Odd telephone call from First Credit Limited

billymeaures

ihave been contacted by 1st credit on a 1500 quid debt 15 years old i dont believe i owe. im in a dss bedsit after losing my job due to ill health & only have 20 quid a month disposable income out of my benefit to live on they threatened to send baliffs to seize everthing all i have is my phone telly & cd collection can they take them? the stress is killing me ive had to change phones & as yet answered none of my letters can they take everything?

Ms-Pacman

billy, no one can just take your goods like that if you don't agree you owe the money. do you recognise what they are saying what it is for or have they just said you owe x amount with no details.

what letters have you sent them as i'd start with a standard prove it letter to put it in dispute. Some might say send cca request or sar but i'm not sure that is really necessary right now as first you need to know when it was for, who the original lender was and for how much originaly (not the grossly over inflated amount) you can request this by sending the letter which I'll copy into the next text box.

however if you have done this with no satisfactory response then you can either send a cca request for the original credit agrrement (send a 1 pound po) or a sar which requests all documents they have in regards to you and the debt which you need to send them 10 pounds to process. both these letters must be complied with by credit regulated law especially the cca request.

Ms-Pacman

plus if its been over 6 years with no payments made or acknowledgement of the debt then it is statute darred and cannot be collected. by acknowledgment it means at no point have you admitted liability for the amount. by disputing the amount you are not acknowledging it.

I'd just send them a statute barred letter.
template here and select the response to a creditor if the debt is statute barred letter

nmarge

If they take you to Court ensure that you have done the following:

1. file the acknowledgement of service when the claim form comes through. This is extrememly important. You must do this within 14 days of receiving it.
2. you then have a further 14 days in which to file your defence. obviously the quicker you do this the better.
3. the case will then move forward. if you fail to do either 1 or 2 in the specified time they will apply, and obtain, a county court judgement against you.
(you would then have to apply to set this aside with the Court and they would claim for their costs of dealing with the matter)
4. you can apply to have their statement of case struck out or for summary judgement against them. there are forms obtainable from any county court of on HMCS website. Essentially you are applying to the court to appoint a hearing and make a decision that they have no prospect of succeeding at trial. Clearly where fraud is involved and they cannot prove any money or address or numbers then this has a chance of succeeding/
5. If you do not take 4 it will be allocated to trail. If it is under £5,000.00 it will go onto the small claims track. A hearing and time will be set by the Judge and you will receive a notice.
6. File a witness statement and copies of all of your evidence at least 14 days before the hearing. Make sure you also send a copy to the claimants.
6. Make sure you attend the hearing.
7. fight like hell.
8. keep a record of all the time you spend doing the case. although the small claims track does not normally allow for costs, the Court can allow for costs in circumstances where a party has acted unreasonably - persuing a fraudulent debt may fall within this. I think you can charge 2/3 of what a solicitor would have charged. Aim for about £60.00 per hour. you can also claim for you travel expenses at £0.40 per mile.
9. File a schedule of your costs and send them to the Claimant at least 24 hours before the hearing.
10. Judges are aware of these companies and from what I am seeing, they are dealing with them with costs penalties.

Good Luck!

nmarge

Hi Laney
Thats a great Letter !
Are you a solicitor ?
Seriously though we have just had an experience with 1st credit.
Having agreed a payment plan with Barclaycard (which payments we kept up)
We receive a letter today from connaught Collections which is part of 1st credit.
Letter states the following :

we have been instructed by barclays bank to recover this debt.

It is now our intention to issue a statutory demand under the insolvency act 1986 (bankruptcy), as we are unaware of any valid reason for your non-payment (not true as payment plan is kept upto date )

Please contact us to arrange a mutually convenient time and date for service.

Should you fail to contact us within seven days then a statutory demand will be issued without further warning.

---

So how can this be actioned ?
Can anyone advise on this please as we feel completely let down over this balance.
Yes we did borrow the money on the CC but lost our work due to redundancy and partners ill health and we always communicated and paid every month just for barclays to go and 'sell' this account to 1st credit .

What rights do we have as speaking with our counties trading standards, it appears that this type of letter does not amount to causing distress !

Any help would be great !

Thank you in advance

Re the above:

You cannot get around a statutory demand I am afraid. If they have decided to issue it then once it is issued the debt becomes due immediately and they can then take bankruptcy proceedings against you.

You can give notice that you oppose the SD and that has to be done as far as I can recall within 7 days of receiving it. the SD will give details of exactly where to lodge it.

Unfortunately, if you admit that you owe the money it is an uphill battle.

Good luck.

Earthlet_Nigel

Put OFT and 1st credit into a search engine and you will find a list of requirements. Not allowed to post the link as a new poster. Sorry, perhaps an older poster would care to post the link

The OFT have placed requirements on 1st credit, which I can tell you they are not adhering to.

The reason for the CSA being ineffectual against 1st credit, quite simple Najib Nathoo is also the president of this outfit.

regards

Nigel

Earthlet_Nigel

The OFT has imposed 'requirements' on 1st Credit using consumer credit powers, after an investigation found that some of its business processes and procedures failed to meet satisfactory standards. As a result, 1st Credit Ltd and its associated companies must:

• refrain from issuing statutory demands warning of bankruptcy where it is unlikely that proceedings will be initiated
• not discuss legal action with consumers unless it is likely that such action will be taken
• ensure that sensitive cases involving vulnerable individuals, for example those with mental health or medical problems, are dealt with appropriately, and
• ensure that all matters of concern raised with them by the free advice sector and other third parties are dealt with appropriately.

These are some of the requirements placed on 1st credit

buster1955

DON'T let this awful firm rip you off again by phoning them on their 0870 number. Ring the geographic (bt) number which is:

01737 228555, and the girl will put you through.

They will ask you for the 1st Credit reference number, which is on the letter they sent you.

DON'T FORGET!!!...If you do not want them to have your telephone number, REMEMBER to press 141 before the main number, so that they cannot ring you back..:D

CaptainRendall

Thought I would share my lovely reply to 1st Credit's letter to me:

Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for your letter regarding a 'personal matter'. It was most amusing.

I am delighted to inform you that all of my finances are being dealt with by another company. I have checked with them recently and everything is in order. I will not be requiring your services.
Should I receive any correspondence regarding my finances, the parties in question provide, at the very least, SOME information with which I am familiar. For instance, the name of the company from whom you bought the 'debt' would be a good start, as are figures and dates. A reference number on its own simply doesn't cut it. I have no idea what it is referencing! This is not only important with regard to clear communication i.e who, what, when, where, how, but reassuring from a security point of view. I would not give out any personal information to a company that cannot or will not provide any information other than 'personal matter'. I believe I am being sensible and cautious, and, quite simply, not as stupid as you think.
I have already contacted The Office of Fair Trading and BBC Watchdog, both of whom are very familiar with and have received many complaints about your business, and have asked me to update them about this. I would suggest that you either provide me with solid, infallible proof of my 'debt' or write it off immediately.

I have researched your company on many respected financial websites, and the general opinion is very shoddy. Phrases such as 'stong-arm tactics', 'dubious methods', 'downright lying', 'abusive', 'scare tactics' and 'illegal practice' are just a small selection of the wonderfully reassuring descriptions of your operation. Your scheme of sending vague letters is very well known. The fact that you sent correspondence to an address I have not lived at for over two years is suspicious.

Failure to provide even the most basic of details regarding my 'personal matter' leads me to feel less than obliged to comply with your request for me to telephone one of your nightclub bouncers. So I hope you can forgive me for not doing so.

All the best.
XXXXXXX

Ms-Pacman

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: