Telogram & CapQuest

Night_Watchwoman

hiya Rob,
I think I will do that,at least as far as they are concerned they have got the wrong address and I dont live there,so it will hopefully stop any further letters from arriving.Its just sad to think how many people have actually replied to these muppets and ended up paying them.

rog2

Night_Watchwoman wrote: »

hiya Rob,
I think I will do that,at least as far as they are concerned they have got the wrong address and I dont live there,so it will hopefully stop any further letters from arriving.Its just sad to think how many people have actually replied to these muppets and ended up paying them.

Do NOT send anything to CRAPQUEST. They will use it as an 'excuse' to harass you, and, please believe me, once CQ have gotten a foothold they will not let go.
It is most likely that CQ have, during their regular 'fishing' trips, noticed that there was an old 'debt' apportioned to either you, or someone with a similar name. They are 'Bounty Hunting' and, even if you reply by telling them to 'go away' they will try to 'ensnare' you into admitting liability for a 'debt' which may not be yours and may not even be legally enforceable.
It is, in fact, against the Office of Fair Trading Debt Collection Guidelines for a Debt Collecting Agency to send letters to everybody with a similar name, in the hope of 'netting' the actual debtor. The full guidelines can be viewed, and downloaded, at the following link:

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/oft664.pdf

Ignore them.

Night_Watchwoman

Hi Rog
Thanks for the great and quick response.
So ignoring the letter is simple but if they ring us at home,should I continue to say that the person they are looking for does not live at this address and continue to ignore any further letters?
I must admitt,I have never in the 6 years I have lived at this address ever recieved a letter like this,same with a phone call,they have only tried to contact us once so do you think that its safe to say that this is a one off and by my ignoring them,they will get the message?
I just worry that now I will have to live like a hunted bandit,always wondering whether I will get a knock on the door.

rog2

Night_Watchwoman wrote: »

So ignoring the letter is simple but if they ring us at home,should I continue to say that the person they are looking for does not live at this address and continue to ignore any further letters?

Hi NW - You really do not have to worry - nor do you have to tell them any lies if they ring you at home. They are obliged to ask you certain questions, before discussing any 'alleged debt', in order to establish that you are, in fact, the person that they are looking for. Simply refuse to answer these questions. Should they ring continuously (more than three times in any one day) then report them to the Trading Standards for harassment, which is a criminal offence.
It would appear that either you do not have any outstanding 'debt', or that the 'debt' in question is more than six years old and, therefore, providing that you have made no payment towards it, or made any written acknowledgement, in the last six years, it would, almost certainly, be covered by the terms of the Limitation Act and be Statute Barred. This means that, once you have told them you will not be making any payments towards the 'debt' because it is statute barred (the only reason that you need give) then the 'debt' can no longer be enforced through the courts.
For further information, see the following link:

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=25_liability_for_debts_and_the_limitation_act

It is totally up to CQ to prove that you owe money towards a 'debt' and they must give you full details, including an up to date statement of the account, on request. Unless any of their 'letters' give you any further 'information' about the alleged debt, then, yes continue to ignore them.

In the extremely unlikely event that CQ do send anyone to your door, you should remember that that person as no authority whatsoever, in law, to do anything other than ask you if you would like to make a payment. They will have no legal right of entry to your property, and must leave immediately when you ask them to.

To summarise - if CQ are so sure that you are the person they are looking for, they should provide you with details of the 'alleged debt'. If the debt is old, and covered by the Limitation Act, then simply send them the letter which you will find in the NDL link which I gave you.
If they start harassing you by telephone, simply tell them that 'you acknowledge no debt whatsoever to either CRAPQUEST or to any organisation that they claim to represent, and unless they are prepared to give you, in writing, full details of the 'alleged debt' then you will not discuss the matter with them.

And relax.

ThinkingOfLinking

Sorry to highjack but I have been being harrassed by Capquest. So the general concensus here is to NOT reply to them? I have not done so as yet as my phone has been cut off and I cannot call them anyway (they left a message at my old residence). I also have a letter from them though.

rog2

Flickering_Ember wrote: »

Sorry to highjack but I have been being harrassed by Capquest. So the general concensus here is to NOT reply to them? I have not done so as yet as my phone has been cut off and I cannot call them anyway (they left a message at my old residence). I also have a letter from them though.

What is the 'alleged debt' and what does the 'letter' say, FE?

ThinkingOfLinking

rog2 wrote: »

What is the 'alleged debt' and what does the 'letter' say, FE?

It's for a certain credit card company. I do not have ANY credit cards. I have one o/d on my one bank account, but no loans or debts other than a DSS crisis loan which they're taking back from me anyway.

rog2

Flickering_Ember wrote: »

It's for a certain credit card company. I do not have ANY credit cards. I have one o/d on my one bank account, but no loans or debts other than a DSS crisis loan which they're taking back from me anyway.

The onus is on CRAPQUEST to prove that you have a 'debt' and that you are, indeed, the 'debtor' that they are looking for. http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/oft664.pdf

They must provide you with full details of any 'debt' that they are pursuing, otherwise the 'debt' is legally unenforceable.
Whilst overdrafts do not, normally, come under the terms of the Consumer Credit Act, 1974, there is a case stating that overdrafts may be partially covered. However, from your post, I doubt they are chasing you for the overdraft.
If CRAPQUEST do not give you full details of the 'debt' then, I would suggest that you request a true signed copy of the original consumer credit agreement, which they must, legally, provide within 12 working days.
If such an agreement exists (and with CQ's track record, this is a big IF), then this will prove, conclusively, whether the 'alleged debt' is in fact genuinely yours, and if they can not provide it, then they can no longer pursue you for the 'debt'.

ThinkingOfLinking

They did say it was for that company and how much it was for though...

Broken_hearted

HL legal are just crapquest, they sent us a default letter last week (yawn)