CCA request and the FOS

Aytoun27

I'm posting this as I'm looking for some advice and also because I thought the info might be of use to anyone else who has complained to the FOS re a failed CCA request.

My partner complained to the FOS last year after Capital One refused to respond to a CCA request for a mastercard account.

After several months of silence we had a call from the FOS office yesterday. My partner was questioned about why the CCA request was made and why we complained to the FOS when Capital One didn't provide the credit agreement. The man from the FOS said that he was asking because "some people run up debts and then try to avoid paying them." :rolleyes:

He then went on to tell my partner that it was 'not reasonable' to expect that Capital One would stop all payments on the account. He then asked how old the account was (five years) and went on to explain that in the case of older accounts, ones taken out ten to fifteen years ago, companies could not be expected to provide copies of agreements.

The call ended at that point with the FOS promising to get back to us once he'd spoken to Capital One again. But it seems to me that the FOS investigators are ignoring the legal aspects of our complaint - namely that Capital One failed to provide an agreement which we were legally entitled to ask for, without having to explain why we wanted it - and focusing on the 'moral' aspects of the case, i.e that we ran up the debt and ought to be paying it back regardless of what the law states.

Now this makes me :mad: , but it also leaves us uncertain how to proceed if the FOS find in favour of Capital One, which is looking likely at the moment, so we would be grateful for any advice.

Thanks.

homer_j_3

You need to make your complaint to the OFT who issued the credit licence and also set the rules out for how they should operate.

To my understanding, if the creditor cannot present the relevant documentation to prove the existence of any legal agreement, in the prescribed manner as set out in the CCA 1974, for the debt then this makes the debt unenforceable until they can.

The FOS are not legal experts, they are regulatory experts on the FSA rules. As the OFT introduce and amend the CCA rules, it is understandable to why their attitude is that "you are doing this to get out of your debt" rather than you want to "check that your debt is being run correctly, lawfully and as agreed".

kel123_2

Thinks seem to have gone very quiet. I am findind Banks and DCA's are becoming more polite and appear to be giving lip service to the rules:) Make you think more may be going on in the background?

From what I have read regarding FOS is that they do not know the legislation surrounding the Consumer Credit Act and seem to be backing the banks with regards to moral issues or they are pretending not to know! Lets be fair if everybody sent for their CCA and 90% of them were outside laid down legislation then this would crash many lending establishments. My own experience is that out of 8 (loans and CC) 6 do not meet the CCAct 1974 and 2 have not supplied them. Now if I can nock off 50K of debt and everybody else does it, then not only will it deepen the recession it would probably bankcrupt the country.

Have you stopped paying them NO CCA = NO PAY

Aytoun27

Thanks for the replies.

We have recently stopped paying Capital One. We didn't do so before as my partner, who suffers from a depressive illness, felt that he couldn't handle the stress of letters/phone calls from creditors. (That was also the main reason we went the FOS route, hoping to avoid an all out confrontation with Cap One.)

The main reason we asked for the CCA in the first place was because Cap One increased the interest rate to a level where the minimum payment was only covering the interest and not paying off any of the balance. We wanted to check if the agreement allowed them to do that - never thought it would take all this time and be so much hassle to resolve.

Now we're in a position where we can't afford to make full payments to any of our creditors. And CCCS won't have us on a dmp as they say that we don't have enough extra income to qualify. So I'm having to start writing to all the creditors making reduced offers. I hate doing it, but at least it helps to talk about it.

Thanks again for the advice.

stapeley

It is for the courts to judge if a CCA is correctly executed, not some office monkey at the FOS. That is why I will not waste my time complaining to a body with little desire to upset the status Que

kel123_2

Aytoun27

We were refussed a dmp at the beginning of 2006 because we had not got enough free money. We found that there was things that we were doing and spending that at the time we thought were needed but once we had cut these out we offered £197.46 towards a dmp and it was accepted in september 2006. It wasn't untill last xmas that we decided to go down the CCA route - which at this point in time has been very fruitful but as most of us know this could all change tommorow. Could we have gone down this route in 2006? I think not, with the stress of finding the money and setting up the dmp we wouldn't have managed/coped with it!

The folk on here (although blunt at times) are very good at helping you to work out your finances. By putting up your SOA (statement of affairs or I & E in old money) they will suggest ways of cutting back and point out instances were you are paying too much for items or services - it is then up to you what you do? I must be honest in july 2006 we nearly lost everything but managed to pull it round the folk on here don't know how much they helped. I can remember sitting on the sofa and thinking I wonder what it's like to die!

Have a read through the threads and see if it's your way

Kel

stapeley

I can be blunt at times ,but I can't abide !!!!! footing around .

Aytoun27

Thanks again everyone.

I don't mind blunt. I can be pretty blunt myself and if had been solely my decision I would have stopped paying Cap One when they didn't produce the CCA and let the matter eventually go to court.

As it is, I'll talk to my OH and see if he minds me putting our SOA up.