Capquest strange letter

[sparkright]

My wife received a letter this morning 29/03/08 from capquest stating that she owed 309.74 to littlewoods finance and this had been passed on to them for collection.

The letter is dated 27/3/08 and they are saying that they will pass this on to their solicitors to commence legal action on the 1/4/08 if they do not hear from us by the 26/3/08.

Didnt make any sence to me either as all the dates are wrong, but thats how it was written.

Apart from the fact that we have never had any dealings with littlewoods finance and have lived in Scotland for the last 7 years i am not sure what to do about this letter.

Do i contact them and tell them that i have no idea what they are talking about or what?

The letter goes on to say that they will get a warrent of execution and send the bailiffs to us.

Could someone please help as we are worried about this as we live in a remote area and am bothered about comming home and finding our house empty.

[Bigmac versus]

Hi sparkright send them a CCA request, if you are saying this could be over 7 years old then it may be statute barred.

Dont call them or speak to them on the phone they will only upset you or your wife, simply tell them you will only correspond in writing and keep this thread update at all times.

 

 

Follow link and scroll down to letter N

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-bailiffs-advice/20758-creditors-dcas-letter-templates.html

[rory32]

Just to add that they can not simply send the bailiffs round (as you are in Scotland it would be sheriff officers anyway) they would need to get a decree granted against you and then get an exceptional attachment order through you not paying the decree and only then could they remove non essential items (they are heavily restricted in what they can and can't take). However they would not be allowed to force entry. A CCJ would be of no use as this would be ruled as legally incompetent as you reside in Scotland. You would be notified of any court action by the court and give the opportunity to defend. Remember Capquest are simply a debt collection agency - they have no legal powers whatsoever.

 

I would also report this matter to Trading Standards. There appear to have been a spate of DCA's wrongly tracing people at the moment.

[rory32]

Regarding the CCA request there is an alternative. You could simply send a prove it letter (example below). As with all letters to DCA's, dont sign the letter. Send all letters either by recorded delivery or at the very least get proof of posting.

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Account no:

 

You have contacted me/us regarding the account with the above reference number, which you claim is owed by myself/ourselves.

 

I/we would point out that I/we have no knowledge of any such debt being owed to (insert company name).

 

I am/we are familiar with the Office of Fair Trading Debt Collection Guidance which states that it unfair to send demands for payment to an individual when it is uncertain that they are the debtor in question.

 

I/we would also point out that the OFT say under the Guidance that it is unfair to pursue third parties for payment when they are not liable. In not ceasing collection activity whilst investigating a reasonably queried or disputed debt you are using deceptive/and or unfair methods.

 

Furthermore ignoring and/or disregarding claims that debts have been settled or are disputed and continuing to make unjustified demands for payment amounts to physical/psychological harassment.

 

I/we would ask that no further contact be made concerning the above account unless you can provide evidence as to my/our liability for the debt in question.

 

I/we await your written confirmation that this matter is now closed. Otherwise I will have no option but to make a complaint to the trading standards department and consider informing the OFT of your actions.

 

I/we look forward to your reply.

 

Yours faithfully

 

 

 

(Your Name) Print do not sign

[Wikkitt]

Hi

 

They must be sending out random letters as I have already read (in the past couple of hours) 4 threads about capquest and littlewoods accounts.

 

My mum received the same letter today 29/03/08 from capquest stating that she owed 100.00 to littlewoods, The letter is dated 27/3/08 and they are saying that they will pass this on to their solicitors to commence legal action, and she must contact them by the 26/3/08.

 

She has never had a Littlewoods account, but after she phoned them (she told me this when I arrived at her home this morning), she was told that it was a debt from 1990, but she didn't even live at this address then.

 

Wikkitt

[3jacks]

Hi

My wife had a letter yesterday sounds like its the same one you have. They are passing on to solicitors on 1/4/08 blah blah blah.I have sent the letter off posted above regarding legal side and will wait to see what occurs. Oh the sum supposedly owed £71.61p from 1993.

[djgordyp]

Crapquest must have gone through an awful lot of paper and ink on the 27th. That is the date on my letter as well. I bet their solicitor isn't looikng forward to the mountain of work that (may) be coming his way.

Is anyone keeping count of the number of letters concerning Littlewoods accounts. :D

[sparkright]

Firstly let me thank all of you for your input , it has been a great help.

Neither myself or my wife have ever had an account with Littlewoods so we have no idea what this is about and because of our rural location our doors are never locked so we were concerned about comming home to an empty house.

[djgordyp]

because of our rural location our doors are never locked so we were concerned about comming home to an empty house.

 

In this day and age I wouldn't recommend anyone leaving their doors unlocked, rural or not. To me, not locking doors is a bad habit to get into. If my house is going to get burgled then they'll have to do it the hard way and hopefully leave clues that will get them caught.

 

Now back on topic. If they do send the baliffs (it won't come to that) they are entitled to gain peaceful entry through an open window or unlocked door.

[rory32]

If they do send the baliffs (it won't come to that) they are entitled to gain peaceful entry through an open window or unlocked door.

Please note the OP's location. We do not have bailiffs in Scotland nor do we have exactly the same laws regarding entry. As previously stated you can not just send the sheriff officers round.

[sparkright]

Let me first of all thank all who replied.

The above letter was sent Monday recorded delivery and a reply received today Thursday and reads as follows:-

Dear mrs.W

I write in responce to your recent letter the contents of which have been noted.

Unfortunately i am unable to comment on the dispute you have raised as this was prior to our involvement and at the time the account was passed to us we were unaware of any existing query. Therefore we are closing the account on our system.

Thank you for taking the time in trying to resolve this matter.

yourse sincerely

Ms J Simms

Quality and Assurance officer

 

Hopefully this is the end of the matter.

Thank you all.

Ken

[Bigmac versus]

Hopefully it will indeed, however should it raise its ugly head again you know where to come.

[Brassed off]

Typical of Capquest to respond with a standard letter Ken but it's nice to see they have taken their ball home

 

They still haven't responded directly to your "Prove It" letter but that's Capquest for you

 

Don't be surprised if you receive another letter from them in the future. Just make sure you hang on to Ms Simms' letter - just in case

[djgordyp]

Well done sparkright. My statute barred letter was marked as delivered today. Be interesting to see if they reply.

[3jacks]

hi

My wife received the same standard letter today. I like the way they ""thank you for trying to resolve this matter". Scuse me what about bailiffs, court enforcement, warrant of execution, impounded goods, etc etc etc.What about all the older frail people who receive this sort of bullying letter? How many people just pay up out of fear and probably dont owe a penny. Sounds like a nice little earner. I honestly thought it was a [problem] at first because of the huge amount of threat involved, so the first thing I did was a check on the company on the web. I did report them to consumer direct and had it logged as a possible criminal offence. If everybody does the same maybe they will pay them a visit. I am going to forward a copy of letter sent to us and explain my disgust in the way this company think they can treat people. :mad:

[3jacks]

And another thing

Ms J simms (I assume Ms means minus a spine) what about adding a phone number to your letters? Still you lot aint far from pompey. :mad:

[sparkright]

If you like dishing out some verbal abuse the phone number is 0870 0843510

Ken:D

[Brassed off]

Here you are, Say No to 0870

 

SAYNOTO0870.COM - Non-Geographical Alternative Telephone Numbers

 

That should give you the cheaper option. As an avid fan of CQ, there's no way I'm gonna pay more than I have to

[3jacks]

hi

cheers for that. I already have the link for alternative numbers just venting my spleen. On the day we received initial letter my wife visited her mother and her sister and husband were there.He said his mother had received a phone call from cq saying she had 7 hours to pay her phone bill or she would be cut off.She pays by direct debit? What are they up to ?

[NitrousOxide]

Capquest are notorious in backdating letters.

It's to make you believe the last day has passed, so you panick and ring them.