MiniCredit/Kapama/Hellix collections

TMO · 14 August 2019 at 1:21PM

Hello. Just need some advice please. I'm pretty sure my debt with mini credit is statute barred. I don't acknowledge it and don't remember what debt I had in 2012. I sent Kapama a email stating I do not acknowledge this debt and got a essay from their head of compliance. I'm now getting emails from Hellix making the usuall debt collector threats. Been ignoring them so far cause cause I don't acknowledge this debt. It was apparently taken out in mid 2012 or something. 7yrs ago. Some advice on my next steps please I would be grateful. Thanks.

Final Response

X
Inbox
To:
X
Final Response of Complaint in Relation to: x

Kapama Limited/Mini Credit: x

Original Balance: £1,101.00

Outstanding Balance: £1,101.00

Mr x

I am in receipt of your email dated the x, the contents of which I have noted.

My understanding of your complaint is as follows:

1) You are unaware of any debt owed to Kapama Limited

2) You are, I assume, alleging a breach of the FCA sourcebook(s)

3) You wish for the matter to be closed otherwise you will raise complaints with the FCA, FOS, ICO and Trading Standards

For simplicity, I will respond to each numbered point individually:

1) I find this hard to believe; the matter is reported on your credit file as being owned by Kapama Limited. We sent you two notices of assignment (December 2014 and January 2015) confirming the sale of the debt to Kapama Limited from Mini Credit and this overall sale process was widely reported in the media and on the Financial Conduct Authorities website – in fact, it is fair to say that the FCA had oversight of this sale as it resulted in the exit of Mini Credit from the UK financial market. To clarify; this debt relates to an account opened with Mini Credit on the x/x/2012 of which a balance of £1,101.00 remains overdue and owed to Kapama Limited, who purchased the account in December 2014.

2) We do not acknowledge any breach of any FCA guidance. Unfortunately, copying a mass of information from the sourcebook (or another medium) into your email leaves me no closer to establishing a) what element you believe we have breached b) when this breach occurred and c) why you believe it to be a breach. Furthermore, I don’t believe you can on one hand claim the debt is not yours yet on the other hand claim we have breached guidance by not investigating a dispute – it has to be one or the other. You cannot dispute a debt that is not yours, you would deny it. You would be likely to dispute where the balance or other material information is incorrect, not when you claim the debt is not owed by you.

3) We will not be closing this account. We have no reason to believe you are not the x who opened this account in X 2012. We have no reason to believe that the balance is disputed or queried in any way as you have provided no reasonable information related to a dispute or query.

For the sake of clarity; we deny the contents of your complaint as being factual. We do not recognise any breach of FCA guidance and we have no reason to close this account; your threats of involving other organisations is not something that phases me, Mr x. In fact, I would welcome the inclusion of the Financial Ombudsman Service in investigating this matter. We will happily share all application date we hold (addresses, employment details, bank details, email addresses, telephone numbers, IP addresses et al) with them and let them make the determination of whether this is you or not.

What I do find interesting is the email address you used as recently as June 2019 (x) is the exact same email address used to open this account in X 2012. I trust you will be able to explain this to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Whilst I am sure this will not come as a surprise based on the above comments, I will not be upholding your complaint. I find no aspect of your complaint to be justified in any way.

I can confirm that we work closely with the Credit Reference Agencies and update them regularly with any payments you make towards your debt. Other lenders will look at your credit file to make lending decisions based on the overall payment performance of your financial commitments. Failure to repay your account will continue to negatively impact your credit rating.

If you are still experiencing financial difficulties our Money Advice Section would welcome the opportunity to speak with you. They can set up a payment arrangement over a longer period and in line with your affordability. If you contact one of our trained advisors on 0141 428 3991 they will be happy to go over your income, expenditure and talk through your situation. Alternatively, please see our help and advice section of our secure website https://www.oposlimited.com for details of non-profit organisations you can contact for free advice.

If you remain unhappy, you still have the option to contact the Financial Ombudsman Service, so long as you do this within six months of the date of this letter. Please see the following Financial Ombudsman Service link for further information on how to do so. http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/consumer-leaflet.htm. Should you wish to receive a physical copy of this brochure, please contact us under separate cover to request this.

Please also note that it is not our intention to allow the Financial Ombudsman Service to investigate cases that fall out with the time limit set out in DISP 2.8.2R (1).

Further details regarding the Financial Ombudsman Service can be obtained from their website at https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk. Alternatively, the Financial Ombudsman Service may be contacted on 0800 023 4567 or at:

The Financial Ombudsman Service

Exchange Tower

London

E14 9SR

That said, similar cases to these have been passed to an ombudsman before and we have been given the following as a response:

“I’ve also been made aware of our approach towards these specific complaints relating to Kapama and Mini Credit loans. In the last few years, we’ve received a number of complaints and our approach has been that, because Kapama didn’t make the original lending decision, we wouldn’t look at whether the lending was affordable. I’ve sought further advice and this is still our approach in this situation.”

Furthermore, in relation to the evidence we provide regarding affordability provided by Mini Credit, another ombudsman has stated:

“Unfortunately, because the business that provided the loan is no longer trading, the amount of information available is limited. However, the business has been able to show that credit checks were complete before the loan was issued. This would’ve confirmed your details against those held with credit reference agencies.”

Yours sincerely,