buchanan clark & wells

n_ireland_lad

hi i recieved a debt recoverly letter from these guys to do with lowell portfolio and claims of oweing them £800.

I found the letter off this site claiming no knowlegde of it and sent a postal order asking for proof or orginal agreement.

after 3 days buchanan has replied, sending me back my postal order and stating they are not the creditor and have requested their client to send the documents to me directly.

In general, where do I stand?

thanks all

fermi

Wait and see if they can prove whatever you asked them to.

n_ireland_lad

what do they need to send to be deemed proof? something with my signature on it?

PHYTHIAN

Basically it means they know they have not got a leg to stand and you will probably never here from them again.

You may here from other DCAs...just send the same letter and the PO and you'll most likely get the same ' passed back to our clients' letter from them as well.

Yes, they have to provide proof the debt is yours ie something with your signature on it. The reason for 'digitally' signing youroriginal letter is so they cannot mock up a fake agreement.

king100

n_ireland_lad wrote: »

what do they need to send to be deemed proof? something with my signature on it?

Lots of things, personally I would go to CAG - Consumer Action Group, if the send you a credit agreement.

Please note that just because they dont have a valid agreement doesnt mean that they cant still ask you to pay.

It just means that they cannot go to court to enforce the agreement. It will still go down on your credit file as a default and they can chase you for 6 years until it becomes SB.

king100

The right to request a true copy of the original executed consumer credit areement is not about looking for 'loopholes'. It is the right of any debtor to have a valid consumer credit agreement before entering into any consumer 'debt' and all consumer debt, up to £25,000, is regulated by the Consumer Credit Act.
A creditor, therefore, must, in order to comply with the Law, issue a consumer credit agreement which conforms to the requirements of the Act, before giving credit. Often, and usually in the rush to start earning interest, a 'creditor' will not always comply with the requirements of the Act, and sometimes what looks to be a 'credit agreement' is purely a document written to give the creditor control over the debtor, without reconising the rights that the Act gives to that debtor. This is particularily true where interest rates are not clearly defined and some creditors have been known to use this as a 'licence' to charge otherwise extortionate rates of interest.
Other examples, where the Act has often been 'ignored' include some credit card companies and 'Catalogue Companies', but 'abuse' of the Consumer Credit Act is by no means limited to these examples.
Basically, the Consumer Credit Act was introduced to standardise 'credit areements' for the benefit of both the consumer and the creditor. The Act lays down a set of conditions to which all credit agreements must adhere in order to be 'legally enforceable' and any agreement, for credit under £25k, which does not contain the prescribed terms and conditions is 'unenforceable through the Courts'.
Please, also, be aware that the Act covers only Consumer Credit Agreements - Mobile Phone bills are 'Consumer Service Areements' and are not covered by the Act.
This does not, nor should it, imply that requesting a cca can be a 'loophole' in order to avoid paying genuine 'debts'. It is, however, the right of any debtor to request a true copy of the executed cca and this course of action is particularily encouraged when there is a question over the validity of a debt, or the authority of a debt collector in relation to that debt.
Once a debtor has requested a cca, and paid the statutory £1 fee, then the creditor, or debt collector must provide a copy of the cca within 12 working days of receipt of the request, otherwise he can, no longer enforce the agreement without the permission of the Courts. Nor can he pass your details to another debt collector with the intent of chasing that 'debt'.
If the creditor/dca is able to provide a true copy of the executed cca, within the legally prescribed period, and, providing that 'cca' complies with the conditions laid down in the Act, then that agreement remains enforceable although this does not, necessarily, mean that the debtor can not make arrangements to pay at a rate the debtor can afford. In such cases, help and advice is readily available from the Debt Counselling Charities, such as CCCS - 0800 138 1111, National Debtline - 0808 808 4000, or a specialist debt advisor at your local CAB.
So, in summary, requesting a copy of your credit agreement is a very useful right - it will tell you if the agreement is correct, under the terms of the Consumer Credit Act, or, indeed,if the 'agreement fails to comply and is, therefore, unenforceable. It will assist you in deciding how to tackle your 'debts', but, at all stages you should take advice from, and be guided by, the Debt Counsellin Charities.
For an overview of the Consumer Credit Act, and 'template letters' have a look at the following National Debtline link:

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/en...ccount_details

bargainbetty

king100 wrote: »

Lots of things, personally I would go to CAG - Consumer Action Group, if the send you a credit agreement.

Please note that just because they dont have a valid agreement doesnt mean that they cant still ask you to pay.

It just means that they cannot go to court to enforce the agreement. It will still go down on your credit file as a default and they can chase you for 6 years until it becomes SB.

However, they cannot do this if there is no proof that the debt is yours to begin with. It is an offence for them to do so, in those circumstances.

If you know the debt is yours, hiding from it isn't a great idea, but if you genuinely don't know anything about the claim, the prove it letter is the best starting point. Just sit back now and wait.

Good luck.

king100

bargainbetty wrote: »

However, they cannot do this if there is no proof that the debt is yours to begin with. It is an offence for them to do so, in those circumstances.

If you know the debt is yours, hiding from it isn't a great idea, but if you genuinely don't know anything about the claim, the prove it letter is the best starting point. Just sit back now and wait.

Good luck.

To say they cannot chase you if the debt is not yours to begin with. Try telling that to the ex orange t mobile and 3 customers that have never had a mobile phone contract with said companies yet they still chase, these companies do not know the meaning of its not mine and will chase and chase and chase.

Check your credit file and see what it relates to, if not showing on credit file then it will be either not your debt or SB.

rustler

Hi I am new to this but need some help regarding how to deal with these debt collectors- I phoned them last week after yet another letter asking for payment for a british gas bill of £200.45. This is an outstanding amount from a flat I used to share but had moved out of by the time this debt was incurred,unfortunately and rather sinister i think- I am now the only name of three and so it is my responsibility according to these cowboys and british gas have been useless when i talked to them. I had a dispute with my landlady which led to me giving notice and moving out. I dont have anything but emails to prove I wasn't living there for the period in question.Im finding this all a bit stressful so please help
Thank you

IndigoBlue_2

rustler wrote: »

Hi I am new to this but need some help regarding how to deal with these debt collectors- I phoned them last week after yet another letter asking for payment for a british gas bill of £200.45. This is an outstanding amount from a flat I used to share but had moved out of by the time this debt was incurred,unfortunately and rather sinister i think- I am now the only name of three and so it is my responsibility according to these cowboys and british gas have been useless when i talked to them. I had a dispute with my landlady which led to me giving notice and moving out. I dont have anything but emails to prove I wasn't living there for the period in question.Im finding this all a bit stressful so please help
Thank you

Captain obvious here. Have you contacted the previous tenants you used to share with?

rustler

No
i have no contact with either of them, and assume the Kiwi one has gone home. I doubt there would be any willingness from them and I have no idea when they moved out