Hello everyone, I am new here and have a question specific to myself.

I have been sent a letter by Capquest informing me that I have a debt of about £9000 from Egg card which has now been passed to them.

They are saying that If I don't contact by today 11th Feb then the account will be passed to their solicitors, and if I live outside the UK then I will be subject to the due litigation process applicable to my residence and the matter will be referred to their Scottish lawyers for action

They say legal action will increase the debt.

I will just say a little about myself so you know the situation,

I moved to France 5 years ago and now officially a resident there, I have no property or belongings in the UK now.

3 years ago I decided to clear my CC's and close some old bank accounts, I sent cheques to relevant CC companies, and then a few weeks later closed all but one of my bank accounts, I am assuming that Egg did not receive, or clear the cheque in time before my bank account was closed, I thought that all debts had been cleared until this letter came (I have checked and the cheque has not been processed).

I am now 64 and living on a state UK pension, with a small top up of a private pension of £50 per week, I cant work because of health problems, and also I live in rural France with high unemployment, and I only still speak limited French. I am married and own the house jointly with my partner.

This is quite worrying for me as I have no way to repay the debt, my pensions pay for my living costs in France, and I also owe my UK bank £3000 which I am trying to pay back.

I am trying to Gather information so as to know the best way to attack this, or any good advise would be welcome.

I know these DCA can use techniques that may be a little underhand or on the verge of harassment.

I look forward to your replies to help me resolve this problem.

Hello again,

I have been reading some interesting posts that are similar to my own

Maybe you can clear a few things up for me

I believe from reading that as I now do not live in the UK and don't have a UK address (and haven't had for 5 years) then its impossible for them to issue a CCJ in the English courts, thus preventing them from issuing an EEO. which in effect prevents them from making any legal claim .. is this correct ?, or is there another way they can make the claim (I read that there may be new regulations coming in)

How does their statement on their letter that they will refer the case to their Scottish/Irish lawyer (I note that they do not say that this lawyer is actually based in Scotland or Ireland) effect me, and are the laws in Scotland or Ireland able to allow these people to make a claim in France even though its originally under English regulations.

They do have my Address in France, but not my phone number, they must have gotten my address from the people who bought my last house 5 years ago.

From what I remember the amount from the last statement was about £5000, so I guess the additional costs could be for interest and/or costs, is there anything I can do about these extra costs.

How much do you think they bought this debt for (they state that the debt was sold to them in the letter), and do you think that if I offered them a lower amount for the debt that they would accept it if I could borrow some money from my sons (not sure they have the spare money but could always ask)

Thanks in advance for you help and would appreciate some speedy responses as I am a little worried.

If you havnt paid anything for the last 6 years it is Statute Barred which means if you dont want to pay it they cannot chase you for it.

Dont ask for a settlement figure and NEVER SPEAK WITH THEM ON THE PHONE, also if you do happen to write anything to them dont sign it, just print.

Hi first with it, and thanks for being first with your reply

As I understand from reading this forum that the debt can only be statute barred after 6 years since last activity, I am afraid that although the original agreement with EGG must be over 6 years old, the last of the monthy payments I used to make to them was only 3 years ago, so I think I am correct in saying that I would have to wait for another 3 years without paying anything before the debt can be statute barred .. am I correct ??.

Hi Kev100

Have a read of the information on the link below.I am in a very similar situation but in a different country. My understanding is that they can serve the claim in France. I beleive that you have 21 days to reply rather than 14 days. I don't know much about the law but have been asking on the forum if anybody knew about CCJ's and serving the claim when you live abroad. I found this government site and have been trying to understand the terminology. I could be completely wrong - I hope I am. Even if you live outside the courts juristriction if the criteria mentioned in the relevant section is met then the papers can still be served upon you.

PART 06 - SERVICE OF DOCUMENTS

Another thing to think about is requesting a copy of your CCA. You will find loads of posts on here detailing the steps to follow to request it properly.

I'll keep watching this post as it's also very relevant to me

Afraid yor are right, so send them a CCA, letter N to see if they actually have the right to collect it, you might be lucky if its an old card that there wont be a proper agreement for it.

You need to send a £1 with it and recorded delivery, perhaps you can get your son to send it from Uk so your sig is not on it, check when it was delivered and if and when you get anything back scan it and put on here with your personal details removed for the experts to see if its valid.

one more thing I have thought of. I'm not saying pay these people or anything like that but just for your information -I have just done Full and final settlements on all my bad debts to Egg and they all accepted 25%

Firstwithit - yes I will send a CCA to see exactly where I stand, I am new to this and only found this site today so still treading on eggshells and gathering info.

My son actually lives in Lithuania, may be a problem for him to send it recorded, unless he does it with DHL (they have a branch there), can he include a £1 coin as it will probably be impossible for him to send any other form of payment,

gerona - sorry to hear you are going through the same thing, I will have a read of the link that you gave, I was kind of hoping that they will settle for a lower amount because as I have said I may be able to borrow from my sons if they have any spare cash. when you made F & F was it directly with EGG or via a DCA ?

Thanks firstwithit

Afraid yor are right, do you mean right in that they can serve the papers abroad so send them a CCA, letter N to see if they actually have the right to collect it, you might be lucky if its an old card that there wont be a proper agreement for it.

You need to send a £1 with it and recorded delivery, perhaps you can get your son to send it from Uk so your sig is not on it, check when it was delivered and if and when you get anything back scan it and put on here with your personal details removed for the experts to see if its valid.

kev

I had loads of egg debts, some were DCA and some original creditors. One was with solicitors and a CCJ. The DCA's all told me the offer was much to low, solicitors refused to pass the offer to egg. I told them to put it in writing that they were refusing to pass my offer to the OC. Fortunatelly they were all accepted.

Take your time considering your options. Don't offer them what you can't afford.

gerona

Kind of confused with the link you gave me, I am not really good at all that mumbo jumbo, maybe somebody here with experience could write a concise easy to understand explanation.

I am Kind of guessing that they cannot make a claim within England itself, thus that is why they added that the claim will be handled by their Scottish/Irish solicitors if not resident in England (they say England and not UK)

I'm the same with the terminolgy. Maybe someone with a legal brain can interpret it for us

European Commission - European Judicial Network - Legal order - France

or

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/oj/2001/l_012/l_01220010116en00010023.pdf

A lot will depend on your own personal circumstances. In such situations there is no 'one size fits all' and there are several things that need to be considered.

There's no shortage of stuff on the internet and the above links may help a little. An EEO is only appropriate if a CCJ already exists, other than that the new European small claim procedures MAY make it possible to get a judgment against you. There are several ways to defend and bring the whole thing grinding to a halt - a lot will depend on how co-operative you intend to be.

All the best.

http://www.dca.gov.uk/consult/smallclaims/pdf/procedure.pdf

Quite a long boring read, but it may be of some use to you.

Thanks for the links dannyboy, will have a read and see if I can understand

Kev...do not worry about these DCA's/solicitors/lawyers, they have as much power over you as i do quite frankly

The very worst that can happen is an appearance in a county court (of which you are not on trial or anything) & the judge asks you at the end of it all if you admit the debt and how much u wish to pay off it each month.

The court has to take into account all ur essential living costs/outgoings - so the amount can be as little as £1 per month if need be...

Thanks Mr Ton,

I am slowly starting to feel a little better about the whole situation, This site is very useful and at the moment am kind of hooked on reading every post ...

Also its very nice to find a forum where everybody is so kind and helpful, and all seem to look out for each other.

Many thanks to anybody who has and will help give useful information

Dont forget that the "living costs/outgoings" has to include clothes,food,travel costs which our classed as essentials in life.

So if for example you pay £50 per month on food - that can easily be put down on the official form as £100 per month.

Ive never known anyone to be asked by a court to produce receipts from Tesco or anywhere...

So i hope you catch my drift here as to how it can all be easily exaggerated

Did I post this one???

http://www.dca.gov.uk/consult/smallclaims/pdf/procedure.pdf

Long and boring, but there may be something useful to you in amongst it all.

Apologies if I've already posted it - I can't see it anywhere so I may have logged out before hitting "submit reply" Getting tired I think.......

Dont forget that the "living costs/outgoings" has to include clothes,food,travel costs which our classed as essentials in life.

So if for example you pay £50 per month on food - that can easily be put down on the official form as £100 per month.

Ive never known anyone to be asked by a court to produce receipts from Tesco or anywhere...

So i hope you catch my drift here as to how it can all be easily exaggerated

That's a bit naughty Mr.T !!!

I hope you're not advocating that anyone should present a court with material inaccuracies??

Good morning all.

I would just like to know what you guys think my next step should be today,

I was supposed to contact capquest by yesterdays deadline, but didnt as yet because I have only just found this forum and still seeking guidance.

my options are

1, Just wait for the next threatening letter (what may that contain)

2, Send request for the CCA (I can only send with a £1 coin, is this acceptable)

3, any offers on a third option.

I will make my decision today so some advice would be helpful.

Thanks all

It's tricky one, but I don't think playing the waiting game would do any harm. I assume there's no CCJ on this ??

Someone has suggested requesting CCA - that's OK - but by doing so you are confirming your whereabouts and playing your ace card quite early, but then that would put you in a position to negotiate a favourable F&F, should you wish to do so. Everything would be stacked in your favour at the moment.

Personally, I'd wait and see. Taking legal action in this case could cost them a small fortune with no guarantee of anything at the end of it. They're probably just waiting for a response so the threats and bullying can begin for real.

A second opinion, anyone????............

Thanks Dannyboy,

Yes I also came to this conclusion, they have had no contact with me apart from this one letter, they don't know my phone number and are probably unlikely to get hold of it as we changed it last year and its not listed in any French phone listings, so I guess at this point they are actually fishing for me to confirm my address.

There are no CCJ's at the moment, as I said I haven't had a UK address for 5 years so I guess its impossible for them to get one in the UK (from what I have read, please correct me if I am wrong), and have been an official resident of France now for that time.

Hi Kev

I thought they could go for a CCJ - I'll keep trying to look up the terminolgy. Do you know what convention territory means

Hi Kev

I thought they could go for a CCJ - I'll keep trying to look up the terminology. Do you know what convention territory means

Morning gerona

Well that's the part I am still a little confused about

I read somewhere here that they need to get a CCJ or use an existing CCJ in England to be able to get an EEO, they cant get a CCJ in England because I don't have an address there (I got this from a post last year so regulations may have changed since then)

But they also state in their letter that If I live abroad then the matter will be referred to their Scottish/Irish lawyers, so I am kind of guessing that they cant do anything In an English court (or its too difficult in an English court), but maybe they can do something in a Scottish or Irish court.

I wish somebody with some experience in cross border disputes could add something here, the links I have read have all been quite baffling and not very clear to me really.