CapQuest/H L Legal Harassment

[Halk]

In '94 I took out a Student Loan. I lost contact with the Student Loans Company, and as a result there are arrears. I attempted to deal with them, and agreed repayments, however when these finished they then demanded more repayments, refused to discuss it and passed it to a debt collection agency - Close Credit Management Ltd.

 

I made an agreement with Close, and have been paying them for a few months. However, shortly after I made the agreement, CapQuest/H L Legal started pestering me. I told them I had made an agreement with Close and never to phone me again, they point blank refused, accused me of being aggressive and hung up. At that point I was getting aggressive, so I called back, apologised and explained the situation. They then apologised to me, explained the girl was new and said they understood my frustration and anger, and that they would speak to Close before they spoke to me again.

 

I called back Close, who assured me everything was in order, and that they would contact CapQuest and this would end the matter.

 

Now, some 2 months later I received a call at 8.11am, shortly before I was going to a funeral. I told them to stop contacting me, they refused, I asked for the manager, and he too refused. They want me to prove it's being sorted elsewhere.

 

I got home from the funeral about 5pm, I was going to pick up the telephone, but have decided to say stuff it, and instead send them a letter. I've done a bit of sniffing regarding my legal rights previously, and have produced this letter. I also got a chance to check my mail, and right enough there's a threatening letter from them.

 

Arrears £344.66

Dear Mr >>>>,

 

We act for CapQuest Debt Recovery Limited who are agents for The Student Loan Company Limited. Further to CapQuest Debt Recovery's later dated it is noted with regret that you appear unwilling to settle this matter without further action being taken. [i guess there was supposed to be a date in there. No date is there]

 

This letter is giving you seven days notice that unless you pay the above amount or contact the CapQuest Debt Administratyion Office with a suitable repayment plan your account will become liable for legal action commencing on 17 Jan 07 or soon after.

 

If a Claim is issued it will be from Northampton County Court and will be for the arrears on the account plus solicitors and other legal fees, which would increase your debt to. [At the bottom of the letter it says "Please note that should legal action be instigated against you and you are not resident in England then you will be subject to the due litigation process applicable under the jurisdiction of your residence and this matter will be referred to our Scottish/Irish lawyers for action". I live in Scotland]

 

£424.66 Interest wuould also accrue on a daily basis.

 

 

Should the Claim not be satisfied or responded to a Judgement could be entered against you, which would add furthers costs. [it says furthers costs, my mistake not theirs]

 

Following judgement, enforcement action will be taken against you which will also add further costs to the debt.

 

If enforcement action is neccessary it will either be an Attachment of Earnings from your salary or a Warrant of Execution (Bailiffs) dependant on your circumstances.

 

Telephone the CapQuest Debt Administration Office on 0870 0843525 immediately.

 

No contact will mean further action. Act now to save the possibility of further costs being added.

 

All payments are to be sent to our client at the address shown below quoting your reference number ******** clearly on the reverse. If you wish to pay this account by Debit or Credit Card contact our CapQuest Debt Administration payment line on 0870 0843530. National call rates apply. [And of course they get a cut from me phoning that number]

 

Yours faithfully

 

HL Legal.

 

So I've typed up a response, and wanted any thoughts or opinions before I send it.

 

 

Ref : ZXZXZZZZZXXX Your Ref : ZZXZXXZXXX

 

For the attention of The Manager,

 

 

I have already your company verbally twice, and I have instructed Close Credit Management to inform you that this debt is in the process of being repaid, and both Close Credit Management and the Student Loans Company are satisfied with the arrangements that have been made.

 

 

You, however, continue to pester and threaten me, and will not take me at my word. The burden of proof is not on me. I do not need to prove to anyone that claims I owe them money that I do not. You have the option of pursuing this through the courts, which I would heartily encourage you to do. It would greatly amuse me to have the satisfaction of seeing you lose, and pay costs. You have yet to initiate legal proceedings, which would seem to indicate to me that you would prefer to attempt to threaten and bully me into submission.

 

 

I would point out that your communications, and the style in which you make contact with me has caused distress to me and to my family. This is something that I cannot tolerate and that must stop. I am aware of my legal rights and I consider you to be in breach of Section 40 of The Administration of Justice Act 1970, and a criminal offence under Section 2 of The Prevention from Harassment Act 1997. I have asked you on several occasions to cease communication with myself, and you have point blank refused to do so.

 

 

I will not tolerate such abuse any more, and should I receive any further telephone calls, or threatening letters from your organisation, or others acting on your behalf, or indeed if you do take me to court, I may consider reporting you to the Police, or pursuing damages for tbe distress you cause, and the time you consume.

 

 

I would be obliged if you would acknowledge receipt of this letter, by mail and NOT by telephone, and assure me you will not attempt to contact me unless you intend to pursue this through the courts.

 

 

To be absolutely clear : Under no circumstances, whatsoever, should you contact me by telephone.

 

 

I await your apology.

 

 

Yours faithfully,

[mrmarmite]

Thats an easy one,

look in template library for C.C.A request sent £1 postal order by RECORDED/SPECIAL delivery, and DONT sign the letter in your usual signature,

 

that will shut them up for a while

 

p.s welcome to C.A.G

[Halk]

Don't sign it in my usual signature?

 

And the CCA may be perfectly legal - it doesn't matter if it is or not. But I'm already paying another debt recovery for the same debt, and both SLC and the other company are happy. This company are just completely wrong...

[mrmarmite]

yes to sig some dca have been know to forge it, the idea of the CCA is to see weather or not crapquest has the legal right to collect this debt, without it they dont so you tell tell them to bugger off and nowt they can do

[Halk]

Ah, I'm just off the phone to Close, who say that they have checked, and they have the debt, I am paying it, and they have told the SLC everything is in order and to call of CapQuest.

 

I've asked them to put it in writing to me...

[mrmarmite]

dont phone them, thats how they get u cornerd and to pay more

[Halk]

Close were fine on the phone, and there's zero chance of me getting cornered. Close are not the problem.

 

In any case, I'll edit my letter and get the £1 attached, once I've read the CCA request thing.

 

Although... are Student Loans from back in 1994 covered by the CCA?

[mrmarmite]

its a loan so yes it will be, the idea is if they DONT have CCA it puts you in control and pay whatever when ever, they cannot demand money from you

[Halk]

I see...

 

At this point I am not going to ask for the CCA. If they decide to take me to court I will. However I'm not going to do anything I don't have to, and on a point of principle that means I am not going to prove anything to them. I'd far rather go to court. I've had wranglings with the Student Loan Company for the past 10 years, a court case would end it.

 

I may, after the CapQuest thing is settled contact the SLC directly and ask for the CCA. As again if they don't have it, or it doesn't suit then this ends it.

 

In the mean time though I do want to make things as difficult as possible for CapQuest, and openly invite them to take me to court. Since if they do I'm going to speak to a solicitor and see about taking them to court for damages. I'm absolutely raging that they continue to contact me, and refuse to stop, and I want this to "blow up in their faces" so to speak. I think the CCA thing would be a sideways route out of it.

 

You could say, I suppose, that I'm so fed up I want a legal fight with them over this. If there are solicitors costs then fine, I'll happily pay them. I do have some savings set aside, and my dad has said he'll financially support me, if needed, and get his solicitor on it.

 

The way I see it, once I send this letter they can either.

 

A) Send a letter to me and apologise.

B) Ignore it and keep pursuing me

C) Just drop it altogether

 

If they take option B then I think that considering I've done everything right, and they have been unreasonable and harassed me, I have a reasonable shot at taking a bite back out of them.

[mrmarmite]

sending CCSA to crapquest WILL make it difficult for them, it also shows where YOU legally stand, at end of the day no one wants to go to court, if it happens and you make a mistake you will end up with a CCJ against you.

 

A) Send a letter to me and apologise.

B) Ignore it and keep pursuing me

C) Just drop it altogether

 

a. they wont

c they wont

b they will, if you are talking by phone are you recording them? if not then you not got hope in hell in court,

ok you want to pay what you owe, BUT do it on YOUR terms NOT theirs

 

anybody in here will tell you NOT to phone and keep everthing in writing only, DCA's are well know to tell lies over the phone because they can get away with it.

 

If there are solicitors costs then fine, I'll happily pay them. I do have some savings set aside, and my dad has said he'll financially support me, if needed, and get his solicitor on it. ?????????????

 

why throw money down the pan? it's completley pointless !!!!!!

 

we can't help you and point you in the right direction untill you send CCA to check they can legally collect the debt, if they take you to court and THEN you send a CCA it will be too late, court order you must respond in 14 days, CCA takes 12 WORKING DAYS after that they cannot ask for payment, 30 calendar days after the 12 WORKING days THEN it becomes un-enforcable in court,

 

leaving it to the last minute will make it worse for you, I have had personal dealings with crapquest and know FULL will on how they operate.

 

by now you would of looked through some other threads to get idea on how it works, have you looked on Office of fair traning site yet for debt collection guidelines??????????? if not i suggest you do so.

[mrmarmite]

at the end of the day we can't help you unless you help yourself

[Halk]

Please don't think I'm discarding the help you are offering. I very much appreciate it. I'm just a bit concerned that the CCA thing might end up "neutral" if you see what I mean. I'm just at the point with frustration and anger that I want this to end in my favour.

 

The solicitors costs thing wouldn't be money down the pan. It'd be only if my solicitor said I had a reasonable case, failing that I can do the CCA thing. In the mean time though I think a letter from Close saying that they are acting on behalf of the SLC and the debt is being paid and CapQuest shouldn't be doing anything would mean that I can't lose the court case. Assuming I do get the letter from Close, then there can be no doubt that CapQuest should not be pursuing the debt...

 

As far as a CCJ against me, and the legal costs those are something I'm prepared to risk if it means winning this.

 

The entire thing here revolves around my pig headedness, and my refusal to jump through every hoop CapQuest, or indeed any other company who decides to try to scare money from me put up.

 

I haven't looked at the OFTs on debt collection agencies, that's one place I haven't. I'll go there and have a shifty. In the mean time I have been reading other threads here on CapQuest. As I write this post I've noticed an invaluable thing down the bottom listing similar threads. There is a massive amount of information out there, and it's going to take me a while to read it all. But really, it's going to be my own fault if I don't.

[The GodMother]

The CCA might end up in your favor anyway as if they dont have the paperwork then you dont have to pay them end of story.

 

They will not stop trying till they get what they want. They know the law on CCAs but dont expect you to.

 

Please dont give in to them over this.

 

Have you looked at the debt collection guidelines yet?

 

They have broken one already based on the letter you have typed as they are asking you to call a national rate line.

 

Chrissi