College Course passed debt on to DCA

[Notty]

My son wanted to go on a plumbers training course at the local college (council run) He signed some papers for funding (which must have been a credit agreement) to pay for the course over 6 months. He started the course but had a medical problem with a sciatic nerve in his leg and back problem. He was off work and couldnt do the plumbing course. The college said they are going to sue him for the rest of the money. He asked his doctor for a letter to tell them how he couldnt walk let alone attend college but they still refuse to drop it and have now passed it on to a DCA. Is there anything he can do? Can they send in baliffs or should he fight it. Any help would be much appreciated.

[Zimmie]

Hi, firstly don't worry about baliffs, they need a warrant from a court and your son's situation hasn't got that far along.

He seems uncertain as to what the paperwork he signed was, so it may be worth sending a CCA request to the DCA. If it comes back that it isn't covered by the CCA 1974, request a copy of documentation from the college and find out what he did sign. If they are not helpful over this write to the College Principal explaining the situation and ask for his/her intervention to sort this out amicably. As the college is council run, you could always go to your local Councillor's surgery with all paperwork and ask them for help.

Hope this helps a little.

[powelll]

It's also worth remembering that DCAs themselves aren't bailiffs so have no right of entry to property & can't sieze goods. Also tell your son not to enter into phone conversation with DCAs just keep everything in writing ( and if they don't have a phone number for him don't volunteer one ).

[Notty]

My son sent the cca request to Credit Solutions and got back a copy of a Enrolment and Learning Agreement. It doesnt look like a credit agreement but he has singed it to say he will pay. Where does he stand legally. He has a doctors letter to say he was unable to go to work let alone a college course but the college have said "Unfortunately, you do not fall into the NCN's category of exceptional circumstances in order to have your fees remitted" In other words they want him to pay. Credit Solutions have said they dont care if its in dispute the college want their money and they will collect it? Can anyone advice the best way forward. I suppose Credit Solutions are the agents of the college. If the cca didnt work what can we do next?

[IdaInFife]

can you scan what they sent you so someone here knowledgeable can have a tinker at it

[Notty]

Sorry cant scan it in but basically its says the following.

 

Learning Agreement 2006 2007

 

1. I agree to abide by college terms and conditions for the payment of fees and understand that I am liable for the payment of all fees in line with the College's fee policy (further details on the back of your receipt).

2. I agree to notify the college of any change in personal circumstances including home address and contact details.

The rest of 3 - 7 is about college assingments, health and safety, etc.

 

At the end of the form it does say:

I agree to ... College processing the information that is contained on the enrolment form and any additional data which may be obtained by .. College from me or other people, for reasons connected with my studies. For other uses of personal information the College would seek the consent of me directly.

 

And that is all it says about the payment of fees. So would it be classed as a credit agreement. The DCA said they will take him to court. Can anyone suggest what he sould do?

[Notty]

Can anyone help please?

[Notty]

Can anyone help with what we should do next please?

[jonni2bad]

Make an offer to pay by monthly instalments, whatever he can afford (even if this is just pence) and make that payment along with the offer letter to them.

 

If they decide to press for court action then you will probably find a Judge would see it as unreasonable to seek court intervention when you have already offered to pay.

[SteveH2508]

I would very much doubt that it is a regulated agreement under the CCA. The college is very unlikely to have a CC Licence - they will not be charging interest thus it is probably an exempt agreement (I do not have the Exempt Agreement Regs. to refer to.) Form and Content of agreements will not apply etc. etc.. Just my two penn'orth.

[Notty]

Hi

 

The above debt for the college course was passed to the DCA and they took it to court. They entered a defence and we filled in the AQ but before there was a date for the hearing either the court or the solicitors acting for the college wrote to my son and said they would not be proceeding with the case. Unfortunately he cannot remember or find the letter from the court/solicitor concerned. The problem is the college have passed it on to another DCA and we need to know if they can do this when it has already been to court? The new DCA want a copy of the letter from ( the court/solicitor) saying the case was closed. I was wondering if it would be worth send the SAR to the original DCA and seeing if a copy of that letter is in there? We have the case number from the court, do you think they would send us the letter (if it was them). Which everway it is the case has already been to court, seems odd and can they do this?

[Notty]

Can anyone help please.

[Notty]

Hello can anyone give me any advice please.

[Notty]

Hello can anyone help me with this please!

[godpikachu]

hmm, how much money are we talking about here?, as it costs a fair bit to take court action.

 

secondly, if your son was unable to attend work/college due to ill health, and has a letter from his doctor, then that in itself should be an end to the matter.

 

also, if the matter has already been to court once and they decided not to proceed with the matter, this was probably done because they knew they didnt have a leg to stand on, its just basically the college trying to intimidate money out of your son.

 

of course, if he does offer to pay something towards the course, then bear in mind they have to accept whatever he offers, its not up to them to stipulate how much they want off him.

[Notty]

Hi The DCA has reared its ugly head again saying they are going to take it to court but as I said before they had dropped the case. As we do not have the solicitors letter which says this not sure what to do next. Should I write to the court and ask them for copies of the court papers as i have the claim number or should I SAR the original debt collector. This is a differenct DCA from the one who sent the letter saying they had dropped the case. Any advice would be much appreciate.

[cerberusalert]

If you have the claim number the court will be able to supply copies of the papers for a small fee.

[cerberusalert]

Meanwhile send the new DCA this;

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Account no:

 

You have contacted me/us regarding the account with the above reference number, which you claim is owed by myself/ourselves.

 

I/we would point out that I/we have no knowledge of any such debt being owed to XXXXXXXX

 

 

Furthermore ignoring and/or disregarding claims that debts have been settled or are disputed and continuing to make unjustified demands for payment amounts to physical/psychological harassment.

 

I/we would ask that no further contact be made concerning the above account unless you can provide evidence as to my/our liability for the debt in question.

 

I/we await your written confirmation that this matter is now closed. Otherwise I will have no option but to make a complaint to the trading standards department and consider informing the OFT of your actions.

 

I/we look forward to your reply.

 

**Edit to suit**

 

Remember, don’t sign the letter.

[Notty]

Thank you.

[Notty]

Wonder if anyone can offer any advice please. The whole sorry saga of this college course goes on. As said above it was dropped at the AQ stage nearly two years ago but then passed on to a DCA. After a letter informing them the case had been dropped he didnt hear anymore then out of the blue (a year later) he has received the N1 claim form from Northampton, same DCA. He has contacted the local court where the original case was going to be heard and they have said they will send him the letter. He has said he will defend the case on the N1 claim. The problem is he is going abroad for two weeks and he hasnt heard anything from the DCA, who emailed to tell them the case had already been heard and cancelled and no letter yet from the local court. What should he do next? Any advice would be really welcome. If he doesnt do anything before next week they will get judgement by default wont they? Thanks for your help.

[Notty]

Can anyone help please.

[cerberusalert]

If he's defending it will be transferred to his nearest court which deals with these cases. He will receive a hearing date which will be a few weeks in the future so it is unlikely to be heard whilst he's away.

 

In the unlikely event that it is you could contact the court manager to get it re-listed.

[Notty]

Thank you for the reply. Can they issue another claim if the first one they issued was subsequently dropped? Thanks again.

[cerberusalert]

It would be unusual if they had already dropped one claim.

[Notty]

Thank you for the reply. Thats what I cant understand with them. I thought they might withdraw it again. Would he use the fact that they had discontinued the last claim in his defence? Or is it best to contact the DCA and see if they will discontinue? We have emailed them but they havent replied. Is the AQ the next stage?