Hfo capital claim form citicard debt..

[barafear799]

Hi

 

I've noticed a couple of other threads concerned with HFO - but felt it better not to hijack someone else's threads - they do seem to get quite complicated.

 

I have just received a "Claim Form" - presumably from Northampton County Court - the claim is from HFO.

 

I will try to summarize the position:

 

Back in 2006, they contacted me and stated I owed money to a credit card company, and they were now dealing with the debt (approx £4500 at the time) - at that time, I knew nothing about laws and procedures etc.etc - I phoned them, and was made to feel that I had a debt owing to them and I should pay them back ASAP - I reached an agreement to pay them £45 a month. I made these payments for approx a year, before I cancelled the payments.

 

I would get various phone calls and letters from them on an intermittent basis. Then I found info on the web like this site. At that stage (approx 2008) I sent them a CCA request by recorded delivery enclosing £1 PO. All I got in return was a notice of assignment of the debt - but no signed credit agreement. Once again the correspondence from them became sporadic. However, every now and then they would phone and I would refuse to answer any security questions (that was when they actually asked them) - often they would just go straight into the blurb of the "case" without even confirming my identity. On a number of occasions I would state that I asked for a copy of the signed credit agreement and it was not forthcoming. They would just ignore me and state that they had a letter of assignment. It was my understanding that without a signed credit agreement, they would not legally be able to chase the debt.

 

Again, things went quiet for several months, and then I receieved "pre litigation" letters time and time again. Phone calls also came - and I dealt with them by asking "what debt are you talking about?" - please send me a copy of the signed credit agreement as I asked when I posted a request to you a couple of years ago.

 

Anyway, this situation has been ongoing as I say for about three years now. I have no intention of paying them anything without the credit agreement - so I was most shocked to receive this claim form from the court.

 

Going back to the figures involved, as I say, the original debt was about £4500 - I probably paid off about £600 - however, the next time I receieved a letter from them (about 6-9 months after the last payment I made), the balance stood at about £5200 (so £1300 higher than the figure of £3900 (4500-600)). I requested a breakdown of how they came to this new balance and they refused/were unable to give me a proper answer -

 

The last letters I have received in the last 6 months or so have all shown the "debt" at approx £5500.

 

However, the claim form I received is only claiming £225.

 

The particulars of the claim are as follows:

 

".....monies due under an interest bearing Credit Agreement regulated by the CCA 1974, which the defendant entered into with on."

 

The last bit of that sentence is what is on the Court claim form - I haven't edited anything out!!!! They claim an agreement I entered into with "NO-ONE" on "WHO KNOWS WHAT DATE"!!!!! Not sure if this is a Typo - not that I'd expect a typo on a court claim form!!!

 

Anyway continuing:

 

"The Claimant purchased the account and all rights & obligations attaching thereto from the original letter on 31 March 2006. Notice of Assignment has been provided to the defendant. The claimant claims 225.00 in this action being instalment arrears due from the defendant under the agreement. In order to avoid further action, the defendant should contact Turnbull Rutherford etc etc. Failure to respond will result in a CCJ. On satisfaction of the claim and the costs there will be an unpaid balance to be paid by defendant, this is currently accruing interest at the rate of 12% per annum"

 

 

Can someone please advise on what I should do - should I just dispute the whole claim and complete a defence form? (I assume I can do this online - please advise) -

 

 

What should form my defence? Simply the lack of a signed credit agreement?

 

issue date of claim form is 24 Nov (altho I only received in post on 27th)

[broken arrow]

Hi and welcome, you will need to acknowledge the claim and this will give you further time to submit your defence.

you have 28 days then to submit your defence from today as today is the day of service.

dont worry lots of help will come your way.

 

can you give more info to the background of this alleged debt, original creditor etc

[42man]

Have a read of this too - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?241827-Legal-Action-how-to-start-off.-IMPORTANT-IF-YOURE-BEING-SUED

[DonkeyB]

Split claim territory...

 

By suggesting there are arrears, they imply the account is live. Not the case. It has clearly been terminated.

 

Was it a Barclaycard?

 

Is the claimant HFO Capital Ltd or HFO Services Ltd?

 

What did the original NoA say when you got it all those years ago?

[sillygirl1]

Split claim, they have lost already - sad lot this getting very desparate now. Watch out for their special 'Xmas Offer' letter....

[DonkeyB]

Remember, a split claim is NOT an abuse of process till they chase the rest... you could pay this and kiss the rest goodbye!

[barafear799]

Hi

 

thanks for the replies so far - not sure what a split claim is - and as for the suggestion "pay this and kiss the rest goodbye" - nice idea - but it would be £225+court/solicitor costs more than I want to pay.

 

The original debt was bought from Citicard.

 

The company quoted on the claim form is HFO Capital - but in the preceeding four years, I have had dealings with HFO Services too - and phone calls from Turnbull - amongst others - I am not almost aware of their tactics, I was just surprised to get this claim - given the fact I thought it was an unenforceable debt?

 

Many thanks so far -

[broken arrow]

With these part claims because it is below £300 it only costs them £25 to make the claim as opposed £210 for a claim of £5000.

 

If you did defend and they lost it only costs £25 as opposed to £210, in recent claims they have not responded after a defence was submitted and the claim stayed.

 

If you did not defend and they got judgment by default, they would probally then go for a charging order for the full amount, relying on the ignorance of the defendant and the courts.

 

What they cannot do is start a second claim for the rest, this is then an abuse of process again if this was realised.

[broken arrow]

dont forget you have 14 days to acknowledge from today and then 28 days to submit defence from today.

[broken arrow]

It will also be a help if you can post up all docs you have , personal info removed, you need 20 posts before you can post documents, to get to the magic 20 you should subscribe to all the other HFO threads.

[barafear799]

thanks again.

 

I don't really have any documents - as I say, I thought when they failed to provide the CCA that it would go away - and I treated any contact after that as pure "fishing" and dealt with it appropriately - ie: ignored any letters, and ended any phonecalls as promptly as I could.

 

I will check things out - surely a letter of assignment is not sufficient evidence for them to pursue a claim is it? I could sell a debt to a bloke down the pub - and give him a letter of assignment - if I have no proof of the debt in the first place, what is it worth?

 

Can I acknowledge online? It states that I can make a counterclaim online - but can I just acknowledge online?

 

Many thanks

[DonkeyB]

In the letter of assignment, when did it say they bought the account? When was the NoA dated? Who does the NoA claim the account was sold to?

[DonkeyB]

Sent you a PM, barafear.

Edited November 29, 2010 by DonkeyB

[coledog]

Hi Good Evening

 

Link to thread on split claims

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?276741-Some-solicitors-using-Split-Claims-how-does-one-defend

[broken arrow]

and link to another thread which was a HFO part claim....

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?272578-HFO-Turnbull-Rutherford-Morgan-Stanley&highlight=

[barafear799]

bumping

[barafear799]

Hi

Are there instructions anywhere for uploading images/links - thanks

[coledog]

Link to tutorial on using 'Photobucket' below but I always save images as PDF files and use the Go Advanced post reply to attach them to the post, seems to work. Ensure that you hide all personal details and numbers (but don't destroy the original)

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/content.php?115-How-to-open-a-PhotoBucket-account-and-use-it-to-post-pictures-on-the-Consumer-Action-Group

[barafear799]

help!

[barafear799]

thanks - just noticed the reply!

[coledog]

same to you

[coledog]

Sorry just noticed yours

[barafear799]

not got Adobe Pro on my computer - so will not be able to edit - but will try again later - when I have access to a scanner - I hope

 

I've found a few letters from HFO - one claiming to be a Notice of Assignment - several others which state "if we do not hear from you with 7 days, we will assume that you have admitted the debt" - that's a nice tactic!!!

[barafear799]

just getting up to 20 posts so I can upload!!![sVIEW][/sVIEW]

[coledog]

Just post them all up if you can, when you can. If you can only take photos check out the Photobucket link.