Hi all, Uh oh, I've had my CCA request returned (reproduced below) - with what looks like a very bad photocopy/scan of an original signed CCA agreement. All the bits seem to be correct, the only thing I can see missing is a signature on behalf of the bank. There was also no terms and conditions provided, although they do appear to have typed up a very basic statement of account too, detailing the payments made and payments missed, and very little else. Can somebody more knowledgable than me give me any idea as to the enforceability of this / what my next actions should be - this is getting worrying for me now 001_Copy.pdf

I'm not sure how much of the balance is charges, I doubt it's much though, hopefully I'll find out once my SAR request comes back.

Thanks for your reassurance Bazooka Boo - the OC is Natwest

Evening all, I've got another basic update on things with these two debts. Firstly - the large loan - I sent a letter to the OC advising my previous addresses, current address and enclosed a utility bill as previously advised, I also sent an 'account in dispute' letter to CapQuest, to which they have responded that my account is on hold, I guess I'll just wait and see what either party get back to me with on that side of things. Secondly - the overdraft - I have now received a 'pre litigation' letter, offering me a discount and worded almost identically to telecasterboy's letter (copied and pasted below): ***** "as you will be aware we have communicated with you over a period of time to resolve this without the need for legal action. costs incured as a result of any litigation will be added to your balance .if we succeed in obtaining judgement against you. my name is ************ and i have been appointed as your case handler. together with my team,it is my responsibility to progress your account through the litigation process,but also to assist and inform you on any query or questions you may have . your cse maybe processed and passed to our solicitors on or around **********,a process that you can stop by telephoning ************** to disscuss your account and reach an amicable solution. i will not be demanding payment in full. i will be open to suggestions from you on how this account can be settled. if you contact us before *******,i can offer you a settlement figure on your outstanding balce.that means you only have to pay ***** to clear this account with us,and if required you can pay this over a 3 month period. you still have the opportunity to stop legal action and the possibility of settling your account over a period of time and by a method that is suitable to you. i trust you will take this opportunity to contact us and save yourself the possible expense of litigation and the problems that any litigation in which we were succesfull would possiblt cause to your credit file " ****** I have yet to send any correspondence to CapQuest re the overdraft and have read conflicting info about CCA requests (may be of use, banks may claim part v exemption etc), I cant seem to find any definative guidance on this though, I'd appreciate any advice on where to start with this..... (btw - I have sent a SAR request to the OC but it appears to have been lost in the post, so I'll be sending another this weekend) Thanks, Converse

Good point taken PriorityOne, I'll make sure to send them the bill as requested.

If you contact BCW they will say you should only pay them as that's their business model, you will be able to pay BG directly though once they have issued you an amended balance. Your actions should be as follows: 1. Contact BG and give them the details of the dispute and send any docs they require - also ask that the account is placed on hold with the DCA. 2. Contact BCW and advise them you have done the above. Simples

I agree, the only advantage with paying BCW here is that they will likely let you arrange a long term payment plan, unless this is really important to you I'd pay BG, they will update BCW that the account is fully paid and you'll hear no more. Converse

I'll defo get anything sent to either address, my 'redirection' is because i'm in contact with the occupant. I would hope that if the DCA are unsure they're chasing the right person that they wouldn't issue ANY kind of legal proceedings, or am I being a bit optimistic here?

It looks to me like it was from the OC, all the addresses, phone numbers etc. seem to add up but I dont quite trust it totally knowing how DCAs tend to work. I might follow it up with a letter as you propose, but i'm inclined to leave it for a bit as I've updated the OC with my new address when I sent them the SAR request. As I know that's gone directly to them with no DCA involvement it'll be interesting to see whether they fulfil the SAR request or if they need to see a utility bill....

Hi Joan1987, I have first hand experience of this type of situation. The quickest / easiest way to resolve this will be to contact British Gas and provide them with the proofs it sounds like you have provided to BCW already. At this point they will be able to recalculate the amount you owe, and if it is nothing/in credit then they will be able to recall the debt from BCW entirely. If you still owe a balance they will update BCW with the amended amount. They are also able to place a hold on the account with BCW until the dispute is resolved, but you may need to ask for this. You will still need to pay the gas and electricity bills, but only what you owe. If BCW did end up taking you to court for an incorrect amount then chances are you may be able to get an amount written off as gesture of goodwill compo from them but i'd be asking yourself if it would be worth the aggro. Also chances are they would go back to British Gas and get them to issue an amended final bill amount to them, so you'd still end up being chased. If you need any further info let me know. Hope this helps, Converse

Update! Well first off all Crapquest sent me a standard 28 day hold letter, then that was followed up with a letter purporting to be from the OC saying they want a recent utility bill to verify the address i sent my CCA request from (this is different to the address I took the loan out with and different to the adress Crapquest are chasing ( i've received their letters as my mail is redirected). This says to me that Crapquest dont have a CCA and have simply forwarded my request to the OC, any advice on my next course of action? Thanks Converse

Awesome work Nishikigoi, I've sought out and read that thread, makes me feel better about my situation! I feel soooo sorry for Crapquest not being able to enforce these debts

Hi angel_1, I haven't had any reply from Capquest yet, I assume I will do shortly, I sent the request signed for a few days ago now. I've also SAR'ed the original creditor. I'll update once I receive anything back, have your dealings with Capquest followed much the same route? Converse

Thanks Nishikigoi - the CCA request is winging its merry little way to capquest as we speak! Interesting about the SAR request, would I send that to the original creditor or to capquest? and also, is there any danger it would be taken as an admission of the debt if sent to either?

Hi jdes26, I've had some strange correspondance from capquest, as follows: Overdraft account: ------------------------ 1xletter from bank saying we have sold the account to capquest 1xletter from capquest saying we have bought the account from the bank Loan: ------ 1xletter from bank saying we have sold the account to capquest 1xletter from capquest advising of their 'involvement' with the account, no mention of buying it at all riddles!

Thanks for your response Stigman, that CCA request should be fired off tomorrow! In the meantime I've been issued with a slightly puzzling letter regarding the smaller overdraft balance, the full text of this is below for anyone who is interested: ------------------- Address / Refs Letter of claim under the Practice Direction- Pre Action Conduct Dear **** We regret that you have not responded to our previous letter. As a result of your failure to respond we must now consider your account for legal action. Your account is being passed through our pre-action validations and checks. This includes compiling data relating to your residential and employment status. Any claim will be issued in the name of ****ORIGINAL BANK NAME**** and will be for the unpaid balance on the above account. Through the litigation process we will seek a judgment of the Court, directing you to pay the monies outstanding. We are not aware of any dispute relating to the account but we are willing to discuss with you any issues relating to our claim and to seek to resolve them through alternative dispute resolution methods. Our preferred method is a without prejudice discussion with you or your advisers. We refer you to the Practice Direction - Pre Action Conduct which provides that parties should exchange information before starting proceedings. Paragraph 4 allows the court to impose sanctions on a party who does not comply with its requirements. You can avoid the possibility of a claim being issued by telephoning our experienced team of negotiators on **** Lo-call Rates Apply to discuss possible repayment options or by letter setting out your proposals for payment and quoting reference *****. You do not have to pay the full balance immediately. We will allow you a further 14 days to contact us. If you contact us we will be understanding of your financial circumstances and seek to reach a payment arrangement with you enabling you -to pay over a period of time If you do nothing we will complete our pre-action checks which may result in your account being sent to our solicitors for a claim to be issued in the County Court, The issue of a claim will involve expenditure on court fees and solicitors costs which we will seek to recover from you. If you are uncertain as to your position you should seek advice. Free advice and assistance can be obtained from organisations including those listed overleaf. Details of how you can make payment are also shown overleaf. Yours sincerely -------------------- I'm puzzled as to why any claim would be issued in the name of the original creditor rather than capquest when they say the have bought the debt and I have a letter from the original creditor advising they have sold the debt to capquest?

Thanks for everyone's responses - hope you all had a great new year! PriorityOne - i'm assuming the latest version of the letter is the one dated 27th September 2010 in the 'Debt Collection Library' (sorry, it wont let me post links yet), I'll send it as per your request, my only concern is that once they get a response (even a CCA request) from a letter they send out they might be more inclined to try to fast track the debt to court, hopefully this is just me being daft though, it's hard to keep thinking objectively when worrying about these situations! Bazooka Boo - thanks for the reassurances, my concerns are not about the debts per se, but the circumstances around them. I would however imagine it's a fairly common occurance when people cant pay loans or credit cards off and take out more debt to cover the payments / gamble when in debt. I'm just a bit worried that a bankruptcy would come with a long term restriction order, I'd love to press an imaginary reset button and take back some of the stupid decisions I made about my finances when I was younger and naive! theghost - I won't pretend I wouldn't love to not have to pay these debts off, I'd be happy to use any defence I could against a DCA... Thanks again everyone, Converse

No worries Geordieman - the circumstances do sound similar but i'm not Fuzzel, I imagine Capquest have purchased lots of these types of debts which may help account for similar circumstances. If it helps to clarify i'm in England rather than Scotland and I know the account won't be statute barred yet.

Hi all, I've recently joined the growing list of people that have had old debts bought by Capquest and have worked myself into a bit of a worry about what might happen next / the best way to handle the situation - any advice would be much appreciated! I dont want to bore anyone with a long sob story but in a nutshell I was stupidly talked into obtaining ever increasing levels of credit in conjunction with some difficult personal circumstances which culminated a loan of which should become statute barred in about 6 months (amongst other debts). Capquest have bought this (current balance approx £15k) along with an overdraft of much less (same statute barred period). I never took PPI and believe any charges reclaim would be fairly minimal. Capquest have sent me letters advising the accounts have been bought by them, and I have the corresponding letters from the bank advising the accounts have been sold - I can upload copies of these if anyone wants. From reading through other posts I can see that the normal advice seems to be to get hold of a copy of my CRA report, which I duly did today. The debts show on this report, with default dates of the end of 2006 (I believe I stopped making payments approx 6 months prior - this is backed up by the 'status' indicators on the report). My main motivation is avoiding bankruptcy and a judge looking through my finances and applications and potentially taking a dim view of my conduct since the loans were taken out, I have had difficulties with gambling brought on by the aforementioned personal circumstances and do not want to be looking at the wrong side of the law with regards these debts. Equally, although I dont deny responsibility for the debts I dont relish the thought of spending years repaying them, living on a shoestring and funding one of the thoroughly evil DCA companies that bring misery to countless good people. Please help! Converse