A DLA (Direct Legal) has bought an account from Citi and is chasing me for payment. There were several issues I disagreed with about this accoutn so I sent a request in the the CCA 1974. They continued to pursue.
I then sent an email to Trading Standards and copied in Direct Legal's Data Controller, who sent me the following email:
I can confirm that this account has been placed on hold, pending receipt of a copy of the agreement which was requested from the sellers in August, 2006. Certain of our staff were ‘mis-informed’ to notify you that we had complied, or were complying, with section 78 of the Consumer Credit Act. Please accept my apologies for the continued action without having addressed the relevant points.
Until the document is provided we will not resume recovery action and accept that we are in breach, technically, of the statutory provisions. However, if we are unable to provide a copy, we will be able to provide an extract of all the terms and conditions and contract details as at the time of signing thereby remedying the breach. (The logistical aspects of recovering a document from CitiFinancial archives makes it virtually impossible to comply within the retrieval timescales envisaged appropriate by the act some 32 years ago).
His email suggests that he believes that if they cannot get a copy of the original agreement then a copy of the Ts and Cs the company was using at the time will suffice.
My argument, of course, is that I never agreed to these Ts and Cs, and without a signature they cannot prove otherwise.
Any comments...?