Old debt has damaged my credit rating. Please help!

jeebeeb

Hi

Last year, I checked my Equifax credit file and discovered eight years worth of late payments for a Natwest credit card. The amount was for just under £500. I contacted Natwest and advised them that this had been paid off some time ago. i have however been unable to prove this to them as I am not the type of person who keeps letters too long. Maybe I should be. Anyway, as I had received no contact from Natwest during this period and it was me who brought the issue to their attention I was a bit annoyed when they started sending me statements again. They are not demanding paytment as it would seem the debt is not enforceable. However, the late payments keep getting updated on my credit file and it has demolished my otherwise perfect credit history. Can anybody advise me on what to do? I would be extremely grateful. Surely the debt is statute barred and how do I get this removed my credit file. This case seems to go against all the advice I have seen on other threads. I sent them the statute barred letter and they replied claiming they have been sending me statements regularly so the debt is not statute barred. This is not true as we all know they would have enforced things a long time ago when they could. Donation to charity of members choice if they can help me resolve this!

DarkConvict

If you believe you paid this off, can you remember how it was done. Was it a bank transfer, cheque etc. If so, you pay £10 to SAR your bank to see the payment you made on your statement, this should show payment was made, proof the account was closed. http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=11753093&postcount=9

As to statute barred, you are correct. There has been a 6 year gap with no payment or written communication, the debt is unenforceable. Them sending statements doesn't mean anything, especially as they never arrived...
Get in touch with OFT, FSA and Financial ombudsman regarding them ignoring the fact the debt is statute barred and keeping the account open after payment was made. It cant be coincidence payment was made to close the account and statements stopped at the same time.

Even though you have made contact, the debt is still statute barred

a right of action, once barred by this Act, shall not be revived by any subsequent acknowledgment or payment.

OFT Guidelines

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/oft664.pdf

Statute barred debt
2.13 This guidance applies to the pursuit of debt regardless of its age. We will be
carrying out further work on this aspect of debt recovery including analysis of
relevant legislation and practice throughout the UK.
2.14 In the past we have dealt with a number of statute barred debt cases governed by
the Limitation Act 1980, which applies to England and Wales. Based on that
experience our position with regard to England and Wales remains:
a. we accept legally the debt exists
b. it is the methods by which the debt is collected that can be
unfair as follows:
• it is unfair to pursue the debt if the debtor has heard nothing from
the creditor during the relevant limitation period
• if a creditor has been in regular contact with a debtor before the debt
is statute barred, then we do not consider it unfair to continue to
attempt to recover the debt
• it is unfair to mislead debtors as to their rights and obligations, for
example, falsely stating or implying that the debt is still legally
recoverable and relying on consumers not knowing the relevant legal
provisions, and
• continuing to press for payment after a debtor has stated that they
will not be paying a debt because it is statute barred could amount to
harassment contrary to section 40 (1) of the Administration of
Justice Act 1970.

As you believe you credit file is wrong, read Page 19 onwards - http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/library/data_protection/practical_application/credit_explained_leaflet_2005.pdf

Then write to the 3 credit reference agencies (below) explaining the data is wrong, you have already been in touch with the creditor but they refuse to correct the information, as such you are pursuing this via OFT, FSA and Financial ombudsman as a complaint, and furthermore via the ICO if the credit reference agencies do not remove the inaccurate data from your file.

Equifax Plc
Credit File Advice Centre
PO Box 1140
Bradford
BD1 5US
https://www.equifax.co.uk

Call Credit Plc
Consumer Services Team
PO Box 491
Leeds
LS3 1WZ
0870 060 1414
https://www.callcredit.co.uk

Experian Ltd
Customer Support Centre
PO Box 8000
Nottingham
NG80 7WF
0844 481 8000
https://www.experian.co.uk

jeebeeb

Hi. Thanks for that. I sent the SAR letter to Natwest and they sent me some vague generic t&c's (unsigned) but no statements. They also sent a letter which was apparently sent to my address when I was sent a new credit card! The problem is that this letter was headed with my current address, where i was not living on the date they claim to have sent the letter. It just seems they will go to any lengths rather than admit to an error. I will make sure I send a letter to CRA's so thanks for that. However, what do you suggest I do since they claim that the debt is not statute barred? If they deny it and continue to send me statements and update my credit file, I don't feel that there is much else I can do. I have been in touch with the Ombudsman but progress is mind numbingly slow with them (almost a year now) and meanwhile my credit standing continues to be damaged. What would you advise as the next stage after they have denied that the debt is time barred?

DarkConvict

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=11571227#post11571227

Send resend the staute barred letter, ensure

The last acknowledgement or payment of this debt was made over six years ago and no further acknowledgement or payment has been made since that time.

is in bold.

As to them sending you incorrect information, get in touch with the ICO.
http://www.ico.gov.uk/complaints/data_protection.aspx

Say you have SARed your bank, but they have failed to provide all details held on you, in addition some documents returned are forged. Such as the new card letters have my current address on, however by the date of the letter i was living in my old address!

jeebeeb

Thanks again. I will update you with progress.

jeebeeb

Hello again.

I would be interested (if you get a minute!) to see what you think of this letter that I will be sending to Natwest. I also intend to copy in their cheif executive.

Thanks for any feedback!

Regards

Natwest Card Services
Southend On Sea
Essex
SS1 9AJ


14/2/10

I do not acknowledge any debt to you or any other company or organisation that you claim to be representing.

Dear Sir/Madam

Account No:

You have contacted me regarding the account with the above reference number, which you claim is owed by myself.

I would point out that under the Limitation Act 1980 Section 5 "an action founded on simple contract shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued".

I would also point out that the OFT say under their Debt Collection Guidance on statute barred debt that "it is unfair to pursue the debt if the debtor has heard nothing from the creditor during the relevant limitation period".

The last acknowledgement or payment of this debt was made over six years ago and no further acknowledgement or payment has been made since that time.
Unless you can provide evidence of payment or written contact from me in the relevant period under Section 5 of the Limitation Act, I suggest that you are no longer able to take any court action against me to recover the alleged amount claimed.

The OFT Debt Collection Guidance states further that "continuing to press for payment after a debtor has stated that they will not be paying a debt because it is statute barred could amount to harassment contrary to section 40 (1) of the Administration of Justice Act 1970".


Please recall that I contacted you last year having discovered this information on my credit file. I would also like you to note that during the period of 2001 and 2009 that no action was taken by your organisation to contact me or to reclaim the alleged debt through court action, which I am informed would be standard practice.

When I originally contacted your department to dispute the debt, I was advised that the account had remained dormant due to ‘a marker being applied or the card being reported lost or stolen’. I have this in writing on headed paper from your customer services department. I was also advised it appeared an error of some nature had been the most likely cause of this.

Please also note that this is the second time I have sent this letter to your department. Mrs ... replied to my last correspondence stating that the debt was not statute barred as statements had been sent to my parents address over an eight year period. This is factually incorrect and my parents would like Mrs ... to elaborate further on this statement.

My Uncle, who is a solicitor (this is true by the way) would like to understand why this accusation was made towards my parents who would have no need to dispute such a claim if it was true. Please also recall that I was later accused of ‘denying’ this information. I feel that the questioning of my honesty by your department should only have been authorised with prior evidence, which was not forthcoming when I requested evidence of this claim. Again, I have kept all this information on file for my records.
Furthermore, I also note that following my recent Subject Access Request, I received a copy of a letter which stated that a credit card had been sent to my previous address at Please note that this again does not collate with previous information received from your department.
I fail to understand why a credit card would be sent to an address where you had no reference of in relation to myself during this period. Please recall I that I gave you my address details last year in good faith when I contacted you to initially dispute this debt. Your department had no record of this address so I fail to understand why you would send a credit card to this address as stated in the letter. This also contradicts previous statements that information had been sent to my parents address for eight years. Again I ask why statements and credit cards would be sent to different addresses. Additionally, at the time of the alleged debt, I was living at a completely different address to either of the two aforementioned.
I await your written confirmation that no further contact will be made concerning the above account and confirmation that this matter is now closed. I also request that all information to this is removed from my credit file in relation to this non existent debt, which you have continually failed to evidence despite several requests.
I have copied in the Natwest Chief Executives office on this correspondence and I will continue to do so until a satisfactory conclusion is reached. It is also my intention to contact the Information Commissioner to allow him to assess the correspondence I have received from your department.

I look forward to your reply.

Yours faithfully