Help me please!!

Help_required_5

Hi everyone,

I don't know if this is the right board but can someone help me please?

My problem is quite simply this: in 2006 I left home to start uni in a new city so I changed my bank address from my home address to my term time address, things didn't really work out for me and was in depression for a long time. In the meantime screwed up big time on my account (I banked with HSBC at the time, account opened around March 2005), I didn't have an OD kept going over and getting hit with charges and had written a few payday loans (with CGC) so before I knew it I owed HSBC £3k (without having an OD). I also had a credit card with them with £500 limit which I used to the max and at one point owed £600.

HSBC started chasing me for the money and after a while passed my current account debt on to a debt collection agency called Metropolitan Debt Collection or something like that. They sent me a card to make regular payments which I did for a couple of months and then sunk back into depression and never really made any more. The last one was around July 2007 and I think I owed them £2k to £2.5k. Things started getting really bad for me so my parents moved me back home and I dropped out of uni. When I moved I didn't inform them of my new address (I still haven't) as I really wasn't in the right frame till recently.

I don't know if they ever wrote to me at my uni add but I didn't hear from them till about Oct 2008. HSBC sent me a photocopy of my most recent credit card bill to my home address (the last mail I received was at my uni add) and informing me that if I did not pay up my account would go into default (I had not made any payments since 2007). I paid up and gradually cleared my account in Jan 2009. BUT HOW DID THEY FIND ME? If they did find me then why not get in touch about the current account debt?

Now when I recently checked my credit report (done both experian and equifax) before I applied for a credit card there are a few things which don't really make sense to me and was wondering if someone can help me with that please:

1. The HSBC current account that I had has not been entered on file. It is as if I never had the account.
2. The HSBC credit card does appear but without a default (says I was late for over 6 months) and the account is showing as settled. As I acknowledged this debt by paying, does it mean I have acknowledged the other debt as well?
3. My uni address is NOT a linked address.
4. I do not have a CCJ listed on either one of my reports.
5. I have not been added on the GAINS list.
6. I seem to have a good credit score as I recently got a mainstream £3k credit card.

Can HSBC:

1. Add the account so far down the line?
2. Report me on GAIN?
3. Try to contact me on my home address? If they do then do I respond?
4. Request a CCJ now?
5. How long will it be before I know for sure that they can not come after me?

I know I should pay back the monies I owe and I intend to do but I really don't want to rock the bought it has taken me so long to rebuild from my earlier mistakes (a combination of my stupidity and my depression) so I have decided to either repay them after I am in the clear or just donate the money to charity.

Can someone please, please help me!!

Thank you so much!!

Tixy

Hi

I guess the question is how long since you last paid anything to the current account? If July 2007 then the debt is probably not statute barred - however could it be that it was defaulted over 6years ago so the default has effectively disappeared from your credit report even though you still owe the money.

If you paid in July 2007 the yes they could still chase you for the money or apply for a CCJ - however you might want to wait for them to find you rather than contacting them (or you may want to keep an eye on your credit report in case the debt does reappear - check every few months or so).

You will be free for certain 6years after you last paid or acknowledged the debt (assuming no CCJ is granted in the meantime) - they could chase you after that but then you would reply with a letter to say you know its statute barred.

I wonder (but don't know) if because you never had an overdraft that there was never a credit agreement and this is why is doesn't appear on your credit report (though if this is the case they could still contact you for the money).

JA1000

Did you leave an address behind at your uni address, did anyone at uni know your address?

This is a debt collection agency looking for you not the bank, it is in their interest to find you by what ever means.

KPR11

Sorry can't help with this am sure someone will be able to.

Good luck

Help_required_5

Thanks Tixy

So I guess I have to sit tight till July 2013 and pray nothing is added to my file. Would my credit report indicate a CCJ? Assuming they get one using my uni address then how do I find out?

Thanks for your help

Help_required_5

Hi JA1000

I didn't leave an address behind.

The letter was from HSBC, the credit card debt was never passed to the debt collection agency.

Thanks for your help

Tixy

You report should in theory show a CCJ. But if it was at the Uni address it sounds like it might not show.

However there is a way to check if you had one at your uni address without linking that address to your current one.
There is a website - registery trust online that allows you to search for CCJs in anyones name at a specific address (without identifying who is searching or where you are now). You pay £8 to do it and then just complete your name and your Uni address - might be worthwhile in your case.

Help_required_5

Tixy wrote: »

You report should in theory show a CCJ. But if it was at the Uni address it sounds like it might not show.

However there is a way to check if you had one at your uni address without linking that address to your current one.
There is a website - registery trust online that allows you to search for CCJs in anyones name at a specific address (without identifying who is searching or where you are now). You pay £8 to do it and then just complete your name and your Uni address - might be worthwhile in your case.

Thanks.

I know I have been really stupid but I guess (will sound like a lame excuse) when you are sucidal the last thing on your mind is money owed to HSBC.

If I use this service, will they be able to track me using my debit card?

If there is a CCJ under my name on that address what does it mean for me? I can't afford a CCJ my professional qualification will be stripped!

BeautyandtheBeast_3

Help_required wrote: »

Thanks.

I know I have been really stupid but I guess (will sound like a lame excuse) when you are sucidal the last thing on your mind is money owed to HSBC.

If I use this service, will they be able to track me using my debit card?

If there is a CCJ under my name on that address what does it mean for me? I can't afford a CCJ my professional qualification will be stripped!

why are you in banking or something?

Help_required_5

BeautyandtheBeast wrote: »

why are you in banking or something?

Finished my AAT (accountancy) and am hoping to go on to do a chartered

BeautyandtheBeast_3

oh i see. i have no idea hun. it does seem strange how they got our details - have you got yourself registered on electrol roll for new address? if so perhaps thats how they found you?