Help/advice re Aktiv Kapital?

jb26

Hi everybody, I'm a newbie after some advice.

I received a letter yesterday from Aktiv Kapital for a sum of £1161 on an account from GE Capital. No further details supplied, just inviting me to get in touch with them on a freephone number to discuss repaying this.

As far as I can remember the only credit I have had that it could be was from 2005 for a comet card that i remember paying up until i moved out of the address i was with at the time with my partner. Long story short, things broke down in our relationship, and i found myself pregnant, alone and having fallen behind on rent and run up an overdraft to pay for food and bills etc. Subsequently I moved back with my parents in dec 2005 and had to begin rebuilding my life, and was then slapped with a ccj in 2007 from said overdraft.

I have worked hard to repay my debt and pull myself up and thought I was debt free, and then all of a sudden this letter falls on my doorstep. I did a bit of research on AK and have read some real horror stories which have really worried me. I have been checking my credit report frequently for the past year and there's no record or notice of default for the GE account, only the ccj in 2007.

So, my questions, as my last recollection of a payment for the above was in 2005 would this now be stat barred? Do I need to send AK the CCA letter or the stat barred before I attempt to pay anything? Will they put a default on my account if they find it isn't stat barred, therefore wrecking the credit report I have worked hard to rebuild?

Any advice is greatly appreciated, thanks.

RAS

Does the CCJ relate to the GE finance debt?

fermi

Sounds like a "fishing" letter if Aktiv won't give any details of the debt in the letter.

They obviously aren't even sure that they are sending the letter to the correct person, otherwise they would have included details.

Personally I would wait to see if they write to you again with actual details of the debt.

If they do, then you/we can work out the most appropriate response based on known info rather than just by guessing what this might be.

fermi

RAS wrote: »

Does the CCJ relate to the GE finance debt?

jb26 wrote: »

Subsequently I moved back with my parents in dec 2005 and had to begin rebuilding my life, and was then slapped with a ccj in 2007 from said overdraft.

The separate overdraft by the looks of it.

jb26

Thanks for advice, just always a little worrying when you get any sort of letter like this through the post and I've had my fair share.

I think I will sit tight for now and see if they send any further letters. Having just been re-reading this letter, it all sounds rather vague -

Dear _________

We have an account for ________. The account relates to an outstanding balance with xxxxxxxxx.

The amount owed is xxxxxxxxxx.

We have been provided with your details through public databases.

We therefore believe that you are our customer and this is the correct address for our account.

We would like to talk to you about repaying this balance so please call 0800 542 7322.

If you believe you are not the account holder then you will need to tell us straight away and we will amend our records and all associated records.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Hmmmm...... seems a bit odd.

Btw, yes the CCJ was from a separate overdraft.

fermi

jb26 wrote: »

Hmmmm...... seems a bit odd.

Nope. Just a standard fishing letter from Aktiv.

It is deliberately vague.

I would ignore until they can be bothered to write with proper details.

jb26

Yep, you're right. I will wait and see if they bother to send any more.

I guess if it was still enforcable I would receive a much snottier letter?

I will keep you updated if/when i do get more, and maybe the chance to tell them to bog off!

wuckfit

Worth remembering that the statue barring is 5 years in Scotland and 6 in England, usually from the date you last made a payment or contact with the creditor.
Whilst not strictly ethical, if you're almost at the time limit, I'd wait it out until you know you're over the statue barred date. (this is advice once given to me by someone at the CCCS). If you make a payment (which is what they're hoping) you'll reset the clock.

jb26

Hi All,

Another week, another letter received. This time offering me a '35% discount' if I pay within 10 days!

And I quote

We want to help pay your account for you

We will give you a 35% discount on your remaining balance to help you pay your account. This means you make a payment of £xxxxx within 10 days and we will clear the rest for you.


If you would like to take up one of our offers, or if you believe you have a valid reason why the account should not be repaid then please call us.

35% discount? To me that sounds dodgy straight away. Is it just me or are they trying their luck here, hoping I will rise to the bait?

Should I now respond by letter, and if so which one?

fermi

Sounds like they are getting desperate now.

If it was me I would ignore it for now...

If it is your debt it may be statute barred already, but if not the clock continues to tick towards that...

Phelpsie001

These types of company really scare me. I had the same letter, addressed to a previous owner of the house. I phoned them, told them they no longer live here and was told they wouldnt chase the debt any further then!! Strange....