write if it happens.)

 

Now, you must go through the Cabot rigmarole. I assume you haven't had any contact from Cabot yet, judging by your last post? OK, they have been very naughty indeed in that case already. So....

 

Write them a nice letter asking for your original agreement. If you can't find the template, ask. But DO insist that you do not acknowledge any debt to them. In fact, I'll get back to you; as they haven't contacted you yet, I think your letter should be a little different. I'll put something together and let you see if you agree with the content.

 

I'm assuming you haven't heard from Barclaycard either?

[Bigbearuk]

Hi Seahorse,

 

My debt is not with Barclaycard but another company, and no i have not had anything from either of them, This debt is from my old address i moved about 5 years ago and thought i had paid the credit card off but it seems i did not as i had 2 cards from the same company MBNA

[Seahorse]

MBNA, eh? Oh HECK but this could get extremely interesting. I won't bore you with the details of why just yet, but all will be revealed soon. Might I suggest you have a look at the other MBNA threads? All I'll say at this stage is, you NEED to get a copy of the Deed of Assignment between MBNA and Cabot. It'll blow your socks off. Anyway, have a look at this and see if you want to send it to Cabot...

 

Cabot Financial (UK) Limited

10 Kings Hill Avenue

Kings Hill

West Malling

Kent ME19 4LT

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to you today as I have been contacted by a debt collection agency, who I believe to be Ruthbridge, who are acting on your behalf, attempting to collect on a debt that I have absolutely no knowledge of. Furthermore, the person I spoke to, a Mr Derek Maxwell, was extremely threatening and abusive, and he made demands and threats which were obviously intended to frighten me into making an involuntary arrangement to pay a debt which I strenuously deny exists. That is my FIRST complaint.

If Ruthbridge ARE acting on your behalf, I have several concerns. Firstly, I take exception to being contacted by a company who apparently take delight in using intimidatory behaviour on the telephone. In which case, I would question whether you, as a company, should be employing the services of people like that. Secondly, if you DO think that you have any sort of lawful right to this alleged debt, you are under an obligation to prove to me that this is the case. At the very least, I should have been sent a Notice of Assignment immediately after any original creditor informed me that an account had been sold on to you. This clearly has not happened. Indeed, as you have given me NO prior notice that you intend to seek the recovery of any alleged debt, you have already seriously misconstrued your legal obligations. That is my SECOND complaint.

THIRDLY, I demand to know what right you have to be processing my data contrary to the Data Protection Act 1998, and why you have passed my data on to Ruthbridge. I am sure I do not need to remind you that you would need my express consent to do so, and I challenge you to show that I HAVE given any such consent.

I now require you to write to me to tell me exactly what is the basis of your claim. To this end, I expect you to produce a Deed of Assignment between the purported Original Creditor and Cabot Financial (UK) Limited, the Notice of Assignment that you should have sent to me in the first place, a properly executed copy of the original agreement that I supposedly signed, and all statements of account relating to the account. Until you produce these documents, AT THE VERY LEAST, I shall consider your actions to date to be criminal harassment.

For the avoidance of doubt, I DO NOT acknowledge any debt to you whatsoever. You will also note that I will NOT deal with Ruthbridge in this matter, and I insist that all communication between us will be in writing only.

Please note that I consider this to be an official complaint, to which I expect a substantive reply within 10 working days. Failure to do so will mean that I have no option but to report your conduct to various regulatory bodies, including the Information Commissioner’s Office, The Financial Ombudsman Service, the Office of Fair Trading and Trading Standards. I shall also seek legal advice as to whether I have any basis for compensation through the courts for your outrageous behaviour so far.

[Bigbearuk]

Hi Seahorse,

 

Yep that letter seems fine to me, is it ok if i sent it to them?

 

BB

[Bigbearuk]

Hi Seahorse, how do i ask a mod to move this tread to the cobot forum

 

Sorry i am new to this site onlt joined yesterday and not found my way around yet

 

Cheers

BB

[rory32]

I have asked for it to be moved.

[Bigbearuk]

thanks rory32

[HSBCrusher]

moved to cabot.

 

c

[mich5248]

Hi reading this one with intrest just one question Big bear are you my husband???

 

Our experiences are so simialr to your case same nasty ruthbridge, same cabot and possibly although we do not have any confirmation of this an MBNA debt from my husband previous marriage.

 

We had so many abusive calls from Ruthbride 20+ ia day for more than a week threatening just about anything you could think of. No Security questions nothing. They have breached data protection many times and i do have recorded evidence. They claim my husband made a payment in Feb/Mar 02 so not too far away from the statute barred stage. Have made a CCA request and an SAR but as you would expect nothing. they

are beyond the 12+2 and i am just playing the waiting game as the clock is still ticking. I have stayed up late many nights reading seahorses threads his letters are legendary. Hope when i get to the later stages he will be on my side.

 

good luck anyway and if you are my husband its time you were in bed only one night owl in this household:)

[Bigbearuk]

LOL mich5248

 

Maybe we should join together and then you could have 2 husbands to fight for

 

I am waiting for the reply from Ruthbridge because i have a feeling that my last payment was the begining of 2002 but not sure of the exact date

 

Yes seahorse has been a great help and i only posted this tread last night it's been a great help because yesterday i was trying to work out how i could pay the amount but could not work it out.

 

Good luck with you case and keep me informed of how you get on

[mich5248]

Ooh 2 husbands sounds interesting but not sure its allowed on the cag forum. Always willing to give my input for what its worth. Sadly at stale mate at the moment although my pal at ruthbride Brian Blair (not really a wise choice of name for him as that was the name of my ex husband) does read my postings with interest so he said and he names people on cag by name so its good to know he obviously cant sleep at night!!

 

Ive had some excellent advice from this sight and i have stated before that NO ONE can scare me into not having my say.

 

Anyway i wish you well with your battle and i will most certainly keep you updated in my saga (in fairness my husband and ex wifes saga but what the heck im a girl that likes a good clean fight).

 

Just one word of advice use the pm sometimes as you dont want to show all your cards at once you do have to leave the nice DCA's some form of excitement trying to second guess your next move.

 

No doubt you will be getting an update from me soon.

[Seahorse]

If you are happy with the letter BigBear, go ahead and send it. I've reread it, and can't see anything too controversial. It will be interesting to see what reply they send. It's not a standard letter, so I think they may struggle to find a template to fit. Someone may have to actually compose a reply the old fashioned way.

 

Give them the 10 days, and maybe a bit of leeway to reply, then we'll see what to do next. If they DON'T reply by then, they will have exceeded their OWN timescale for an intitial reply according to their own procedures. So that in itself would be cause enough to report them to the Financial Ombudsman, under who's remit they now fall. The FOS will have expected you to exhaust their complaints procedure first, which is the line I think you need to be taking now. They don't sem able to follow their own rules, let alone anyone else's. So just keep feeding them that rope.

 

Oh, and I'd send a copy of the letter to Ruthbridge. Might as well let them know what you think of their company too.

 

Don't forget to send registered, so you can prove later that the letter was signed for.

[Bigbearuk]

Thanks seahorse, i will indeed sent a copy to the nice people at ruthbridge

[Bigbearuk]

Hi guys,

 

So far had 18 phone calls from Ruthbridge today tried to tell them i would not speak to them over the phone but he insisted he was starting the process to make me bankrupt and just because i was reading stuff of the internet i had not rights, All of this has come about because i sent them a CCA request.

 

any idea where the harassment letters are on this site?

[ODC]

Obviously the chaps at Ruthbridge have received your CCA request so are going all out to try to intimidate you now. I trust you have a log of all these calls from them. In spite of what crap they do talk YOU HAVE RIGHTS. The difference between them and you is that the rights you are insisting on are enshrined in law not the figment of the fertile imagination of the illiterate bully boys at Ruthbridge. You have made a LAWFUL request for documents which you are entitled to by LAW. You are also entitled to be free from Harassment. There are various acts and statutes which cover this. I will post the links to you. Please S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) the original lender to find out the date of the last payment (it may be 6 years ago or 5 years in Scotland) in case this alleged debt is statute barred. You DO NOT have to put up with this nonsense on the telephone. To make you bankrupt the very least they would need would be a properly executed copy of your CCA agreement. REFUSE TO SPEAK to them the next time they phone but still keep a log of ALL their calls. They claim to be members of the CSA but look at the CSA CSA Website and just see how many points of the code of practice Ruthbridge have broken. Do not be afraid of them as many people have taken them on and beaten them. All the help you will need is here.

[ODC]

any idea where the harassment letters are on this site?

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/37006-harassment-telephone-response-letter.html

[Bigbearuk]

Thanks ODC,

i have sent them the letter i did find it earlier on another tread you posted the same advice, I have CCA the original company Cabot and will send them a SAR

[ODC]

Cabot are nothing other than another lowlife DCA. The original lender is the person who you originally the debt with i.e. The Bank or the lender. If Crapbot couldnt prove a debt the Ruthless will be unlikely to be either. Either way you do not have to put up with 18 calls a day from any callcentre monkey. Read up on the Administration of Justice Act. Spot the offences they have committed