Help! Capquest letter chasing £6,900 debt

needtowinthelottery

Thanks happy_bunny, fatbelly and fermi.

Looks like we have a busy weekend ahead of drafting letters and completing forms! I think we'll concentrate on the FOS complaint form and then send a copy of that and our letters/evidence to the FCA and Trading Standards. At least we've covered all bases and will have done what we said we would that way.

I'll post again when I have an update. Thanks again. This forum has been really helpful in directing us when we had no idea what to do.

needtowinthelottery

Good afternoon everyone.

We completed the FOS form at the weekend and sent it off yesterday, along with copies of all letters and proof of delivery for each, by first class post 'signed for'.

We still haven't heard anything from Capquest.

Just out of interest, how long do the FOS usually take to respond?

Many thanks

happy_bunny_2

Usually acknowledge within a week or two, then tell you they are really busy and will take a while.

If nothing other than acknowledgment after 6-8 weeks, chase via email and it tends to go up the queue. From my experience.

dotdash79

Marbles used to automatically add PPI on sign up, so even if they prove the debt compaine about the amount of PPI on the account.

I managed to get £1000 from them when my credit limit was only ever £500, then they messed up my account when paying me it and I had to complain again and got another £150 which they forgot to pay me and I ended up with another £25.

needtowinthelottery

Hello helpful MSE people - my last post was on 5th November and that was to say that we had sent the form to FOS on the 4th November.

So, here's update part 1...

My husband received two letters from the FOS last week, both dated 4th December. Both letters are identically but one says "Your complaint about Capquest Debt Recovery Limited (trading as Caoquest)" at the top, and the other says "Your complaint about NewDay Ltd (trading as Marbles Card)" in the same space at the top.

The letter says thanks for getting in touch and sending your complaint form, encloses a leaflet to explain their role and then explains that they have written to the business too let them know of the complaint and that my husband should receive a final response within eight weeks of the date they received it. If my husband isn't happy with their response, or he doesn't receive one, he has six months to refer it back to the FOS for further investigation. They also asked for my husband to send a copy of the final response to them and said that they wouldn't take further action unless my husband contacts them again. It's signed by an actual person and includes the name, job title (consumer consultant), direct line number and email address of that person.

So, first question for you lovely experts, is this normal? We're rather confused as we had already complained to Capquest and gave them the eight week deadline, which they didn't stick to, hence the referral to the FOS...

Update part 2:

My husband then received a letter from Capquest at the end of last week dated 10 December. It says (in summary) thank you for the complaint forwarded on to us by the FOS. We're sorry to hear you're unhappy with our service. We'll complete a full investigation into your concerns and write to you with our outcome. It then says they have 8 weeks to respond but that they'll try and resolve it sooner. It then says that if they haven't completed their investigation by 6 January 2015 that they'll send an update. Enclosed is a copy of their "complaint handling procedure". It is signed by an actual person (senior operations manager). No direct contact details given.

So, second question, if they have 8 weeks to respond then are they allowed to factor in an allowance to give them longer to complete the investigation? This seems really unfair to me as we have them 8 weeks initially and then the FOS are giving them another 8 weeks. My husband's original complaint letter to them was signed for on 8th September so it's been over three months already and they STILL haven't provided any evidence to prove the account is my husband's.

Update part 3:

My husband checked his credit report out of interest at the weekend and the Capquest entry is still on there and the AMOUNT HAS GONE UP!!! They haven't put the account on hold pending investigation. It now stands at £7,003 so has gone up by over £100 since my husband's first complaint letter to them.

Third question, is this allowed? I thought they had to put the account on hold?

Final question, should my husband go back to the FOS (get in touch with the person direct by telephone or email) and let them know that the account hasn't been placed on hold and that it is having an increasingly negative effect on his credit file as it's increased in debt by over £100 since his first complaint letter was sent over three months ago?

THANK YOU SO MUCH IN ADVANCE FOR ANY HELP OR ADVICE YOU CAN OFFER.

fatbelly

As I said earlier, I haven't used the FOS for a bit, and it does sound like the process has got more complicated but I would leave it with them for now.

I don't know why Capquest think they can increase the balance - they must think they have a contractual right to either interest or charges. For now, the more unreasonably they behave, the more chance of a positive outcome.

needtowinthelottery

I hope everyone is having a lovely Christmas.

My husband received a letter yesterday from Marbles dated 12 December. It says: "Thank you for your recent correspondence via the Financial Ombudsman Service. I am unable to verify your details with the information provided in your correspondence. To enable us to further our investigation we would require you to provide the following documentation."

It then goes on to list three bullet points - 1. Photographic identification such as a copy of your driving licence or copy of your passport, 2. A copy of a utility bill from the previous address (this cannot be a marbles statement) and 3. A copy of a utility bill from your current address, dated within the last three months (this cannot be a mobile telephone bill).

It then concludes with: "If we do not receive any additional information we will assume you no longer need our assistance in this matter." It's signed off by Michael Ince, Customer Service Team but someone has PP signed it.

What do you knowledgable folk think of this?

It seems odd to us that they're asking my husband to provide all of this - we thought it was up to them to prove that it's my husband's debt, not for him to prove that it isn't.

Should we contact the FOS and provide a copy of this letter? We cannot provide the evidence they've requested in any case as the previous address they're talking about relates to my husband's parents house where he grew up - he hasn't lived there for many years and never had any utilities there so wouldn't have had any utility bills, even if he had kept any paperwork from that time.

My husband still hasn't received a letter from Capquest, so we're not sure whether to hang fire for that (they gave a deadline of 6 January in their letter) or whether we should act on this letter in the meantime?

Any advice is welcome, as ever. Thank you in advance.

Marktheshark

Basically asking for the information they would need to re-create the credit agreement.
The onus is on them to prove, not yours to deny.

I would write back stating they will not be provided with confidential identity documents, they contacted you claiming you owe them money, the onus is upon them to prove by coughing up a contract.

You will not be providing them with confidential identity documents that could be used for fraudulent purposes, as you already suspect they have invented a payment to a statute barred account, one which incidently they are unable to prove is yours and remains denied, you once again demand they prove this is your debt.

They had absolutely no issues accusing you of owing them money and did not need any identity verification documents to do so, so now if there is a question of identity why are they claiming you owed money in the first instance.
State that the complaint is not closed or satisfied and that you reject the offer to automatically conclude the complaint and remain "in dispute" until you notify them in writing to state the dispute is closed.

Copy the letter to the FOS .

Do let them get hold of a signature they can use.

needtowinthelottery

Thanks so much for your useful reply Marktheshark.

Do you advise waiting for a response from Capquest before acting, or should we just go ahead and send this letter to Marbles now (sending a copy to the FOS, as you advised)?

Also, I assume you meant 'do not' let them get hold of a signature? My husband has been typing all letters and has never provided his signature on any correspondence. I trust this is the correct thing to do.

Thank you again for your help. It really is appreciated as this ongoing situation is very stressful, especially as the debt continues to go up in value on my husband's credit file.

sourcrates

needtowinthelottery wrote: »

Final question, should my husband go back to the FOS (get in touch with the person direct by telephone or email) and let them know that the account hasn't been placed on hold and that it is having an increasingly negative effect on his credit file as it's increased in debt by over £100 since his first complaint letter was sent over three months ago?

THANK YOU SO MUCH IN ADVANCE FOR ANY HELP OR ADVICE YOU CAN OFFER.

Basically account on hold status means that all collection activity will cease during this period, they will still report on your account, they just wont be chasing you for the debt until the matter has been resolved.
Re: your last post, i would not provide the DCA with any more information of a personal nature, it seems to me they have a name, and an amount to collect, and little else.
Tell them that it is not your job to do there job for them, the onus is on them to prove he owes the debt, as you already know.
Send your response to them, and also forward a copy to the FOS.