Capquest

Bl00m

Hi, I'm new to this. I received a letter from capquest today telling me that they have taken over a debt and is now there's, I can't actually remember the debt as according to the letter it's from 18 years ago for £2000, any advice would be great. 

Grumpelstiltskin

Advice yes, ignore it if you haven't paid it for 6 years it is statute barred.

Capquest are trying it on.

Bl00m

Thank you. So best not to respond to them?

BadDebtor

Bl00m said:

Hi, I'm new to this. I received a letter from capquest today telling me that they have taken over a debt and is now there's, I can't actually remember the debt as according to the letter it's from 18 years ago for £2000, any advice would be great. 

If you have a debt that has not been taken to Court and you do not pay anything towards it nor acknowledge it for a period of 6 years, then it is statute barred but on some contracts the 6 years runs from the "date of default", you would have got a letter stating that the debt is in default, no more interest will be charged and they are selling the debt to debt collectors.

I ignore such letters as a try on unless they are an actual letter before legal action, not a "we will be passing for legal consideration or some other BS in their wording.  A letter before action should be in compliant of the pre-action protocols and contain certain things, this page gives an overview, but do not worry you won't get one out of the blue because that protocol says they have to do more.

https://www.girlings.com/latest/solicitors-letter-before-action-everything-you-need-to-know

The reason to ignore is because they are commission hungry debt collectors who focus on mugs who are low hanging fruit, contacting them after 1 letter suggests you could be gullible to their fake wording like "well the debt is still owed" despite the fact that it can't be enforced.

Another reason to avoid such letters is debt collectors have been known to send a letter of an old statute barred letter to get you to confidently say "you can't touch this" then they hit you with a debt that is not statute barred and threaten to take you to Court.

In my personal experience this is common practice as is the practice of trying to figure out if it is worth them seeking a CCJ for a debt that is within the 6 year limit.  It is only worth throwing good money after bad if you have a chance to actually get paid.  One of my creditors obtained a back door CCJ at an old address, it server no purpose as I did not have a pot to urinate in, so they got another six years but it was futile for them. 

If you don't want to ignore it or they escalate then this forum has a number of template letters which do not acknowledge the debt;

The first of these is a Prove-It letter, then if it is statute barred there is a letter for that and if the debt is valid but old there is the CCA option where you demand they provide the agreement, these are all reasons why a debt may be unenforcable. HOWEVER, this only applies to certain debts full explanation here

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/57422683/#Comment_57422683

This is the prove it letter thread, there are various versions

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2607247/letter-when-you-know-nothing-about-about-the-debt-aka-prove-it-letter

If you subsequently find the debt is indeed Statute barred then this thread has letters that should put an end to it.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6027755/statute-barred-debts-and-the-limitation-act#latest


You can combine the two above with this template letter 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/76061221/#Comment_76061221


This one is a summary with more detail on things like defaults which you need to be aware of

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6027800/debt-free-wannabe-sticky-provit-statute-barred-letters-defaults-help-and-guidance-all-here#latest

If it really is 18 years ago it is extremely unlikely that they have any hope in hell, they would have needed to get a CCJ at year 6 and then gone to Court every 6 years thereafter to ask for permission to keep chasing you.

If you want to know more about CCA it is discussed in detail at debt camel but remember the message above

https://debtcamel.co.uk/settlements-old-debts-cca/

RAS

Bl00m said:

Thank you. So best not to respond to them?

The creditor had to take legal action to enforce the CCJ within 6 years, beyond that they need special permission from the courts, almost never even applied for let alone granted.

But it's not statute barred and legally still exists. But they have no way of making you pay.

Bl00m

Thank you, that's so helpful.

fatbelly

Bl00m said:

Thank you. So best not to respond to them?

Yes. There's no point having a debate with them.

You could send a 'this is statute barred' letter but ignoring them is as effective.

If you ever got a court claim you would have a full defence, which is why you won't get one
 

Andycady

Hi, just reading the theads on here. I have power of attorney for my elderly father (93) who went into a hospice last week. He got one of these letters. I sent them the power of attorney form because they wouldn't talk to me without it (fair enough). Now reading these, perhaps I should ignore it? I have no knowledge of any debt, but Dad could have a debt. It says Shop Direct which looks like Very have control of. What's your advice? Thanks 

fatbelly

Very is part of the Shop Direct group.

Capquest buy old debts, sometimes so old that they cannot be enforced.

Keep asking for information without admitting the debt. If the default date was more than six years ago and your father made no payment to it then it is statute barred, and there is a standard letter in the sticky threads

lemongrab21

Hi. I have recently been contacted regarding a home shopping debt. I have two accounts with the same creditor and they have made very little attempt to collect from me for years. These accounts have now been sold to another debt company. I sent a statute barred letter and they've admitted one account is statute barred but the other, apparently I made a payment of five pounds back in 2019. I've checked my bank statement and I did indeed make this payment. I don't have much memory of that time as my child attempted to unalive themselves, I can imagine I made the payment following a random letter in order to give myself some breathing space. So basically I have one valid debt with them which becomes statute barred on 18/3/2025. They are threatening to send debt collectors round to my house. Is there any way I can stall this process until it becomes statute barred? I literally have just weeks! They have never applied for a ccj but I am a homeowner. This debt is for 1,300 pounds. I am a full time carer for my child who is disabled, we are very poor but I don't want to risk my home over this. Thank you for reading. 

sourcrates

One very good way to stall them is to send a prove-it letter, asking for evidence of your liability.

The good news is its worded so as not to acknowledge the debt in any way, thus not affecting its potential shortly to be statute barred status.

The link to the letter is in my signature, they will be aware of this debts status, and may get litigious if you do nothing.

It usually takes a company a good few months to respond to these requests.