Help!!! Cap Quest Debt Recovery - Royal Bank of Scotland (PART 2-The Saga Continues)

andiR1

Hi All,
After all that went on! OH has now received a letter on 6/10/08 that says:
Further to our recent correspondence.
Prior to the start of legal proceedings various checks and validations are undertaken to establish facts around your current circumstances.
During this process it has been established that there are no outstanding CCJ's registered against you at the above address. In addition, at the time of this process your credit score with one of the main credit reference agencies is 404.
We are highlighting this to you as a matter of urgency. If we need to start the legal process and a Judgement is awarded against you this will remain on your credit file for 6 years.
A Judgement may have a damaging ****affect****** (Mispelt????) on your ability to obtain credit, both now and in the future and may result in you being refused simple credit agreements such as a mobile phone contract. A more serious consequence may be when applying for mortgages, credit cards or loans with acceptable interest rates, a CCJ registered against you will restrict the opportunities to get the most cost effective option available.
We are not seeking an immediate payment in full; we can offer many repayment methods that can be designed around your current circumstances, which may include possible settlements that will save you money. All we ask is that you make contact on [URL="livecall:08700843531"]0870 084 3531[/URL], before 11 Oct 08. No contact by this date will result in your account being move forward to litigation.

Firstly, my question is.... Is it legal for them to do a credit check on my OH without his consent, also why are they still hassling us when I have done everything that I should've done regarding this debt being statute barred?
Also, just been on experian, and nobobdy has checked OH's credit file as it tells you the name of the company if they have doesn't it? AND this is already registered on his credit file as Defaulted, so surely they cannot add it twice!?
Any advice greatly appreciated, this is really, really getting to me now!!!

andiR1

OH has today received another letter from CQ, they are just not giving up!
FACT - This debt is over 6 years old, and we have told them that.
FACT - This account that they are chasing was a Joint Account.
FACT - CQ have sent us the opening application for this account and there
was no overdraft facility on the account!
FACT - My address is a C/O address only for my OH!
FACT - This account is already on OH's credit file as defaulted.
FACT - I have joined Credit Expert and no checks have been done on my OH.

Letter reads:-
Power of Attorney: Royal Bank of Scotland Plc
Balance: £374.86
Further to our recent correspondence.
We have decided to issue a claim against you in the County Court. Prior to the start of legal proceedings we make various checks and validations to establish facts around your current circumstances.
During this process it has been established that there are no outstanding County Court Judgements registered against you at the above address. We are highlighting this to you as a matter of urgency as if we do start the legal process and a Judgement is awarded against you, it will it will (???) remain on your credit file for six years.The legal option we have decided to instigate is that of Part Sue. A Part Sue is where we do not issue for the full amount owed but for £299.99.
We have chosen this option as it will reduce the court fees and solicitors' costs that will be added to the £299.99 for which you may become liable if judgement is awarded, placing a lesser financial burden on you. A judgement will also mean that we will be able to pursue the full balance of this debt for another six years.
If we are successful in obtaining judgement it will be registered in the Register of County Court Judgements which may result in you being refused si ple credit agreements such as a mobile phone contract.
We are not seeking an immediate payment in full; we can offer many repayment methods that can be designed around your current circumstances, which may include possible settlements that will save you money. All we ask is that you make contact on 0870 *** **** before 5 Nov 08. If you do not make contact with us by this date your account will be moved forward to litigation without further warning to you.
Let's work on this together.
Why are they still chasing this? When they are perfectly well aware that this is so obviously statute barred! Even if it wasn't (which it is) there are the other factors of this being a joint account with his ex wife and there being no overdraft facility authorised for the account?
Any advice greatly appreciated.

stapeley

If you are sure its statue barred , tell them to bog off ! Its a standard scare tactic . For them to go to court it will cost several hundreds of pound . So stand your ground .

Broken_hearted

Statute barred debt tell them to go to hell and report them.

Jesthar

Oooh, and it's an 0870 number they're asking you to call, too, lovely! :rolleyes:

Might be better if any reply is made by letter rather than calling them, and I'm sure some of the lovely people around here can suggest some slightly more legally imposing ways of saying 'get knotted' than I can...

~Jes

andiR1

Hi,
I just don't know what else I can put in writing other than the letters I have already sent them. I have all the statements for this account, a copy of the opening application, both of which prove that this debt is statute barred and that the account did not have an overdraft facility, all sent kindly by CQ themselves! Do they not read what they are sending you before doing so??
Thank you all for the reassurances that this actually is scare tactics, maybe they will stop now!! If not, who and how do I report them in the best way?

fermi

A letter along the lines of the one below may finally get your point across.

Might need to be adapted a little to suit your circumstances, but you get the idea.

I do not acknowledge any debt to you or any other company or organisation that you claim to be representing.

Acc/Ref No: *******************

FORMAL COMPLAINT under the complaint procedures set out by the Financial Ombudsman.

Thank you for your letter dated xx/xx/2008, the contents of which are noted.

On xx/xx/2008 I wrote to <name of DCA> regarding a debt that was alleged to be owed by myself. That letter was received and signed for on xx/xx/2008 as confirmed by Royal Mail tracking.

In this letter I pointed out the following items:

1) Under the Limitation Act 1980 Section 5 "an action founded on simple contract shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued".

2) The OFT say under their Debt Collection Guidance on statute barred debt that "it is unfair to pursue the debt if the debtor has heard nothing from the creditor during the relevant limitation period".

3) The last correspondence/payment/acknowledgement or payment of this debt was made over six years ago and no further acknowledgement or payment has been made since that time. Unless you can provide evidence of payment or written contact from me in the relevant period under Section 5 of the Limitation Act, I suggest that you are no longer able to take any court action against me to recover the alleged amount claimed.

4) The OFT Debt Collection Guidance states further that "continuing to press for payment after a debtor has stated that they will not be paying a debt because it is statute barred could amount to harassment contrary to section 40 (1) of the Administration of Justice Act 1970".

Therefore it is clear that your original contact regarding this debt was in breach of the Office of Fair Trading Guideline referred to in item (2).

Furthermore, your further letters and threats are in direct breach of Office of Fair Trading Guideline referred to in item (4) and constitute harassment.

As you are no doubt aware, breaches of the OFT's Guidance on Debt Collection are treated seriously by the OFT when considering your fitness to hold a Consumer Credit License.

In particular the OFT has recently stated that:

The Consumer Credit Act 1974 (the Act) requires debt collectors, businesses that offer goods or services on credit and/or are involved in activities relating to credit or hire to be licensed by the OFT. Following implementation of the OFT's new powers under the Consumer Credit Act 2006 on 6 April 2008, the companies could also have specific 'requirements' imposed on them by the OFT. If such a requirement was not complied with, the business concerned could be subject to a financial penalty of up to £50,000. The OFT can also refuse or revoke a licence if it decides that a trader is not fit to hold one. The OFT can take into account any circumstances which appear to be relevant when considering the fitness of an applicant or licensee, including evidence that the company has contravened the Data Protection Act 1988.

Therefore I wish to formally notify you that unless I received confirmation that this matter is now closed, then I will not hesitate to make a formal complaint to the 'Office of Fair Trading' and also to 'Trading Standards'.

Furthermore, any attempted contact (other than to confirm that this matter is now closed) by any:

• "trading style" of <name of DCA>
• constituent member of <name of DCA> Group.
• a third party acting on your behalf
• a third party that claims to have been legally assigned this debt

will result in an immediate complaint to the aforementioned regulatory bodies.

Also please note that any legal action you may consider will be FULLY and VIGOROUSLY defended, and you will be put to a strict proof of the alleged debt and any payment or acknowledgement that you claim within the relevant limitation period.

Furthermore, you may consider this letter a FORMAL COMPLAINT under the complaint procedures set out by the Financial Ombudsman. If you wish to correspond with myself with any other purpose than to confirm that this matter is now closed, then I require you to supply me with a written copy of your complaints procedure and a "final response" that I may forward to the Financial Ombudsman with my complaint.

This COMPLAINT is not going to go away and ignoring this problem could potentially make your situation worse. I therefore strongly recommend that you send written confirmation that no further contact will be made concerning the above account and confirmation that this matter is now closed.

I would appreciate your due diligence in this matter.

andiR1

Thanks fermi, will let you know what happens!!! Just on way to Post Office now!

dancingfairy

that should pretty much do it then. How to tell them to get lost Fermi style. That's fab Fermi.
Good luck andiR1 - hopefully they will get the message you are not to be messed with.

andiR1

Hi All,
Just a short one, to let you all know that I have had a reply from CQ informing me that they are now investigating and will report back within 28 days and resolve this within 56 days! They have also sent me their complaints procedure which is one A4 sheet!
Will update as soon as they reply to me again.

andiR1

Hi everyone!
Just another little one, to thank everyone who helped me along the way with this awful company!! OH has received a letter this morning from CQ confirming him the debt is 'statute barred'
Just thought I'd should share the good news after all the words of advice I have had.
Once again, a massive big thank you!
xx