kaz v capital one

[karens25]

hi

had a capital one credit card with a £200 limit.. the balance now stands at £601.. that'll just be £401 in charges then!! i have sent my dpa and had a response telling me they will send me the information i require.. the thing is i was on a payment plan with them of £18 per month i havent paid this month as im so peed off with these parasites.. should i call them, as their letters say it is important i respond urgently?! and tell them the account is in dispute.. surely im not at liberty to continue with these monthly payments.. am i?

strangely enough the 15 phone calls a day have stopped.. anyone else noticed this?

karen

[andyace]

I would continue paying untill you have your statements and have an accurate picture of charges. When you know the amount of charges you will be in stronger position to mark the account as 'in dispute' . I would wager that they owe you more than you owe them which puts you in a good position if they decide to default.

 

They owe me £320 on a balance of £347 so I wrote disputing the amount in one letter and then wrote asking for my charges back and stating that I will pay the £27 when my account is credited with the £320 and then close the account.

I have been offered the usual difference between £20 and £12 but I refused and sent the LBA. As regards to any payments to them the phone calls have stopped and I have had no payment demands from them.

Thats my story so far I hope it helps and good luck

[karens25]

hiya

no statements received from cap one.. but have had a lettersaying they are going to default me.. just spoke to a guy there.. english!! told him of my intentions to reclaim these charges..he told me they have now handed the account to a dca.. so i have to wait for them to contact me?! as regards my required statements he said he had no record of the dpa letter i sent them.. so he would order them for me today (although ive had a response from them!!) their original forty days is up on the 21st august i plan to stick to my timetable not theirs!!

not really sure what to do though if they fail to respond by then??

karen

[e28bigalbexley]

drop a letter to

katherine blunt

legal dept

capital one europe plc

loxley house

station street

nottingham

ng2 3hx

reminding them of there obligation under DPA. send it registered post costs a pound you can track it on royal mail website. remmember most of the ppl who phone are probably on commission to get your money and r not interested in DPA letters.and i dont think they can hand it to dca as it is in dispute, they just like to be nasty spotty ppl

[karens25]

thanks for that.. i think katherine blunt was the one i got the response from.. can think of a few other more suitable names for these nasty spotty people.. they really shouldnt be allowed to operate!!!

[e28bigalbexley]

i know what you mean ,their good at phoning but not a lot of good at writing back, im perrty sure somewhere ive seen sumthing that says when you write to your bank they have to reply within 5 days but capital 1 work to their own rules.

 

alan

[karens25]

hi

statements arrived friday.. with a lot of strange looking print outs detailing manual intervention.. i think?!

the charges add up to £460.. so on with the next step..

dont know if i should include the bit in the letter in red, not sure if ive been defaulted.. would i know? sorry if im being a bit thick..

k

[stokeybird]

im still waiting for my statements, the 40 days is up next monday

[karens25]

mine came with 3 days to go to the deadline!!

spoke to a nice guy at cap one today and yes they have defaulted me... onwards

[karens25]

sent the prelim letter on wed 23/8 they signed for it 25/8.. 14 days are up on 6/9.. interestingly i received copies of my statements again yesterday?!

[karens25]

hi

received a letter from mr udy this a.m.. pretty standard stuff i reckon telling me they are afraid they wont give me a full breakdown of their costs to reassure me that they are fair..(oh really? could that possibly be anything to do with the fact that theyre NOT fair?!) actually seems like quite a nice bloke, and hes made me an offer of £184.. as a matter of goodwill, of course! this being the difference between what theyve charged me and £12..

he now feels sure we'll be able to put this experience behind us...

er sorry mate.. no can do!!

do i reply accepting this as part settlement or ignore it and proceed with the lba?

k

[stodman]

I got the same reply not too long ago, so i wrote a letter accepting it as part payment and that i would still require the full amount to avoid court action. I also gave him and extra 7 days "good grace" ( tbh, i couldnt afford the court fees at that time!LOL).

 

got a reply back soon after, offering me the same amount, but not as part payment, it also stated that this was his final offer and it was not goin to increase.

 

sent the court forms shortly after that!

 

sod 'em!

[karens25]

hiya..

had a letter today from nco (??!) a debt collecting agency acting for capital one requesting £601.58.. (within the next seven days or else the bailiffs are coming to get me!!) this is the balance on my account with cap one of which £460 is charges.. meanwhile had the letter from them offering me the £184 as a goodwill gesture!! how do i respond to this letter from nco?

advice please

k

[garethmiller]

contact them and tell them the account is in dispute, they will then have to place the account on hold for a month (at least) buying you some time. You may need to send them a photocopy of the offer you have received from Capital One (even if you aren't accepting it). I have been in the same situation as you and it has worked for me.

[karens25]

hiya gareth

thanks for the very prompt response.. will do that..lets hope within a month cap one have come up with a full settlement.. thanks again and good luck with your claims..

k

[karens25]

took a call from nco last night told the guy whilst ever the account is in dispute any collections activities are in breach of the banking code.. he was stumped!! a little knowledge is a powerful thing.. its so nice to be in control for a change, thanks to this site!!.. i will pay cap 1 what i owe them but thats all and not a penny more!!!

[karens25]

hi..

not sure how to proceed with cap one.. do i say i will accept the £184 as partial settlement and request the further £276? do i give them a time limit to respond by? and when they refuse, which im sure they will how long before i send the lba?

any help gratefully received

karen

[karens25]

anyone???

[sarahpp]

stick to your timetable.

 

If you decide to accept the offer as an interim payment you just have to make it clear in your LBA that you do not accept it as a full and final settlement and that your acceptance does not prejudice your right to take them to court for the full amount.

 

Re the DCAs - I have always found it useful in letters which I have written to point out that :

 

" I would remind you that xxxxxxxx remains responsible for the conduct of any external agency engaged by them even if the alleged debt has been assigned"

 

"I am also sure that you are aware of the Office of Fair Trading Guidelines regarding the use of multiple agents whether simultaneously or consecutively"

 

I know that the second bit doesn't apply in your case yet - but, I have had quite a few DCAs "back off" and hand files back and it is always worth mentioning if you suddenly get another letter from another agency regarding the same alleged debt and don't forget that some of these DCAs stand to lose big business if their conduct reflects badly on the big companies who employ them.

 

Hope this helps

 

Sarah

[karens25]

just got off the phone to a very stroppy capital one lady.. they've sent the bailiffs in.. ive had letters and threatened visits now i have to pay £601 immediately.. or else!!! ive explained to nco europe that the account is in dispute and cap one are in fact in breach of the banking code as no collections activities should take place on an account thats in dispute.. had another demand from them today so rang above mentioned "lady" she told me the account isnt in dispute because im not disputing a transaction but charges that

occurred due to me going over my limit etc.. and how it works she says is that i pay the 600 quid and then take capital one to court to reclaim the charges.. er hello?? she has given me the number for the financial ombudsman, to check this..

she now has me doubting myself.. help anyone??

[sarahpp]

Hi Kaz

 

I have read your thread again, just to be sure.

 

you have only had a default up to now haven't you? No-one can send in the baliffs on a default - only on a CCJ and even then they have got to go back to court for permission. This is something they shouldn't pursue anyway with a debt subject to a legitimate dispute such as yours.

 

Capital One are trying to intimidate you and, if they have told you that the baliffs will be coming to your house on the basis of a default of a disputed debt then they are in serious breach of the OFT guidelines on unfair practices because they are claiming to have legal backing for something they have not.

 

It is only my personal opinion but, I would only communicate in writing from now on because telephone contact only clouds the issue, leaves you open to harrassment and does not provide any "hard evidence" should you need it.

 

Hope this helps

 

 

Sarah

 

[karens25]

hi sarah

thanks for taking the time to reply.. i have only had a default so far and i know that many of these threats are just scare tactics.. and having had time to reflect on my conversation with ms cap one surely if it was as she said the banking code would then state that "no collection activities should take place on an account thats in dispute due to a query over a transaction" which obviously isnt the case, surely a dispute is a dispute whatever its source.. i think you are right and i should only communicate now in writing.. will continue with my lba and send nco a cca request..

thanks again kaz

[sarahpp]

Hi Kaz

 

Extract from the OFT guidelines - remember Capital One are responsible for the conduct of any DCA engaged by them.

 

 

Deceptive and/or unfair methods

 

2.7 Dealings with debtors are not to be deceitful and/or unfair.

 

 

 

2.8 Examples of unfair practices are as follows:

a. sending demands for payment to an individual when it is uncertain that they are the debtor in question, e.g. threatening debt recovery action to 'the occupier' or sending a payment demand to all people sharing the same name/date of birth as a debtor in the hope that contact with the correct debtor will be made.

b. disclosing debt details to an individual when it is uncertain that they are the debtor in question, e.g. disclosing details to 'the occupier' of an address.

 

c. refusing to deal with appointed or authorised third parties, such as Citizens Advice Bureaux

, independent advice centres or money advisers

 

d. contacting debtors directly and bypassing their appointed representatives

e. operating a policy, without reason, of refusing to negotiate with debt management companies

f. passing on debtor details to debt management companies without the debtors' informed prior consent

g. failing to refer on to the creditor reasonable offers to pay by instalments

h. not passing on payments received within a reasonable time resulting in delays that adversely affect a debtor's financial position.

i. failing to investigate and/or provide details as appropriate, when a debt is queried or disputed, possibly resulting in debtors being wrongly pursued

j. requiring an individual to supply information to prove they are not the debtor in question, e.g. driving licences, passports, full name, date of birth, signatures

k. not ceasing collection activity whilst investigating a reasonably queried or disputed debt.

 

Just in case you need it

 

Best of Luck

 

Sarah

[Joan Blanch]

Hi

 

Capital One have written to me saying they will refund all charges and costs but they want me to sign an agreement saying I will agree to their charges or close my account.

 

I am not going to sign the agreement. Instead I shall write them a letter saying I agree to the refund and to charges that are fair and accurate costs of claiming back any money I owe.

 

I don't intend using the account but won't close it. If they close it that's fine.

 

J;)

[karens25]

sarah

thank you so much for that.. have been searching all morning.. that is very useful..do you think i should write to cruella at cap one quoting this?? they really make my blood boil,, had i not had the knowledge and confidence ive gained from this site i would certainly have been intimidated by her and would have been a jibbering wreck by now!!

i really appreciate your help

thanks again

kaz