£15k default passed from cabot to Mortimer Clarke - when to send prove it letter?

IndebtedDoofus

Hi all,

Bit of a two pronged question here. I accrued a number of debts in 2024 and followed this forum's advice to let them all default. I have been ignoring all attempts at contact in the hope of riding it out for more agreeable settlement offers or making it to statute barred status.

One of the larger debts (approx £15k) was recently passed from Cabot Financial to their solicitors at Mortimer Clarke.

Mortimer Clarke have recently sent a letter that says "<Name> you still have time to stop court proceeding"

My first question: is this a letter before action? It doesn't give any deadline in which to respond and I've read that a proper LBA will usually give a 30 day warning.

My second question: Is now a good time to send a prove it letter? Or should I hold out until they ramp up to the full LBA?

Many thanks for your help!

The full text of the letter for reference:

"<Name> you still have time to stop court proceeding"

It is important to call us on 0345 849 8957 to avoid a court

claim. This could lead to a County Court Judgment (CCJ) and

your balance of £15414.34 increasing. We are here to help you

find an affordable plan to clear your balance in the shortest

time.

To avoid interest being added to your debt, call us now

on 0345 849 8957

If we don’t hear from you, we will ask the Court to order you to

pay costs, fees and statutory interest on top of what you already

owe.

Yours faithfully

Mortimer Clarke

Mortimer Clarke Solicitors

fatbelly

That's not a compliant Letter before Action. They must provide you with a standard reply form and 30-day reply time. However, it does seem unlikely that you will get to the 6-year point with this one. You could send a prove-it. What sort of debt was it originally?

Is their letter clear about what this was? Does it quote the original account number? Do you recognise it?

ManyWays

I see no point in sending a prove it letter. If it was a loan or a credit card and it has been sold to a debt collector (has it? or are mortimer clarke collecting for the original lender) then you can ask them to produce the Consumer Credit Act agreement.

15k recent debts do not just go statute barred, when you are a house owner with 60k of equity; that is some sort of fantasy.

If the CCA can be produced, or the debt has not yet been sold so there is no point in asking for it, then you need to make a payment arrangement. For this and your other debts as well.

Do you think affordability complaints may be an option?

IndebtedDoofus

Thanks both - in answer to your questions this was originally in unsecured loan from Zopa. The letter does not quote my original account number but it does mention Zopa as the original creditor. I let the debt default with Zopa and it was sold to Cabot last year - Cabot have recently (in the last month or so) handed it over to Mortimer Clarke.

I appreciate the debt will not just go away, I am only looking for how best to delay while I look to sell my property. It has been on the market a little while but things are slow at the moment. I do not want to end up with a charging order or the like before I get out. I want to settle on my own terms rather than have them take my equity.

I am not sure affordability complaints are an option for me - I already complained to the FCA in early 2025 RE irresponsible lending and got nowhere. However I am no longer employed so not sure if that changes things, or is it a one complaint and done type situation?

fatbelly

Re your last comment, it is really. It depends on what your situation was at the time you were lent the money. So if the FOS have already ruled on it, it's done.

https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-large-high-cost-loans/

You can still send a prove-it and you can still do a cca request

sourcrates

"I am not sure affordability complaints are an option for me - I already complained to the FCA in early 2025 RE irresponsible lending and got nowhere."

Did you follow the correct complaints procedure?

You can`t complain directly to the FCA, you must first complain to the lender in question, then after receiving their final response, you can escalate matters to the FOS, who are the FCA`s complaints handler.

Appologies if that`s what you have already done, and the above is a typo, but its an important point to make if it isn`t.

IndebtedDoofus

Yes to clarify I followed the proper procedure - complained to lenders first then escalated to the FCA.

Sounds like my next best moves at the stage are prove it letter and CCA request? Which should come first?

ManyWays

A prove it letter is not going to help because this was your debt and it is all pretty recent. Just send them a CCA request now, using the template letter linked to in here.

Credit agreements | Getting information | National Debtline

BUT also set up a payment arrangement now. I am not sure why you are delaying doing this?

IndebtedDoofus

Because I'm unemployed

ManyWays

That's a good reason to pay very little, but can you not afford £1 or £5 a month and tell the creditors about your unemployment?
How long have you been unemployed and how hard will it be to get another job?
Are you getting SMI to help with the mortgage?

fatbelly

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82116210#Comment_82116210

L'ets flesh out what each is saying

Prove it. You have written to me about a debt but not provided sufficient information for me to identify if it is mine. Please provide evidence

Cca. I am exercising a statutory right under the Consumer Credit Act to see a copy of my original Credit Agreement and understand that the debt is unenforceable until you comply.

So you can do things in that order but not the reverse order because you can only co a cca request on a debt that is yours.

Note that this Act is probably going to be largely scrapped next year so don't leave it too long to do it.