Abbey, First Credit, Mortgages and Stress

Getting_Better_With_Money_2

Oh Gosh - Just when you think things are getting better, something happens that throws you for six and you end up spending the day in your pyjamas watching the Poirot weekend:eek:

As some of you know i got a letter from the Abbey saying that a debt I thought had been cleared was still outstanding (3 years after I last heard from them) and they were passing the debt to First Credit. I duly sent the solicitors letter (they paid the debt off as part of the divorce) to both First Credit and Abbey. And i thought it was finished with.
I have just applied for a mortgage and been credit scored "High". Now First Credit ring me this morning and then admit they made a mistake in phoning me as they saw that they were waiting for info from the Abbey.

Now what can i do? I thiug it was all over -- The debt was paid over 3 years ago by my solicitor. Can this now come back and bite me on the bum???

If this prevents me from getting a mortgage - -Do I have any comeback from the Abbey? Can I expect any kind of redress, as it is their mistake not mine?

Tootsie_Roll

Getting_Better_With_Money wrote:

Now what can i do? I thiug it was all over -- The debt was paid over 3 years ago by my solicitor. Can this now come back and bite me on the bum??? ?

Well I don't recall seeing your original post so don't know the circumstances but yes a debt only 3 years old is still outstanding and will need to be paid.

Getting_Better_With_Money wrote:

If this prevents me from getting a mortgage - -Do I have any comeback from the Abbey? Can I expect any kind of redress, as it is their mistake not mine?

Is it the Abbey's fault or your solicitors for not clearing it properly or yours for not ensuring the debt was cleared ? Again depends on what happened originally.

Getting_Better_With_Money_2

I understand the debt has to be paid - It has been paid.

3 1/2 years ago (approx) my solicitor sent Abbey a cheque to clear the debt. The right account details were put on (I've seen the letter), Abbey knew it was coming (I had had numerous converstaions with them) and the account should have been closed and cleared. I heard nothing from them for 3 years. So understandably I assumed everything was sorted and finished. I look at my experian report regularly - Nothing on there. I take out a loan with cahoot with no problem...

no I didn't check with Abbey - I was going through a particularly horrible divorce and so doing final checks was the last thing on my mind. As far as I was concerned my solicitor was dealing with it and Abbey had received their money. As I said -- they did not attempt to cotact me for 3 years after all this was supposedly sorted out. When considering we had been in contact frequently during the financial bits of my divorce (the mortgage was also with Abbey and my ex was being particularly horrid about the house), I find it a bit strange that they didn't at least try to find out why that part of the finances had not been sorted according to them.

I am appalled that these sorts of things can resurface so many years after the fact a it were and it is panicking me no end to think that my future can be wrecked by a bank oversight.

Tootsie_Roll

So was the cheque cashed ? Was it for the correct amount (did you get an up to date settlement figure) ? Did you receive confirmation the account was closed ? What does your solicitor say about it all ?

Getting_Better_With_Money_2

It was for the correct amount -- It was for an overdraft rather than a loan. My solicitor was as surprised as I was to hear of this and she faxed me the letter she sent with the cheque. I have faxed this to Abbey and First Credit. I can't remember if i received anything from the bank - It was 3 years ago and I was barely in any state by that point to notice anything.

What i don't understand is why it took them 3 years to get back in contact with me and why nothing has showed on my experian report?

yung

you need to get in touch with your solitor and explain the situation to him he will have all your record so it will be easier for them to sort this mess out good luck.

lotto-dreamer

Solicitors keep their old files for between 6 to 12 years. It might be worth giving yours a call, asking them to get their file out of storage and checking if they received a letter of acknowledgement from Abbey that it had been paid.

Bossyboots

lotto-dreamer wrote:

Solicitors keep their old files for between 6 to 12 years. It might be worth giving yours a call, asking them to get their file out of storage and checking if they received a letter of acknowledgement from Abbey that it had been paid.

This is not necessary. Under the Solicitors Accounts Rules, companies have to continually reconcile their accounts. Therefore if the cheque was not cashed it should have been flagged automatically on their system when it was approaching six months. They should then have contacted abbey to ask them to cash it or re-issued it after the six months. It should be a simple task for them to check back and see exactly when it was cashed. If it was not cashed or stopped, it will still be showing as an unreconciled item on their bank account.