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Court letter received - notice of legal action - held needed!
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Jammy1982
Posts: 3 Newbie
Hi All
I came home today to a recorded delivery letter (signed for by my 17 year old) which stated on the front of the envelope, 'if undelivered please return to ****** Sheriff Court. I had no idea what it was about.
With an increased heart rate and in a state of confusion, I hurriedly opened the letter and attempted to understand the pages of legal jargon contained within.
The letter was an 'Initial Writ' (I'm in Scotland by the way) and it informed me that IDR Financial had applied for a Decree against me in respect of a debt previously owned by Barclaycard. The amount due is £5,108.38, which they request to be paid in full. I have until 18th May 2015 to either submit my intention to defend or accept liability, pay up in full or submit a 'Time to Pay' request with a full financial assessment of my circumstances.
I felt completely sick.
I know I had a Barclaycard years ago but all of my debts were supposed to have been settled following my divorce, 3 years ago, and I have received nothing from either Barclaycard or IDR about this till today. I still live at the same address.
By the time I had got my head straight, Stepchange and the National Debt Helplines had closed so I’m hoping you good people can offer me some advice in the meantime, so I don’t spend my entire weekend on edge.
I’ve tried to do a bit of research myself but if I’ve got anything wrong please let me know.
The writ states the following:
'Barclays Bank Plc rights in terms of the Agreement have been assigned to the Pursuers (IDR Finance UK II Ltd). The assignation of the debt was intimated to the defender.'
They have clearly stated here that the assignment of the debt was communicated to me but it was not.
Luckily I found the terms and conditions/agreement online. They state:
11.5 We may transfer to any other person any or all of our rights and duties under this agreement at any time. We may do this without telling you.
I thought assignment of a debt had to be communicated to the debtor under the CCA 1974? If so, how can they state in the Agreement that they can transfer the account without notice?
The writ then goes on to say:
The defender failed to maintain payment of the instalment due in terms of the Agreement. The Pursuers served a Default Notice on the defender. The defender failed to make payment of the sums due in satisfaction of the default notice. The Pursuers thereafter terminated the Agreement. Accordingly the Pursuers seek payment of the balance outstanding in terms of the agreement being the sum of £5,108.38. This is the sum sued for.'
The online copy of the terms and conditions/agreement state the following:
9. How Can This Agreement Be Ended?
9.1 This Agreement has no fixed duration: it will continue until you or we choose to close your account. You must make all payments due and this agreement will continue until all amounts you owe have been paid.
But they have stated in the writ that they have 'terminated the agreement' not that they have simply closed or restricted the use of my account - can I therefore argue that they have 'terminated the agreement' and therefore the agreement to pay no longer exists? Surely such a statement cannot only apply to certain aspects of the agreement – such as the use of the facility or only their part of the agreement?
The writ also states that:
'A copy of the Agreement will be produced.'
Should I ask for a copy of this immediately?
My head is starting to hurt with all the legal jargon.
If anyone has any comments or advice, I would really appreciate it.
Thanks in advance.
I came home today to a recorded delivery letter (signed for by my 17 year old) which stated on the front of the envelope, 'if undelivered please return to ****** Sheriff Court. I had no idea what it was about.
With an increased heart rate and in a state of confusion, I hurriedly opened the letter and attempted to understand the pages of legal jargon contained within.
The letter was an 'Initial Writ' (I'm in Scotland by the way) and it informed me that IDR Financial had applied for a Decree against me in respect of a debt previously owned by Barclaycard. The amount due is £5,108.38, which they request to be paid in full. I have until 18th May 2015 to either submit my intention to defend or accept liability, pay up in full or submit a 'Time to Pay' request with a full financial assessment of my circumstances.
I felt completely sick.
I know I had a Barclaycard years ago but all of my debts were supposed to have been settled following my divorce, 3 years ago, and I have received nothing from either Barclaycard or IDR about this till today. I still live at the same address.
By the time I had got my head straight, Stepchange and the National Debt Helplines had closed so I’m hoping you good people can offer me some advice in the meantime, so I don’t spend my entire weekend on edge.
I’ve tried to do a bit of research myself but if I’ve got anything wrong please let me know.
The writ states the following:
'Barclays Bank Plc rights in terms of the Agreement have been assigned to the Pursuers (IDR Finance UK II Ltd). The assignation of the debt was intimated to the defender.'
They have clearly stated here that the assignment of the debt was communicated to me but it was not.
Luckily I found the terms and conditions/agreement online. They state:
11.5 We may transfer to any other person any or all of our rights and duties under this agreement at any time. We may do this without telling you.
I thought assignment of a debt had to be communicated to the debtor under the CCA 1974? If so, how can they state in the Agreement that they can transfer the account without notice?
The writ then goes on to say:
The defender failed to maintain payment of the instalment due in terms of the Agreement. The Pursuers served a Default Notice on the defender. The defender failed to make payment of the sums due in satisfaction of the default notice. The Pursuers thereafter terminated the Agreement. Accordingly the Pursuers seek payment of the balance outstanding in terms of the agreement being the sum of £5,108.38. This is the sum sued for.'
The online copy of the terms and conditions/agreement state the following:
9. How Can This Agreement Be Ended?
9.1 This Agreement has no fixed duration: it will continue until you or we choose to close your account. You must make all payments due and this agreement will continue until all amounts you owe have been paid.
But they have stated in the writ that they have 'terminated the agreement' not that they have simply closed or restricted the use of my account - can I therefore argue that they have 'terminated the agreement' and therefore the agreement to pay no longer exists? Surely such a statement cannot only apply to certain aspects of the agreement – such as the use of the facility or only their part of the agreement?
The writ also states that:
'A copy of the Agreement will be produced.'
Should I ask for a copy of this immediately?
My head is starting to hurt with all the legal jargon.
If anyone has any comments or advice, I would really appreciate it.
Thanks in advance.
0
Comments
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Will take a look at tomorrow if no one else replies in the meantime.Free/impartial debt advice: National Debtline | StepChange Debt Charity | Find your local CAB
IVA & fee charging DMP companies: Profits from misery, motivated ONLY by greed0 -
Hi,
Best advice I can give, is to ring National Debtline first thing Monday morning, you need to determin how you are going to deal with this, could the debt be statute barred ?
When did you last pay anything/acknowledge this debt in writing ?
Have a clear 5 years passed ?
Assuming it's your account, and it's not SB, you may have to bite the bullet and accept liability, it's too late now to ask for proof, as you need to adhere to the courts timetable.I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the Debt free wannabe, Credit file and ratings, and Bankruptcy and living with it boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.For free non-judgemental debt advice, contact either Stepchange, National Debtline, or CitizensAdviceBureaux.Link to SOA Calculator- https://www.stoozing.com/soa.php The "provit letter" is here-https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2607247/letter-when-you-know-nothing-about-about-the-debt-aka-prove-it-letter0 -
Thanks for the replies so far guys.
I intend to contact Stepchange on Monday morning and the debt is not statue barred as the account was being used up till the divorce was finalised 3 years ago.
A wee update:
I went through all my old paperwork last night (I keep most things for a period of time) and came across a letter from Link Financial dated 11th February 2013. The letter referred to the debt in question but the figure was lower than the one quoted on the court papers - £4,782.39. It was a standard debt collection letter - not a notice of assignment or default notice. I vaguely remember receiving it and I'm pretty sure when I contacted them they confirmed the debt was no longer outstanding. I duly filed the paperwork and as I said in my last post; I've received nothing about this debt since till the court papers arrived yesterday.
It's only in my research from yesterday that I realise Link Financial and IDR Finance appear to be linked somehow but I can't find any confirmation of this link online.
I've looked up the company details for IDR and they confirm the parent company as Capita - there is no reference to Link Financial in any parent or subsidiary information. There is also no official website for IDR.
Should I contact Link Financial again using the details supplied on the 2013 letter to see if the alleged debt is still with them and if it is indeed them who have issued court proceedings?
Also, can debt collection companies use different names? i.e. state Link Financial on the letter but then use IDR on the legal papers? Isn't this misleading/confusing to the alleged debtor?
thanks0 -
Me again.
Just checked my credit file with checkmyfile and the account in question is showing under the closed accounts section; type of account - credit card, opened April 2008, closed on 14th March 2014, balance - £0.00, current status - settled.
However, within the open accounts section there is an entry by Link Financial; type of account - bank account, opened April 2008, closed 28th March 2014, balance £5,108, current status - defaulted - not settled.
I thought when a company took over a debt they simply amended the lender details on the credit file - I didn't think they were supposed to add a completely new entry?
In addition, the entries contradict one another:
Credit card on one - bank account on the other
Closed and settled with zero balance - defaulted/unsettled with a balance
Surely this is completely inaccurate and misleading information?0
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