Help! Capquest letter chasing £6,900 debt

needtowinthelottery

I'm in a bit of a state and would be grateful for any useful advice. I hope this post is in the right place - apologies if not, I'm new to this!

My husband has today told me about two letters that he's very recently received in the post (first dated 15 August and second dated 30 August, received yesterday).

They're both from a Debt Collection Agency called Capquest and say that they're from an outstanding debt with Marbles Credit Card which states that he owes £6,898.97.

We are recently married and also recently moved house so have just updated my last name and our address on the electoral roll, so I assume that this is what may have prompted the letters???

Anyway, my husband recalls having a Marbles Credit Card when he was much younger (opened over ten years ago) and said that he and his ex-girlfriend maxed it out during a period that he was out of work (he's self-employed, broke his leg, couldn't work and had no insurance policy so relied on credit cards/family to get him by until his leg mended and he could get back to work).

He has no historical paperwork relating to this debt and says he had literally forgotten all about it until these letters appeared. (Must confess it sounds really odd to me as I don't think I'd forget about nearly £7k of debt but he's my husband, I love him dearly, and we just need to sort out this mess so I'm really trying not to judge him).

We have this evening created him an account on Credit Expert so we could see his file. Low and behold - there is an entry for Capquest with the same amount as the current balance stated on the letters.

The date the debt started is recorded as 5.2.03 and the default date is 9.7.10. The default amount states the debt as over £1.5K lower - £5,319 (is this due to ongoing charges/interest perhaps?).

From the brief research we've done tonight, there seems to be letter templates to use but we've found loads of different versions and are really unsure what to do for the best.

As the default date is just over four years ago, I assume we need to act rather than trying to ignore Capquest's communication for two years until the six years are up?

We would be really grateful for any helpful advice. Thank you in advance, a very stressed wife!

Lensman_2

If you are after a template letter, I would be inclined to use the Prove It one.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2607247

While it appears they have a good match to a historical debt he had, I don't see anything morally wrong with checking to make sure they actually have his debt and that they can prove that.

fatbelly

Yes, I agree with the above. There is the possibility that it isn't his debt. Though it sounds like it might be.

Definitely don't acknowledge the debt by payment or in writing for the moment. It also sounds like it could be statute barred and therefore unenforceable.

When does he think he last made a payment to the old credit card (or acknowledged it in writing)?

needtowinthelottery

Thank you for your kind replies Lensman and fatbelly

We've decided to use the 'Prove It' template to draft a letter and will be sending it off tomorrow by Recorded Delivery. It feels better to at least have a plan now.

fatbelly - I asked my husband your question and he said that he definitely hasn't acknowledged the debt or made a payment since 2007 (he moved house in May of that year which is why he can be sure). As we know from his credit file that the account was opened in 2003, payments may have even stopped well before 2007 but he can't be sure. He doesn't have any old paperwork but is going to try and search old bank statements to see if he can find evidence.

Marktheshark

Is he 100% sure this was not a joint account .
If it was and one has been paying a token and stopped, he may still be liable.
.

happy_bunny_2

In case it's useful, Marbles are not always good at keeping CCAs. They admitted to not having mine.

needtowinthelottery

Marktheshark wrote: »

Is he 100% sure this was not a joint account .
If it was and one has been paying a token and stopped, he may still be liable.
.

Yes, 100% sure. I asked him how he came to even know about Marbles (I've never heard of it!) and he said he thinks it was one of those spam-type letters that banks/credit cards used to send out to young people (not sure if they still do) with an application form included. He would have been 22 when the account opened (February 2003).

needtowinthelottery

happy_bunny wrote: »

In case it's useful, Marbles are not always good at keeping CCAs. They admitted to not having mine.

Thanks for that happy_bunny. If they turnaround and acknowledge that they (Capquest / Marbles) don't have his CCA either, what would happen? Do they literally just wipe the entry off his credit file?

fatbelly

needtowinthelottery wrote: »

fatbelly - I asked my husband your question and he said that he definitely hasn't acknowledged the debt or made a payment since 2007 (he moved house in May of that year which is why he can be sure). As we know from his credit file that the account was opened in 2003, payments may have even stopped well before 2007 but he can't be sure. He doesn't have any old paperwork but is going to try and search old bank statements to see if he can find evidence.

Then it became statute barred in 2013 at the latest. The 2010 default date was just an invention of Crapquest so they can put an entry on his credit file.

Marktheshark wrote: »

Is he 100% sure this was not a joint account .
If it was and one has been paying a token and stopped, he may still be liable.
.

If it was a credit card it can't be joint. There may have been a second card holder but that person would have no legal liability.

Hold the CCA stuff in reserve for the moment. First, can they prove that this is his old card? Then, can they prove he acknowledged the debt in 2008 or later. There is one letter that does both jobs but it's probably better to view this as a two-stage process, as we're not 100% sure that this is what we think it is.

Marbles was an HFC card. The business was sold to SAV in 2007 and has now been renamed NewDay.

happy_bunny_2

needtowinthelottery wrote: »

Thanks for that happy_bunny. If they turnaround and acknowledge that they (Capquest / Marbles) don't have his CCA either, what would happen? Do they literally just wipe the entry off his credit file?

Fatbelly offers good advice.

The CCA stuff may come in handy if it turns out not to be statute barred.

On accounts taken out before April 2007, need the signed original to get a CCJ if defended.

Will not remove the default though.

Once confirmed statute barred, you need to complain to get that default changed to within 6 months of the last payment being made. If that's 2007, then it would go after that as it stays for 6 years.

needtowinthelottery

Thanks again for your helpful posts fatbelly and happy_bunny.

I'm sending off the 'prove it' letter to Capquest by recorded delivery this morning. Will be interesting to see what is send back! I'll post again on this thread when that happens.