Will this ruin my chances of a mortgage?

purplevamp

I'm not sure if this is in the right place, but here goes.

Long story made short:-

Received a letter from Abbey today saying I owed over £400 for a bank account I haven't used in 11 years, thought I'd closed it but obviously not and it was slightly overdrawn. They charged interest on it (not sure of the amounts). First I heard about it was today. Anyway I paid them a settlement of £207 and they said that was all done and dusted. End of...

What I want to know is DH and I are saving for a deposit but now this has come to light will this ruin our chances of getting a mortgage? If so how long will this be on my credit report?

I have no other debts and never miss payments for anything. I think I already know this scr*ws things up but am totally clueless

Mrs_Bumble

Uhm so Abbey could find you today to seek payment of the supposed debt but couldn't find you before this point to tell you that it was an account that was obviously dormant, not being used by you and they were applying fees/charges on it??

I don't think I would have been as nice as you and paid it, I definitely would have been querying why they had not been in touch before and why they felt that it was Treating Customers Fairly to apply charges to an obviously dormant account! 11 Years! I personally would be writing a very strongly worded letter of complaint.

But back to your original question get a copy of your credit file you can apply for a free one with Experian, chances are that Abbey haven't been updating the credit file and so hopefully it shouldn't show.

purplevamp

I know, I've been with them since I was 7!! I actually received 2 letters addressed to my sisters address (which I used to redirect post when I moved 11 years ago) one from Abbey and one from a debt recovery agency, this was the reason I paid it. I rang the debtors first, then confirmed it with Abbey who I paid NOT the debtors.

The debt collectors said they got the information from Experian, so it looks like it is on there.

Mrs_Bumble

I still would be writing to Abbey, as it isn't treating customer's fairly!

So they hadn't sold the debt to the debt recovery agency, you paid Abbey the payment? I definitely would be complaining.

If the debt recovery agency obtained your address from Experian doesn't mean this debt was showing at your current address, just mean that the debt recovery agency did what Abbey could have done and used their noddle and tracked you down by name/date of birth etc, that isn't hard when you have access to the credit file.

Obtain a copy of your credit file, see exactly what is showing at your current address and associated addresses, etc.

If I was you I would definitely complain to Abbey!