M&S Bank / 1st Credit

YV01

Hi,

Hopefully someone will be able to offer some advice. I am posting this on behalf of my mother. My mother has an outstanding debt of £3,936.73 owed to M&S Bank. My father was declared bankrupt in October 2009 and, since that time, his income has been frozen. This is still the situation today and my parents have been living on Pension Credits for some years.

My mother spoke to M&S Debt Recovery office in May 2014, explaining our family home had been repossessed. The office offered 6 month’s reprieve to see if the situation improved.

Further to a letter forwarded from Moorcroft Debt Recovery Limited on December 2014, my mother replied to them in January 2015 – clearly showing the new home address. My asked for a copy of the Credit Agreement, along with a statement of account, to be supplied to within 12 working days, as per the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

A reply was received from Moorcroft dated the 26th June 2015 (over 5 months later), acknowledging receipt of £1.00 and enclosing relevant information regarding the account. A further letter was then received from Moorcroft, dated the 13th July 2015, stating they would be making no further contact whilst the issue was being investigated.

A letter on the 24th July 2015 requested an income and expenditure account be sent to them, although this had already been forwarded in January 2015. This information was forwarded once again on the 12th August 2015.

We received a letter from Moorcroft, dated the 19th August 2015, stating, once again, they would make no further contact whilst the issue was being investigated. My mother then received a letter dated the 28th August 2015 from Moorcroft stating they were no longer directly assisting M&S with this account.

My mother was then informed that Wescot Credit Services have taken over. My mother contacted them again with a copy of income and expenditure, but they contacted her on the 22nd October stating she did not include any details regarding an affordable payment. This is because she cannot afford payment at the moment.

We sent the following letter (I found this template online and hopefully it was the right thing to send):

This account is in dispute with Moorcroft Debt Recovery Limited and has been since 27th January 2015. Not only is this a breach of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 in line with the Office of Fair Trading’s debt collection guidelines, but also in breach of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and Data Protection Act 1998.

My previous dispute from 27th January 2015 has NOT been answered.

As Moorcroft Debt Recovery Limited are now in default of my Consumer Credit Act agreement request and have also breached *s10 Data Protection Act request, I consider this account to be in SERIOUS DISPUTE.

As you are aware, while my Consumer Credit Act request remains in default enforcement action is NOT permitted, under s127 this constitutes a complete defence at law.

Consequentially, any legal action you pursue will be averred as both UNLAWFUL and VEXATIOUS.

Now, I would respectfully suggest that this account is returned to Moorcroft Debt Recovery Limited for resolution of these defaults and breaches, as Wescot Credit Services Ltd cannot lawfully pursue any enforcement activities.

If Wescot Credit Services Ltd chooses to ignore my dispute and attempt enforcement, I will initiate legal action and file reports with the appropriate authorities, including, but not limited to, Trading Standards, Office of Fair Trading, Information Commissioner’s Office, Financial Ombudsman Service and possible court action.

After taking advice, I am of the opinion that any continued pursuit is in violation of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 in line with the Office of Fair Trading’s collection guidelines.

My mother received a letter, dated the 7th June 2016, from 1st Credit saying they are now the legal owner of the debt. They are continually ringing my mother's home and harassing her for the money.

My father is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatment and that, along with the stress of bankruptcy, is enough for the both of them to be going through, without this added to it. This is the third "debt collecting" agency that it has been passed to. My mother was willing to try and arrange some sort of monthly repayments, but how can she if they keep changing. She then followed the guidelines for the CCA request, which took the guts of 6 months to be followed-up on. What are her rights? What should we do next?

Many thanks in advance!

eskbanker

I can't really comment on the legal technicalities but it sounds to me like making some sort of attempt to repay might have helped, despite the difficult times. You say towards the end that "My mother was willing to try and arrange some sort of monthly repayments" but earlier that "she did not include any details regarding an affordable payment. This is because she cannot afford payment at the moment".

If she gets 1st Credit to prove that they are the legitimate owners of the debt, is it worth trying to arrange some sort of affordable repayments rather than prolonging the dispute and the stress? If she has few assets and little money (as evidenced by an income and expenditure statement) then there won't be much point in them taking her to court so I'd have thought that a manageable monthly repayment would work for all?

YV01

Hi,
Thanks for the reply. Previously my mother had agreed with Westcot to begin paying them £1.00 per month, but then wrote to them saying she had concerns about agreeing anything with Westcot as she was still in correspondence with Moorcroft. The funny thing is, Westcot never really followed up on it and now 1st Credit have started contacting her. She did write a Cease and Desist request to Moorcroft.

If the original CCA request was ignored for 6 months, does this have any bearing on anything?

Does she have to send a CCA request to 1st Credit?

lynz68

To me it just looks like this debt is just getting sold from one debt company to the other in the hope of getting something paid.

When was the last payment made on this account? If it's over 6yrs it's statue barred anyway they can ask for payment but can't take you to court to enforce it.

I would just start ignoring them to be honest they can't get blood out of a stone if your Mother can't afford it she can't afford it.

Have a look at the debtfreewannabe board loads of advice in there.

YV01

She made the last payment about 3/4 years ago.

YV01

Has anyone else had dealings with 1st Credit?