Hoist Portfolio/Howard Cohen – Letter of Claim ?

Hi guys,

Back in January 2016 I received a ‘notice of impending legal action’ from Howard Cohen Solicitors on behalf of Hoist Portfolio Holding 2 Limited over an alleged Barclays CC debt they apparently purchased from Compello MKDP in late 2015.

I sent them a Letter before Action which they acknowledged and said they were in the process of retrieving the info requested. (MKDP had never managed to do it)

I heard nothing until some randomly copy printed old statements appeared in the post in September 2017. I’ve heard nothing else since then.

Today I received a ‘LETTER OF CLAIM’ from Howard Cohen Solicitors with (in their opinion) the only way to reply to their letter would be to fill in an ‘Information Sheet’ and a ‘Reply Form’ and an ‘Income and Expenditure Form’. There is no time scale on the letter in which to reply.

Apparently I’m required to make payment of the outstanding balance within 30 days and if I don’t respond to their letter, a claim will be issued without further notice.

Of course it’s not signed by any individual, just their company name.

My question is ……. are they just trying it on to scare me ?

I’ve no doubt that they will just issue the claim without any paperwork. (just like Cabot/Restons did which I’m still attempting to fight and slowly failing so far)

Of course, no doubt, I will now have to send them a CPR 31 and start that process.

Any thoughts or ideas on how to deal with this are welcome.

Ah, just sussed out where all these forms have come from. At the bottom of the letter it's the new CPR Pre-action Protocol for Debt Claims introduced in October 2017 ............. http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/protocol

My dealings with them, they ignored every request I made, then actually took me to court. They ended up discontinuing court proceedings about ten days before the court date, without ever producing a single document in the process.

Hi,
You have left a lot of your details on view. I would strongly suggest you remove it.

Thanks Theatchet, how did you achieve stopping them in their tracks, what sort of letter did you send ?

All these parasites appear to not give a monkey about any rules or laws and seem to be helped along by the wonderful court system that changes the goal posts at a whim allowing them to get away with all sorts of things.

Kestrel,assassin and daveiron posted on the thread below ....... https://goodf.forumotion.com/t1831-info-new-civil-procedure-rules-pre-action-protocols-introduced-october-2017 ....... which I believe was intended for this thread.

I will certainly be listing all the documents I can think of and have been tempted to add things like "proof of contract between myself and (for example) Hoist" as of course, there won't be one, but I suspect that would not work, sadly.

I haven't used the new letters but I will certainly be looking at everything I can to win before it becomes yet another court claim to fight and suck away all my time.

Should I also be asking for documents that passed between MKDP and Hoist and if so what would they be ?

barnwebb wrote:Thanks Theatchet, how did you achieve stopping them in their tracks, what sort of letter did you send ?

All these parasites appear to not give a monkey about any rules or laws and seem to be helped along by the wonderful court system that changes the goal posts at a whim allowing them to get away with all sorts of things.

Kestrel,assassin and daveiron posted on the thread below ....... https://goodf.forumotion.com/t1831-info-new-civil-procedure-rules-pre-action-protocols-introduced-october-2017 ....... which I believe was intended for this thread.

I will certainly be listing all the documents I can think of and have been tempted to add things like "proof of contract between myself and (for example) Hoist" as of course, there won't be one, but I suspect that would not work, sadly.

I haven't used the new letters but I will certainly be looking at everything I can to win before it becomes yet another court claim to fight and suck away all my time.

Should I also be asking for documents that passed between MKDP and Hoist and if so what would they be ?

The letters I used were the CCA request letter with the £1 cheque or postal order, that goes to Hoist. The pre-action conduct letter to Howard Cohens, then when it went to court, the CPR 18 letter as my claim was for under £10,000. This was before the new rule changes mind, so not too sure on where you stand with that. Hopefully, someone with a lot more knowledge can advise you. I didn't really stop them in their tracks, they just ignored anything I said or requested and proceeded anyway. They didn't have a single bit of documentation, so couldn't carry on with the case, as 14 days before the court date, you have to produce every bit of documentation for the court and opposition that you wish to rely on in court. From what I can see now, they have already sold your agreement, but now they don't even need it and just go for a reconstituted agreement. I'm still dealing with that but will keep people updated on the outcome.

The debt will have been assigned, so what you need to be asking for is the Notice of Assignment from the Original Creditor to MKDP and then the Notice of Assignment from MKDP to Hoist.

It's common for these firms to start proceedings without any form of proof, then get 14 days ahead of the final hearing (ie when the Witness Statements need to be submitted) then discontinue.

They hope that the defendant will cave in and settle before they have to.

Tiggy wrote:The debt will have been assigned, so what you need to be asking for is the Notice of Assignment from the Original Creditor to MKDP and then the Notice of Assignment from MKDP to Hoist.

It's common for these firms to start proceedings without any form of proof, then get 14 days ahead of the final hearing (ie when the Witness Statements need to be submitted) then discontinue.

They hope that the defendant will cave in and settle before they have to.

Sorry, I should have mentioned that MKDP was the first person to purchase my alleged debt, then they gave up after the three letter process, estoppel and a few bills, then sold it onto Hoist. Robinson way was acting on behalf of Hoist for my case, who then got Howard Cohens involved.

Theatchet wrote:Sorry, I should have mentioned that MKDP was the first person to purchase my alleged debt, then they gave up after the three letter process, estoppel and a few bills, then sold it onto Hoist. Robinson way was acting on behalf of Hoist for my case, who then got Howard Cohens involved.

That's exactly the same scenario with me.

Thanks for the wise info about the Notice of Assignment Tiggy, I'm gathering a list of documents to ask for and would have overlooked those ones between the debt collectors.

Is there anything that has changed with the new rules other than the forms you are expected to fill in, opening up your entire financial life to whoever wants to see, and the 30 day response time allowed ?

The new 30 day wait must annoy Cabot/Restons as that means they can't put in a court claim before you have a chance to respond to their letter.

No you're not expected to fill in the financial aspect, you're not going to make an offer of repayment, so why would you provide your financial details.

Yes, thanks Tiggy, I wasn't planning to fill any financial info in anyway as I'm fed up of displaying everything only to find it gives others the opportunity to use the info to attempt to screw me.

Check this out ....... https://goodf.forumotion.com/t1877-in-the-county-court-at-merthyr-tydfil-hoist-portfolio-holding-2-limited

You forget, they did not exactly sell it on to Hoist- Hoist bought MKDP

I am curious about the outcome of the Merthyr hearing

As for the Notice of assignment, it is really the Deed of assignment that you need to prove that ecah company actually had the right to deal with and sell on the debt. They don't like giving them out though and will often need an order from a Judge

How much is this claim for? Are you talking fast track - I see you mentioned part 18 when it was under 10K but Part 31 for this claim

Hi Pat,

Although I was aware that MKDP was no longer around I wasn't aware that Hoist had bought them out.

The outcome of the Merthyr hearing is at the top, it was successfully won by the defendant.

Yes, getting anywhere near the deed of assignment is like getting blood from a stone.

The claim is for over £10,000 hence I will be needing to send off a CPR 31 and it's unlikely to be fast track.

barnwebb wrote:Hi Pat,

Although I was aware that MKDP was no longer around I wasn't aware that Hoist had bought them out.

The outcome of the Merthyr hearing is at the top, it was successfully won by the defendant.

Yes, getting anywhere near the deed of assignment is like getting blood from a stone.

The claim is for over £10,000 hence I will be needing to send off a CPR 31 and it's unlikely to be fast track.

Unlikely to be fast track? Over £10k I would say it's very likely to be fast track!

Oh, ok Tiggy, I must have misunderstood somewhere down the line, I thought it was only fast track when under £10,000. I need enlightenment

No, small claims - under £10K, over £10k but under £25k fast track, over £25k multi track

Ah, I get it, I got my terminology muddled up.

So fast track it is, then I send CPR 31.14 (got a draft somewhere but can't find it at the moment as hadn't needed it until now) and a formal request for the CCA with a postal order. If they don't come up with the info but haven't put in a claim with the court then presumably the next to send would be a Section 10 along with suitable complaints to the FCA, ICO and FOS, not that they actually do anything.

Have I missed anything ?

No, but I wouldn't waste paper or a stamp.

How do you mean ?

barnwebb wrote:How do you mean ?

I meant 'No, you're not missing anything' and ' I wouldn't waste paper or a stamp contacting the FCA, FOS or ICO'.

You need to be aware that in the process is somewhat different in the fast track with costs implications and full disclosure.

As for the Merthyr judgement , it would be interesting to get a copy of the judgement to see exactly what it was the judge ruled on. It really is one thing seeing a defence and another seeing the judgment

Thanks Tiggy, I thought that might be what you meant as contacting them certainly is a waste of time and effort.

I've always had the section 10 ignored as well, those DCA's know how to manipulate everything to their advantage eh !

Thanks Pat, costs implications and full disclosure doesn't sound like fun to me.

If I knew any more about Merthyr I would put it up.

First of all does "Hoist Portfolio Holding 2 Limited" even actually exist as I can't find an address ??
The Howard Cohen letter of claim says they are acting for Hoist Portfolio Holding 2 Limited so I assume Robinson Way the Hoist agents are no longer involved.
The only address I've discovered is for Head Office of Hoist Portfolio Holding at:-

La Masurier House
La Rue La Masurier
St Helier, Jersey
JE2 4YE
0161 935 2233 (isn't that a Manchester number ?)

or even:-

Hoist Portfolio Holding Ltd.
First Floor, Liberation Station
St Helier
JE2 3AS

   Tel: 01534 719166

So which is correct ????

Found this on the old goodf .... http://www.getoutofdebtfree.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=157&t=81076&sid=f2b6409fa8ac16c2e85957a93536b26b

Turns out Hoist owns Robinson Way Lewis and Compello .... http://hoistfinance.co.uk/

Here's a little article (which is actually promoting the Debt Information Service) which tells you why you shouldn't pay debt collectors like Hoist. (in case we didn't already know) .... http://dontpaywonga.co.uk/hoist-portfolio-holding-ltd-dont-pay-them-read-why-here/

I have finally found the CPR 31.14 on the computer.

I'm just wondering, I assume I just modify it to my own needs as the CPR 31 draft template says 'On (date) I received the Claim Form' etc ?  Or is it supposed to be only sent after a claim has been issued ?

Sorry to be undecided etc but I want to get my reply to the letter of claim as correct as i possibly can.

I will make a point of reminding them that they haven't complied with my letter before action which was two years ago.  

I had a letter from Howard Cohen two years ago, Feb 2016, telling me they were 'in the process of retrieving the documents requested' and that 'once we have provided you with the documents requested' etc they would give me 7 days to submit my offer of repayment.

Since then I've had sod all (bar the random copy statements mentioned earlier) except now this letter of claim, so I will need a bit of clarification.

Should I use anything from the 'new' 3 letters as I haven't used them ?

Please read the list below and let me know if I've missed anything or am using the wrong letter or procedure, cheers.

Things to send/request:
CPR 31.14 (before or after claim has been lodged with the court ?)
CCA request letter with the £1 cheque or postal order
The pre-action conduct letter (which would include the below)
Notice of Assignment from the Original Creditor to MKDP and then the Notice of Assignment from MKDP to Hoist.
Proof of contract between myself and Hoist (a deed of novation I guess ?)
A copy of the written contract for the debt (which would be the CCA request I guess ?)
Deed of Assignment
Default Notice
Termination Notice

The La Rue de Masurier address is the one I've always used, but if Solicitors are involved correspond with them for everything BUT the CCA request, i's vital it goes to Hoist direct.

CPR 31.14 is only for after proceedings have started and only if the claim is over £10k, Pre Action conduct letter is used prior to any action.