Cabot

mr_pickles_2

I have a debt of £5009 held by DCA..CABOT

This debt was passed to CABOT by HFC, without telling me that they had passed the debt on, other than the usual threat of "we will pass this on to a debt collection agency, if you don't pay £xxx".

The first I knew of this debt being passed on was a notification from CABOT, which seems all in order and I was happy to pay them instead of HFC and they were happy to keep taking the £10 per month that I was paying HFC.

This changed in November when I received a telephone call about 4pm in the afternoon, after I had just returned from a hospital appt. The man was pressing me to pay £84 per month, without giving me the chance to work out my budget and I was unwell and needed time to do so, which I kept explaining to him but he did not want to know and he asked that I borrow £1000 from family or friends to make a F&F. I told him that there was nobody who could do this and he did not believe me but I stuck to my guns and said no. I kept telling him that I was unwell and needed time to work out my figures but he kept pressing me and in the end I told him that I would not discuss it anylonger and could he give me a number to ring tomorrow with my worked out budget figures and he reluctantly gave me a freephone number (which did not work!). I spent hours literally till gone midnight working out the figures and still ended up with a minus figure with the help of the online CCCS debt remedy. I rang the next morning and got a new man. All I said was that the figure was a minus figure and he readily accepted that and said they would ring again in April for a review again.

My questions are:

1. Should I have had a letter from HFC telling me that they were passing my debt on and who to...does this matter that I did not?

2. I have never rec'd a CCA from CABOT, though I have been paying them can I still ask for a CCA?

3. Was the 1st obnoxious creep breaking rules by:
a) asking me to borrow money from family and friends
b) harrassing me when I told him I was very unwell and not in the frame of mind or body to pull figures out of the air... if so what can I do about it.

4. Can I write to them, in advance of the April call, telling them not to ring me but write to me only?

5. Anything else that I should know or do?

Thank you for any help or advice given.

RAS

mr_pickles wrote: »

1. Should I have had a letter from HFC telling me that they were passing my debt on and who to...does this matter that I did not?

Officially but it could be splitting hairs.

2. I have never rec'd a CCA from CABOT, though I have been paying them can I still ask for a CCA?

Absolutely

3. Was the 1st obnoxious creep breaking rules by:
a) asking me to borrow money from family and friends

Yes

b) harrassing me when I told him I was very unwell and not in the frame of mind or body to pull figures out of the air... if so what can I do about it.

Yes

4. Can I write to them, in advance of the April call, telling them not to ring me but write to me only?

Yes

5. Anything else that I should know or do?

Thank you for any help or advice given.

Hi you need a link to the OFT Guidelines, complaints contacs and the telephone letter. Will try and post them up.

RAS

Telephone letter nicked from fermi

There are a lot of different response letters for harassment by telephone floating around. This is just one example:

Harassment by telephone


Quote:

Your Street
Town
City
Postcode
DATE HERE

Company Name
Road
Town
City / County
Postcode


Dear Sirs,

Harassment by telephone

Account Number: XXXXXXX

I am writing in relation to the quantity and frequency of telephone calls that I have received from your company, which I deem to be personally harassing.

I have verbally requested that these stop, but I am still receiving calls. (Delete if necessary)

I now require all further correspondence from your company to be made in writing only.

I am of the view that your continued harassment of me by telephone puts you in breach of Section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970, and the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.

If you continue to harass me by telephone, you will also be in breach of the Communications Act (2003) s.127 and I will report you to OFCOM, Trading Standards and The Office of Fair Trading, meaning that you will be liable to a substantial fine.

Please treat this also as a formal complaint, and send me a copy of your company complaints procedure.

Be advised that any further telephone calls from your company will be recorded. (**Even if you don‘t yet have recording equipment!!**)

Yours faithfully,


(type don't sign)

mr_pickles_2

Thank you RAS

I have only had the one phone call in November, should I wait until I get another one or send anyway with a small adjustment to the 1st line?

RAS

Adjust the first line but make it plain that this is because of the appalling behavoiur of their member of staff.

and read http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/oft664.pdf

mr_pickles_2

Just a thought RAS

Do you think that sending this letter may trigger them to pressure me immediately for an increased payment?

A case of ok, if you want to play dirty?

RAS

It is your legal right.

Also there member of staff was very badly behaved despite the fact that you told him you were ill.

On the other hand if you CCA them, the phone will start ringing all hours oe the next three weeks, so you need the letter on file anyway.

mr_pickles_2

Thank you
I will get onto that now

mr_pickles_2

I have typed my letter ready to send and then had a thought:

CABOT are receiving my payments by DD on the 1st of the month...I am worried that they may try to draw a larger payment once they receive my letter.

I have heard of BACS, as a way to deal with payments with DCA's so would it be a good idea to change to this form of payment now, before I send the letter.

Can they draw a larger amount without my permission?
Are they liable to do this?
How does I go about setting up BACS payments with my Bank please?

RAS

Comments below.

mr_pickles wrote: »

I have typed my letter ready to send and then had a thought:

CABOT are receiving my payments by DD on the 1st of the month...I am worried that they may try to draw a larger payment once they receive my letter.

I have heard of BACS, as a way to deal with payments with DCA's so would it be a good idea to change to this form of payment now, before I send the letter.

Can they draw a larger amount without my permission?

This happens regularly. DD is not a good idea for debt collection. Stick to standing order.

Are they liable to do this?

It is hard. occasionaly people get it back but it has been known for them then to get charges and other dds to fail and and

How does I go about setting up BACS payments with my Bank please?

Get a standing order ofrm. see if the bank can goive you the account number the DD goes to and complete the form while you are in the bank. Then cancel the DD.

mr_pickles_2

Hello
Thanks to RAS for all the help so far.......

Is anyone able to give me any info. re my queries about the CCA and the fact that I never rec'd a letter from HFC telling me that they had passed my debt onto CABOT

also do these queries have any real relevance or are they just small issues of no real importance so I should forget about them.

I have held fire on changing my DD to an SO and the letter for now as CABOT are not charging me interest yet and I don't want to trigger a change in that until nearer the time that they are due to ring me..I don't intend to discuss anything over the phone with them anyway and will send the letter as soon as they get off the phone. Does this seem like a good idea?