What now?

So you've sent the 3 letters, What now?

Once the 3 letters have been sent the debt purchase company can:

• (a) close the account

• (b) continue to harass you

• (c) make a court claim

If they close the account, ask for a full refund: 

If they harass you, first make a complaint of harassment to the company then report them to the Financial Ombudsman: 

C) Pre-Action Letter:

If they threaten court action, send them a pre-action letter:

SAMPLE LETTER AFTER PRE-ACTION LETTER

When to send?

Send this letter if a debt purchase company issues a Letter of Claim or threatens court action.

TEMPLATE LETTER

[Your address]

[Your postcode]

[Their Solicitors Address]

[Their Solicitors postcode]

[The date]

Dear Sir/Madam,

Pre Action Conduct - Request for Information 

With regard to your letter dated __/__/2019, which stated Legal Action may be taken, I take this to be a Letter before Action under the above named Pre Action Conduct Protocol and as such I am responding accordingly. 

As you have indicated you are representing a Debt Purchase Company in this action. I assume you are authorised to accept service of documentation, therefore, please accept this request for Information sufficient to understand the claim being threatened and as such is in accordance Section 3 of the Pre Action Conduct, by way of Service Upon You.

As I have never entered into any Legal Agreement or Contract with you or your client , for any monies or specifically for the alleged amount of £____.__; and I neither accept nor acknowledge the assertion any debt has been Legally and Absolutely Assigned to you. 

I therefore, request the following documentation under Pre Action Conduct Section 6 (c) as proof of your assertions of a Legal Obligation, to be provided to me within 40 days of the post marked date of this letter.

• I. Pursuant to s.77-79 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (CCA1974) a copy of the Original Signed Consumer Credit Agreement, along with a copy of the original Terms & Conditions and any and all subsequent changes in said Terms & Conditions.

• II. Statements of the Account referred to, including details of all payments made and calculation of how interest was charged against each item, leading to the Alleged Debt of £_______.____.

• III. Also, as this is an Alleged Debt, I believe Default Charges may have been applied to the Account and as such may be unlawful under the Unfair Consumer Contract Terms Regulations 1999, therefore, I would request details of each and every Default Charge applied to the Account (i.e. if the charge was for ‘Administration’ what Administration was undertaken to support the Default Charge) along with details of any Interest Charged against each Default Charge applied.

• IV. In accordance with Section 87.1 Of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (as amended) a copy of the Default Notice from the original owners of the Alleged Debt and Certified Copies of how this was served upon me.

• V. A copy of the Legal / Absolute Assignment of the Agreement, including a copy of a Duly Executed Deed of Assignment and / or Deed of Tripartite Novation; and 

• VI. In accordance with Section 196 of the Law of Property Act 1925, Certified Copies of how I was served with the Alleged Legal Assignment. 

• VII. A copy of the Alleged Notice of Assignment sent by the original creditor to the Defendant and again, in accordance with Section 196 of the Law of Property Act 1925, Certified Copies of how this was Served upon me.

Should proceedings commence against me and you fail to provide each and every document requested, I will make an Application to the Court to Stay your claim until the request is complied with and request the Court impose Sanctions against yourself for failure to adhere to the provisions of the above mentioned Practice Direction. 

Also please be aware, each document listed is required to provide absolute and legal proof of your contention of a legal indebtedness towards myself and again, should you fail to produce said documentation and Proceedings Commence against me. 

As a part of my defence I will re-request production of each and every document under an appropriate Civil Procedure Rule, along with a request under CPR Part 39.a (3.3) for the original of every document upon which you intend to rely be brought to any subsequent hearing for examination.

Please note, where I have mentioned a document and there is in your possession more than one version of that same document owing to a modification, obliteration or other marking or feature, each version will be a separate document and you must provide a copy of each version of it to me. Your obligations extend to making a reasonable and proportionate search for any version(s) to include an obligation to recover and preserve such version(s) which are now in the possession of a third party.

I look forward to your response in due course.

Yours sincerely,

Thanks in Advance

Follow up Letter when they won't supply the DEED

[Your Name]

[Your Address]

[Your Postcode]

[Their company name]

[Their company address]

[Their comany postcode]

[date]

Dear Sir/Madam,

RE: Pre-Action Protocol

Thank you for you letter dated --/--/-- in response to my request for documents in relation to the Alleged Agreement(s). 

You state that the Deed of Assignment is confidential and you are under no obligation to disclose this to me as it is 'commercially sensitive'. Given that you are threatening to bring a County Court claim against me, I believe I am entitled to see ALL of the evidence in the case.

As your client is a debt purchase company, the Sale Agreement between the Alleged Assignor and your Client would be the ONLY document that would prove that your client has Legal Standing to bring a Claim instead of the Original Creditor.

As you will be aware, the Supreme Court has ruled that I am entitled to view the Deed of Assignment to ensure that your client can give good discharge of the Alleged Agreement(s).

See (Van Lynn Developments v Pelias Construction Co Ltd 1968.[3] All ER 824) Where Lord Denning MR said 'the debtor is entitled to view the sale agreement to ensure that the assignee can give him good discharge under the contract'

Also; [Webster v Ridgeway (2009) ] ' Where a debtor is entitled to see a redacted version.'

Could you not just cross out any "commercially sensitive" information and provide me with the Sale Agreement (Deed of Assignment) so that I can be satisfied your claim is genuine?

If your client is unwilling or unable to supply the Deed of Assignment. I would like to know how they intend to demonstrate their compliance with:

(a) Section 44 of the Companies Act 2006;

(b) The Regulatory Reform (Execution of Deeds and Documents) Order 2005 (S.I. 2005/1906), arts. 1(1),3;

(c) Section 136 of the Law of Property Act 1925;

(d) Section 196 of the Law of Property Act 1925.

In the interest fairness and not wishing to waste the Courts time on these issues. I would be grateful if you could address these points. If these points can be resolved, there should be no need for you to issue a claim and the matter can be settled without resorting to a litigation. 

If your Client has a LEGAL title to the benefit of the Alleged Contract(s) and can demonstrate they can give good discharge of the Alleged Agreement(s) and show proof that a contract was entered into. I am happy to enter into an agreement to pay the benefit of the Alleged Agreements without any need for your client to issue Court proceedings.

It is my understanding that a Court can only deal in controversy and in this case there is none, if you can demonstrate that I owe you the money, I am happy to pay. 

Kind Regards,