Problems with 1st Credit

Charlie74

Hello - I would be grateful for some advice re: 1st credit. I was first contacted by them by text message in November last year. To my knowledge I had paid any previous debt and as such, ignored the text message. They started sending 1 message per week as well as ringing on my mobile and leaving messages for them to contact me. In the new year, they also started ringing me at work. I work away a lot so managed to always miss their call. I have just come back from a business trip to find a letter at home from their solicitor Judge & Priestley LLP including a claim form issued by 1st Credit at Northampton County Court against me, dated the 16th July 2014. They claim that I have an outstanding debt with LLoyds TSB dating back to 2009 and that the debt was assigned to them on the 18th November 2013. I did have an account with Lloyds TSB but cannot recall having an outstanding debt. I closed the account at the time they refused to refund the bank charges - unfortunately, it was so long ago that I do not have the paperwork anymore. If there is an outstanding debt, then I am happy to propose a repayment plan. However, the claim form suggests that 1st Credit sent me a Notice of Assignment. I have never received anything from 1st Credit, only text messages and calls which did not provide any information. I apparently have 14 days to file my response. I would like to dispute the legitimacy of the claim and request proof/evidence that there is in fact an outstanding debt. I also wish to dispute their claim that they sent the Notice of Assignment. I was also thinking of contacting Lloyds for a SAR request. Any advice would be really appreciated. Thanks. Sergine

Lensman_2

You should know that there are rules surrounding the timing and format of a defence and how you ask 1st Credit for information. (CPR or Civil Procedure Rules).

If you fall foul of these rules you risk letting them win "by default".

For that reason, I think you should post up on a forum better suited to legal advice, like Legal Beagles or the Financial Legal Issues forum on Consumer action Group.

In the first instance, a CCA request to 1st Credit and a SAR to Lloyds TSB are good moves.