Buchanan Clark & Wells/ Aktiv Kapital First Investment Ltd unknown debt

[scooterist007]

Hi, dont know if this is the right place for this post, and sorry if it isnt!

 

Right today I recieved a letter from Buchanan Clark & Wells, stating it was a formal demand saying I owe £2092.37 to Aktive Kapital First Investment Ltd,

I dont know anything about this debt and have never heard from any of these people before, it has my correct name and address, so I phoned up bcw and asked them what is this for, she said it was a debt from tiny computers and they could reduce the debt for me, which I thanked her for, but I wasnt paying it as I dont owe the debt! I asked her for all the details and she said they dont have any details except it was defualted in 1999, I said I have never heard of recieved anything before and I bought a house last year and nothing has come up in credit files to which she said that it wouldnt come on my credit file because it was a long time ago! I asked her who I can contact reguarding this debt, and she said I needed to contact Tiny Computers but wouldnt give me a telephone number or an address, so imagine my suprise when looking on the net for a contact number for tiny and found out that tiny have gone bust! doh, so i managed to find a telephone number for aktive kapital from fool.co.uk forum and spoke to a woman who told me that it was a credit agreement from tiny computers in oct 1997, I said I have never bought anything from tiny computers and could she provide more details like a signed credit agreement because Im thinking maybe there might be somthing dodgy like identity theft because i dont know anything about the debt and have never recieved any letters from anyone regaurding this debt! to which she replied, we proberly wont have a copy of the credit agreement because they dont keep them that long and if I think its a case of identity theft then I should goto the police and get a crime number and give it to them!

I am banging my head against a brick wall, they wont prove i have a debt just saying i should pay it.

 

what can i do? because I am not paying for somthing I dont owe.

[spotnot]

Firstly, if you are really worried about identity theft, check your credit file and make sure that nothing else untoward has been happening in your name.

 

Next send a SAR to Tiny computers. They will have to send you everything they have about you.

 

Finally, ignore BCW. If there is a debt, its beyond the six year and cannot be enforced. Don't phone them and if they hassle you there is a letter you can send them the ' Telephone harassment' letter found in the stickies.

 

If you really wanted to, you could send them a letter stating that they cannot enforce the debt etc due to the six year limitations, but to be honest, they know that they are trying it on and don't need reminding!

 

Spotnot

[lookinforinfo]

As you are certain the debt is not yours, send one letter to BCW telling

them that they have the wrong person. That by writing to you they are in breach of the Data Protection Act, since their records are supposed to be accurate.

Warn them not to damage your credit rating. And that you will not enter

into any further communication with them. The next time will be in Court.

Send it recorded delivery and keep a copy of it.

 

Thereafter ignore all phone calls and letters from them. But keep a log of

the phone calls and keep all the letters for a possible harassment claim

against them.

 

The most likely reason for their letter is that they have a debt with someone having the same name as you, and BCW are too lazy to check it out. If you

want to ensure that they have not defaulted you etc, you can look a t your

credit files, but BCW are not worth wasting money on-a stamp and an

envelope is just about what they are worth.

[bridle]

I have had a similar request from Aktiv Kapital for one of my very old debts, I am member of TGWU union and spoke to there legal helpline and the advice they gave me was. As long as you have not moved in the last 6 years (without telling the company) then they are unable to enforce the debt as under the Limitations act they only have 6 years to chase a debt through the uk legal system. I was also told they are not able to take the debt through the Courts as the courts cannot enforce a debt which is barred under the limitations act. except in certain circumstances which i was told is 1, if you move address and do not tell the company or 2 if you have admitted the debt is yours or 3, you have made a payment within the last 6 years.

 

Hope this helps.

[scooterist007]

hi and thanks for the reply guys,

 

Spotnot, I have had got my credit files from experian and equifax and there isnt anything on them that shouldnt be there and reguarding sending tiny a sar, how can I, they went bust in 2005! so who do I send the sar to? The only reason I phoned up bcw was to find out what the hell they were talking about sending me this letter! other that that, I wont be phoning them again.

 

Lookinforinfo, I did tell bcw and akfi ltd that they had the wrong person but they asked me for my name and dob which they said was the details they had and also my old address, so I wouldnt of thought that there would be 2 guys with the same name and dob!

 

Bridle, I should phone up tgwu as I am a member too! but problem is that I have moved, i moved in 2005 but since they said I defualted in 1999 I was at my old address which they say know, but I didnt tell them about moving as I know nothing about the debt so how can I inform them!

 

 

My real concern is, can they leagly persue a debt that goes so far back, and cant even prove to me that the debt is even mine ie cant prove a credit aggreement signed by me?

[NailPost]

They cannot legally enforce a debt that was defaulted in 1999 and which hasn't been chased up in the meantime. Tell them to go away. I suspect the tgwu advice about not advising companies of any address change may not be 100% correct. I think it would be up to the creditor to prove they had not received any notification from goneaways.

 

Tiny Computers have an administrator or receiver. A google search might turn up their name and a contact address. Don't call. Contact them in writing. They were also connected with Time Computers at one point. Couldit be you bought a pc from them. I did and had lots of trouble with them on delivery dates.

[bridle]

Hiya

 

If i was you i would contact the tgwu free legal line as i suspect they would say that if u defaulted in 1999 and you moved in 2005 the 6 years was up but they have your address as u got the letter so i doubt that would be an issue but i would phone tgwu as bcw are refering you to tiny but as far as i am aware its the finance company itself who has to provide the proof and therfore it is up to Aktif/BCW to provide the credit agreement as they cannot collect a debt if they do not have nor have access to the credit agreement. I strongly advise you call TGWU legal line.

[raaydaar]

I believe I read somewhere that BCW aren't registered with the information commissioners office and therefore should not be processing data

[scooterist007]

hi guys, right an update, I have loads of letters from bcw and have ignored them, I also got a phone call from a scottish guy from bcw and he wasnt very nice at all! but the upshot was, I told him to prove the debt was mine, which he said he could and would send it to me, but still havnt got any proof from them.

I also got a letter from Geoffrey Parker Bourne solicitors stating 'notice of pending legal action' which basicly says their going to take legal proceedings to recover the money! I phoned up gpb and they said i should phone up bcw and I asked to speak to a solicitor there, which she kept saying that i should phone up bcw, so i think this solicitor letter is another farce from bcw.

 

I'm now getting fed up with this, there must be somthing i can do to stop this.

 

regards

[djdave]

Don't phone them unless you're able to record the conversations. If so, let them know they're being recorded otherwise you might have trouble using the recordings in court.

 

Best stick to writing. I know it takes longer, but it's far far better.

 

If they own the debt then they must conform to a CCA request. But as (a) they almost certainly don't have a credit agreement and (b) it would be statute barred anyway; let them default and then see how far they get if they tried to take you to court.

 

You're right. They're wrong. If they "take legal proceedings" then the very best of luck to them as they'd be wasting their time and money - it won't come to that.

[scooterist007]

ok thanks bud much appreciated, will have to write to them!

[delta6370]

I had trouble with BCW chasing me for a debt that wasn't mine on behalf of LloydsTSB, the bank didn't want to know and told me that I had to prove to BCW that it wasn't mine, BCW were a lot more helpful, they admitted that it looked like they had made a mistake with the tracing, they sent me a letter confirming that it wasn't me and there would be no further action.

 

This was after a few phonecalls mind you, I did tell the first snotty guy at BCW that I was looking forward to seeing the judge kick his ass in court, and the guy at LTSB was even worse, he wouldn't put me through to a manager, wouldn't give me a name of a manager, and wouldn't give me his surname, and refused point blank to believe that I didn't have a passport (he wanted me to send it to BCW to prove that it wasn't me they wanted)

[scooterist007]

I phoned up aktiv kapital a couple of weeks ago and told them that I was unhappy with bcw and they wouldnt listen to a word I said, and the woman at aktiv was soooo helpful, she said it looked like a wrong person trace and asked me to hold, then 10 mins later said they are very sorry and it looks like they had the wrong person and said that they would not be persue the money and would get in contact with bcw, I havnt heard anything else from either bcw or aktiv so hopefully thats the end of it!

[ScarletPimpernel]

The first post at dougs: Buchanan Clark and Wells Ltd is a good illustration of how inept BCW really are.

[eileen58]

Hi Scooterist,

 

The same thing happened to my son, after 6 years we suddenly got these letters demanding money for something he did not know about. We have been at our address for 18 years so there should not have been any problem finding him.

My son went to the cab and they dealt with the company at the time. We thought that it was all finished with when lo and behold another company tried to get the money. Apparently they sold the debt onto another dca but because of this site we knew our rights and basically told them to get lost as the debt is time barred. My son was told to get a good lawyer because he would be taken to court. Guess what no more phone calls or letters.

When you are dealing with these people inform them that you do not want the debt sold on as it is time barred and if they do you will take them to court for harrasement and damages.

 

Eileen

[UncleB]

I've had similar contact from BCW myself lately. I sent them a CCA letter and of course they didn't have a copy of a credit agreement. They've placed the account on hold and asked Aktiv Kapital to send me the documents directly. Should I send a CCA letter now to Aktiv Kapital or wait to see if they send me something?