A Warning - CapQuest Debt Recovery!

Pelemos

Thanks Fat belly
Restons held off proceedings until they had a review, plus we did file a defence having paid Restons some of the balnace.

Please be aware that the courts fact sheet supplied with the Claim Form does NOT mention what a 'Litigation Friend' is as that was the option I selected and signed on my daughter's behalf. I got a letter from the court returning the Defence claiming that you had to be a approved by the Court to act a Litigation Friend, yet nothing in the notes indicated this. Another sleight of hand to watch out for with our 'friends' in Northampton. The Court Admin clerk did acknowledge that the Defence did not need to be submitted because we admitted to part of the claim having made payments. The original debt was £682 before Restons added Court Fees taking the debt up to £812. We made a 'Good Will Gesture' payment (as advised ny our top solicitor at work) of £42 on 01 Dec 2016, with the stated intention of paying £50 per month commencing in Jauary 2017. We paid £50 on 01 Jan 2017 and £50 on 01 Feb 2017, reducing the balance to £670.

Restons clained their client (Capquest Investments Ltd) wanted £100 per month. No surprises there. They even had the nerve to try imposng a Tomlin order on us that would cost another £100 court fees, which I refused on the grounds that they were greedy and the £50 we offered was in proportion to her other debts. A quick glance at 2011 review by a law lord reveals that Tomlin Orders are being abused. Our head solicitor at work advised that a Tomlin order is a bad idea, because my daughter's hours, salary and therefore disposable income, are going to change, so the whole thing would need amending at extra cost. He also advised that from experiecne of Restons and their poor reputation, they would refuse to allow amendments, and a Tomlin order allows them to get a CCJ without you being offred any due course or redress if you break the arrangement because you can only afford to pay less due to a change in circumcstances.

I therefore look forward to going to court because the first thing I will do is get the case transferred to Chelmsford Court where it WILL BE HEARD BY A JUDGE! There is no court room and no judge at the Northampton Business Court, as Restons and other scam collectors know full well. It is well known that a certain court in Wales for bulk issuing of Charging Orders and the Northampton Court for Bulk issuing of CCJs, are a gross abuses of the systems by these unscrupulous lawyers and debt collectors.

Thanks for advising, as you have confirmed that I no longer need to keep banging my head against the wall, instead I am going to bang Restons heads and Capquest heads.

fatbelly

Well at £50 per month that's gone in a year.

Considering the hassle they're going to get if they push this, the smart thing for them to do would be just to watch the payments come in for the next 12 months.

But as you rightly point out, they are not particularly smart.

Pelemos

That was my point exactly with Restons. If they get a CCJ, then my daughter will be paying the CCJ via monthly instalments, just as she is now! Therefore there is no justification for Restons proceeding with trying to obtain a CCJ. It is purely vindictive.

I will be raising a formal complaint with the FCA against Capquest about the whole farce because my daughter is classed as a 'Vulnerable person, having been admitted to a psychiatric unit. We have provided Restons and Capquest with medical evidence. Capquest's website makes great play on "doing the right thing", "working together" and even devoting a page to mental illness and how they understand it, OK they didn't know about the mental illness being the reason for my daughter not responding initially, but they do now. Claiming they cannot interfere is just dodging their responsibility, so I'm curious to see what the regulator makes of their lack of compliance regarding, Due Diligence, Treating Customers Fairly - especially those classed as vulnerable.

I note that the Arrow Global group acquired Capquest recently, so presume Capquest have received too many complaints so by changing legal entity they can escape the flack.It is ironic that debt collection agencies complain about professional debtors making subtle name changes to escape legal action when they themselves rely on this very tactic as a "get Out Of Jail Free Card" when they get into difficulties with the regulator. "Look Mr FCA,Regulator, we are under 'new management', so please give us time to put things right".

fatbelly

Completely agree

See a little exchange between myself and sourcrates, though this was an IVA provider!

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5595216

On the ccj thing, it's quite possible if they persevered with their claim the court would award instalments less than she is paying, since the courts consider payment over 3-5 years as being reasonable.

Pelemos

Thanks for the link, seems quite a few companies are playing slieght of hand changing names and merging.

Your advice re riding the CCJ, confirms what others have said about the judge, most likely recommending a reduced monthly instalment. This is why I will transfer the case from the nonexistent court room in Northampton to my local court where it will be heard by a judge.

We are currently looking at doing an IVA as she has other creditors, so your link proved useful, although no PPI is involved with these debts, Rent Arrears, phone contract, Payday loan, and a dubious claim from Advantis that HMRC overpaid her. We have challenged the HMRC debt and Advantis closed the file and returned it to HMRC. Anyone working in finance knows that HMRC stuff things up for millions of people every year so are unreliable. Hence they are no longer regarded as a priority debt and must join the queue of creditors like everyone else.

We have been advised by the Brankruptcy Advice Online that an IVA will cancel/override a CCJ Is this correct?

Thanks again

sourcrates

Pelemos wrote: »

We have been advised that even if a CCJ gets issued, an IVA will cancel/override it. Is this correct?

Thanks again

Yes, any form of insolvency relating to IVA and Bankruptcy, rescinds any CCJ.

Pelemos

Thanks Sourcrates
We are getting her credit file from Noddle to see if there are any other potential debts that might need including. IVA seems the best way to go with threat of bankruptcy and no money as the only alternative if they don't play ball and agree to an IVA..

Chuck_D

Can anyone please advise, as this is causing a great deal of stress at home?!

I have been receiving text messages and letters from Capquest regarding an old bank account with HBOS. As far as I was aware, this account had long gone (2001).
However, when I checked my credit report - it said that the account had only recently been settled (Dec 2016).

Capquest have been sending me letters but haven't even been getting my surname right. On my credit report though, it does show up as the surname that they have and corresponds with my old account.
As far as I was aware, I didn't owe any money. They are asking me for over £1000! They are threatening to pass it over to their specialist collection partner unless I contact them. I don't want to and I would really like to know where I stand.

I've heard of things becoming statute barred, but if the account was still showing as recently active - would this be non-applicable? I really don't understand why the account has only just closed. I'm not at the same address as I was all those years ago either.

Thanks for any help in this matter.

sourcrates

Chuck_D wrote: »

Can anyone please advise, as this is causing a great deal of stress at home?!

I have been receiving text messages and letters from Capquest regarding an old bank account with HBOS. As far as I was aware, this account had long gone (2001).
However, when I checked my credit report - it said that the account had only recently been settled (Dec 2016).

Capquest have been sending me letters but haven't even been getting my surname right. On my credit report though, it does show up as the surname that they have and corresponds with my old account.
As far as I was aware, I didn't owe any money. They are asking me for over £1000! They are threatening to pass it over to their specialist collection partner unless I contact them. I don't want to and I would really like to know where I stand.

I've heard of things becoming statute barred, but if the account was still showing as recently active - would this be non-applicable? I really don't understand why the account has only just closed. I'm not at the same address as I was all those years ago either.

Thanks for any help in this matter.

Hi,

When did you last use the account ?

If you say 2001, then the recent activity you mention, was most likley the sale to capquest.

You should respond with the statute barred letter as soon as possible.

It's available here :

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/time-limits-for-recovering-debts/statute-barred-debt.aspx

Chuck_D

Thanks Sourcrates. however; if my credit report is showing that the account was active for all that time, then will Statute Barred apply?

There are also two other things showing as settled on my credit report. I have no idea as to what they are for as I've never dealt with either company. I believe that they may be the result of I.D. Fraud and I have disputed both cases.