Please help me - equidebt Red letter

poshgirl

Help please.....I have been bombarded with letters from Equidebt - re an Abbey loan - today I got a red one which threatens that theier solicitors are ready to issue Legal Proceedings against me.
My problem is that Yes I did take out a loan with Abbey many years ago - aboiut 8 years infact - I no longer have any paperwork and cant for the life of me remember how much the loan was for - I think it was for about £6000....at one point Abbey did offset by taking £2500 out of my bank (same bank), without informing me against the loan. As far as I can remember I thought the loan was all paid up. I havent heard from anyone to contradic this and have had no contact for at least 6 years. I moved house in 2008 and now have started getting these letters claiming I owe £6000. What do I do? Abbey no longer exist - do they? If I owed anything why has noone ever written to me to tell me thus or informed me that the debt was sold on and to whom. Where do I go from here - I feel faint all the time over this.

Tixy

First off you need to send the prove it letter asking them to prove you owe the money and prove they have a right to collect it. http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=11570893&postcount=2

After that wait to see what they come back with.
Can you check back on your bank statements to see when abbey last took money from your current account to pay this loan (either normal DD or by offsetting). If its over 6years ago then chances are the debt will be statute barred.
But first wait to see what response you get to that letter.

bottleofred

Hi poshgirl,

As Tixy has said, the prove it letter is the best thing to send initially. You may never hear from them again, but if you do post the info and they submit proof to you, the statute barred letter can be posted online for you.

poshgirl

Hi again thanks for your replies.......I applied for my credit report Experian and there is no sign of this debt on there - does this mean therefore that if it is over 6 years old it has dropped off my file? What happens now?

Tixy

If the debt is not on there then firstly it might appear on one or both of the other credit agencies reports (equifax & experian). Not all debts appear on all reports.

If it doesn't appear on any of your reports then it sounds like it is probably more than 6years from when your originally defaulted. But you would still need to consider when you last made any payment (or had a payment taken automatically).

Did you send the prove it letter? Its still probably a case of waiting for them to repsondto it.