Cabot Financial & Northampton County Court Advise Please?

oasisfeverish

Hope some of you are able to help?

A friend of mine has received (before postal strike) what looks like a claim from from Northampton County Court. It has Cabot Financial (UK) Lts down as claimant and her down as defendant.

It is a claim for which is for two companies.

Now she says that she doesn't have any outstanding debt, so first I asked her to obtain her Credit Reports from Experian & Equifax, which she has done. I've had a look at them and there is nothing on there for either company as a default or outstanding. The only thing there is, is a unrecorded enquiry on Experian by Cabot Financial (Europe) UK last month.

Now I do believe when she says she has no debt, but what if she did have but doesn't want to admit it to me, wouldn't the debts show up on her files to prove she does owe the money?

I know that some debts drop off your file after 6 years, and if this is the case, then how can Cabot Financial ask for the debt if over 6 years, and wouldn't they have had to provide evidence when starting the claim with Northampton County Court? Or do Northampton let anyone file a claim and worry about the evidence later? Seems wrong?

If this was just a demand from Cabot themselves I would of told her that as nothing shows on your credit files, just send the letter that is on here to say I don't acknowledge any debt and to provide a true copy of the agreement. But as it's Northampton County Court that has sent a claim form I don't know what to tell her.

She is a single mum, works hard and just plods along, and this has freaked her out, normally I can answer most things for her, but am at a loss on this one???

Thanks in advance.

rog2

Hi of - Debt Collectors seem to favour Northampton County Court because it is a 'bulk handling' fast-track court, where claims tend to be rubber-stamped - I have been an unwitting victim of their 'mechanical efficiency' myself.
Nevertheless, it does NOT affect your friend's rights in law. If she disputes the 'debt' then she should phone the court right away - she has several options, including:
1. She can fill in the defence section of the 'claim' and dispute the 'debt'. It would be up to Cabot to prove otherwise.
2. She could ask for the claim to be moved to a court nearer her house, and go to court personally to dispute the 'debt'.

In the meantime, she can ask CABOT to supply her with FULL details of the 'alleged debt' including a copy of the original signed consumer credit agreement. Without this, Cabot can not pursue the claim.

If it turns out that the 'debt' is more than 6 years (with no payments or written acknowledgement by her) then she can simply tell the court that the 'debt' is statute barred and Cabot will, no longer be able to pursue her.

I would suggest, given the urgency, that she should talk to CAB or National Debtline as soon as possible, for further advice.

But MOST IMPORTANTLY do NOT let her ignore it, otherwise before she realises Northampton County Court will issue a CCJ.

oasisfeverish

rog2.

Thank you for the advice.

I got her to telephone the court this morning and see what they said. They advised that as she is adamant that she knows nothing she should file a dispute. And that she could also file an acknowledgment of service to buy some time. The guy did say that she could phone CABOT and see what they had to say.

I also got her to phone National Debtline who were a great help as you were, they said to file the acknowledgement of service straight away, and also send a letter to CABOT asking them to prove the debt is hers. They also said don't phone CABOT, write to them only.

Something they also said was that if Cabot fail to respond to the request of providing a copy of the agreement, then it is likely although not definite that they don't have the copy and are chancing, that she doesn't respond.

The frightening thing is that both said that to file a claim you don't need to provide evidence, in other words if I wanted to file a claim against someone I could do it without evidence and only if then defended, I would have to supply my evidence. So I can see what you mean by these companies chancing their arm that the individual doesn't respond!!:eek:


With regards to asking for a copy of the agreement, I will have a look around this site for a sample letter, if you have a link to a already designed one that would closely match this situation with a bit of tweaking, and could post the link would help greatly.

She has calmed down a bit after speaking to these guys and what you said, but still annoyed that a company can do this if they want to.

Thanks again.

moonlightpjs

May need ammending to suit your friends circumstances:

Dear Sir/Madam

Re:−
Your Ref:

I do not acknowledge ANY debt to your company. I require you to supply the following documentation before I will correspond further on this matter.

1. You must supply me with a true copy of the alleged agreement you refer to. This is my right under your obligation to supply a copy of the agreement under the legislation contained within s.78 (1) Consumer Credit Act 1974 (s.77 (1) for fixed sum credit) - your obligation also extends to providing a statement of account. I enclose £1 in payment of the statutory fee.

2. A signed true copy of the deed of assignment of the above referenced agreement that you allege exists.

3. You are notified that you are obliged to supply these documents, whether you are the original creditor or not under S189 of the CCA 1974.

Non-compliance with my request is a criminal offence under the above Act and will result in a report being submitted to the relevant statutory authorities, therefore if I do not receive evidence that I owe your company any monies by (enter date 2007, I will have no hesitation in passing your details to the Office of Fair Trading.

As you are aware, a credit agreement that is not properly documented and signed by the customer is totally unenforceable under the CCA and therefore is a complete defence to any court claim that is issued.

Take note at this stage, that any legal action you may contemplate will be both vigorously defended and contested.

Regarding your threat that a Doorstep Collector will call the owner of this property is denying you or anybody working on your behalf access onto their estate or grounds in relation to this disputed debt, should you or any agent acting for you attempt to gain access to the estate or its grounds, then you will be ignoring your denial of access and the owner of (enter address) will take legal steps to sue both you and or your agents for trespass, please also note that having a letterbox on the property gives you or anyone working on your behalf neither implied nor expressed rights to enter the properties boundaries, again any instances of trespass WILL lead the property owner to sue both yourselves or any agents working on your behalf.

rog2

Excellent advice from National Debtline - as always.

The letter you need to send to Cabot can be found at:

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/debt_advice.php#6

The direct link is not working, so you need to scroll down the list of sample letters until you find the letter where 'you want a copy of the credit agreement/statement of account.

Or, BETTER STILL, use the letter that Weller has just posted - she's the real expert on cca's. Thanks Weller.

moonlightpjs

Allow them 12 working days from posting plus another 2 to respond. Whilst the "account" is in dispute they cannot legally chase the debt or take to court without providing a true copy of a "alleged" executed, signed CCA.

Tell the court as Rog2 says, that the account is in dispute etc

oasisfeverish

Thanks rog2 and Weller711.

Will adapt that letter for her and get her to sign.

Two questions, will she have to send two £1 statutory fees as Cabot are claiming that it is two companies that she owes the money for? And if so should I ensure that she sends two separate letters then?

Forgot to add the acknowledgment of service will extend the date to 31st October, which by then a defence needs to be sent in. The defence can be done online, which will help, as between now and the 31st is 15 working days, so by the time the defence/dispute is put in, she should have received a response from Cabot regarding proving any agreement form.

Something I thought about is when she sends this letter to Cabot, I'm going to get her to sign the letter differently from her normal signature, knowing how these companies work preying on people and chancing, I wouldn't put it past them to scan her signature of the letter and place it into a agreement, as only a copy needs to be sent. Call me suspicious!

Plus will get her to send Special Delivery because of court notification, and with the current situation with the postal service, don't want to leave anything to chance.

Thanks again.

rog2

I'm not sure about whether to send two separate letters, but it may be an idea, just to cover all eventualities.
ALWAYS SEND CORRESPONDENCE BY RECORDED DELIVERY.

moonlightpjs

Yes, send two letters -one for each "alleged" debt, two £1 payments and send them in seperate envelopes

moonlightpjs

knowing Caboot as I do it is very likely they will not have a copy of the "alleged" CCA so dont let your friend hang around when it comes to filing her defence.

Also, I would, and this is just me personally, not sign the letters at all - just her name typed at the bottom will be enough. It doesn;t need to be signed for them to respond to the CCA.

oasisfeverish

Jusy to update.

Two separate letters sent by Recorded Delivery, acknowledgement of service registered.

Apart from filing a defence by the 31st October, I guess it's just a waiting game?

One question she did ask is that once a defence is filed, does that mean she will have to wait until the court gets any evidence from Cabot before hearing anything else, and if Cabot fail to respond to the evidence request, is the whole thing just dropped?

Thanks for all your help rog2 & Weller711 on this, even I'm learning new stuff lol.