Capquest - I can't win

mountainofdebt

Grovers wrote:

Right, I've cancelled the DD, and written to them, saying that I wish to change to SO.

I also said I'll send the an SOA, and would they send a form. I also asked why they are calling me, when I specifically asked to be contacted by letter only.

If you have their banking details, you can set up a SO yourself without a form from them - just go into the bank and complete a form there or you can do it on line if you have internet banking.

If they are the nightmare you say they are, I would be tempted to do this as the form they send you just might, accidently on purpose, be a direct debit form.

AGB863

If Capquest call you again on the phone, advise them that as you have requested for them to only contact you in writing, that they are breaking the debt collection guidance as set out by the Office of Fair Trading and as such they can be reported and there would be the possibilty of them loosing their licence to trade

The areas they are breaking are

Communication
2.2 Examples of unfair practices are as follows:
g. ignoring or disregarding debtors' legitimate wishes in respect of when and where to contact them, e.g. shift workers who ask not to be telephoned during certain times of the day

Physical/psychological harassment
2.5 Putting pressure on debtors or third parties is considered to be oppressive.
2.6 Examples of unfair practices are as follows:
a. contacting debtors at unreasonable times and at unreasonable intervals

f. pressurising debtors to pay in full, in unreasonably large instalments, or to increase payments when they are unable to do so

Capquest are well known for trying to pressurise people into paying larger amounts of money - and have a lot of bad press about it.

The whole document is here - well worth a read if you have time!http://www.oft.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/50F06527-9FC5-4610-B385-999D6E2A8950/0/oft664.pdf

skylight

Grovers wrote:

As it stands they are getting approx 10% of my income each month. Is that about right? Or too high/low?

Do they expect you not to eat or something? Or even have a little bit of money for yourself?

Thats far too much and you ARE expected to eat and NOT feel like a criminal or dirt - BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT!

Try the NAtional Debtline link above. Great advice, great template letters and they have a really good income/outgoing form with lots of advice of how to fill it in and everything.

Do not wait for their SOA form. Fillout the debtline one. Capquests form will miss lots out and leave you with "more" money. FIll out the NDebtline one and you will be surprised with how much you should be paying. It works it all out for you on pro-rata basis over all your creditors because you cannot favour one over another.

Grovers

Right, I'll give you a brief SOA on here so you know what it's all about

Income

£1200 - Wages

Outgoings

Rent £260
Phones £100 (don't ask)
Sky TV £10
Food £200
Petrol £80
Smoking £80 (i know I started again )
Credit Card Repayments £75 (approx)
Pet Food and Care £10
Citi Financial £125 (ends Dec)
Loan £100
CRAPQUEST - £120

Total - £1080

So I have £120 left to myself, so they can go take a jump if they want more.

Sam_Spends_Too_Much

Can't remember about the rest of the 'allowances' that PayPlan said I could have, but I know that they wouldn't let me have £100 on phones, think the limit was more like £30-£40, but like I said, I can't remember exactly. Pets allowance is something like £25ish. There's also all your utilities, council tax, tv lic, hair cuts, clothing allowance. I'm sure you'll find that by the time you've filled out an expenditure form, you'll be paying CrapQuest significantly less than they've demanded.

And in reply to AGB863's comments, I think CapQuest have broken just about every rule in the book in how they dealt with me. If only I'd known at the time. They never asked me for an expenditure form, just demanded more and more money in menacing telephone calls.

Grovers

Well, if I was being honest with myself I can't afford £120pm.

I'll sit down soon, and work EVERYTHING in and out. Though the "In" isn't going to increase, unless I sell some stuff on eBay.

jo5ephedward5

Grovers wrote:

Well, if I was being honest with myself I can't afford £120pm.

I'll sit down soon, and work EVERYTHING in and out. Though the "In" isn't going to increase, unless I sell some stuff on eBay.

Stop sending anything to CrapQuest!

send them the CCA request letter before you make any more payments!

they are absolutely terrible - they have no paperwork for any of the debts they collect and don’t seem to care about the law…no paper work = unenforceable debt! (I’m not necessarily saying if this is the case and you know the debt is real that you shouldn’t pay it – just don’t pay them!) - they also use solicitors headed paper and send there own letters out on them to scare you - they have NEVER taken anyone to court (probably as they wouldn’t have the correct documents!)

the template for the CCA request can be found on here, add a line to say that your no longer accepting liability for the debt (they will try and say your payments are acceptance of it – this is not the case):

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-bailiffs-advice/20758-creditors-dcas-letter-templates.html - you want template 'N'

if you look up my username you can read my story there to with a quick search - also look here for excellent proof this company suck:

http://www.grumbletext.co.uk/vt.php?t=1331&subj=lsh+0509+1830+complaints+Capquest+Debt+Recovery+complaint&highlight=capquest

this is a HUGE thread and it read backwards (last page being first etc) I suggest picking it up anywhere to get an idea - I’m also down on there as is many eg's of the letters and threats I have had!

once they don’t send you the documents you request - I have another template to stop them contacting you by phone and only write - then if you calculate the total you have paid them you can claim them back via the small claims court for around £120 cost (that you will get back)

but this is getting ahead of ourselves - send the CCA request with £1 fee and wait...I’d be very surprised if out of the 100's that have requested it your turns up.

I'm at the stage of calculating hoe much the have 'taken' off me at the moment - then I will sue their !!!!s!

P.S hello - this is my first thread...I’ve no doubt I’ll now go and read the t&c and find out I cant post links etc lol.

Good Luck!

J

Dr.Shoe_2

I have a SOA on a spreadsheet so all I have to do is either print it out or email it as an attachment. I found that it is a good idea getting a template from CAB or CCCS or whoever because this lists all the things you might overlook.

Locana

Crapquest did the same to me, kept requesting unreasonable amounts. I kept on telling them that I could not afford it and offered £20 per month (I owe around £800). Eventually they accepted this, but call every six months or so to try and up it, but I always say my circumstances have not changed. £120 is unreasonable as it is 10% of your monthly income, 10% of mine is £150 so I think that they would accept a lower limit from you..

Tootsie_Roll

AGB863 wrote:

If Capquest call you again on the phone, advise them that as you have requested for them to only contact you in writing, that they are breaking the debt collection guidance as set out by the Office of Fair Trading and as such they can be reported and there would be the possibilty of them loosing their licence to trade

The areas they are breaking are

Communication
2.2 Examples of unfair practices are as follows:
g. ignoring or disregarding debtors' legitimate wishes in respect of when and where to contact them, e.g. shift workers who ask not to be telephoned during certain times of the day

Physical/psychological harassment
2.5 Putting pressure on debtors or third parties is considered to be oppressive.
2.6 Examples of unfair practices are as follows:
a. contacting debtors at unreasonable times and at unreasonable intervals

f. pressurising debtors to pay in full, in unreasonably large instalments, or to increase payments when they are unable to do so

Capquest are well known for trying to pressurise people into paying larger amounts of money - and have a lot of bad press about it.

The whole document is here - well worth a read if you have time!http://www.oft.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/50F06527-9FC5-4610-B385-999D6E2A8950/0/oft664.pdf

A nice quote from the guidlines but inaccurate in this case;
2.2 Only applies to when to call and where - it doesn't mean they can't call you at all.
2.5 doesn't apply at all in this case from the information we have.
2.6a doesn't apply
2.6f How do CapQuest know it is an unreasonable amount when he hasn't completed the SOA.

In summary - If someone who has already admitted the debt and is paying then it is absolutely correct that the payment amount is justified by a SOA. You are after all asking them to make a concession to you by accepting these payments, simply paying an arbitrary amount isn't good enough however high you think that amount to be.

In the past I have had people who have refused to complete an SOA as they explained that their finances were none of my business. I always found this to be bizzare when they were more than happy to share this data when applying for the loan in the first place and that they were now after the banks help again but unwilling to cooperate. Ultimately when it was explained properly I never had a problem.

Grover

Your SOA needs some work but it looks like you are paying too much for phone and food (unless there's more than one of you) and you will have to explain why these figures are so high. You also need to pro-rata the payments to creditors based on the total balance outstanding with each one.

Good luck.