who proves you owe a debt ?

waveydave

Hi all - been a while since i visited these shores due to work etc but got a few questions for you if you have the time.

Overall ive sorted 99% of my debts over the last year with everyone taking there monthly paments with no probs - the only one i have had a problem with has been First Credit ! - To cut a long story short ( as my old thread seems to have disapeared ) - I owe them £2400 - I have offered an AFFORDABLE (to me) repayment plan and they have refused it - this has been going on for over a year and as is 1st credits "way" inbetween letters i have recieved abusive phone calls etc.

ANyway, it culminated in me recieving a statutory demand earlier this year from them. After reading up on SD's and after some advice from a few on here i decided to ignore it ( wrongly or rightly) and as suspected nothing ever happened. Now 3 months on they have started chasing again but have reverted to the standard pay us now or we will take you to court letters.

Also in the past month another DCA, Wescot, has started sending me letters saying i owe a similar amount to the same person that 1st credit are chasing me for the cash from.

Ar you with me so far lol ?

So essentially what i need to know is what do i need to sen to these DCA's so that i can find out the exact details of what is owed, for what and to who as i have a feeling that one of them may be trying it on.

Cheer all, WD

rog2

Hi wd - I thought we hadn't seen you around for a while - hope you're well.
In answer to your question - it is the legal duty of a creditor, or dca, to prove that a 'debt' is genuine and to supply, on request, a full and detailed statement of the debt.
I suggest that you start by requesting a true signed copy of the original cca (consumer credit agreement) which they MUST provide within 12 working days of your request. If they fail to do so then the agreement is no longer enforceable without a Court Order.
I will look for a link to the letter that you should send, and post it as soon as possible.

waveydave

Evening Rog, Im cool thanks, had an up and down few months with the cafe ( if you can remember the post about the bankrupt landlord) and ended up losing it on the plus side i did manage to get enough equipment out to sell on ebay and make most of my initial investment back And im now on the look out for a new job.

Cheers for the info - i shall hit them with the letter and see what they come up with - and knowing First Credit it wont be a lot.

rog2

Hi Dave - sorry for the delay- the link to the letter is:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=6791006#post6791006

Hope this helps.

waveydave

Excellent stuff - cheers for the link.

The only "troubling" thing about the template is the first line:

I/we* do not acknowledge any debt to you or any other company or organisation that you claim to be representing

i have spent the last year attempting to organise a repayment plan with First Credit so should i include this line and what are the implications of NOT including it ?

Other than that i will get on with sorting my printer out and getting it sent off - should be interesting to see what they say.

WD

rayday2

I had two agencies after the same debt and even though I had been paying one I put the line in (not sure if I was right or wrong!) anyway one agency send my cheque back and said case closed the one I had been paying all along cashed the cheque but so far have not sent me a copy of the agreement so I stopped paying them (again right or wrong not sure!) when I rang which I never do she went straight into abusive and made out they did not need to send me one so I sent them the susequent you are in breech for not sending me letter - silence so far.

Have to say if they have transferred to Wescott they are a pretty good company to deal with so fingers crossed!

Also not sure if you have been using the national debthelpline website but they have fantastic template letters to download and also a budget sheet. So if you do a get a credit agreement you could use the more formal budget sheet and payment offer letter see how that goes.

fermi

waveydave wrote: »

i have spent the last year attempting to organise a repayment plan with First Credit so should i include this line and what are the implications of NOT including it ?

In your case the implications are zero. It is there as an added measure to prevent any correspondence being used as acknowledgement of the debt. This is normally only relevant if you are thinking of challenging the right to take legal action over the debt under the 'Limitations Act' and the 6 year 'Time Barred' rule.

The DCA or original creditor (whoever you send it to) is legally obliged to comply with the request under the CCA74 with or without that line.

waveydave

Nice one - ill stick the line in then and keep my fingers crossed lol.

ANYBODY has to be better at dealing with things than First credit !!! so all being well this will of been a transferred debt andnot a new one thts crept out of the woodwork

waveydave

fermi wrote: »

In your case the implications are zero. It is there as an added measure to prevent any correspondence being used as acknowledgement of the debt. This is normally only relevant if you are thinking of challenging the right to take legal action over the debt under the 'Limitations Act' and the 6 year 'Time Barred' rule.

The DCA or original creditor (whoever you send it to) is legally obliged to comply with the request under the CCA74 with or without that line.

ahh i thought a much - cheers for making it clear.

WD