Help Please. Virgin/mbna credit card - capquest.

nature

Today I received a letter from capquest regarding debt owed on my virgin credit card. The debt is genuine and I am trying to pay it back but capquest refuse to accept my offer of £75 payment per month and are threatening 'legal action'. I just got off the phone with virgin who insist that I cannot deal with them and must deal with capquest. After reading about capquest after a google search the thought of dealing with them hardly fills me with confidence. I don't really know what to do now to be honest. I really want to pay this back as quickly as possible but I can't see any way out just now. Does anyone have any advice? Thanks in advance.

beenthereanddoneit

Hi nature. Welcome to the forums. I'm fairly new here to. Try not to panic (easier said than done, I know).

Your account has been transferred to a Debt Collection Agency (DCA). So, first of all, and, you will here this time and time again on here...Do not let these people bully you into paying more than you can realistically afford. Some DCA's will try to threaten and intimidate you into paying them more than you can afford.

In reality they do not have any secret powers at all. Although they will make out that they do. It is all done to make you pay them quickly. If you cannot pay them then they really do have very little power.

Sit back and let the guys and girls on here help out.

nature

beenthereanddoneit wrote: »

Hi nature. Welcome to the forums. I'm fairly new here to. Try not to panic (easier said than done, I know).

Your account has been transferred to a Debt Collection Agency (DCA). So, first of all, and, you will here this time and time again on here...Do not let these people bully you into paying more than you can realistically afford. Some DCA's will try to threaten and intimidate you into paying them more than you can afford.

In reality they do not have any secret powers at all. Although they will make out that they do. It is all done to make you pay them quickly. If you cannot pay them then they really do have very little power.

Sit back and let the guys and girls on here help out.

Thank you. I'm pretty confident I won't let them bully me at all, It's just frustrating that I've made them a reasonable offer (to me at least) and they flat out refuse to accept it.

handyman123_2

nature wrote: »

Today I received a letter from capquest regarding debt owed on my virgin credit card. The debt is genuine and I am trying to pay it back but capquest refuse to accept my offer of £75 payment per month and are threatening 'legal action'. I just got off the phone with virgin who insist that I cannot deal with them and must deal with capquest. After reading about capquest after a google search the thought of dealing with them hardly fills me with confidence. I don't really know what to do now to be honest. I really want to pay this back as quickly as possible but I can't see any way out just now. Does anyone have any advice? Thanks in advance.

Hi, Im in the same boat having to deal with Crapquest at the moment.
The best advice I got from members of this site was to allways communicate by letter. That way you wont have to be harranged by the scumsuckers. It sounds to me like you have made a fair and reasonable offer. As to the best way to procced keep the posts for help going. Im shure that your call for help will be answerd by some of the Heros on this site.

Best Wishes Handyman123.

nature

handyman123 wrote: »

Hi, Im in the same boat having to deal with Crapquest at the moment.
The best advice I got from members of this site was to allways communicate by letter. That way you wont have to be harranged by the scumsuckers. It sounds to me like you have made a fair and reasonable offer. As to the best way to procced keep the posts for help going. Im shure that your call for help will be answerd by some of the Heros on this site.

Best Wishes Handyman123.

Thanks for the advice, I think it'll be letters all the way from now on. Best of luck to you too!

beenthereanddoneit

I would also always say, that if possible, try to get some advice from either one of the free debt charities... CCCS/National Debtline/CAB.

I don't know how much your debt is but I am assuming that you cannot afford more than £75 per month. How much can you afford (no, it's not necessary to tell me the figure)? Most people on here will ask for a Statement of Affairs. If you can fill one in then it will help others to help you better. It also, if nothing else, is a good exercise to see for yourself what you are spending your money on.

A Statement of Affairs will also help you to back up your offer when approaching your creditors. They can then see for themselves that, if you cannot afford to make a higher payment, why that is the case.

And remember, a Debt Collection Agency will always try to get the most they can. If they are just 'acting on behalf of their client', then they will have been given a set criteria in chasing the debt. They may not settle for anything less. It is sometimes a lot easier to deal with DCA's once the debt has been sold to them by the original creditor (as they will often pay a very small percentage of the debt to obtain it). So, don't give up hope.

beenthereanddoneit

And handyman, you are absolutely right. Do not deal with any of these people other than in writing unless you really have to. It damages your health to do so.

nature

beenthereanddoneit wrote: »

I would also always say, that if possible, try to get some advice from either one of the free debt charities... CCCS/National Debtline/CAB.

I don't know how much your debt is but I am assuming that you cannot afford more than £75 per month. How much can you afford (no, it's not necessary to tell me the figure)? Most people on here will ask for a Statement of Affairs. If you can fill one in then it will help others to help you better. It also, if nothing else, is a good exercise to see for yourself what you are spending your money on.

A Statement of Affairs will also help you to back up your offer when approaching your creditors. They can then see for themselves that, if you cannot afford to make a higher payment, why that is the case.

And remember, a Debt Collection Agency will always try to get the most they can. If they are just 'acting on behalf of their client', then they will have been given a set criteria in chasing the debt. They may not settle for anything less. It is sometimes a lot easier to deal with DCA's once the debt has been sold to them by the original creditor (as they will often pay a very small percentage of the debt to obtain it). So, don't give up hope.

The debt is £2104.73 to be exact. I've just started a new job so at least I've got money coming in. Unfortunately all of it going out again really. Between rent, travel to work, council tax, phone (very cheap contract) and groceries all I have left is £75 for the month and thats exactly what I've offered them.

beenthereanddoneit

I would think then, that based on what you have said, £75 is a very good offer.

I think you need to get some advice from one of the charities as well. See, my approach would probably be a lot different to yours in your situation. It's got to be what is best for you.

You could try continuing to offer the token payments (token payments are basically anything less than the contracted payments). Obviously back this up in writing (good letter on the National Debtline website for that). Ask them to freeze interest, fees and other charges, if not already done.

They may or may not take it further. I don't want to go down that route yet. But, come back if anyone can offer you any more assistance.

nature

beenthereanddoneit wrote: »

I would think then, that based on what you have said, £75 is a very good offer.

I think you need to get some advice from one of the charities as well. See, my approach would probably be a lot different to yours in your situation. It's got to be what is best for you.

You could try continuing to offer the token payments (token payments are basically anything less than the contracted payments). Obviously back this up in writing (good letter on the National Debtline website for that). Ask them to freeze interest, fees and other charges, if not already done.

They may or may not take it further. I don't want to go down that route yet. But, come back if anyone can offer you any more assistance.

I'll definitely be calling up one of the charities when I can, I start work early and finish late so getting the time to actually call them is a problem for now. Hopefully I'll be able to speak to someone on saturday (my next day off).