Basic information on Credit Agreement requests

[tomterm8]

A consumer credit agreement request is a request for a true copy of the original agreement under a regulated debt.

 

The significance of this is that for revelevant agreements, without providing the request on demand the agreement will become unenforceable. Similarly, without providing a signed agreement in many cases Creditors will not be able to enforce the agreement.

 

What are regulated debts

 

For agreements made prior to The Consumer Credit Act 2006 a regulated debt was a credit agreement ( "credit" is where you obtain some benefit with promise to pay for it later), which is not a first charge or FSA regulated charge, made by an individual other than in the course of business, and which is not an non-commercial agreement or a small agreement

 

non-commercial agreement

 

A non commercial agreement is an agreement with no more than 4 payments, which lasts for no longer than a year, and does not carry an interest charge.

 

small agreement

 

a small agreement is an agreement for less than £50.

 

What agreements can you request a CCA from

 

You can request a credit agreement from all regulated debts, apart from those exempted by the OFT which include:

 

Overdraft agreements

Loans for burying dead people and

Loans from some Building societies / Mortgages

 

Further, after 2004 the requirements for documents to have signatures were relaxed so that electronic agreements could have an electronic signature.

 

Why ask for CCA?

 

On payment of £1 (preferably using a postal order) the creditor must send you a true copy of the credit agreement. The creditor is allowed to remove certain information, including the signature. "true copy" allows the format to be slightly different compared to the document you signed BUT the terms must be identical to what you signed.

 

If they can't provide you with the document you signed within 12 working days, they can't enforce the agreement until they provide you with a copy.

 

If the default continues for a further calendar month, a crime has been commited.

 

If you send your CCA using normal post, it will be deemed served 2 days after you send it. You must keep proof of postage.

 

How do I know if my Credit Agreement is enforceable

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/105315-my-agreement-enforceable-useful.html

 

They didn't provide me with a signed copy.

 

An unsigned CCA, if made prior to when s15 of the Consumer Credit Act came into force, can not be enforced (except in the case of electronic agreements) . However, there is no obligation on the creditor to provide a signed copy of the credit agreement until court action commences.

 

sometime, it turns out the creditor does have such a signed copy even if they don't provide it prior to legal action. This is a risk, and there is little you can do about it.

 

What you need to know

 

Firstly,i think some people think that going the CCA route is easy. The truth is, it is very difficult sometimes. there is no guarantee the creditor will not be able to produce a signed copy of your credit agreement at the trial.

 

Further, it is likely the creditor will place defaults on your file, and without legal action it is likely these will hamper your credit rating for years.

 

Finally, people should know that just because a creditor doesn't have a CCA, this doesn't prevent them calling you up and harassing you. This can be incessant. As Goode wrote in his famous Consumer Credit, harassment is one of the main forms of enforcement of agreements.

 

There are things you can do about it, but it is not an easy path.

[casbah]

Can a brokers fee be added to a credit facility covered by the CCA1974?

 

thus incuring interest?

 

cas

[nyc_lond10]

So if I understand you correctly, current accounts are not governed by CCA and overdraft agreement is not governed under CCA either , therefore:

* the debt is unenforceable

* and banks cant assign a default

I can apply to have it removed...

IS this right...?

[tomterm8]

Can a brokers fee be added to a credit facility covered by the CCA1974?

 

thus incuring interest?

 

cas

 

Yes, they can be added as far as I know.

 

So if I understand you correctly, current accounts are not governed by CCA and overdraft agreement is not governed under CCA either , therefore:

* the debt is unenforceable

* and banks cant assign a default

 

I can apply to have it removed...

 

IS this right...?

 

No. Current Accounts are regulated agreements according to the consumer credit act 1974 and 2006, but they are excempt from most of the requirements of part V, which includes the requirement of providing an Credit Agreement on request, or having it in a particular form. They do need to provide you with certain information before loaning you the money, but you do not have to sign the agreement.

 

EDIT: I would really recommend not asking questions on this thread, as a sticky it is not visited very often by forum regulars.

[freddyj]

Hi,

 

Apologies if I should have started my own thread - but I am desperate for advice. I have done a thread on this subject and rang OFT, and other people without success.

 

Anyway, my wife had a Next directory - and I know for a fact that at no point did we ever sign a credit agreement, they have been recording information on our credit file without my wife's consent, by virtue of the fact that we never agreed to it by signing a form.

 

Am I right in saying this? I wrote to them asking them to remove it, but they said as long as they sent an agreement it doesn't have to be signed.

 

How can I get them to remove it from credit files?

 

Please advise

 

Thanks

 

FREDDIE

[Guest flubdub]

Should the original post be edited to take out the 30days, as that no longer counts anymore, does it?

 

Hi,

 

Apologies if I should have started my own thread - but I am desperate for advice. I have done a thread on this subject and rang OFT, and other people without success.

 

Anyway, my wife had a Next directory - and I know for a fact that at no point did we ever sign a credit agreement, they have been recording information on our credit file without my wife's consent, by virtue of the fact that we never agreed to it by signing a form.

 

Am I right in saying this? I wrote to them asking them to remove it, but they said as long as they sent an agreement it doesn't have to be signed.

 

How can I get them to remove it from credit files?

 

Please advise

 

Thanks

 

FREDDIE

 

Next cant remove it from your file, they dont have that power. I believe there is little you can do about it Im afraid.

If your wife set up he Next account on the internet, she more than likely signed a CCA on the internet, which will have just consisted of typing her name. I am in the same position will a cc I got on the internet, my name is just signed. This may be the case, but if you send a cca request, they still have to send it to you. Send the request again, and if you dont get one thats been signed, send the default letter.

[gaz2006]

im sure ive read somewhere the creditor has to bring original copy of agreement to trial but cant find where it says that can someone point me in right direction please regards Gaz

[Having_A_Knightmare]

Ive got a court order from the Court stating that it is going to be heard at a small claims hearing.

 

 

At the bottom of the order it says " All Original Copies must be brough to Court".

 

PD27 on all case standard directions says originals.

 

HAK

[MARKWHEETY]

Brilliant - thanks for all your informative information - really starting to get my head around all this legal red tape now.

[freethemice]

Can a moderator or someone with more experience start a sticky of what we can ask for and expect from a sar of overdraft accounts and how charges and fees effect our rights.

There must be thousands struggling over overdrafts made up mainly of fees that the bank will not refund but are still chasing payment for and it really seems a bizarre situation.

[dodgster]

Hello,

I'm new to the site and have not posted before so hear goes...

I was employed by a local authority and had an assisted car purchase loan under their assisted car purchase scheme which was being paid via monthly deductions from salary.

When I left their employ I offered to continue making payment however I did not receive a response. To me this was not uncommon as this particular authority are noted for this.

Fast forward two years when I am attempting to change mortgages I am advised that I have a CCJ...this was news to me as I had not received any documentation in respect of it. I telephoned my previous employers who basically told me to naff off also advising if I wanted any info contact the court.

I discovered that they had issued through the Northampton County Court Bulk section (which I understand has a reputation for hamming up matters). To cut a long story short I then applied to have the judgment set aside on the grounds that I did not receive any docs. Unfortunately I could not attend the hearing (due to a job interview) and my application was thrown out in my absence.

From reading through the postings on the site I have discovered under S127(3) of the CCA 1974 the court may not make an enforcement order unless a document containing all the prescribed terms of the agreement was signed by the debtor.

I have now received back my SAR request and have discovered that not only was the actual agreement unsigned ( I only signed the application form), it is not in the prescribed format at it stretches over 6 sides of A4 paper. They also chose to supply a "copy" the agreement (as they chose to destroy the original in Oct 2008) is this normal in ongoing litigation? The loan was taken out in November 2002.It also appears (from the documentation which they have sent) that the particulars of claim stated that the debt was in respect of salary/wages quoting an invoice number which leads me to believe that the agreement was not sent to court for issue.

my questions are;

1) do I have grounds to challenge the judgment on the back of the unsigned credit agreement or is there something which precludes local authority loans from having to adhere to the constraints of the CCA 1974?

2) Is the judgment itself flawed as the "agreement" (or invoice as far as I can see) was not included in the court papers as the local authority have not included it in my SAR request.

I would appreciate some help as this milestone around my neck is destroying my life.

 

many thanks,

Dodgster

[freethemice]

Hello,

I'm new to the site and have not posted before so hear goes...

I was employed by a local authority and had an assisted car purchase loan under their assisted car purchase scheme which was being paid via monthly deductions from salary.

When I left their employ I offered to continue making payment however I did not receive a response. To me this was not uncommon as this particular authority are noted for this.

Fast forward two years when I am attempting to change mortgages I am advised that I have a CCJ...this was news to me as I had not received any documentation in respect of it. I telephoned my previous employers who basically told me to naff off also advising if I wanted any info contact the court.

I discovered that they had issued through the Northampton County Court Bulk section (which I understand has a reputation for hamming up matters). To cut a long story short I then applied to have the judgment set aside on the grounds that I did not receive any docs. Unfortunately I could not attend the hearing (due to a job interview) and my application was thrown out in my absence.

From reading through the postings on the site I have discovered under S127(3) of the CCA 1974 the court may not make an enforcement order unless a document containing all the prescribed terms of the agreement was signed by the debtor.

I have now received back my SAR request and have discovered that not only was the actual agreement unsigned ( I only signed the application form), it is not in the prescribed format at it stretches over 6 sides of A4 paper. They also chose to supply a "copy" the agreement (as they chose to destroy the original in Oct 2008) is this normal in ongoing litigation? The loan was taken out in November 2002.It also appears (from the documentation which they have sent) that the particulars of claim stated that the debt was in respect of salary/wages quoting an invoice number which leads me to believe that the agreement was not sent to court for issue.

my questions are;

1) do I have grounds to challenge the judgment on the back of the unsigned credit agreement or is there something which precludes local authority loans from having to adhere to the constraints of the CCA 1974?

2) Is the judgment itself flawed as the "agreement" (or invoice as far as I can see) was not included in the court papers as the local authority have not included it in my SAR request.

I would appreciate some help as this milestone around my neck is destroying my life.

 

many thanks,

Dodgster

 

You are going to have problems with this as you didn't defend the original hearing and failed again to attend your set aside. If you want to fight this you really need to get organized with dates and timescales. Not sure if you can just apply again for another hearing to have this set aside or if the court would now see this as wasting court time.

Did you even contact the court to let them know you couldn't attend? You need to get the judge onside to win any action.

[r&b]

not relevant just re read post apologies

[dodgster]

You are going to have problems with this as you didn't defend the original hearing and failed again to attend your set aside. If you want to fight this you really need to get organized with dates and timescales. Not sure if you can just apply again for another hearing to have this set aside or if the court would now see this as wasting court time.

Did you even contact the court to let them know you couldn't attend? You need to get the judge onside to win any action.

Hi Free the Mice,

Thanks for taking the time to respond. I did advise the court that I could not attend the set aside hearing by sending them a letter. I did not get the chance to oppose the original judgment as I did not receive any documentation (I have noticed thanks to my SAR that they quoted the incorrect post code).

I think there is a fair chance I would get another set aside hearing if I can show genuine cause for concern regarding the way they put together their case (which I believe to be the case however they are mostly based on errors they have made re CCA 1974)

 

Can you (or anyone else) tell me if local authorities are fully exempt from the requirements of the CCA 1974? I have looked at the agreement which was sent in the SAR and it has not been signed by anyone and there is nothing in the document which stated that an insurance indemnity fee was charged even though I know this to be the case.

I would not want to apply to the court for a set aside hearing quoting apparent deficiencies re the CCA 1974 if they do not apply.

 

Many thanks

[jrfriend]

Hi,

Yes newbie here!

I want to kick off the process for unenforceable credit agreements against 2 credit card companies. I have been going through this site for a couple of hours (what a brilliant site!), but have to admit to now feeling a bit overwhelmed.

If someone can let me know the best way to approach this, the basic do's and dont's and where I can find letter templates I will be very grateful.

I can't seem to find quite what I want in one place and it is getting confusing.

Sorry and thanks.

[freethemice]

Wlecome to the forum.

First step I would suggest is to define what you hope to achieve at the end of this process. If you are clear on this let it guide you in how you communicate with the card companies. i.e. if you are hoping to go to court and get your agreements ruled unenforceable remember that if you quote paragraphs of legal jargon the bank may well dig this out of the file and ask you to explain in court.

Second step is to try and find out what agreement the bank has which isn't as easy as it may sound as the banks tend to send out s78 letters which don't tell you anything. Would recommend the letters in the followin link:

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/legal-issues/173201-why-you-shouldnt-use.html

This link details the next steps if you do not get a response.

 

Presuming you get a response then go on the debt action forum find your bank and start your own thread. You scan the agreement/application form via photobucket - remembering to remove your personal details. Their are plenty of experts here that will guide you further.

 

Always remember always use a printed signature or a signature over a pattern as this can and will be lifted by dca's or banks. Never talk to your debtors over the phone simply state written correspondance only. Keep copies of everything sent and receaved and don't let them grind you down.

[Henry2007]

Edited November 18, 2009 by Henry2007
Started my own post (wich solicitor to use), sorry.