Capquest Letter

[steady82]

Hello folks

 

I wonder if anyone can help me on this.

I had a credit card during my uni days in 2005 and i managed to screw it all (around £3500) and never attempted to pay it back. Last i used the card was in 2006.

 

I have now recieved a letter from Capquest telling me that thay have bought this account from XXXX and total amount is around £6500. I am really stressed with this, i mean the letter is obviously threatening enough. I have looked at my credit report on the Equifax, the one you get for £2.00 and It does not even mention that credit card ever associated with me. I can see the rest of the info there on the report but there is nothing at all related to this credit card account. I have no other CCJ or court related orders or anything like that.

 

I know that the debt is definitely mine but it was around 3500 and now it has come back to haunt me with 6500. I am so annoyed with this. Its my mistakes, people do make mistakes but this is giving me a hard time..

 

I have full -time job now but we are expecting our first baby in few months time so, the budget is tight. Please advise me what to do? The thing is that i dont just want to ignore this , i know they will keep sending letters or possibily fonecalls and all that....so, i want to address the situation...

 

What will happen -

1. If i call capquest and argue with them and tell them that its not mine.

2. If i call Capquest and tell them to send me the CCA and tell them that i will have see if its mine or not

3. If i call them and ask them the full and final negotiation amount. ( I can afford to pay if they settle at 50% discount)

 

Please please help me....

i really dont want to stress myself and my wife at this time....i want to get this sorted once and for all.

[Solsunftm]

I am by no means an expert and what I say is based on reading other threads on here

 

Do not contact them and do not acknowledge the debt. If the debt was from 2006 and you have paid nothing since then and have not acknowledged the debit it is my understanding that it would be statuate barred in 2012. The fact it doesn't show on your credit report seems to me to be because its all ready stat barred

 

Hold tight till someone else confirms if what I have said is correct

[alisindebt]

I am by no means an expert and what I say is based on reading other threads on here

 

Do not contact them and do not acknowledge the debt. If the debt was from 2006 and you have paid nothing since then and have not acknowledged the debit it is my understanding that it would be statuate barred in 2012. The fact it doesn't show on your credit report seems to me to be because its all ready stat barred

 

Hold tight till someone else confirms if what I have said is correct

 

 

CapQuest buy SB and other debts cheaply, then inflate the amount due, and try and get people to pay high. They can even offer a "discount" to trick panicking debtors into paying.

 

As the card does not appear on your CRA file, it suggests it is SB. Do you know when in 2006 it started? Was it before today's date.

 

Whatever, don't respond to CrapQuest. They will write again anyway.

[steady82]

guys, thanks for your reply

 

Card definitely does not appear on my Credit history ...none whatsoever...i am sure they will have difficulty proving it ...

I think it was end of year 2006...

So, i guess i should not reply to Capquest ...But Can they take me to court or legal proceedings ? What will i do then? Last thing i want is my wife to be stressed about this.

 

please suggest

[oleg]

First and foremost, stay calm, there's nothing to panic about. Do nothing as yet. They will put you through their letters treadmill. Depending what they say, you could ask for your CCA and various other tactics, and you could ride out the storm until the debt is statute barred, 6 years (Scotland 5) after your last payment or written acknowledgement.

Capquest are fond of issuing statutory demands, but they are easily challenged, and that is not yet imminent.

It is not worth getting into a lather over.

When exactly did you last make a payment or acknowledge in writing and which part of UK are you in?

[steady82]

thanks for your 'oleg'

So, u suggest that i should just do nothing now and wait for more letters and then may be request CCA ? But when do i do that? I mean what exactly i need to wait for?

I believe the last payment that i had made must be around middle of 2006 and that was to the credit card company. You know the usual minimum payment back to the credit card company.

 

I dont know when it was passed to the debt collections and I have never ever acknowledged this Debt to any debt collection agency. I live in midlands.

I am just worried if this capquest can take me to the court and fight over it ? I mean can they?

Edited July 26, 2012 by steady82

[oleg]

I meant wait until certain statute barred date (+ 1 month) achieved. After that you're totally safe, though they may huff and puff a bit. You can then send the SB letter from the cag library.

If it really was mid-06 that you last paid/acknowledged then you're already totally in the clear, aren't you? No need to request CCA or any stalling tactics.

But you must be absolutely definitely sure of the last date, not just guesstimate; after such a long time one's memory can play tricks.

[steady82]

Thanks a lot for your reply 'Oleg'

 

I understand your point now. I will try and think over it again and see if i can remember the exact last payment made. But you kow what, the bank account i used to use to make payments to the credit card company is closed from last 3 years. But i will try to think on this anyway.

 

Can they take me to Court / or any other legal proceedings or get a CCJ in my name in the meantime? Or send bailiffs in?

[oleg]

No no no they can't send in bailiffs, lol! Only a court can and that would only happen if you had failed to comply with a court order eg CCJ. You are nowhere near that stage yet.

You can obtain statements from your old bank through a SAR but they may stop at 6 years back. Even try just speaking to them and asking, they might oblige if you explain it's for "legal" reasons. Or is that bank also the issuer of the credit card which CQ bought?

Please don't stress, Steady, there's no reason whatsoever.

[steady82]

thanks for your advice 'oleg'

I will do the SAR to my old bank and get the data.

No, Bank was not the issuer of the credit card in question here.

I have been thinking on this and i have just realised that it was actually mid of year 2007 when i must have made the last payment to the credit card company thats means i avnt completed the six years period yet.

 

But this credit card is not even listed in my credit report file (got frm equifax) so, can i just not say that its not mine ?

Or you reckon i should just stay quiet

[ims21]

If you are unsure as to the date of the last payment and you are sure that you have only ever paid the original creditor then a SAR to the card company would be your best bet.

 

The fact that it is no longer on your CRA file suggests it may be SB but you can't be sure from that alone.

 

You need to be sure when that last payments was made.

[oleg]

Personally if i was *certain* which bank account i had paid from i would not SAR the credit card provider, only the bank, as i said before. As you've now decided the payment was 07 not 06 then it must be within the scope of the SAR. Reason i would not willingly approach the credit card provider is i would be wary of CQ finding out and this damaging your non-recognition of the debt. They are devious b*ggars.

I suggest you now wait and see what your bank produce.

DON'T worry about CQ's aggressive letters when they come. All hot air. We can deal with them as and when. Ok?

[ims21]

SAR does not acknowledge a debt.

[steady82]

Personally if i was *certain* which bank account i had paid from i would not SAR the credit card provider, only the bank, as i said before. As you've now decided the payment was 07 not 06 then it must be within the scope of the SAR. Reason i would not willingly approach the credit card provider is i would be wary of CQ finding out and this damaging your non-recognition of the debt. They are devious b*ggars.

I suggest you now wait and see what your bank produce.

DON'T worry about CQ's aggressive letters when they come. All hot air. We can deal with them as and when. Ok?

 

i think you are right there...

i will do a SAR with my Old Bank for the transactions on the account. That will atleast give me a data when i made last payment to the credit card provider. Until then, as you say, just stay quiet.

But Capquest will obviously threaten me for the court and legal proceedings in their letters. So, what do i do then? Where do i stand with regards to CCJ ?

 

I still dont understand why its not there on my credit file. Anyway its good for though

[Old Cogger]

Next time if you have to contact Capquest address to: - Ms A. SIMMS, QUALITY & ASSURANCE OFFICER

[renegadeimp]

Good way with crapquest is to send the statute barred letter. If you get a response saying a small payment was made in 2007 or 2009, then you can be sure that they either dont have the relevant documents to proceed, or that it is fully statute barred.

[steady82]

Good way with crapquest is to send the statute barred letter. If you get a response saying a small payment was made in 2007 or 2009, then you can be sure that they either dont have the relevant documents to proceed, or that it is fully statute barred.

 

if i send the capquest this Statute Barred letter, that means i am kind of accepting that the debt belongs to me. I am sort of acknowledging it. right ?

[ims21]

Ideally you need to be sure of your dates before sending CQ anything.

[steady82]

Ideally you need to be sure of your dates before sending CQ anything.

 

thanks for your advice....i will do the SAR on my bank account and see if i can find any clue when the last payment was made to the credit card company

Can Crapquest take me to the court or start legal proceedings if i keep on ignoring their letters ? I am not sure what to do at this moment ? Please suggest

[ims21]

If you SAR your bank account then you will get either copy statements.transaction history showing cheque numbers for cheque payments and reference numbers for SO and DDR. Unless you have your old cheque stubs I don't see how that will help you.

 

If CQ are the legal owner of the debt then yes they could start proceedings but I would suggest you are a long way from that.

[oleg]

Steady you have repeatedly asked about the likelihood of court action and repeatedly been told that if that were to be the case, it is a long way off yet. They will send letters announcing your beheading in the tower of london and heaven knows what else but you should ignore for now. If you have no assets or disposable income they will never act on their moronic threats.

Will you be able to identify credit card payments from your old bank statements? As you said you paid the monthly minimum i assume it was a similar figure each time in the dying days of the "relationship" so shouldn't be too hard. If paid by direct debit, then it's a piece of cake.

Please stop worrying.

[steady82]

thanks oleg

yes, i will be sending SAR to my bank to get the details of the old bank account . i remember it used to be on monthly dd so, i hope it should not be a problem in identifying when the last payment was made. That can help me in establishing when this debt becomes Statute Barred.

i was (& still am) particularly conterned about the legal proceedings or court action threats because as i said earlier, i really do not want to give any stress to my pregnant wife. But i must say, i am feeling a bit better than i was feeling earlier when i had got the letter. You guys have given me good understanding on how this could pan out.

 

I will keep you guys posted if i receive any more letters and if there is any more advancement on this case. I think the right course action should be wait for SAR and totally ignore the letters or deny the debt coz its not even on my Credit file

[citizenB]

I'm sorry you really need to send Subject Access request to the Original Creditor of the debt.

 

You require statements that show the payments being recorded to the account.

 

Suppose CapQuest come back at a later time and say.. oh a payment was made on such and such a date.. and you dont have the credit card statements?

 

Also, if you dont have the CC statements, you wont know if there are any default charges applied to the account. If it isnt Statute barred, which it appears not to be according to your dates.. then you will want to be able to reduce the debt as much as you can. As you can reclaim the charges then that would help.

[zoeturner]

I would not worry as from what you say the debt is statute barred - however even if it were not - quite often consumer credit act formalities were never properly completed by the banks hence why they wrote off or sold on these debts, Capquest do not have any legal powers unless or until they obtain a CCJ however from past experience they won't - instead they rely on [EDIT] harrassment to extort monies from those who mistakenly fear them. Report their phone calls and letters to the OFT who i hear are currently compiling a list of 100's of cases to prosecute Capquest [EDIT] and/or their collegues at "Scotcall" [EDIT].

Edited July 29, 2012 by ims21

[renegadeimp]

If capquest bought the debt then they inherit all the legal powers the OC had. If they are only acting on behalf of a creditor, then they can take a running jump.