Citi credit card debt now with Cabot

[Shelley181146]

dca are not allowed to add anything to the debt even if they have brought it, which is not mentioned in the original cca or T&C's

 

dx

 

Gelato,

My husband is in a similar predicament between Citi and Capquest so I will follow your thread with interest. However, I am keen to find out if Citi's T's & C's mention that should they sell the debt on to DCA's that they have a right to add their own interest to the debt?

 

Shelley

[dx100uk]

if the debt has been sold/brought whomever has it can only charge interest atthe rate stated in the T&C , / agreement.

thats std CCA law.

 

dx

[gelato]

Hi Shelley,

 

Sorry, I am still struggling to get correct info from both Citi and Cabot. However, Cabot is playing games by a) charging more and more interest and b) threatening with 'escalation' now. I am thinking of taking a lawyer's services. Have you made any progress in your husband's case? If yes, could you please PM me and share the learning?

 

Thanks,

Gelato

 

 

 

dca are not allowed to add anything to the debt even if they have brought it, which is not mentioned in the original cca or T&C's

 

dx

 

Gelato,

My husband is in a similar predicament between Citi and Capquest so I will follow your thread with interest. However, I am keen to find out if Citi's T's & C's mention that should they sell the debt on to DCA's that they have a right to add their own interest to the debt?

 

Shelley

[dx100uk]

if they have done nowt to date

 

then they never will

 

dx

[gelato]

Hi all,

 

It has been about six months since I have been asking Cabot to tell me how they came to the amount they are asking me to pay. I am receiving a letter almost every month, but without any required information. They also say that they have sent the SAR, but I have not received it. Finally, they say that they don't have any obligation to send the Credit Agreement, or full set of statements (telling me how did they/Citi get to this amount) as they bought this account from the original lender and can only give me their set of statements since!

 

Essentially, these letters have become threats saying that I owe them XYZ and if I don't call them, they will escalate it to pre-litigation or for country court judgment.

 

On suggestion of some of the more experienced people on this thread (and thanks again for that and more!), I have abstained from calling them. However, I am wondering how should I tackle the threats of litigation etc. As mentioned previously, I am willing to settle for a fair amount (essentially the original amount + the reasonable interest), but they are asking for at least thrice that amount, and I don't want to simply give in to threats. At the same time, I don't want any legal issues either.

 

If anyone has any experience / insights, I will appreciate it.

[dx100uk]

do not call them!!

 

what does your cra say about this debt?

 

dx

[gelato]

Thanks DX.

 

Checked with Experian and Equifax. As of end last year / beginning this year, one of them didn't show anything, and the other showed a 'Default - Cabot', and of course my rating as a result is low despite me writing to them that the amount is in dispute with Cabot and hence they should suspend the entry default until it is cleared.

[dx100uk]

o well the default will be their name now as they've brought the debt

but i bet the OC put in on though.

 

pers i'd guess there will be loads of charges.

 

when was YOUR last financial transaction?

 

how far are we away from SB?

 

dx

[gelato]

Last financial transaction was around early 2009.

 

The account was sold to Cabot around Aug/Sep 2010.

 

SB is far, and honestly, I am not looking at that solution. I am willing to pay the fair settlement and move on. However, I won't pay 3x the money in form of unreasonable charges, and that too without knowing what they are. As a result, if they keep on avoiding answering my question on how they got to this amount, then all they will probably get is SB eventually.

[dx100uk]

then p'haps you need to sar the oc again?

then go for courrt if they dont respond

 

dx

[Shelley181146]

Hi Shelley,

 

Sorry, I am still struggling to get correct info from both Citi and Cabot. However, Cabot is playing games by a) charging more and more interest and b) threatening with 'escalation' now. I am thinking of taking a lawyer's services. Have you made any progress in your husband's case? If yes, could you please PM me and share the learning?

 

Thanks,

Gelato

 

 

Hi G,

 

Personally, I wouldn't instruct lawyer services at the moment. There are a bunch of wonderful people here who will guide you through what ever legal process you may need.

Here is my thread - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?308509-capquest-chasing-old-citi-card-ppi-reclaim-too&p=3615909#post3615909

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?325944-Citi-disregarding-court-judgment-yet-bailiffs-sent-in/page2

 

The legal services I have dealt with have been to obtain reimbursement of PPI funds they had mis-sold and I was awarded Judgment by Default but they failed to honour so I sent in the bailiffs. They have finally agreed to pay but I await the funds forthwith.

 

It depends how quickly you require your credit worthiness reinstated but as dx says in an earlier post; if they were going to do anything legal, they would have done it by now.

 

Stay strong

 

Shelley

[the_shadow]

They are threatening escalation... how long have they been threatening escalation.

 

If you have issued a SAR by recorded delivery and not been responded to within 40 days then make a complaint to the ICO, get that complaint registered. if they have responded but not given the information you need, again complain first to the company and ensure you head it official complaint... when they waffle about not being responsible complain to the ICO.

 

You also need to be aware that acknowledging the debt in writing means the statute barred window of 6 years will be reset each time you acknowledge the debt in writing or make a payment towards the debt.

 

S.

[gelato]

Hi all,

 

Thanks again for your help. No help needed, but I thought of updating you all.

 

After I got no info on how they calculated the charges, or the contracts etc, Cabot sent me an offer some time back to pay them 60% of the 'alleged amount' if I were to act in 30 days. Of course, even that amount is insane. I did some research on these forums and found that when they send such offers, it typically means that they do not have required info, and hence are sending such offers to just get whatever they can. Hence I wrote back politely asking them to provide info on how they came to this number and again send me the copy of my contract and statements. No response yet to that.

 

However, just after the '30 days offer window' passed, they sent me a letter that my account will be moved to another DCA. So I get a letter from FIRE, which as an open secret, are a subsidiary of Cabot.

 

I am planning to not take any action as I am getting fed up of wasting my time asking them for proper information, and queuing up in Post Office to send every letter by 1st class signed delivery post! However, if any of you thinks otherwise, please feel free to shout out!

 

PS: Shelley- well done on getting the cheque. Well deserved and hope you made good use of the money!

[the_shadow]

Sounds like youre coping well with there tricks..

 

Stay strong

 

S.

[Shelley181146]

You haven't said if you have written to the ICO to complain re non compliance for both SAR's. Although they have a backlog it will force both Citi and Cabot to respond with information which you seek. You have paid out 2 x £10 plus additonal postage on numerous occasions to get information from them personally, I wouldn't give up now. You want to sort out your financial position in order to move forward and in order to do that, you'll need to either continue with your request for information/statements etc or write off the money you've paid out and wait for this account to be SB, so long as you do nothing more to acknowledge the debt either in writing or by payments.

 

If no legal proceedings have commenced from either of these parties then it's a fair assumption they will not do it now.

 

On my own account I sent SAR to Citi and Capquest and although I received identical information Citi failed to remove the very last statement which told me exactly how much they sold the account to Capquest for silly boys. I knew exactly how much to offer Capquest to settle the account and then went for PPI claim which was successful and now I am claiming the unfair charges back.

 

Analyse what you want to achieve from this account dispute and make a decision on which route to take to resolve it. Only you can decide what you'll be happy with.

 

There is a great family of Caggers here for support whatever you decide.

 

Shelley.

P.S Cheque banked and spent - thoroughly enjoyed my Spa treatment which relaxed muscles I didn't even know I had, lol.

[gelato]

Thanks Shadow and Shelley.

 

Shelley- some very good points. I agree with you on legal, but I just don't have the bandwidth, so don't want to create any more work for me!

 

In the mean time, I have got another letter from FIRE asking me to ''make a reasonable offer"'. I am seriously thinking of making one, paying off and putting this whole matter behind me. Would like to do it after giving it the thought it deserves, so my questions are:

 

1. Let's say they claim I owe them 100. About two months ago, Cabot made me an offer of 60. A month ago, they transferred my account to FIRE. One week ago FIRE asked me to make an offer. What number should I put in my offer? Do they negotiate or hassle, or will accept my offer as is? If my memory and calculations are correct, I owe the OL between 20-25.

 

2. If they don't accept my offer, am I acknowledging my debt by making an offer? If yes, that will change the SB date...

 

3. Considering that they don't have the info I have been requesting for a very long time now, should I even bother? (I would rather give the money to a charity.)

 

Comments/suggestions welcome.

 

Thanks.

[the_shadow]

Making an offer will indeed reset the SB date, you could try putting a without prejudice statement at the top but its just for show I'm afraid if they wish to disclose the offer in any future case.

 

S.

[Shelley181146]

Am I understanding this correcty? You owe the original lender £20 - £25?

 

From my own experience DCA haggle for every last penny but then I have heard and read that they will then still chase you for the balance.

 

I don't condone ignoring debts but if we're only talking about £20, personally, I would go with your own suggestion and give it to charity.

[gelato]

Thanks Shadow, Shelley.

 

Shadow- I suspected so. However, I thought (and it also shows on the link you kindly included) that the Without Prejudice is actually useful to them than to me. Better to use "without admission of liability". However, I don't know if any one has used it. Would you know?

 

Shelley- the amount is much larger than 20-25. I was being illustrative with the number. I don't condone debt either, and that's why am willing to pay a fair amount and move on, but they just seem to be dragging on and on without coming to a conclusion one way or the other. What I surely do not want is to acknowledge the debt, and then seeing Cabot sell it to someone else and we start the whole cycle again!

[Shelley181146]

 

Shelley- the amount is much larger than 20-25. I was being illustrative with the number. I don't condone debt either, and that's why am willing to pay a fair amount and move on, but they just seem to be dragging on and on without coming to a conclusion one way or the other. What I surely do not want is to acknowledge the debt, and then seeing Cabot sell it to someone else and we start the whole cycle again!

 

I have re-read your thread today and it is apparent that you don't seem to be getting anywhere with either Citi or Cabot and now FIRE are getting involved.

Not wishing to speak out of turn but if you are not receiving the information you require to see what the original T&C's were, IMHO take this matter up with the ICO as has been suggested throughout this thread to get compliance - you don't want to admit the debt to change the SB status and you don't know what offer of settlement to make - therefore, in order to move forward the only solution is to seek enforcement from ICO to get the info required and you can then make an informed decision of either waiting for SB or making a settlement offer.

 

You have already advised CRA that this account is in dispute so let the DCA's stew for awhile and let the ICO take some of the stress off you.