Hiya, I have had a right good run in with AK and GE Money regarding defaults and CCJ's. Finally got rid of all defaults and judgements and settled "out of court" (having cost them a small fortune in legal fees as their solicitors were £450 per hour and £600 per hour respectively...) but was invited onto this thread by Elsinore. I have been reading it with interest. As my debt is fully paid to AK, if it transoires that they are not the legal owners, can I sue them for my money back..? I'll give it a go. Really I will... Best regards Kyu

The bundle of joy that was imminent is now 1 years old. Jeez where did that go???? So I'm in!!! I will dig out the recording of Consumer Direct which made me smile. Kyu

Oooh, Consumer Direct... My favourite Champion of the People! I have a recording somewhere at home of them telling me to put my nefariously acquired CCJ and defaults "down to experience". The gits. I'm not sure what I can do with them other than copy out a transcript... time, time and even less time but I'll give it a go. No promises mind as we have a second little bundle of joy due to arrive anytime now. So the wife keeps reminding me...

doh!

Have just spoken to the nice lady at Keighley Court who has suggested that I apply for a 'Third Party Debt Order.' For those of us who didn't know what a TPDO was (this included me until half an hour ago) it means that I can apply to have their bank accounts frozen until they pay me... This sounds far too good to pass up! Little old Kyu stops GE Money getting to their bank account. MHA HA HA HA HA! MHA HA HAW HAW HAW HAW - deranged laughter ad nauseum.

Okay, still no settlement cheque from those weasly gits at GE Money. Can anybody give me a clue as to what my options are? I hadn't really thought about the fact that GE Money would be slimeballs enough to actually ignore the courts! Just how arrogant are these to$S3r5!!!

Or so I thought... The three weeks was up on the 26th August for them to send the settlement through and, surprise, surprise, no settlement... I shall write a letter to the judge and COPY GE Money in and their lawyers. * sigh *

Had a telphone call from their solicitors with a last minute out of court settlement (1pm the Friday before the Monday court case). Finally all finished then. :o( What will I do now? I know! I'll thank all you guys for a start. Your help and advice over the last few months has been inspirational. Many, many, many thanks! As for everybody else who is having problems then battle on! It really is worth it in the end... Aktiv Kapital - Removal of default, CCJ and settled out of court. FNTF (GE Money) - Removal of default and settled out of court. So, as they say at the end of old films... ~ FIN ~

Just thought I'd let you know what was happening with the FNTF part of my crusade as this is the final chapter so to speak of this (very nearly award winning) saga. I now have a hearing date of 30th July 2007 at 14:00 for FNTF (GE Money) I will be interested to see what happens from this point. I have posted all the copies of the documents that are to be relied on in court so I think I just need to sit back and wait until I hear from their solicitors... Will obviously keep you all posted as to the outcome. I'll have to find a new hobby at the end of July when this is all done with!

Yep, it's my own fault. I had assumed that with the capitulation of AK (and my case was no where near as strong against them as it is against FNTF) that FNTF would see sense and follow suit. Just goes to show that the old addage of "Never assume as it makes an Ass of U and Me" correct. Still, no real harm done. Kyu

Well blow me! I still haven't received letter from FNTF so I rang them up about it... The story goes that I faxed them a copy of the letter from the ICO and discussed it with somebody. The letter, for those that don't know, said that FNTF were most definitely in the wrong and that I should consider suing the under section 73 of the DPA. The nice lady then told me that there would be no need to sue them and that this would all be sorted out within a couple of weeks. This was four weeks ago... Hence expecting this letter. So I rang them up about it and told them that I hadn't received this letter. The bunch of * Expletives removed * have only used this four weeks to write a snivelling letter to the ICO to tell them that it wasn't really their fault and that as far as they were concerned I can go and whistle! The * Expletives removed again from this post as they took up far too much room, but made me feel better! * This time I'll sue them and include the letter from the ICO as evidence and there will be NO out of court settlement for this load of * You get the idea * One very PO'd Kyu...

Okay folks. I am now having to bow out of the Aktiv Kapital part of the debate on this forum. We have come to an amicable settlement but I have now signed the 'consent order' of which a part of the agreement is that I am not allowed to divulge any terms of the settlement. Good luck to all you guys who are still battling though and I will gladly assist in your struggles if I possibly can. As an aside, there is a letter waiting for me at home from FNTF which the wife shall be ringing me about in the next half an hour or so to tell me what it says (our post arrives long after I've left for work... ) so I'll post that as well in due course. That should then bring this little thread to a rather neat, if slightly long winded, conclusion! Special thanks to Alanfromderby, Seminole and Elsinore and all you other chaps that have chippd in along the way Kyu PS How do I make a donation to this site..?

They have asked me to fax the courts to tell them that we have agreed a settlement and they will fax the settlement over to me in the next few minutes. That was nearly three hours ago and precisely zero faxes have been sent. I wonder if this was just to have me cancel the court hearing and then deny all knowledge of a settlement being mentioned over the phone... Anyway, I haven't signed the gag order yet as I haven't received it so we'll just have to wait and see won't we...

I'm sorry to hear that you now have a legal bill to pay as well as the original account but they seem to want to settle with mine. What was your legal bill for? How much were you claiming for? I have gone for the small claims route which negates me paying for their legal representation. The guy that I am dealing with seems to be really helpful and talks a lot of sense, although, should they wish to settle then they are insisting on a gag order so I shall not be posting with regard to this shortly. Kyu

Hello Pantherboy, I am currently in the process of suing AK for their gross breach of the DPA and the DPP's. I shall certainly keep you posted as to how I get on. For your information though my thread is here: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-bailiffs-advice/18126-aktiv-kapital-again-9.html#post464843 I have directed you to the end of the thread as it was a long and painful process involving Trading Standards (who told me to "put it down to experience") the Credit Services Association (fobbed me off) the Financial Services Authority (who also fobbed me off) and the Financial Ombudsman (who, guess what, fobbed me off big time). The ICO was (and are still being) extremely helpful, though so it might be worth contacting them with regards to the CRA entries. Best of luck and stick with it! Kyu

See the above post by me. Write to the ICO and tell them what has happened. You will need copies of letters though or it will be difficult to prove. Good luck and don't give up (note the start date of this thread!?!?) Kyu

Before this gets moved, can we have a little forum thread starter for those people who have had problems with FNTF / AK? I spoke with the Information Commissioners Office just yesterday with regards to them telling me that 'Yes, FNTF have breached the DPP's but that the Information Commissioners Office will be doing nothing about it' However, they then stated that I may wish to sue them under Section 13 of the Data Protection Act. They also went on to say that they thought the default was correctly recorded and that they had instructed FNTF to tell AK to put it back on! I telephoned them to explain the situation and they were very helpfull. They have told me that the default will NOT be put back on and that they need to know how many other people are having problems with FNTF / AK. Depending on the response, they will then start action against FNTF. Therefore, all the people who are battling with FNTF need to get complaining to the Information Commissioners Office. I'll say that again because I think it is important: ALL THE PEOPLE WHO ARE HAVING PROBLEMS WITH FNTF NEED TO COMPLAIN TO THE Information Commissioners Office!!! These, I hasten to add, have been the only people worth talking to so far in my case... It was handy to fax through to GE Money though as it basically proves my case against FNTF. The judge would be hardpressed to disagree with the ICO I would think... I haven't posted the entire letter because it is four pages long and I'd have to re type it all in.

My reply: Thank you for your reply of 11th December. Firstly, It would appear that I have not made myself clear on my complaint form to yourselves. It states in your letter that my main issue is that they only agreed to remove the default from my credit file when the CCJ was set aside by a judge. This is simply not true. My main issue with Aktiv Kapital was that they refused to accept a payment plan, as proposed by them, just to destroy my credit rating with a CCJ. After discussions on the telephone with one of their managers emotions ran high. I don’t believe, from what I can recall of my conversation with her however, that I was rude or offensive, but this manager took offence at the fact that I was obviously taking up her valuable time. It was this manager that took the decision to refuse the payment plan in some sort of fit of pique. Secondly, other than the fact that Aktiv Kapital bought the debt from First National Tricity Finance (FNTF) I can see no reason as to why FNTF would have any further input to my complaint regarding Aktiv Kapital. How would FNTF know whether or not the correct process was followed with regards to Aktiv Kapital pursuing a CCJ? The decision to take legal action against Aktiv Kapital was taken with respect to the Data Protection Act 1998 and their breach of the Data Protection Principles where information must not be excessive. I believe that refusing to honour a payment plan as proposed by themselves so that Aktiv Kapital could destroy my credit rating with a CCJ instead as somewhat excessive, don’t you? This is my right to do so and I intend to assert that right. I am disappointed to see from your closing paragraphs that you intend to do absolutely nothing with regard to this complaint. I should not have been surprised however, as the advice I was given from Consumer Direct was to “put it down to experience” and the FSA directed me to the Financial Ombudsman which then told me that they were not interested either. My last hope was that the CSA would at least be able to get to the bottom of this but I guess that when the financial institutions close ranks on you then the poor old consumer really has no chance whatsoever. Thank you for bothering to reply though, at least it was a full half a page longer than the other fob offs that I have received and I shall take great delight in posting it on the Consumer Action Group website forum where there are a number of disgruntled consumers where Aktiv Kapital are concerned that will find it informative if not an inspiration. Yours faithfully

Eeeh by gum! I have had a reply from the CSA regarding my complaint against Aktiv Kapital. This is what they had to say... Firstly, let me apologise for the delay in responding to your complaint. We are in receipt of a response to your formal complaint from CSA Member Aktiv Kapital UK Ltd and they have advised us of the following There has been a series of ongoing letters from you in which you state AK have acted incorrectly in their dealings with this account, which was purchased from FNTF Ltd. AK have confirmed the account has been repayed in full an closed on their records. The main issue you seem to have with AK is that they only agreed to remove the default on your credit file when the CCJ was set aside by a judge. AK have been in constant communication with FNTF with regards to this case and they continue to maintain that the correct process was followed in order to obtain the CCJ and as such FNTF had no reason to remove it. Since the removal of the default from your credit file you have written to AK advising them that unless they pay you compensation you will begin legal action against AK. As such, our member has advised us that they have taken the business decision to place this matter with their solicitors. As the association cannot involve itself in claims for compensation, and as there appears to be prospective court action, we are unable to assist you further in your complaint. However, complaints received are an essential part of the monitoring of compliance of our members to the CSA code of practice and n behalf of the Association I would like to thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We will continue to closely monitor the actions of AK through the official CSA complaint procedure, to ensure their compliance to the guidlines set by the association. Yours sincerely Etc.. Well, I now know where the 'Ass' in 'Association' comes from. The fourth paragraph has completely missed the point with regards to the excessive use of a CCJ after they refused to accept payment!?!?!? What a load of old tosh!!! I will post my reply to them in good time. I think that expecting any coherent help from the 'industry watchdogs' is a no hoper. The ICO has got back to me though regarding FNTF. They have stated that they will not do anything about the breaches of the DPA and the DPP's even though they agree that there has been breaches. They do however point out that I may wish to sue them under section 13 of the DPA which is a handy bit of bargaining power to wave before the judge... Lastly, the court date has been set for 31st January 2007 for my claim against AK. I hope I don't get the legal bill as it looks like their lawyers are costing about £400 per hour... Nice to know that I'm costing them though eh!? Kyu

I have had a letter from AK's solicitors wanting to know why I am suing AK!? They want to know on what grounds and blah blah blah...(A4 page later)... blah blah! They have told me they are in possession of all our correspondances so I've just told them to read through the letters and that would give them the 'why' and that the 'Particulars of Claim' will be with them shortly. My reply was two sentences. Why should I do their job for them eh? They have also stated that AK would 'rigorously defend' any court action. We'll have to wait and see won't we? I'm looking forward to it As an aside, I wonder how much their solicitors are charging them?

This was the letter that infuriated so much, please take note of paragraph 3, I'm guessing that there won't be a dry leg left in the house once you've read that little gem: Account Ref: ############## Dear Kyuudousha I refer to your letters dated 2nd October and 23rd October to Mrs Kathy Dinsdale, which have been forwarded for my attention. I have also read all of your previous correspondence. After carrying out an internal investigation I am satisfied that we have acted in accordance with all relevant legislation and guidelines. We have also been liaising with GE Money who have assured us that the default and the CCJ registered against you were valid and a true reflection of the payment history on your account. We find it disappointing that despite the cooperation we have shown in liaising between yourself and GE Money, and the removal of the default immediately after the courts judgment to set aside the CCJ, you feel it necessary to continue with legal intent with respect to the actions you are looking to undertake. We at Aktiv Kapital (UK) Ltd are confident that we have acted in good faith, we pride ourselves on the reputation we have built for good practice and for dealing well within the legal extremities of the industry regulations that govern businesses of our type. It is under these circumstances that your request for financial compensation is being refused. We take complaints of this nature very seriously and if events do transpire that there has been a failing on our part, then a full review of the processes involved will be initiated to ensure future situations of this kind do not occur. Yours sincerely Kevin Allmark Aktiv Kapital (UK) Ltd. Funny or what? My reply: AKTIV KAPITAL UK LTD MERCHANTS HOUSE HAMILTON PLACE CHESTER CH1 2BE Reference: Account No. ################# For the attention of Mr Kevin Allmark Fax No.: ############# Dear Mr Allmark, Thank you for your letter which is undated. I would just like to ask who you are as you have failed to put your position on your undated letter, therefore, your assurances of having carried out an ‘internal investigation’ are far from reassuring. For all I know you could be the cleaner there. I shall assume that you are not just the office cleaner and I shall take the time to respond to your poorly written letter. I notice that you state that you have been liaising with GE Money and that they have assured you that the default and the CCJ that were registered against me were valid. It would appear that you do not take after your name as you are way off the mark there. Firstly the CCJ was registered against me by Aktiv Kapital and NOT GE Money, despite the fact that I made an offer to pay without the need of going to court and being issued with a CCJ. Your operative went through the payment scheme that Aktiv Kapital would be expecting, including the litigation fees of £103, the court costs of £118 and the added interest of £78 which gave a monthly repayment figure of £697. The manager that was dealing with my agreement decided that she would rather have my good name tarnished by having the courts issue me with a CCJ rather than accepting payment. Now let’s take this little scenario a bit at a time shall we? Starting with the CSA guidelines, this particular manager of yours has breached: 3 a) Each member shall conduct its business lawfully, comply with all relevant UK legislation, regulation and judicial decisions and trade fairly and responsibly. 4 a) Not use oppressive or intrusive collection procedures. 4 i) Not pressurise debtors to sell property or to raise funds by further borrowing. 4 f) Unless instructed otherwise, accept all reasonable offers by debtors to pay by instalments, provided acceptable evidence of non-ability to pay is given. Now, I know that a Lisa Williams told me that these are agents of yours and do not come under your control, however, please note the following: 3 d) Ensure by continuously examining debt collection procedures, and those of any third parties employed, that they conform to the highest ethical standards. 3 e) All members have a duty to ensure that their agents, sub-contractors and subsidiaries comply with the Association’s Code and Guidelines. So far it appears that you are not doing so well doesn’t it? I would also like to point out that you have neglected to comply with the guidelines yourself in your last letter: 2 c) In all contacts by staff or agents, ensure that the member’s identity is clearly disclosed. Oh dear, you would appear to be acting quite shoddily when it comes to the Credit Services Association don’t you? Now then lets get into the CCA 1974 under which the agreement that you purchased was regulated by: 138 When bargains are extortionate (1) A credit bargain is extortionate if it— (a) requires the debtor or a relative of his to make payments (whether unconditionally, or on certain contingencies) which are grossly exorbitant, or (b) otherwise grossly contravenes ordinary principles of fair dealing. 139 Reopening of extortionate agreements (1) A credit agreement may, if the court thinks just, be reopened on the ground that the credit bargain is extortionate— (b) set aside the whole or part of any obligation imposed on the debtor or surety by the credit bargain or any related agreement, © require the creditor to repay the whole or part of any sum paid under the credit bargain or any related agreement by the debtor or a surety, whether paid to the creditor or any other person, (5) In England and Wales, an application under subsection (1)(a) shall be brought only in the county court in the case of— (a) a regulated agreement, These clauses have since been reviewed in the Unfair Relationships Sections 19-22 which repeal and replace sections 137-140 of the 1974 Act which empowered the Court to reopen an 'extortionate credit bargain'. A bargain was 'extortionate', if at the time the agreement was made, it required the debtor to make payments which were grossly exorbitant or otherwise grossly contravened ordinary principles of fair dealing. In coming to its conclusions the court was required to consider evidence produced concerning specific factors relevant to prevailing interest rates, the debtor (e.g. age, experience or degree of financial pressure) and creditor (e.g. accepted risk having regard to value of security). The amended provisions will enable a court to consider whether the relationship between the creditor and debtor arising out of that agreement is unfair to the debtor because of the terms of the agreement, the way in which the agreement is operated by the creditor or any other thing done or not done by or on behalf of the creditor before or after the agreement was made. The court may take into account all matters it thinks relevant relating to the creditor and debtor in making its assessment. The court is provided with a broad range of remedies under new section 140B to address the unfairness. As Aktiv Kapital required the repayments of this loan to go from £93 to £697 on a monthly basis this is in clear breach of the Consumer Credit Act by demanding and exorbitant increase in payments of over 730%. So, it would appear that you don’t even want to keep in line with them either. Now let’s move onto the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Data Protection Principles: No 3 Personal data shall be adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to the purpose or purposes for which they are processed. And No 5 Personal data processed for any purpose or purposes shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes. It would appear that the actions of this so called manager were illegal as far as the Data Protection Act is concerned. And this is what I am suing you for. The decimation of my personal standing by having my name registered on the public register for debtors when there was absolutely no need for it and the decimation of my credit rating. There is also the small matter of the breach of the Administration of Justice Act 1970 where your operative, a I received a telephone call, at work, on the 30th August at 11:47:20 (which I have logged on my telephone) from a Louise Williams of Aktiv Kapital demanding to know where my payment of £150 was! When I explained to her that Aktiv Kapital had supplied me a letter stating that this loan had been settled nearly two months ago she then had the gall to blame me for her ringing me up because I hadn’t told you that this was settled! Despite the fact that I had to write to you to get this letter of settlement out of you in the first place! Now we can move onto your second paragraph where you state that you are disappointed by my apparent need for restitution after all your hard work liaising with GE Money on my behalf. You sir, are a joke! What did you do exactly? You went running to GE Money when you thought that the excrement was going to hit the fan to try to cover yourself. You did not keep me informed of what was going on at any time. So quite frankly your disappointment at me taking legal action against you fades into nothing considering the humiliation and shame that I have had to put up with due to the actions of your company! This part of your second paragraph is a doozy quite frankly: “… and the removal of the default immediately after the courts judgement to set aside the CCJ…” Whilst I appreciate the removal of the default you were bloody well ordered to remove the CCJ by the courts! This removal of the default was just too little, too late I’m afraid. I gave Aktiv Kapital ample opportunities to settle this without any need for court interaction but you saw fit to ignore them so you are now reaping what your agents have sown. Now then, let’s move a little further on in this paragraph shall we? You state that: “We at Aktiv Kapital (UK) Ltd are confident that we have acted in good faith, we pride ourselves on the reputation we have built for good practice and for dealing well within the legal extremities of the industry regulations that govern businesses of our type.” Do you really call all the breaches of the CCA 1974, the Data Protection Act 1998 and the CSA guidelines good practice? Is this dealing within the legal extremities of the industry regulations? I guess we’ll have to let the courts decide on this won’t we? If this does go to court I shall make sure that I can get every single newspaper I can think of involved just to see the outcome. Let’s see what damage I can do to this ‘reputation’ that you are so proud of. You will notice that I have said ‘If’ in the paragraph above. I will make you the same offer that I made FNTF before I took them to court. I will accept compensation to the sum of £2000 in full and final settlement of this matter. Failing that we shall just have to see what the courts think of your actions, because quite frankly sir, I don’t think you’ll have a leg to stand on. Neither do you by the sound of your last paragraph. I have completed my complaint form to the CSA but, luckily for you, have not sent it off yet and I am currently working on the complaint to the Information Commissioners Office for your breaches of the DPA. The court case is written and ready to be filed with the courts just as soon as I know what your intentions are. Believe me; I will make this as messy as I possibly can for you. It’s such a shame that the buffoon of a manager you have at your welsh agent didn’t realise what sort of mess she was brewing up for you in the future, eh? I will give you until Friday noon of 3rd November for you to call me on (mobile number). If I haven’t heard from you by then I shall post everything I have off to the relevant organisations. Yours faithfully Kyuudousha Should keep them busy for a while. Court claim sent off today...

Complaint to the CSA with regard to AK and their handling of this account sent on Friday 3rd November. Complaint to the Information Commissioners Office with regard to AK and their handling of this account sent on Friday 3rd November. Working on claim against AK depending on what Information Commissioners Office and CSA say. Tried a sneaky e-mail offensive last monday by sending my letter to the names on the AK web page that Elsinore supplied a link to by typing in their name (philip.lunn) and then adding the "@aktivkapital.co.uk" on the end and none of them have bounced back to me yet. I only did this as I emailed them for Philip Lunns (CEO UK) address and they ignored me completely...

RAOFLMFAO!!!

I was impressed I have to say. Am I wrong or did they manage to say nothing at all? :confused: It's no wonder that people are getting somewhat screwed over as we don't stand a chance really. What with Consumer Direct sying I have to put it down to experience and the FO telling me they won't help...

Having received a reply from the FO regarding my complaint about FNTF saying that they are unable to help me I decided to write them an e-mail: Dear Real Person, I have received the returned complaint that I submitted to yourselves and which you received on 5th October 2006. I would just like to know what it is exactly that you do at the Financial Ombudsman. I have been onto the Financial Services Authority web site and gone through the complaints procedure but to no avail. They inform me that they do not deal with complaints and that I should go through the Financial Ombudsman. However, it would appear now that you don’t deal with complaints about finance houses either. Who then regulates First National Tricity Finance Ltd.? As they are not registered with the Consumer Credit Association and the FSA and FO do not want to know, who do I go to complain about their conduct? Yours faithfully Kyuudousha This was their reply: Dear Kyuudousha, Thank you for your recent e mail. The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) were set up by law to help settle individual disputes between businesses providing financial services and their customers, more details can be found on our website: www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk. First National Tricity Finance Ltd are regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and are representatives of GE Capital Bank who are also regulated by the FSA. At this point I must mention that a firm regulated by the FSA does not automatically mean the same firm is within the jurisdiction of the FOS. In this instance with regards to your complaint GE Capital Bank (represented by First National Tricity Finance Ltd) are exempt from the FOS's jurisdiction and this due to the activity you are complaining about. I appreciate you will be disappointed with my response and the only option that remains; if you choose to pursue the matter would be to seek legal assistance. Yours sincerely A Real Person Hmm? It would appear that they are less use than you can shake a stick at...