Barclaycard debt & HFO services.

ElasticKorma

In June 2005 I had a barclaycard with a limit of £200. I failed to keep up the repayments and moved home too. Today I have received a letter stating "72 hour litigation notice" from HFO services saying that I owe £1200 and if I do not contact them to repay within the 72 hours, they will be pursuing it through their solicitors and I will have bailiffs sent to my home. How do I approach this?

benrsmith31077

Hi

First off be aware that this company are notorious for their threat-o-grams and trying to collect unenforcable debts! They cannot send bailiffs to your house without a CCJ and you should be notified, in writing, of any legal action by the Court. You will have a chance to defend yourself. Not an expert but amount they are claiming seems unreasonable in light of size of original debt, not sure how court would view that.

If you are in UK, it sounds to me like they are trying to collect the debt/obtain a CCJ before it becomes statute barred in June. Have you made any payments or acknowledged the debt in writing since June 2005?


As I said, I am not an expert but sure someone in the know will be along shortly to advise you. In meantime I would send them a 'prove it letter' (search for 'CCA letter' in this forum) and just make sure you open all post so they dont get a default judgement from the Court if they go that route. However, if they can't provide a CCA for the debt then I would think they have buckleys chance of getting a CCJ!

FTW

benrsmith31077 wrote: »

Hi

First off be aware that this company are notorious for their threat-o-grams and trying to collect unenforcable debts! They cannot send bailiffs to your house without a CCJ and you should be notified, in writing, of any legal action by the Court. You will have a chance to defend yourself. Not an expert but amount they are claiming seems unreasonable in light of size of original debt, not sure how court would view that.

If you are in UK, it sounds to me like they are trying to collect the debt/obtain a CCJ before it becomes statute barred in June. Have you made any payments or acknowledged the debt in writing since June 2005?


As I said, I am not an expert but sure someone in the know will be along shortly to advise you. In meantime I would send them a 'prove it letter' (search for 'CCA letter' in this forum) and just make sure you open all post so they dont get a default judgement from the Court if they go that route. However, if they can't provide a CCA for the debt then I would think they have buckleys chance of getting a CCJ!

I'd send the 'prove it' letter first - not a CCA letter.

The order to do it would be :-

1) Prove It letter. Wait to see what they come back with.

2) Statute Barred letter. If no payments or written acknowledgement of debt has been made by yourself in 6 years (5 if you're in Scotland!), then it's Statute Barred. Remember it's up to HFO to prove it isn't Statute Barred - not for you to prove that it is.

3) CCA letter. You'd need to include a £1 pound postal order with this.

This puts them to strict proof that the account is yours, and they must send you a copy of the original agreement to substantiate their legal right to collect on this account.

And even then, the agreement must be legally enforceable. If it isn't, and is flawed enough to render it unenforceable, then HFO are basically screwed.

And, an important note - any of those letters should be sent recorded delivery, and do NOT include your signature in anything you send them.

benrsmith31077

Sorry got CCA and 'Prove it' mixed up. I always think of the CCA as 'proof' of the debt. Doh!


Knew someone would be along to give better advice!