Default registered on Statute Barred Debt - Advice Please

[Critto]

Guys and Gals hi

 

First post and sorry its a long one.  Mods please feel free to move / amend this if its in the wrong place.

 

My brother has severe mental health difficulties which have resulted in him being formally held in several secure psychiatric hosptials for much of the last 6 years.  He is currently on an extended stay under Section 3 of the MHA.

 

My sister in law (his wife) holds Lasting Powers of Attorney over his financial and property affairs and also his Health and Welfare Affairs.  These were put into place a few years ago at the suggestion of his psychiatrists and in conjunction of his MHA advocate as he lacks mental capacity.  The LPAs were confirmed by the Office of the Public Guardian (Courts) some years ago.  his wife has given me written authority to act on their behalf in relation to all financial matters.

 

Now the story.

 

Completely unknown to us, in May 2014, my brother on a rare stay in the community, for some reason only he would know, obtained a car loan to purchase a car.  On 1st June 2014 he made the first monthly payment on the loan.  on the 9th June 2014, he was formally sectioned on a Section 2 MHA after he was found at 2am sitting in the middle of a main road, with a knife to his throat having a arguement with God about God being a racist.

 

I stopped his bank account at this point to prevent him wasting money whilst he was in hospital (a previous traight of his).

 

On the 10th July 2014, he received a default notice served under section 87 (1) of the CCA from the finance company as he failed to make the necessary payment on 1st July 2014.  I was intercepting his post at this point in time and this is how we became aware of the position.  The default notice required remedy by the 23rd July 2014, with remedy being repayment of the loan in full i.e. £7419.  NO remedy was made.  NO acknowledgement of the debt was made then or at anytime since.  No further payments were made then or at any time since.

 

My understanding is that by the issue of the Default Notice on the 9th July 2014, this set the date of the causal action to be 23rd July 2014 and then by way of no further action being taken on either side, the debt became statute barred under section 5 of the Limitations Act 1980.

 

No further communication of any description has occured with the Finance Company since 9th Juy 2014.

 

In late August this year, so 6-7 weeks ago, I started to receive calls from a mobile number with the caller asking for my brother.  This is not unusual as my brother is not permitted a mobile phone in hospital (although he can have a laptop as the broadband connection has firewalls to prevent him accessing a lot of content) and genuine callers for him come through either me or his wife anyway.  On receiving these calls I would explain the situation to them but the callers most time refused to discuss the reason for their calls to me.

 

On one of the calls, I discovered by accident is was a company called Capquest whom were chasing my brother.  This peaked my interest as I am aware Capquest are a DCA.  I then pulled credit reports from Experian, Equifax and Transunion and all three were reporting a default of £7419 but in favour of Arrow Global Limited, however this default was registered as occuring on the 2nd May 2019 and it relating to Car Finance.

 

I am aware that Arrow Global purchase debt for a fraction of the price and then try to lever as much as they can for it and are a sister company to Capquest.

 

It is my understanding that Arrow Global cannot

 

1. re register a new default once an existing default notice has been registered, is that correct? 

2. cannot add a second default for the same matter unless an agreed repayment arrangement has been broke, is that correct?

3. they cannot change the date of the default to show it is younger than then original default date, is that correct?

4. all they can do is change the name on the default from the original Finance company to their name only, is that correct?

 

This is important because if i am right, then the original default should have fallen off his credit files on or around the 24th July this year.

 

Now, on the 3rd September 2020 I emailed the Chief Exec of Arrow Global and mentioned all this, any I have provided him with copies of the original default notice issued by the Car Finance Company and a copy of the Credit Reference Agency report I obtained back in December 2014 showing the default as registered in July 2014.  I have pointed out the matter is statute barred and I have requested the removal of the default notice on all Credit Reference Agencys.  This email was acknowledged as being received the same day.

 

I have also sent to Arrow Globals Directors office the same information by special delivery post, which has been signed for.  I have sent a further copy to Arrow Globals registered office the same information and again this has been signed for.  I have just in case in a belt and braces exercise sent everything to Capquest as well.

 

Last week whilst on a visit with my sister in law to my brother in hospital, I accidentally left my mobile in his bedroom whilst I spoke to his doctors and the nursing staff whom look after him.  Whilst I was out of the room my mobile obviously rang and my brother answered and I was Capquest chasing him again.  My brother says they threatened to call to him and have him arrested if he didnt pay up; in fairness I am unsure how accurate that is.  This in turn caused him to go bollistic, screaming and shouting which necessitated the nurses administering mediation to knock him out and we were asked to leave.  This all occurred around 10am in the morning.

 

I have to say, I was pretty upset and somewhat annoyed with myself for being so stupid as to leave my mobile around. 

 

Now at around 2am the following morning my sister in law took a telephone call from my brothers hospital,  My brother had made a very serious attempt at suicide and it was only the fact that because of the earlier incident they had him on extended observations that they were quick enough to prevent it.  We were left in no doubt whatsoever that he would have been successful had they not made that visit to him at that time. The worrying thing is he is located in a secure wing where every precaution is taken to prevent suicide attempts.

 

My brother has advised his hosptial team he attempted suicide because of the call from Capquest and that he will make further attempts at suicide as a result.  He is now on a constant watch and has someone with him permanently.  He has attempted a suicide attempt twice but these were caught quickly by the staff. 

 

That was last week.  This week I have had a further three calls from Capquest chasing my brother for this debt.  They appear to just be blatently ignoring what I say and the evidence sent to them

and just continually hounding us.  I am strong enough to tell them to flock off (as a shepherd might say) but I am worried that it is taking its toll on my sister in law and I am terrified they get through to my brother.

 

The reason for this post now is I have just been informed my brother had another go at ending his life this afternoon by diving into a fish pond in the garden within the hospital ward he is on.  The staff have also had to take his laptop off him as they have discovered he has been checking his own credit files several times a day and constantly sees this falsely recorded (in my opinion) default notice, which causes his suicidal behaviour.

 

His laptop was extremely important to him as it was a way he could commuincate with his wife and me by email.  He is now somewhat isolated and doesnt understand why or wht he has done wrong.

 

I am now prepared to go to war with Arrow Global and Capquest if I need to but I could do with some advise on my understanding of the law and what you learned people think I should do next.  I have to protect him and I have to protect his wife from all this. I will not be responsible for him committing suicide because of my in action.

 

Can any of you guys provide some advice please?

 

Once again, I apologise for the length of this post.

 

Good wishes.  Stay WELL.

 

C

 

[dx100uk]

well done that man.

 

you have everything to nail them in court for very serious sums of money here.

 

however lets 1stly tidy a few things up.

 

it in a way does matter that the debt is statute to the fact of it showing or not in this instance

the fact is the default was registered by the OC more than 6yrs ago

that very fact means that is get removed along with the whole account on the defaults 6th birthday, never to return.

 

what Arrows have done and the effects of it, are very serious data issues

i would give the ICO a phone call on this tomorrow

they should be very interested in this and i expect they will get the default defaulted account removed forth with.

now i'm not sure how they will sit with seeking damages or poss helping upon this but its worthy to simply ask too.

 

then you should have everything you need to launch a rather damaging compensation case that others will help with against these nasty nasty people that as we all know couldn't give a monkey's..but solely want the money, which you quite rightly state results from a statute barred ebt anyway.

 

shame that call didn;'t get recorded 

although thinking about this, its very recent so i'm wondering if you send and sar off for it you might well get it.

they DO record all calls but how long they retain them is another matter, but i believe it's 6mts.

 

go nail 'em !!!

 

look out capquest...incoming ...

 

[BankFodder]

I'm sorry to come in on a negative note here, but ICO are so overrun that they are pretty well refusing to take any complaints on the phone and they insist on it being in writing and accompanied by evidence that you have tried to reach out to the company first. Three or four years ago, you could make a complaint on the phone and they would give you a reference number within a few days and a decision/opinion within just a few weeks.

 

Now it's a struggle even to get a reference number in three months. This is because the GDPR initiative has caused such a lot of work for the ICO and yet they haven't been properly funded that effectively the GDPR revolution of a couple of years ago has backfired and the data subject – you and me – are left with even less help and support than we previously were.

Certainly do try, as has been suggested above, that you will have to be very charming and also persistent if you are going to make any headway on it over the phone. I'll be very interested to hear if you succeed. Also, you've been advised to record your calls. Read our customer services guide. Call recording is essential

[Critto]

Thank you both.

 

I do in fact record the calls from Capquest but it has to be set up manually on each call (iPhone means it has to be routed through a third party).  So I already have around 40 of them recorded with me giving the very same detailed reason as to why I wont let them speak to my brother directly and pointing out the item they are chasing is Statute Barred.

 

My brother wouldn't have known how to set up the call record or indeed the reason for wanting to do it in the first place.  i blame myself for my lapse on that one, but i wont make that mistake again.

 

I will give the ICO a call tomorrow and see where we get to and if they wont accept it by telephone I will pursue it via a written complaint.  Six weeks is enough for Arrow/Capquest to look at it and respond to me with any type of answer I  think, given that they can employ sufficent numbskulls to call 2-3 times a day, everyday for weeks.

 

So my understanding out what they can do regarding updating the default is correct then?

 

Once again, very many thanks indeed for your guidance, I will endeavour to keep you updated.

 

Stay wells good people.

 

C

[BankFodder]

Have a look at the customer services guide and you will see that we recommend an Olympus TP8 – get it from Amazon, very cheap and it will do the job

[dx100uk]

1 hour ago, dx100uk said:

the fact is the default was registered by the OC more than 6yrs ago

that very fact means that is get removed along with the whole account on the defaults 6th birthday, never to return.

 

[dx100uk]

53 minutes ago, Critto said:

I already have around 40 of them recorded with me giving the very same detailed reason as to why I wont let them speak to my brother directly and pointing out the item they are chasing is Statute Barred.

I would seriously like these and am prepared to edit them all so we can actually demonstrate what lies a commission based jockey uses to scam people.

 

are you willing?

[Critto]

Yes i would be willing to do this BUT only after I resolve the matter for my brother.

 

I would need to investigate the legal position as i understand calls may only be legally recorded for personal and evidential use.

 

C

[dx100uk]

no not so. urban myth.

[dx100uk]

so how is this going?

 

dx