Confused about a debt - advice needed

dazron

Hi I've been contacted by a Debt collection agency about a supposed Debt I have with Barclays for £2500. Now, this debt was apparently from 1997 when I was 'sued' for the money. It was for a loan from Barclays. If I ever had a loan from Barclays, which I honestly don't remember, it was probably around 1993. I did default on a bank account and had a CCJ issued against me, but I paid that off and had it removed from my File.

I have recently had my credit file, and there is nothing on it now. Certainly nothing from that long ago.

I honestly, truly honestly, don't remember having a loan. I sorted all my bad debt out a long time ago, and this wasn't part of it. The details they have are mine and they have my parents address which I haven't lived at for about 16 years! They still live there and this is the first time in all this time anyone has contacted me or anyone I know about this 'debt'.

The debt collector person said that it's not on my record at the moment but if I didn't pay it off now it would go on there. Is that right? What can I do? This is a bolt out of the blue. I'm not even sure it is me!

What is my course of action? Thanks

milliemonster

Ok, first thing you need to do is write to the debt collector and ask for a copy of the original credit agreement you signed for this 'loan', if they can't provide you with a copy then it becomes unenforceable in law, meaning that unless they can prove you owe the debt by means of a signed CCA (not a copy of terms and conditions) then they cannot enforce payment, there is a template letter on here somewhere

When you write DO NOT sign the letter though (as it has been known for signatures to be forged onto these documents)

Have you checked both of your credit files with Experian and Equifax? I only ask because I got a copy of my report with Experian and there are a few things I currently have on credit that are not on there (including my mortgage!) but which I assume are on the Equifax one, this will then show if the loan is on there

Jesthar

Hi Daz,

Sounds supiciously like they don't have anything legally binding on you, but they're trying it on in the hope you won't twig and will pay up without asking any questions. I think anything that old might be statute barred anyway? (someone?)

Not my specialist subject, but somewhere on the site are template letters to send to companies like this requesting proof of your debt (a CCA?), and if they can't produce it within a certain timeframe, they're sunk. There are also other letters you can send to stop them from phoning you (and if they keep on calling despite that!).

IMPORTANT POINT - NEVER sign any letter you send them, just type it. Some of these people have been known to forge signatures... :mad:

Whatever you do, do NOT call them! All they are after is getting their mitts on your money, whether they are entitled to it or not!

dazron

they don't have anything like that but claim it was enforced through the courts in 1994. They gave me a court reference but I haven't rang it through yet as it was too late today. My concern is that this is a debt I paid off years ago. Like I said I had a ccj that I paid off and it was removed. I don't see how I was 'sued' for anything in 94 which would not be on any records, that they can enforce / enter onto credit reports now.

Deep_In_Debt

Hi
DCA's often do "fishing". They probably have a debt and can't trace the person it belongs to so are contacting people with the same/similar names in order to bully them into paying - they don't care who it belongs to, they just want their commission. Just think how many people ring up querying it and they bully into paying?

My advice would be not to contact them and see what happens next. I'm just concerned that if you contact them it could open a can of worms. Personally, I'd sit tight and see what/if anything happens next if you are sure it is not your debt.

dazron

I've already called them!

milliemonster

You need to ring the court in question to check if a CCJ was applied at the time and check if it was for a loan and that this is not the same CCJ they are referring to that you settled.

dazron

Ok I will. If this is legit, for example, is it subject to statue of limitations given that whatever happened in court (bear in mind the DCA said that I had been 'sued' not that a county court judgement had been applied) happened 14 years ago?!!

Jesthar

dazron wrote: »

I've already called them!

Oh, well, not to worry! It's not fatal, it's just this kind of company tend to be rather good at bullying people into paying them money whether or not they actually owe any...

Besides, why pay for their phone calls for them? Let their phone bill do the growing - until they pay attention to your request to only deal by letter, anyway...

Sorry if I scared you a bit - didn't mean to!

~Jes

brideofdestruction

Sorry about this but I'm new to this site and have absolutely no idea how to start a new thread.

I'm currently getting harassed over £1224.10 from Equidebt for a Halifax credit card I took out in 04. The credit limit was £750 and I'm slightly !!!!ed off (understatement of the year) that they have slapped on almost 5 hundred quids worth of charges. Anyways... 24th May this year (when the debt was being handled by Moorcroft - those slimy b*stards - I sent a CCA request.

I heard ABSOLUTELY NOTHING until September 2nd when Equidebt sent me a demand. I sent the same letter to both companies pointing out that Moorcroft had gone over the 42 days for the CCA request and it seemed slightly illegal that they had passed the debt onto Equidebt knowing it was over the prescribed 42 days. This was sent on the 4th.

The result? Equidebt wrote to me and told me the account was on hold until they could get a copy of the CCA. This was Sept 10th.

So today (Oct 20th), I finally get the supposed CCA and a request for the full amount to be paid. It doesn't have a lot of detail on it to be honest. Even the ****s at Equidebt admit that they need more info - it just shows my address DOB signature and the date it was signed. No sign of credit limit, interest/ penalty rates etc.

On the phone they tell me that the 42 days means pretty much nothing (he was a big fan of the word 'regardless') and I have to pay them the entire amount back. They weren't willing at all to negotiate the amount owing and told us to contact Halifax directly. No chance, because my experience so far with Halifax is that they are a bunch of soulless mutants who exist solely on abusing and ignoring their customers (needless to say I don't bank with them anymore...)

My local citizens advice bureau is not available. Where the hell do I stand?

Any advice from anyone? Please!

RAS

BOD

Set up a new thread for you here http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=15174075#post15174075