Sand1 needs help with Restons/Marbles

[Goldlady]

I am starting this thread for Sand1 who will be along once I have sent her the link.

[sand1]

I received a County Court claim form from Restons on behalf of HFC which is in reality a Marbles credit card. It was filed mid January - 14 days after a payment was due - obviously when a cheque didn't arrive over Xmas. ( I have been paying Restons directly since July 2007.)

 

They quote a credit card default balance and a whopping £1400 collection charge minus my payment credits of which I discover an enormous (appx.) 75% went to interest. ( And I'm not at all sure if the Collection Charge was added to the balance & my payments set against the total sum.)

 

I sent in the acknowledgment of service & sought advice from Legal Services and eventually found this site. I have:

 

a. requested a breakdown of the collection charges from Restons who replied it was HFC's collection charges.

 

b. requested a breakdown of the collection charges from HFC - no answer yet.

 

c. Requested a refund from Marbles of £345 of unfair default charges from 2003-2006. Customer Relations Mgr. refused citing that HFC does not accept the findings" of the OFT. And said that their terms were set out quite clearly in their credit agreement. SO

 

d. A week ago, I requested of Marbles a signed copy of my original agreement.

 

As I have not received a response to d. and my own time is running out for filing the defence, I have TODAY sent in my defence form with a letter disputing the entire claim and reserving the right to requesting more time while I receive the reply from claimant to a more specific defence once I received the agreement under the consumer Credit act of 1974. ( and much thanks to bank fodder on this.)

 

So- any advice for the future?

 

Should I consider pursuing c. while the court case looms?

 

How long should I give for an answer to d.

 

I'm being remarkably sanguine NOW! but it is for a large sum of money

( a little over 10,000 with coll. charge and solicitors costs) so will probably get apoplectic a bit later.

 

thanks in advance!

sand1

[42man]

In my opinion I can't see a judge ordering a CCJ against you as there are:

 

Excessive Charges (which due to the OFT case may go on a while)

Non CCA compliance (so far) (and does it have the prescribed terms and is it properly executed ? - we may or may not find out)....

They also need to produce a default notice too....

as for the CCA request they have 12+2 working days to produce otherwise they have defaulted on your request....

Bear in mind you are entitled to 8% compounded interest on the excessive charges

 

I think you have done pretty well so far !!

[Under Siege]

Hi Sand1,

 

I too am having problems with Restons, see my link -

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/legal-issues/130876-restons-solicitors-hfc-discrace.html

 

There is a great letter from curlyben which you can send to the swines.

 

good luck

[42man]

Hi Sand LBA by the way means Letter Before Action....

 

As to the way of working out the 8% compounded interest take a look here and use the calculator...

 

Bank Charges: Reclaim them, they’re unlawful, includes free template letters ...

 

Also if you need to carry on with your defence then take a look here...you will find this similar to you own circumstances in many ways....

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/120039-help-county-court-claim.html

[sand1]

Hi Under Seige,

Know the feeling!

 

Curlyben's letter is great and will use it soon if I dont get an answer within the obligatory time from Marbles re the agreement.

 

Am having problems with acronyms in your post: what is POC & CPR?

 

By the way, when I queried Restons on collection charge, they said it was imposed not by them but directly by HFC.

 

Let us know. Good luck too.

[42man]

POC = Particulars Of Claim

CPR = Civil Procedure Request

[PriorityOne]

I very much doubt that you will get an enforceable CCA re. Marbles.... what you may get is a pre-contractual Application Form with no prescribed terms, which they'll try and tell you is a CCA. Chances are that it'll be a microfiche copy at that, with certain parts illegible.

 

[sand1]

Hi all helpful souls.

 

 

So have received letter from court saying received my defence and being served on claimant who must inform court within 28 days of receipt if wishes to proceed or might contact me directly to resolve dispute. So- in the meantime not heard yet re my CCA from Marbles - closing in on the 12 +2 =21st - nor have I heard from HFC regarding the breakdown of their collection charges.

 

Should I proceed to figure out excessive default charges & demand from them & request a breakdown of their interest. OR

 

Should I sit tight & wait until I hear again.

 

sand1

[42man]

Sand I would proceed to work out as best as you can what the excessive charges are on your account, as this will add fuel to your fire to oppose a CCJ....but keep us informed as and when you hear back, also good that you haven't had your CCA back, without this they cannot enforce the debt.....start the thread as I mentioned in the PM on your other situation....

[sand1]

Hmmm...

 

Tomorrow is 12 +2. But didnt send registered. Or a £1.

Terribly tempted to call Marbles bimbo & ask. But CAG definitely anti phone contact and I defer.

Still havent heard re Collection charge breakdown.????? Same amt. of time.

[PriorityOne]

If it wasn't sent registered and you didn't enclose the £1 fee.... then you've wasted your time and will have to do it all over again.

[tomterm8]

yep.

 

Can you also post up your defence?

[sand1]

Tomterm,

 

I didn't send in a detailed defence but said essentially that the claimant was referring to an agreement regulated by the Consumer Credit act of 1974 and had not supplied a copy of it.

 

Because no copy was supplied in evidence of the claim, I had sent a formal request to the claimant on x February 2008 requiring a signed true copy of the original agreement on which they are basing this claim. It had not yet arrived and as it was necessary to file the defence within the 28 days demanded by the Court, I reserved the right to make a specific and detailed defence once the requested copy had arrived.

The court received it & they had 28 days to reply.

 

Do you think I should now send the £1 & registered mail request?

 

Also I still intend to ask for the 2003-6 overcharges but need to do the detailed spreadsheet.

 

I havent heard from HFC regarding the breakdown of the collection charges either.

[tomterm8]

Well, yeah, it would certainly help. Please don't sign it. You haven't signed any document you've sent the DCA, have you?

[sand1]

I have not signed a thing since I went online here. But I signed something earlier on- either the original request for the default/ or a letter to Restons -something.

 

Have drafted another request for CCA which will go unsigned.

[REST ON A SUNDAY]

what year was the account opened in and you must get a copy of the original terms and conditions.

[REST ON A SUNDAY]

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/campaign/144448-monitoring-actions-restons-solicitors.html

suggest you check your default notice for the wording

 

it should say 14 days from the date of service not 14 days

 

as restons have set a precedent by admitting that a default notice is defective