Buchanan Clark & Wells and Aktiv Kaptial – REALLY UNSURE…

[kalvinh]

Hi there, I’m new to this forum and would really appreciate some advice. From reading the many threads I can see that BCW is very popular here! Firtstly let me apologise, it’s a bit of a long post.

 

I received a ‘Final Notice’ from BCW stating that I needed to pay an outstanding debt with their client Aktiv Kapital of approx £2,500, and that they had apparently written previously. It went on to say that unless I pay immediately they would commence legal proceedings against me. However:

 

(a) I have never received any correspondence from BCW,

 

(b) I have never heard of Aktiv Kapital Investments Ltd prior to this letter, though from reading posts on the forum it appears they purchase other debts,

 

© I have no knowledge whatsoever of the supposed £2,500 debt, and

 

(d) The letter was addressed in my maiden name.

The only thing I can think of which it could possibly be relating to is from when I was working for a subsidiary of Barclays Bank before I got married more than 5 years ago. Whilst I was there they funded my course (approx £1,300), which I passed. I had a verbal agreement with the Director of the company that as long as I passed I would not have to pay back the course fees, however no agreement was ever signed. When I left Barclays in June 2001 they gave me a generic letter stating that I had to pay back any loans however this only mentioned barclayloans & season tickets specifically, and as I had passed my exams I did not think anything of it. Soon afterwards I moved in with my partner. Letters were received at my previous address asking for repayment of the course fees to which I responded in August 2001 by firstly speaking with Barclay’s HR department, and followed with an email to the Director upon their suggestion. I heard nothing until December 2001 (again at my former address) when I was again being chased for repayment to which I replied with an email to the Director asking him to sort this out once and for all and reminding him of the agreement. I also told him that any further correspondence should be to my email address only. I never heard anything again and assumed that he had indeed sorted out the misunderstanding.

 

But, this is the only thing I can think of that BCW could possibly be chasing. Assuming it is this Barclays issue I have no idea where I now stand. Would this be covered by CCA or would it fall into the realms of Employment Law? Given that there was never a signed agreement, or anything contained in the Employment Contract, and the fact that there was a verbal agreement can I now 5+ years on be forced to pay this back?

 

From reading other posts I think I should send BCW a letter stating the following:

 

(a) I have never had any previous correspondence from BCW or Aktiv Capital,

 

(b) I have no knowledge whatsoever of Aktiv Kapital or of any debt,

 

© I therefore dispute the alleged debt,

 

(d) I request that they provide a copy of the agreement under CCA, and

 

(e) They are in breach of the Data Protection Act by holding my details (albeit old ones) without having registered with the Information Commissioners Office.

Is this about right or have I totally missed the point? Any help would be really appreciated.

[stan5131]

Yes. Basically, send the CCA letter which you will find in the template letters on this site.

 

Whether this fringes on employment law or not, it is still a debt which is being chased by the third party.

 

Send the CCA letter and dont forget to include a £1 postal order. Sit back and wait for their reply.

 

The documents you receive back should give you more information on what the debt was actually for.

[MARTIN3030]

Interesting thread.

A search on BCWs website shows them as very active themselves mid-way to end of debt recovery cycles.

Ak have obviously farmed out the collection since it is in its final year.

Its therefore important that you do nothing to allow them to kickstart the 6 year limitation.

In your communications make it clear that you accept no liability and are merely in contact with them to establish why they are wanting you too pay it.

You will know soon enough as to whether they are able to supply the paperwork as if they cannot they will send your cheque back and pass the file back to AK.

AK are themselves not always quick to write letters when its YOU requesting something from THEM.

I sent a cca to them in July and have the signed Royal mail proof of delivery for it.They continued to send the threatening letters and ignored my cca request completely.I am still dealing with this through trading standards.

[kalvinh]

Many thanks all for the advice. I'll send the CCA letter and see what happens.

[kalvinh]

Well, got a reply from BCW today. Basically they're saying they don't hold credit agreements and that I should submit my request directly to Aktiv Kapital. They also returned the £1 cheque. The worrying thing is that they have not said whether or not they intend to take this further as per thir previous Final Notice letter.

 

Within the CCA letter I sent them I stated that any further correspondence from them should be only by registered or recorded post, not normal post which is unreliable and could not be guarenteed. They of course sent it by normal post. I also stated that they should remove my details from their records as they were acting illegally in not being registered with the Information Commissioners Office.

 

Does this all mean that I can ignore their letter altogether? And are they likely to pursue things further or pass the alleged debt back to Aktiv Kapital?

 

Many thanks!

[spotnot]

There is something fishy going on with BCW. Am looking into it and will post back here.

 

In the meantime, just wait for AK to get back to you...............which may take some time!!!

[elsinore]

 

Does this all mean that I can ignore their letter altogether? And are they likely to pursue things further or pass the alleged debt back to Aktiv Kapital?

 

Many thanks!

 

BCW cannot and will not harm you. By their own admission they have no documentation that they could take into court ro substantiate a claim against you. The letter (and others you may get from them) are designed to frighten you into starting repayments. They may pester you, but that's all.

 

Send the CCA request to AK. They most probably won't have the right documents either!

 

Also send a SAR for all the info they have on you. That will establish exactly what they are chasing you for.

 

Don't forget to send £1 for the CCA and £10 for the SAR.

 

Elsinore

[kalvinh]

Many thanks spotnot & elsinore!

 

Reassuring to have firm advice back.

 

Do you think it would be better to wait and hear from AK first, before sending the CCA and SAR to them?

 

I have no idea of what the process is from AK's side. Does the Final Notice received from BCW mean that AK can now take legal proceedings without further notice to me? Or are they still obliged to send a demand for payment irrespective of what BCW has sent?

 

Thanks, K

[elsinore]

 

Do you think it would be better to wait and hear from AK first, before sending the CCA and S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) to them?

 

It's really up to you Kalvin. If you do nothing, you may never hear from AK again. Or you can force the issue and try to find out what it is they have on you.

 

If you haven't already done it, get your credit reports from the Credit Reference Agencies. You might find some clues on there.

 

I wouldn't worry too much about AK, they usually don't have the proper authority to sue anybody. They might threaten you, but as I mentioned before, it's all designed to panic you into giving them money.

 

I have a series of eight letters from AK which they have recently sent me at fortnightly intervals. They are computer generated letters (all different!) which the AK computer burps out no matter what.

 

When you're satisfied that they are in the wrong, you can take great pleasure in reporting them to all and sundry!

 

Elsinore