Email from capquest?!

Chloe_211

Hey, new to the forum and in dire need of some advice. Currently awaiting a response from citizens advice. 

Long story short my parents committed fraud in my name. They took out catalogues in my name when I was no longer living with them. The result was a ccj against my name which was when I became aware of the debt. I haven't reported the issue to the police on account of my younger sibling essentially begging me not to, for fear of our parents having to actually face any consequences. 

I have been communicating with Lowell who offered me a settlement fee, but I have now received an email from Capquest asking for a much smaller fee, stating they will mark the debt as part satisfied if I pay it. I've never had any communication with them before, and have no clue whether this is the same debt with Lowell, or if this is a new debt. 

If I phone capquest will they be able to confirm if they bought the debt from lowell? I honestly haven't got a clue what to do in this situation. All I know is my credit score is now half what it was, my parents flat out refused to acknowledge what they've done, and I have no idea what to do next.

Thanks in advance!
Chloe

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

Chloe_211 said:

Hey, new to the forum and in dire need of some advice. Currently awaiting a response from citizens advice. 

Long story short my parents committed fraud in my name. They took out catalogues in my name when I was no longer living with them. The result was a ccj against my name which was when I became aware of the debt. I haven't reported the issue to the police on account of my younger sibling essentially begging me not to, for fear of our parents having to actually face any consequences. 

I have been communicating with Lowell who offered me a settlement fee, but I have now received an email from Capquest asking for a much smaller fee, stating they will mark the debt as part satisfied if I pay it. I've never had any communication with them before, and have no clue whether this is the same debt with Lowell, or if this is a new debt. 

If I phone capquest will they be able to confirm if they bought the debt from lowell? I honestly haven't got a clue what to do in this situation. All I know is my credit score is now half what it was, my parents flat out refused to acknowledge what they've done, and I have no idea what to do next.

Thanks in advance!
Chloe

I know its a difficult situation but I absolutely would report your parents.

What if they did it again, to your younger siblings? Or what if you need a mortgage etc. That CCJ will stay on your file for 6 years. 

fatbelly

I would ignore emails. If it's important they'll write.

It is quite likely that if you've had one fraudulent account in your name you'll have more. Have you checked what is showing on your credit report?

Chloe_211

fatbelly said:

I would ignore emails. If it's important they'll write.

It is quite likely that if you've had one fraudulent account in your name you'll have more. Have you checked what is showing on your credit report?

Yeah I keep tabs on my account constantly since discovering this. No new accounts are showing as opened. However; I'm currently only using clearscore, so I'm going to look into using another for additional peace of mind. I'm not happy to pay it off, but as my parents have no intention of fixing their identity theft, I'd rather just sort it out. I do have my concerns that since I haven't reported them they'll try it again, but that's another issue altogether. 

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

I'm sorry you're going through this. 

I was thinking about this last night and I would break it all down into little bits to deal with. 

I think the biggest thing at the moment is that CCJ on your file. I think you need to consider your own future here. That will stay on that file for 6 years. Lets say you want to rent a house, you need to declare it. If you want a mortgage, again its taken into consideration. It's even asked if you get any insurance (house, car etc) so I really do think its unfair that its on your file when you haven't been the person to default. 

The debt: This isn't yours. I wouldn't pay it but if you insist on not reporting them I would call your parents bluff. I'd tell them they either pay it, or you are calling the police. 

In Future: I would think very carefully about whether you want a relationship with your parents after this. I had my mother take a large sum of money from me (nearly £10k) and its taken me a very long time to see her for what she is. 

MoneySavingExpert have a free tool that is linked with Experian. It may be worth checking there too. 

bargainbetty

Just a small point - if Capquest mark it as partially satisfied, they can still chase you for the remainder. There is no point in paying less unless it is a full and final agreement. 

Honestly though, I would report your parents to the police for this. It is fraud and it will have an impact on you for six years. If they believe they have got away with it and your younger siblings support them, how long before they do it again to you or to the siblings? Parents don't get a free pass on screwing up their children's lives because they are parents - they committed a crime and you are one of the victims of it. 

I wouldn't risk six years of stress and difficulty for anyone who obviously didn't give a **** about the damage it would cause me. Threatening them with the police unless they pay up won't change the CCJ in your name. Only reporting them will do that. 

sourcrates

When a debt collector/purchaser, contacts you in regard to an outstanding debt, to comply with fair debt collection practice rules, they must put this in writing to you.

Now any communication from Lowell, will include a unique reference number, plus the name of the original creditor, most other DCA`s letters will be similar.

Lowell and Capquest are both debt buyers, its would be unusual for them to sell to one another, its very likely these are separate debts each are chasing.

Some are saying you should report your parents, realistically the police will just refer you to Action Fraud, so you should report it there, they will give you a crime reference number, you can then use that to dispute this, and any further debts that show up -

Identity fraud and identity theft | Action Fraud


Unless the theft is on a large scale, and you have bundles of evidence, that will be about as far as it goes, only the biggest cases of fraud are investigated, as it is an all to common crime, and the police don`t have the time or resources to investigate every case.

Now, about the CCJ, follow Lowell`s complaints procedure, tell them everything, include as much evidence as you can muster, ask them to agree to a set aside by consent, as the debt was taken out fraudulently, I think the fee for that would be in the region of £50-100 pounds, I'm not 100% sure on that.

That is the only way to get it removed.