Aktiv Kapital (UK) - Who Are They?

GeorgeUK

I would suggest sending the "prove it" letter. It may depend on when the last payment was made, but if you're not sure when it was, this should use up a little time. Don't forget - do not sign the letter. Just print your name.

yello_2

Hi,

This is my first post so I hope it all makes sense...

I have read a lot about Aktiv Kapital on these posts and I am looking for some advice. I received a letter from Buchanan Clark & Wells stating that they had been instructed by Aktiv Kapital UK Ltd to recover an overdue debt of £3507.77 relating to a Barclaycard. This is not my debt! I have received a second letter along the same lines as the first but now indicating that they are aware of my ‘homeowner status’. This is not my debt and I intend to take all necessary action to prevent Buchanan Clark & Wells and Aktiv Kapital pursuing this further. It is annoying and stressful and I would like to check that I am about to take the correct course of action.

I have looked through the letter templates on this forum and on the National Debtline website. The National Debtline template does not mention a request for the Credit Agreement (which requires the £1 postal order). Which letter should I use? I thought that the National Debtline template may be the most current template, but is it better to ask for a copy of the credit agreement (that doesn’t exist!)? Then I can send the follow-up letter if they do not respond in the required timeframe…?

Sorry if I am unnecessarily confused. The implied threat in the most recent letter regarding my ‘homeowner status’ has managed to get to me, even though I know it is not my debt…

Any advice would be gratefully received.

GeorgeUK

Hello yello

I think the nationaldebtline letter you are referring to may be the one we term the 'prove it' letter. It is important that you do not sign any letters when sending them to a DCA - just incase your signature "somehow" winds up on a credit agreement.

This letter would be fine to send but make sure you send it by recorded delivery so that you have proof that the letter has been received. Also make sure that it states " I do not acknowledge any debt to your company" or something similar at the top.

The next thing you should do is check your credit file to make sure there is nothing showing on there that shouldn't be there. Check your previous addresses so that you are not associated with ones you did not live at. You can do this free at experian (if you cancel within 30 days).

Unfortunately DCA's go fishing for people with the same name as a debt they have - they're not even fussy about who pays the debt. I would send the letter requesting proof that the debt is yours and wait to see what comes back.

yello_2

Thanks for the advice George.

Should I send the 'prove it' letter to Aktiv Kapital and a copy to Buchanan Clark & Wells to make them aware and stop them contacting me, or is it the other way round?

GeorgeUK

You should send the letter to whoever is pursuing you for payment right now.

yello_2

Thanks, I will get the letter sent off.

thefirstlady

I got a letter from Aktiv kaptial this morning (addressed to the completely wrong address) telling me I owe them £1123.15 from a barclaycard account. I haven't had a barclaycard in 11 years or so now and I remember getting calls from a different company over 2 years ago regarding this debt. I did not awknowlegde the debt to them but asked them to send me a copy of the credit agreement as I did not believe the address they had on file. They didn't - twice and I heard no more until the letter arrived today.

I assume that they have bought the debt and are chancing it. Now - the letter stated that "we previously wrote to you advising that Aktiv Kapital is now acting for the new legal owner for this account.

We then asked a Debt collection agent to contact you in respect of the outstanding balance. We should explain that your account has now been returned to us."

I have never had a letter form these people before telling me that they owned the debt

So - should I send them the prove it letter, the statute barred letter or just throw the letter in the bin given that they addressed it to the next town to me which is in England and I am in Scotland?

It does say at the end "If you believe you are not our customer or have a valid reason why this account should not be repaid then please call us within the next 10 days. "

I will not be calling - ever but any advise oh wise ones would be appreciated.

GeorgeUK

If they get your address right and it is one of your debts, then i would send the statute barred letter. For now i think you are correct just to bin it.

gogetum

Hi,

I have been studying these forums for a long time now and am going around in circles......

Way back in 21/11/2002 i took out an M&S personal loan for £4000 in MY name only. I was then deployed to Iraq in January 2003. Whilst away, i saved up money and agreed that my wife at the time we should pay off this debt in full. My marriage was breaking down and as away, told my then wife to settle the loan with M&S which she said that she had as she was in control of all financial aspects with me being frequently away.

I returned from Iraq and subsequently we went our own ways with no ties, she moved abroad and i decided to leave the Army. We divorced, end of. I met the woman of my dreams and we bought a house together in 2005, we got a tracker mortgage with Barclays and we have a family. I left the Army in August 05.

In February 09 this year, we decided that we wanted to move to a bigger property and taking advantage of the current market, applied for a mortgage that was agreed in principal on the phone. We sold our house STC and found an ideal house to move forward with.

On 10th February this year (09) i received a letter from Buchanan Clark & Wells (BCW) of a Final Notice for £3,216.23 in respect of the M&S loan.

I called BCW and they said it was never paid so i paid the FULL amount to BCW!! They said that they would pass to Aktiv kapital (AK) and update the Credit file.

At that time i immediately joined Experian and Equifax and sure enough, there was a Default entered on my credit file on 07/05/07.

This was news to me and a great shock to my family. So as to say the Mortgage was declined and the move fell apart. I cannot trace my Ex and it’s all in my name. My problem...

I called and emailed BCW as to how i did not know about it and they said they would ask their clients AK to contact me. I called AK and stated the situation and that i had only just been made aware of this default and paid the FULL amount and under the circumstances please remove the default...I was spoken to like a second rate person and told under certain terms NO. I asked politely and was told that ‘we have a responsibility to advise other lenders’ etc.

At that point i was and am still mortified not to mention my new family as because of me, we cannot move house......

So i looked around on this forum and others for hours and read up on a few cases and sent AK a statutory letter asking for the original agreement and the original letter of Default. I even rang them to ask for the original default letter to which they replied that they do not have to send it to me as there is no outstanding balance..........I just paid them £3,216.23 which i worked B******* hard for...

In return on 06/05/09 i received a TRUE COPY letter from AK containing an introductory letter NOT THE LETTER OF DEFAULT...dated 25/04/08 to an old Army address that i had left over 4 years ago stating:

We now own the debt pay us etc with AK letter head on behalf of Thames credit.

How could i have received this letter when i am on the electoral role at my current address for over 4 years? It doesn’t add up.

In the referring letter dated 06/05/09, they state that ‘We can confirm that a copy of the original agreement has been requested and shall be forwarded to you in due course. (This was in May). NOTHING RECIEVED TO DATE.

To date i have received nothing and no clear way to take this to try and remove this Default on the grounds that i NEVER received ANY letter and the letter i did receive was addressed to a location that i departed over 4 years ago. Is this acceptable proof?

Is this now on my credit file for 6 years from settlement of the default? Other than this i have NO other debt. Barclays will only entertain us for another mortgage under their conditions IF the default is removed.

Can anyone please advise the way forward on this and should i contact the Financial Ombudsman?

Do i have grounds for removal? Or are we doomed??

Thanks so much in advance

GeorgeUK

This looks like a right mess and i really wish you had found us sooner.

I'll start with a few basics then what i think your next step should be.

If you had made no payment towards a debt for 6 years (5 in Scotland) and not acknowledged the debt in writing during that time, the debt would be statute barred. This would mean that while the debt would still exist, you would not legally have to make any payments towards the debt - even a court wouldn't make you pay it. As the debt still existed though you wouldn't be able to get back any money you have paid towards it.

A default can be registered on your credit file if you do not maintain the agreed payments. The date of the default on your file should not be the date that the debt was sold to a nother company or the date they notify the credit reference agency, but should be the date of the actual default - when you missed the first payment (or within 6 months of this). If this is not the date for the default they have eneted on your file then they are in breach of the Data Protection Act and should change it. If they don't you should report them to the Information Commissioners Office.

As things stand now, I would contact M&S and make a subject access request (SAR - cost £10). This will allow you to see all transactions that have been made on your account so you can hopefully see what happened to the payments and when they stopped. If penalty charges have been applied, i would claim these back and also check to see if you were missold payment protection insurance on the loan.

If the amount outstanding is not the same as that paid to AK, then i would look into where this difference came from and if there is anything you can claim back from them too.

You say you had saved money to pay off this debt - it might be worth doing a SAR to the bank to see if you can tell what has happened to this. Was it withdrawn or transferred and if transferred, can the bank trace where to.