Post removed. I made a c**k-up, sorry! Rob

Will do, I guess we've all got to stick together here and keep each informed of our progress/results. I just checked my records and Link received and responded to my request on 19/10/2007, so not counting that day by my reckoning the 12th working day falls on 6/11/2007, so I'll wait until then before wasting any more money on token payments and then .......nothing! Do you mean no reply at all, not even an invalid "agreement"? That's good to know! Rob

Nothing yet, but I only received them on 22/10/2007 so I'm not really expecting much to happen for a while. Even then I'm fairly confident that a valid agreement will not be forthcoming, however, that might not stop Link trying to turn up the heat from what I've read on here. If they do then I'm not too worried as this 'club' which we've joined knows how to deal with them , so they will probably just become an inconvenience which will have to be dealt with. Hope I'm not sounding too cocky or over-confident, but thanks to the people who help out on this site, confident is how I'm beginning to feel regarding my debts. I seem to have over-used that word in this post, but I hope you're starting to feel the same way! The token payments which I have been making to these accounts are due around the time that Link will default (if they do as expected), so I will not be making any further payments. Rob

Excellent result, well done! Just what we need to encourage us all, although I think there are a few on here who don't need any encouragement! Rob

Well I'm a newbie here, but from what I've been reading (and hopefully understanding) that is plainly an application form and cannot be construed as an agreement by virtue of S.59 of the CCA 1974. I guess you're thinking along the same lines and hopefully one or more of the helpful experts will confirm. Looks like you are in luck! :grin: Rob

Michelle, your letter is broadly similar to the 2 replies I received from Link Financial a week ago in reply to the 2 CCA requests I sent them regarding 2 former MBNA credit card accounts, but I'm envious of the nice signature on yours. Both of mine just had little illegible squiggles on them! Rob

Hi Scribes and welcome to CAG! I've only recently found this site myself, but since doing so I've been hugely impressed and my hopes have been raised by reading as much as I can from the great people on here, so you're in the right place. CAG will probably become your main source of inspiration and information regarding your debts if you stick around, so in the meantime get reading! I have similar debts to you so you're not alone in that respect, and you have the advantage of knowing about this site before the s**t hits the fan, so I wish you well. Rob

Thanks for the swift reply CB! If I went ahead with a S.A.R. and the records then showed that during the life of the account unlawful charges had been added and included in the amount sued for (and foolishly admitted by me) in the court judgement, and I subsequently submitted an N244 on those grounds, would this take the whole situation back to square 1 (ie would the claimant have to start again with a fresh claim)? Would the unlawful charges also being included in any default notice be relevant? Would the S.A.R. also require the creditor to produce the CCA (would save me also CCA'ing them)? If the claim had to start again from scratch that would suit me just fine as it would enable me to start on a level playing field wielding that double edged sword which you have been sharpening for us! One thing I should point out is that the CCJ has been backed up by a final charging order against my house, and although the court did not order how much I should repay per month (it said "treat as insolvency"), the solicitors agreed a very small sum (under £3) per month, to be reviewed periodically (I am currently unemployed and receiving Job Seekers Allowance). I obviously do not want to incur their wrath and give them a reason to possibly "force a sale" of my home, but if there was a good chance of me having grounds for having the CCJ set aside and starting the process over again I would probably go for it. I've also just remembered that I think interest may still be accruing on the debt. (If I could start again it would become "alleged debt" !). Thanks for your help, Rob

Apologies for hi-jacking this thread Penfold92, but I would like to ask Curlybens advice on a similar matter. CB, following the link you have given above, at Section 3, Bullet point 9, [.....Possible valid reasons to have a CCJ set aside are:-], it says "Acceptance of full amount of the judgement at the time, but now only agree partially". That is the situation I find myself in. Having not yet discovered the wonderful world of CAG at the time of my court case a few months ago, I objected to the "collection fee" which had been added to the outstanding credit card debt which I was being sued for, but admitted the debt itself. (This was following a phonecall by me to the claimants solicitors in which I was told that they would drop their claim to the collection fee if I paid (admitted?)the rest of the debt). I obviously realise now that I was foolish and gullible, that my admission was a serious mistake and that the claimants solicitors jumped at the chance to get an easy result. If I had known then what I have found out since discovering and joining CAG things might (probably would) have turned out very differently. Following the advice available on this site, I would have CCA'd the creditor, and in the (unlikely) event that they produced a valid agreement, I would have then gone on to challenge the amount being claimed as it would have included unfair charges etc. Using the quoted reason above, do you think I have grounds to appeal the CCJ which was given against me? Rob

The letter templates are in this thread: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt/20758-creditors-dcas-letter-templates.html The one you want is Letter 'N', which is at this link: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt/20758-creditors-dcas-letter-templates.html#post162367 From reading other threads in these forums, it would probably be advisable (I suppose it may depend on circumstances) to start the letter with "I DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE ANY DEBT TO YOUR COMPANY OR TO ANY COMPANY YOU PURPORT TO REPRESENT" Rob Edited to replace lower case 'n' with uppercase 'N'

Regarding the addresses of DCAs etc. I just Googled and found this handy site which lists many of our friends and their addresses: DBSG Website Sorry if it's been posted before elsewhere. Rob

I received 2 completely different replies from 1st Credit this morning to 2 identical (apart from obvious details) CCA requests regarding accounts belonging to myself and my partner (I signed her name on hers and she signed my name on mine, and we used Postal Orders rather than cheques thanks to CAG ). Both accounts were originally Citicard accounts which have purportedly been assigned (presumably sold ?) by Citifinancial to 1st Credit Ltd. The reply I received was as follows: REQUEST FOR COPY AGREEMENT I refer to your communication asking 1st Credit Ltd to provide you with a copy of the relevant agreement. We are advising our client of your request. This document will be sent to you as soon as possible. We will not seek to enforce the agreement until we have dealt with your request. Once you have received a copy of this agreement we would expect you to contact this office immediately to arrange settlement of this debt. Please call this office should you wish to discuss this matter. The reply to my partners request went like this: YOU HAVE RAISED A DISPUTE / QUERY I refer to your recent communication advising 1st Credit Ltd that you have a dispute / query in relation to this debt. We will shortly be contacting our client to advise them of your comments. We will contact you with our client's reply in due course. This process may take at least one month. Unless you are disputing the full balance we must ask you to contact 1st Credit Ltd immediately to discuss payment of the debt amount you accept is due and payable. Please contact this office to provide a suitable contact number. This will ensure we are able to deal with this matter quickly and efficiently. Both our (identical) CCA requests started: I DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE ANY DEBT TO YOUR COMPANY OR ANY COMPANY YOU PURPORT TO REPRESENT. With reference to the above account, I hereby request that you provide me with the following documentation: 1. A true copy of the original executed credit agreement. 2. A true statement of account. 3. A signed true copy of the deed of assignment. I understand that under the legislation contained within the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (Sections 77−79) .....etc. etc. So what is it with these people? Is it that they cannot read properly or just choose not to? Let me guess, probably both. Time to sit back and wait on these I think. I've just called in at the post office to purchase 2 more £1 postal orders to CCA Link Financial who are now the proud owners of my 2 MBNA accounts. Regards Rob (Edited to correct typo)

I phoned them a few days ago (with the intention of CCA'ing them) and under the pretext of wanting their proper address rather than a PO Box number so I could send a cheque in relation to someones account, the person who answered the phone gave me the following address: 1st Credit, The Omnibus Building, Lesbourne Road, Reigate, Surrey, RH2 7JP It was an address I already had from somewhere else, but I wanted to confirm it. HTH Rob

Thanks I sent the letter yesterday (4/10/2007) by recorded delivery but it will be some time before it is delivered due to the ongoing postal workers strike action. An update on the possibility of my missing the deadline for my Defence submission in case anybody else finds themself in the same predicament: I phoned the Northampton County Court office to enquire about the status of my submission and was told that it had been filed on 4/10/2007 and that only if the Claimants had asked for judgement on that date would my submission have been too late. (At least that's how I understood what the clerk told me). Rob

Just a quick clarification if anybody can help. Are the days referred to (14days, 28days) for various stages of response to the Claim actually "working days" or actual days? Hope I am making myself clear. Rob

Thank you groovychickmum and Curlyben for your replies, I will edit the sample letter above and send that off today by Recorded Delivery (alas, a service which does not always produce a signature for delivery in my experience). Presumably I should address this letter to HFC and not to Restons? Rob

Hi All, and thanks to those who have made such extremely useful and interesting information available here. I've only very recently come across this forum, I wish I'd known about it before! Amongst my several "alleged" debts I have 2 credit card accounts which are held with HFC Bank. Some months ago I was taken to court by Restons Solicitors regarding 1 of theses accounts due to my falling into payments arrears. On that occasion I contested the exorbitant collection charge which had been added to the debt by Restons, but admitted the main debt. Result: Restons dropped their collection charge but obviously the court awarded the judgement to them (due to my admission as would be expected). Restons subsequently obtained a "Charging Order" against my house to secure the debt. If I had known about this forum at that time, and therefore about "requesting a true copy of the original executed agreement as per the CCA 1974" things might have been different! However, HFC via Restons are now taking me to court regarding the second account. Having read several threads on this forum over the past day or so I decided to submit a defence to the whole debt as follows after referring to similar defences in this forum, (thank you!): 1. This Defence is filed and served without prejudice to the right of the Defendant to apply for summary judgment in respect of and/or to strike out the Particulars of Claim. 2. The Defendant does not recall ever receiving or signing an agreement under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 regarding the alleged debt. 3. Under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (Sections 77 to 79) the Defendant is entitled to receive a copy of their signed credit agreement on request. 4. The Defendant wrote to the Claimant on 3rd October 2007 enclosing a statutory £1 fee to request a signed copy of the agreement, under section 77 to 79 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. 5. The Defendant is now waiting for this request to be fulfilled. In the event that the Claimant fails to do so within 14 days of the service of the Defence then the Defendant will apply to the Court for an Order striking out the Particulars of Claim. 6. The Defendant reserves the right to plead further to the Particulars of Claim once and if the Claimant produces the original agreement. In the meantime, it is denied that the Claimant is entitled to the relief claimed or any relief whether as pleaded or at all. Yesterday (3/10/2007) was the last day for my Defence submission, and as I have stated in it that I have written to the Claimant (HFC) requesting the above-mentioned CCA, but not having actually done this yet, I really need to do this today (4/10/2007). I have found the template letters thread and will be lifting the text from there, but I also wish to S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) HFC at the same time. My questions are: 1. Can I make both these requests together and just pay a single £1 fee (money is extremely tight at the moment). 2. If it is possible to make both requests for the cost of a single £1 fee, should I enclose 2 separate requests or combine both into 1 letter? And another matter which may be a fly in the ointment: Although I made my Defence submission (MCOL site) on the last possible day, the timestamp was 16:22 but there is a statement which says "Responses submitted after 4:00pm will be received and processed on the next day that the Court is open." Does this mean I have missed the deadline? Sorry for the long post, thanks in advance for any replies. Rob