DMP question ... capital one want my "real" signature?

woody24

i sent off all my paperwork to cccs and my creditors about 10 days ago and today was the first long anticipated bit of correspondance i had in the post ... i had a letter from cccs stating my direct debit was set up, which i know isnt the end of it and mearly only the beginning of a long slog but just getting that letter my whole body seemed to relax of what seems like the start of getting sorted.

the other letter was from capital one saying they have received my letter but cant do anything about it because my signature doesnt match one on file ... i took my capital one card out when i was 18, so 7 years ago and just starting on my long and winding road into debt and to be honest I havent a clue what my signature looked like back then ... ita stayed the same throughout my professional adult life of course but i was in 6th form then ...

anyway, im sure iv read a similar post somewhere on MSE but cant seem to find it ... can anyone enlighten me about what to do abut this letter?

thanks

~Beanie~

Personally I would ignore it. There have been many tales of creditors 'copying' your signature off letters etc onto credit agreements!

That's why they tell you never to actually sign any letters that you send.

woody24

really! thats terrible! wow, i signed all of mine ... wish i had known that before.

I'll call CCCS tomorrow to check with them but thank you for the advice ... x

barbiedoll

To be honest, unless you are disputing a debt or you don't think that they have a valid Consumer Credit Agreement so that they can collect the debt, then you have nothing to fear by providing your current signature. There have been tales of creditors who have "cut and pasted" a copy signature onto a reconstituted credit agreement in order to collect a disputed debt but if you know that you owe the money then with the help of CCCS, you should try to pay it off.

Having said that, the fact that you took out your card with Cap One 7 years ago, would possibly mean that they DON'T have a valid CCA. This could ultimately mean that, although you will still owe the money, a court cannot enforce judgement against the debt without a valid agreement. You could therefore, technically, have a chance of not having to pay it at all. However, this can be a risky strategy and I know that recently, there has been a court ruling stating that debtors cannot dodge their debts in this way any longer. Someone else on here will have more knowledge than me regarding this.

I have a debt with Cap One and I found that after I had provided my signature (I had married and changed my name, that's why they asked for it) they were quite good and stopped the interest straight away. If you have already signed your letter to them, you may as well provide a signature, it will get the ball rolling a bit quicker for your DMP and if you don't get the interest stopped, do contact their complaints department, they can be a lot more helpful and they are based in the UK.

Good luck with your DMP, it can take a little while for things to settle down but at least a lot of the stress is taken away and the letters and phone calls do tend to stop once it is all up and running. I'm with CCCS and they have been great. Well done for facing up to your debts and for working out a solution! :T