Yorkshire Bank / Cabot/ Morgan credit card help before legal action

[Tk38]

Hi,

 

I have been quiet on here while getting help via the consumer action group in the Yorkshire Bank court case which has now been sent back to the court with my defence for my Yorkshire Bank overdraft. I will update on this when I hear any further news. I have used the laws that Bankfodder has recently put up on the site.

 

I now have an issue with my Yorkshire Bank credit card.

Yorkshire bank sold my debt to Cabot/ Morgan before the 3 months agreement of accepting my £1 per month was up.

The debt is for £11710.98

I have written to the Yorkshire Bank (as advised) expressing my concerns that they have been unlawful and failed to treat their customers fairly as per the 2009 law.

I received a response which basically said that they have investigated and they are well within their rights to sell the debt on, etc...

I advised Cabot the week of Christmas that I would contact them the first week of January. We are now in this week and I really done know what to say to Cabot to stop any court proceedings being made against me (like they have the overdraft)?

I have continued to pay £1 per month throughout and I know they will not accept this any longer but I am unable to afford much more.

I wonder if there is anyone would can help me with this and advise what I should do next with regard to contacting Cabot?

[BankFodder]

Because you are dealing with a credit card, here - and not a current account, it may be that BCOBS doesn't apply. In that case you would have to rely on COBS which is another set of FSA regulations which requires firms which the FSA regulates to treat their customers fairly.

The difference with BCOBS is that COBS doesn't allow you to sue the firm directly in the courts for breach of statutory duty.

On the other hand I think that it is possible to say that the COBS rules are implied into the contract and then say that unfair treatment is a breach of contract.

 

Please read this :- http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/announcement.php?f=84&a=229 and the linked article and then come back here and we'll work out a letter

[BankFodder]

By the way, COBS has the advantage that it came in force in 2007 whereas BCOBS only came in force in 2009

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Hi, they can of course sell the debt at any time,

is there any PPI/ charges reclaimable on the account.?

As you say Cabot are unlikely to agree to £1 a month

on a balance that big.

How old is the account and when was the last payment?

Have you done CCA request to Cabot, if not do so now.

Also do yourself a personal I&E statement so that you

know what you can reasonably afford to pay.

In the event that a CC claim is issued it is unlikely that

a court would increase a payment level if a ''reasonable''

offer has been made taking I&E into consideration.

[BankFodder]

I don't think that the issue is so much with the selling of the debt - but rather with the abandoning of the instalment plan and the immediate move to court action and recovery of the whole amount.

 

Additionally one needs to look at charges and see if there is a basis for a general challenge on the basis of s.140A.

 

Yorkshire Bank's unfair treatment of their customer and their breach of the COBS/BCOBS regs would suggest an unfair relationship and which is being abused by YB in their dominant position.

 

Cabot will not be very interested in what you have to say. You will be better sending an initial letter to Yorkshire Bank.

 

If in the meantime Cabot begin an action then they lay themselves open to receiving a defence framed around a breach of COBS

[Tk38]

Ok. So, COBS is still to treat your customers fairly, communicate information to them in a way which is clear, fair and not misleading.must manage conflicts of interest fairly, both between itself and its customers and between a customer and another client.

 

The Bank has not treated me fairly and has pulled out of an agreement before the 3 months is up of the £1 pm.

They have sold the debt to Cabot without a letter, discussing, communicating or trying to sort out anything with its customer.

 

The bank has had a letter sent outlining this and has been threatened by court action to which they have not responded.

 

Cabot will not accept the £1pm until I can get back on my feet and are again treating their customer unfairly by:

1. Buying a debt which has an agreement already in place with the bank

2. Wanting a silly amount of money that I simply do not have to pay off a debt that has been bumped up with charges.

3. Will not listen to their customer (which shouldn't be their customer in the first place) and want to claim it all back by court action knowing I have a property.

 

The next move if the bank will not respond to the letter is to approach Cabot with a new letter to try and get them to back off or can they be threatened with court action with COBS?

[Tk38]

Hi, they can of course sell the debt at any time,

is there any PPI/ charges reclaimable on the account.? -

As you say Cabot are unlikely to agree to £1 a month

on a balance that big.

How old is the account and when was the last payment?-

Have you done CCA request to Cabot, if not do so now.

Also do yourself a personal I&E statement so that you

know what you can reasonably afford to pay.

In the event that a CC claim is issued it is unlikely that

a court would increase a payment level if a ''reasonable''

offer has been made taking I&E into consideration.

 

No, there is no PPI

 

The account was started 2000. The payments dropped to £1pm after speaking to CCCS in December 2010. I contacted the bank and they finally agreed to accept £1pm in May 2011 for 3 months. They then accepted me to pay a further 3 months of £1pm. But, on the 18th October they sold the debt to Cabot.

 

I sent them a I&E and also did one through CCCS and one myself and they can see that there is no spare money due to becoming very ill and not being able to work.

[BankFodder]

The threat of legal action would be made against Yorkshire Bank. They may have sold the rights to the debt but they have not unloaded their responsibilities - either under COBS or under contract.

 

Of course, there may be a review - as promised by the bank - and this review may well lead to a demand for a larger payment. However they are obliged to have regards to your personal circumstances. Also we will need to look at the charges which have been levied on this account in order to understand what the true level of indebtedness is.

 

Don't be too bothered about Cabot issuing a claim. It will all have to be dealt with either way and whether they issue a claim or not, your arguments will be the same and your chances of winning or losing will be the same. In a way it will be helpful if Cabot does begin their claim as this will make them show their hand and also save you money as it will be they who pay for the proceedings.

[Tk38]

Bankfobber,

I sent the initial letter to the bank that we drafted and they have not replied.

I wrote to Cabot to say I would be in contact with them in the first week of January.

What else can I say to the bank?

[Tk38]

I was bothered about Cabot making a claim but you are right in what you have said. I now need to send the bank another letter this time COBS instead of BCOB..

 

The charges on this account have been:

Overdaft limit £12

Late fee £12

Interest pm cash

Interest purchase

[Tk38]

Up date on this account.

 

After sending Cabot a letter on the 19th December 2011 delaying any contact with them till the first week of January 2012 they send a letter back dated 22nd December to say that they look forward to hearing from me in the first week of January 2012.

 

Yesterday I received a letter from Cabot dated 3.1.12 titled - Repaying the account:

The Cabot Group have recently bought the account you held with Yorkshire Bank and we've tried to contact previously. Its now vital that you contact us urgently to discuss your account.

 

It then goes on to give me the ways I can pay this account off....

 

They have not tried to contact me other than the letter above, which says they look forward to hearing from me in the first week of January.

 

I have received another letter today dated 5.1.12 again titled - Repaying your account:

 

Thank you for your recent payment. However, there is no agreed repayment plan currently in place.

The most important thing that you can do now is to get in touch with us.......

 

As I had an agreed payment plan with the Yorkshire Bank for 3 months of paying £1pm I have maintained this and paid the Bank and Cabot each £1pm.

 

I know this is not ideal but, I as I am unable to pay more at this time and due to the agreement with the bank I have continued to pay what was agreed. I did contact Cabot when they bought the debt in October and explain about this agreement but they didn't want to know and decided to pass to the litigation team.

 

As the bank have broken there promise and sold the debt before the end of the 3 months I sent a letter to them explaining there breach of statutory duty to treat their customers fairly, etc.

 

My next step would be to do another letter to the bank and to Cabot?

 

The account with the bank was maintained fully until January 2011 where they let me go over the account limit by £466.83 in January alone... some of this was in charges of £12 late fee, £12 overlimit fee, £ interest (cash) @ 2.14% pm £234.65, interest @ 2.008% pm (purchases) £6.10...

 

I contacted the bank early in 2010 to explain I was struggling due to a long term illness and surgery, and asked if they help me by cutting back on the interest and charges. They wouldn't help me. I contacted them again in December 2010 after being in touch with CCCS and they again ignored my letters and carried on writing to me saying I had not been in touch with them and carried on adding charges and interest to the account.

 

1st Feb 2011 £300.54 in arrears.

14th Feb 2011 £712.56 arrears. Minimum payment £1586.83

14th Feb - letter to say my card is due to expire and they would not be issuing an new one.

16th March - £967.13 arrears. min payment £2100.97.......

 

Finally replied to my letters 16th May 2011 saying they are prepared to accept a reduced payment of £1pm

16th May £1182.02 arrears. min payment £2799.87

 

7th June 2011 - Default letter

 

26th July bank agreed again to accept £1pm for 3 month but sold the debt to Cabot on 12th October 2011 despite payment made on time every month.

 

I am now back at the start of this page with Cabot and the Bank.