Court papers received for an old HSBC debt

[winnie123]

Can anyone offer me some advice please.In 2006 my partner and I had a DMP with CCCS which we thought we had paid off in 2011 and were debt free. However it appears that HSBC decided not to freeze the interest on the debt we had with them and we have found out that we srill owe £1700.

 

We have disputed the debt on more than one occasion andnhave even offered to pay a lump sum below what they are expecting to settle the debt but never heard anything from correspondence which was sent in the past. Some of the correspondence was sent recorded delivery and otheres normal post.

 

Recently we found out that the debt has been sold on to Marlin. Marlin wrote to us asking to set up a payment agreement with them.

 

This I was fully intending to do however in the interim we have had a new baby boy join our family so the household administration kinda went out the window.

 

Marlin rightly or wrongly have decided to go to the magistrate court and this am we have receuved court papers.

 

*Can we stop the court process now without a CCJ being entered against us?

 

We believe that HSBC have not been resonable with us by*

 

1.not stopping interest

 

2. Ignoring all correspondencePlease help we dont know what to do.

Edited June 4, 2013 by citizenB
formatting

[citizenB]

The only way you will stop the court process is to pay the debt in full. Or you can defend and if you lose, pay the judgment debt there and then and no CCJ will recorded.

 

If you want to make an attempt at defending this, then you must let us know exactly what is said on the claim form and also the issue date which you will find at the top right hand corner of the claim.

 

I am a little puzzled.

 

You were paying via a DMP - surely there were statements being sent to either you or CCCS ? After the first couple of missed payments then why did HSBC not contact you ?

 

Have you kept copies of the letters you have sent disputing what was owed ?

 

Do you know if any of this money they are claiming is made up of penalty/default charges ? If so, then you should be able to reclaim these. Do you know if there was ever any Payment protection insurance on the original account - was it a Credit Card or Loan.

[winnie123]

Thank you for your reply. When we had our DMP as we met the threshold the whole thing was administered by cccs. Yes we did get regular statements and we did disput the interest being charged whilst we still werr making payments. When we had paid the final payment ti cccs in Nov 2010 we didnt hear a peep from HSBC until nearly a year later ans we were written to by Metropolitan collection services

Again we wrote explaining that we disputed the debt and that we offered a full and final settlement on the amount. We again had no reply until another 6-9 months and the same letter appeared again ignoring any correspondence we sent. Long periods of time went past would go by amd every now and again we would get a letter requesting payment and we would reply. Until late when we were notigied the debt had been passed to Marlin. We already re claimed the bank charges on this debt and we are unsure if we ever had ppi.

I do have copies of all correspondence we have sent however as this has been going on for some time I am unsure if I still have the proof of.postage for all the letters we sent.

 

I dont know what to do. We dont have £2000 sitting around so are unable to pay the debt off. If we offer a payment plan will we still get the CCJ against us or can we stop it going that far. I was in the process of returning the paperwork back to.marlin explaining our circumstances and setting up a payment agreement with them.prior to going in to hospital to have our son.

 

The wording of the claim against us reads.

 

 

By an agreement in writing between HSBC and the defendant dated 02/08/1999 HSBC agreed to issue the defendant with a credit card upon the terms and conditions set out therein. In breach of the agreement the defendant failed to make payments not less than the minimum payments shown on the monthly statement. HSBC served a default notice on the defendant stating the amount due requiring the defendant to pay the same. The defendant failed to and the agreement was terminated.

 

The agreement was assigned to the claimant on 15/02/2013 the claimant has complied with sections III and IV of practice direction pre action conduct. The claimant therefore claims £1726.19 interest pursuant to section 69 of the county courts act 1984 namely £379.81 and continuing until judgement or sooner payment at the rate of 0.38. Court papers were issued on the 30th May.

 

 

 

I appreciate any help

Edited June 6, 2013 by citizenB
Highlighted the PoC

[Trurider]

Typical - Nop One knows the correct answer. In English Law you can only sue for up to SIX Years after the event. If the debt was incurred in 2006 then the time limit was 2012. If they didn't issue in time your defence is simple - they are time barred from pursuing the matter. The debt may have been sold on under the Factors Act but that did not extend the Legal Time Limit.

 

See a Good Solicitor to check the Limitation Act has passed.

[winnie123]

Thanks for the reply I thought that as I was still paying in 2010 that the 6yrs starts from 2010 therefore u would still be liable fpr debe until 2016.

[Trurider]

The Limitation Act 1980

 

The Limitations Act 1980 outlines the time limit within which a creditor can chase a debtor for outstanding debts. The Limitations Act 1980 only applies when no contact has been made between the creditor and debtor within the given time limit and only applies to residents of England and Wales.

 

Creditors are given a fixed period of time to chase their debtors, which is outlined in the Limitations Act 1980. The time scale mainly depends on the type of debt and can be extended at the courts discretion. The time limit begins when you last admitted owing the money or made a payment.

 

Should the creditor fail to maintain contact with the debtor, for a period of 6 years or more, it is possible to claim that the outstanding debt is "Statute Barred" under the conditions of the Limitations Act 1980.

 

The Limitations Act 1980 also has additional effects, depending on the type of debt in question:

 

Unsecured debt

You may have assumed that your creditor has "written-off" a debt if you have not heard from them for a long period. In many cases, it could be down to your failure to inform them of a change of address, but the debt will still exist and creditors are entitled to chase the debt indefinitely (even after the debt has become Statute Barred), however they can only use the legal system to recover the monies for up to 6 years after the last payment was made to the account.

 

Remember, creditors are still able to pursue an unsecured debt if:

 

They have previously obtained a judgement against you (a CCJ);

You have made a payment to the account within the last 6 years (this includes anyone else named on the credit agreement)

You have not written to the creditor acknowledging or admitting that you owe the debt during the previous six years.

If a creditor continues to contact you after accepting that a debt is Statute Barred and you have stated that you no longer intend to pay the debt, you may be able to claim harassment contrary to section 40 (1) of the Administration of Justice Act 1970.

[AndyOrch]

" When we had paid the final payment ti cccs in Nov 2010 we didnt hear a peep from HSBC until nearly a year later ans we were written to by Metropolitan collection services "

 

Then it is not Statute Barred winnie as you have already stated.

 

Regards

 

Andy

[citizenB]

Right, so it looks as though CCCS were also of the understanding that it was a final payment?

 

Can you please let us know the date of issue on the claim form Winnie ?

 

Top right hand corner of the claim form

[winnie123]

30th May 2013. I have to take a little responsibility as CCCS say on all paperwork that itnis down to me to check that the balance shown on theDMP plan is correct. However my query is if the debt has been ddisputed on numerous occasions surely they cannot pursue. Would I also be better to call Marlin direct and explain the reason for the delay in returning paperwork or is the mere fact that they have now applied to the court too late?

[citizenB]

I am assuming that when you first entered the DMP, you gave CCCS the balance outstanding from the last statement sent to you by HSBC ? If HSBC then didn't provide statements, how are you to know that they were adding interest when presumably other creditors weren't ?

 

Then, when you were finally approached for an outstanding sum you disputed this and were ignored.

 

There is no reason why you cant communicate to Marlin why you did not respond to their earlier letters.

 

You have a choice. You can fight this, on what grounds, I am not sure, you would need the input of other caggers.

 

Do you know if there are any default/penalty charges added into the amount they are claiming ? If so, then you could possibly reclaim those in order to reduce the sum owed or even as a negotiating tool.

 

Or you can admit the debt, complete the forms that were provided with the claim form, make an offer of payment by instalments. However, you are likely to obtain a CCJ for sure.

 

If you are going to defend, then your timeline is as follows.

 

Issue date - 30 May + 5 days for service = 4 June + 14 days to acknowledge = 18 June + 14 days to submit defence = 2 July 2013.

 

I am not sure what information you should be asking for if you are intending to defend. I will have someone look in for further advice.

[citizenB]

 

By an agreement in writing between HSBC and the defendant dated 02/08/1999 HSBC agreed to issue the defendant with a credit card upon the terms and conditions set out therein. In breach of the agreement the defendant failed to make payments not less than the minimum payments shown on the monthly statement. HSBC served a default notice on the defendant stating the amount due requiring the defendant to pay the same. The defendant failed to and the agreement was terminated.

 

The agreement was assigned to the claimant on 15/02/2013 the claimant has complied with sections III and IV of practice direction pre action conduct. The claimant therefore claims £1726.19 interest pursuant to section 69 of the county courts act 1984 namely £379.81 and continuing until judgement or sooner payment at the rate of 0.38. Court papers were issued on the 30th May.

 

 

Slightly misleading I would have though, you were in a payment arrangement agreed with HSBC up until the point that you believed the outstanding balance had been repaid. As no statements were produced during the period of the payment arrangement then you were unawares that interest and charges were still be applied.

 

It wasn't until a year after you had made what both you and CCCS assumed was the final payment that anyone contacted you to say that there was still monies outstanding ! This I would say is unfair.

[winnie123]

I think the whole thing is unfair. Of thirteen creditors HSBC were the only ones who refused to stop charging interest. The card limit was £2500 and we paid this off in full. What annoys me is the claim states we under paid the min payments but at times we were paying more than the min.

 

What do you think my chances would be at contacting the solicitors and asking for them to accept a full and final payment? What would be a reasonable sum to offer if I did this. As the debt has been in dispute since 2010 where do I stand with this?

[AndyOrch]

One of the problems with assignments and why the practice should be abolished.....no history of the debt/dispute/or payment arrangements...you simply defend it on that stance...their Particulars of claim are fanciful and fictitious.Make them substantiate their claim.

 

Regards

 

Andy

[winnie123]

How do I do that?

[AndyOrch]

By submitting a good defence and questioning their particulars.

[winnie123]

Any hep in putting a defence together would be appreciated. I dont really know where to.start with it. Can you recommend any templates?

[AndyOrch]

Unfortunately there are no templated defences winnie....a defence is unique to your summons and the reasons you do not agree with it...we can assist but you will have note down your grievances and reasons for defending.What date is your defence due?