Collections - question

adoy

Responses and insights will be very much appreciated, on behalf of a kind elderly neighbour in distress who is not Internet-savvy:

a. If a solicitor representing a company which contends that you owe them money (ableit it's an issue in dispute) sends a letter stating that a court Claim will be issued within x days, then does that stated period include weekends or not; ie, if a response is sent after x days because of intervening weekends, are they still entitled to issue a claim form when the strict x days have passed if they have not delayed to account for weekends?

b. If the letter states that they explictyly recommend that you "reply by return" do these words this explicitly mean by return mail? (Obviously one can try to phone but if their wording and English mean specifically by mail then it is significant here).

c. If they go on to ask the court to issue a claim form and the alleged amount owed is under 1,000 pounds, then will they be obliged to do this in the Small Claims Court and if so will they be unable to claim lawyers fees in costs? (Nothing in their letter stated that costs may be added to their claim).

d. If all they have done is specify a broad total amount that they claim is owed, can the adressee demand specifics regarding what invoices, time period, service, etc they are claiming for? And if so should this be requested before or after a Claim form is issued? Will they be required to produce more detailed evidence (ie, invoices, dates, etc) with their Claim than they have done in their collection demands letters?

chevalier

Sounds like your friend has has the standard threatening letter from a Debt Collection Agency (DCA). Before we can advise though
1) does the friend actually owe the money?
2) has it been more than 6 years since any previous written correspondance about this debt (if this is the case, then they can't collect it by law)
3) Has your friend been provided with a signed credit agreement with reference to this debt (which I am assuming if it is in dispute they haven't done)? Again this has to be provided by law and within a set amount of time. Just asking this puts the debt into dispute, so they can't continue to pursue it - ie take it further - until this is resolved.

So to answer your questions
a) is the person writing to you actually a solicititor DCA lie all of the time, anything to get money out of your.
b) is again a threat to try and pressure you into panicking and paying even if the debt is not yours, over 6 years old, already paid etc. They buy the debt very cheaply so anything you can be scared into paying is profit.
c)no sure, but I think that they have to apply for a county court judgement (CCJ), which aren't seen in court, though your friend can attend and show income and expenditure and make an offer of payment IF THE DEBT IS THEIRS AND IS CURRENT.
d) Yes they can. As above they should provide a full breakdown of the original debt, interest that has been added, any costs they have incurred (which is usually huge compared to the debt and again is a source of dispute)

There are some other people on here that are better with the wording, and also template letters you can download to deal with this. I am sure others will comment later
chev

tyllwyd

Your point (a) - my feeling is (as someone who is not a lawyer) that until the claim is issued, the matter is not being governed by the Civil Procedure Rules - so it is up to the solicitor what day exactly they decide to issue the claim. You could look at rule 2.8 of the Civil Procedure Rules to see what the time limits mean when the claim form has been issued - I would assume that solicitors are likely to have those rules in mind when they give a deadline for a response.
http://www.justice.gov.uk/civil/procrules_fin/contents/parts/part02.htm

(b) I tried googling to see if I could find anything about 'reply by return' but I can't see anything specific. I would take it as 'reply promptly' so personally I don't see why a phone call wouldn't be OK.

(c) As far as I can make out, if the amount is less than £5000, it will probably be allocated to the small claims track, and if so it is unlikely that a judge would award costs (but not totally impossible).
You could have a look here
http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/claims/small/index.htm

(d) I don't see any reason why you shouldn't ask for more detail about the amount which they say is owed before they get the court involved. If they do issue a claim, they will have to provide a Particulars of Claim.

I'm sorry that I don't really know the answers but does that help you find some avenues to research? The best thing is probably for your neighbour to get in touch with the Citizens advice bureau.

adoy

Chevalier, many many thanks for your reply.
In answer to the questions you posted:
1) My friend thinks/thought that the account had been paid in full but had gone through particualar circumstances which put her through a rough period in which she was quite disorganised so is frankly unsure but cannot underunstand in any event how the debt would have been the amount claimed.

2) Six years hasn't lapsed.

3) No signed credit agreement has been provided or requested or offered.


BTW It appears to be a solicitors firm but they do list on their letterhead a title of Head of Commerical Recoveries - is this peculiar for a law firm? Also they indicate 'Regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority'. Aren't solicitors regulated by the Law Society?? And isn't it illegal to impersonate solicitors?

adoy

One more question.
If in due course a county court judgement is issued for a particular amount, and then that amount is subsequently paid, does a black mark still remain on the credit record once a debt is discharged in full?

robnye

i think the first course of action is to write back asking for further information ie breakdown of figures, copy of finance agreement etc as mentioned above

tyllwyd

adoy wrote: »

BTW It appears to be a solicitors firm but they do list on their letterhead a title of Head of Commerical Recoveries - is this peculiar for a law firm? Also they indicate 'Regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority'. Aren't solicitors regulated by the Law Society?? And isn't it illegal to impersonate solicitors?

They might be solicitors who do a lot of debt recovery, so I don't think the title is suspicious in itself. Why not google the firm's name to check. Also I think the Solicitors Regulation Authority is the new name for that area of the Law Society, so that's not a problem.

chevalier

If a CCJ is issued and the debt is paid, I believe what happens is that the CCJ is still on the credit report, but it will show as settled. I don't know how having a settled CCJ affects a credit score
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RAS

Hi, if you get a CCJ and pay it off quickly, it is does not go on your record. If the debt is in dispute, then they will have to prove it before the CCj is issued.

adoy

Many thanks for all your insights! It's really very very helpful.

If the respondent has virtually no income and won't be in a position to work in the forseeable future, and clearly enforcement of the full amount can be shown to be virtually impossible, how plausible is it that a company would settle for a cash payment? I'd loan my neighbour a couple of hundred myself to have it settled but she wouldn't be in any position to pay more. Is that feasible to offer to them, if it at all transpires that there is a debt outstanding?

Also, by asking for a copy of the credit agreement and specific invoice details before further discussion on the matter, what is their timeline for responding to that? Is there a time period by which they must produce it or otherwise have to drop the case forever?

RAS

Hi

In these circumstances, the DCA can expect to get £1 or £2 per month. If they try to the CCJ, that is all they will get. Loads of pople on here doing just that. Someone reckoned he would be 120 or so before he paid it off.

Starting point, read the OFT Guidelines
http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/bus...dit/oft664.pdf

Particularly pay 9, section 2.4. Line up all the rules that they are breaking.

I will post up the CCA letter. Once that is sent, they hav to prove the debt and supply a full statement. Add to that letter a list of all the parts ofthe OFT regulations that they are breaking and a threat of further action if they repeat it. if you can get them to CAb or such, so much the better, or type out the contents on here.

Whilst that is being dealt with, the debt is in dispute and the DCA can do nothing. If they do complain like hell.

try to extract from your neighbour (invite them round for a computer session), the details of their financial situation and put it into www.entitledto.com. Then get them claiming everything to which they are entitled.

if the CCA comes back, they will have to pay, but they can send a statement of their income and expenditure and make a reasonable offer, which might be as low as £1.

If the CCA does not come back, they do not have to pay the debt. Tough luck DCA.