Help! Confused by 1st Credit..

Vegeeta316

Hello everyone, hope you are all well!!

Back in 2001 I took out a consolidation loan with Intelligent finance which looking back, was one of the dumbest things my 22 year old self could have done! Back then I was living with my then girlfriend (now wifey!) in a rented flat....

I got into trouble after the first couple of years by missing several payments and generally burying my head in the sand! It came to the logical conclusion and the debt was passed to a collection agent.

This is where the situation gets very very strange! As soon as a debt collector wrote to me, I got in touch only to find that they were not dealing with the debt anymore, even though the letter was only dated a week previously. This happened again and again during which time the debt passed through 3 or 4 collectors. After getting in touch with Intelligent Finance, they gave me the number of who actually WAS dealing with the debt. I came to an arrangement with the collector and things plodded on quite nicely.

I did mention that my younger self was a moron with money didn't I? Well even tho I was 24/25 at this point, I was still no better at budgeting! I managed to miss a couple of payments and get this, the debt was passed to a different collector who swore blind they didn't have anything outstanding for me!

Several years have passed now and I haven't paid a bean towards the debt. It doesn't even appear on my credit file as being outstanding, the debt simply shows as being satisfied.

1st credit (bless them..) have been holding the account for 2 years apparently tho I haven't made any payments and they haven't asked for any.

What should I do? My credit file says the debt isn't there, but 1st Cred DO seem to think its there but aren't asking me for any money towards it. Should I ignore the debt or call them about it or what?

Gordon_Hose

Absolutely quality situation buddy :T

Anyway, I'd ignore it. When was the last time you made any payments towards the debt? If it was over 6 years ago, it is Statute Barred, and as such, unenforceable through the courts. It might not stop them pestering you, but they would only be doing that in the vain hope you don't know you rights and pay up.

Vegeeta316

Gordon_Hose wrote: »

Absolutely quality situation buddy :T

Anyway, I'd ignore it. When was the last time you made any payments towards the debt? If it was over 6 years ago, it is Statute Barred, and as such, unenforceable through the courts. It might not stop them pestering you, but they would only be doing that in the vain hope you don't know you rights and pay up.

But this is just the thing, they haven't asked me for any money! From somewhere they produced the original credit agreement but I have never heard anything back from this!

Gordon_Hose

Vegeeta316 wrote: »

But this is just the thing, they haven't asked me for any money! From somewhere they produced the original credit agreement but I have never heard anything back from this!

So when was the last time you made any payments towards the debt?

Vegeeta316

Gordon_Hose wrote: »

So when was the last time you made any payments towards the debt?

As near as I can work it, it must be at least 5+ years ago...

Gordon_Hose

Ok, so chances are the debt has fallen off their radar, and is now Statute Barred. Now, it's popped up all of a sudden, and they are fishing to see if you'll pay up out of not knowing your rights.

Ignore it until they start asking for payment, or start using their usual threatening tactics. Or both.

fermi

Agreed. Ignore for now.

If it isn't statute barred yet, it sound like it will be soon.

davidcoombs33

Hi All,
I received a letter from 1st credit today offering me a deal on paying back a debt. The reference is Abbey.
However, I have never had any financial dealings with Abbey I am also not in debt to anyone. Attached to this deal letter is a 'Periodic Statement' going from now back to last year. It says the balance is 224.04 debit = £0.00 Credits = £0.00, then a line saying amount of payment to reach us by:...but no figure?
So the fist page says basically, give us 10% and we will write the rest off.
Bit weird and slightly worrying that they seem to know my name and address even though I dont owe anyone anything.
Any advice? Should I call them or am I going to be talking to an idiot?

Also I received a letter from them about a month ago, same sort of letter...

fermi

davidcoombs33 wrote: »

Should I call them or am I going to be talking to an idiot?

Talking to an idiot is the most likely outcome if you call them.

If you have to respond, then there is a letter in this link to adapt.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=11570893&postcount=2

Gordon_Hose

davidcoombs33 wrote: »

Hi All,
I received a letter from 1st credit today offering me a deal on paying back a debt. The reference is Abbey.
However, I have never had any financial dealings with Abbey I am also not in debt to anyone. Attached to this deal letter is a 'Periodic Statement' going from now back to last year. It says the balance is 224.04 debit = £0.00 Credits = £0.00, then a line saying amount of payment to reach us by:...but no figure?
So the fist page says basically, give us 10% and we will write the rest off.
Bit weird and slightly worrying that they seem to know my name and address even though I dont owe anyone anything.
Any advice? Should I call them or am I going to be talking to an idiot?

Also I received a letter from them about a month ago, same sort of letter...

Have you checked your credit reports?

You can get free trials for both Experian and Equifax. JUst make sure you call them to cancel before the trial runs out.

If there's nothing on your files, just file them in the bin

Vegeeta316

Vegeeta316 wrote: »

As near as I can work it, it must be at least 5+ years ago...

My good friends at 1st Credit called me last night regarding this old debt. Apparently the last time I paid them anything was Sept of 2009! I told them my credit file says the debt is satisfied but they think that it doesnt matter and it is definately outstanding.

I actually asked them why they hadn't called me / written to me / threatened me with legal action prior to this. They didn't give me an answer.... Strange eh?