big problem and dont know what to do

monnie38

when i got home today i had a postcard through my door from a company called westcot., who i called and they put me through to Santander regarding a Dorothy Perkins store card

Back in 2009 i had a store card that i believed i had paid off.

I moved house and did not inform them as i believed the account was closed.

they tried contacting me in 2010 but post was returned-not at this address.
they tried to call me in 2010 but my number had been changed.

I had been paying 5pound a month to santander. this year i finally got my act together and sorted out my finances.
I call santander and questioned why im paying this 5pound a month. they couldnt answer me and suggested i cancel the payment and eventually someone would contact me if it was important. I actually believed this 5 was ppi for an asda credit card i held at the time.

So I canceled to payment in feb 2012.

Skip forward to today June 2012. Santander informed me this was minimum payment on my store card.
As they couldnt contact me i they received late charges.
also each month since 2010 i had been gaining interest on the account as was only paying minimum amount,
today i just had to pay 208pounds.

Please can someone help me and clarify for me if this process was correct that dorothy perkins have followed !!! please

Tixy

Well whats done is done and you have paid. Did they say this was the full balance owed? or just a payment towards the debt?

Ideally never pay anyone over the phone in this type of situation - its always better to respond to debt collectors in writing - and the first response is usually a request for them to prove that you owe the debt (and prove they have a right to collect the money).

You state that you thought this account was paid off in 2009 - do you have any statements from around that time?

Have you checked your credit files at all in the last few years - did this debt appear on there at all? (either in the name of dp, santander or a debt collector?)

monnie38

i dont have anything, iv been through all my paperwork but i havent got anything as i hoenstly thought it was closed.
they told me they needed payment before 7th july as interest would eb applied to the 208 amount plus another late fee, but the statmente wont generate until 11th july with my new address on it.

so i thought id best pay it !

Anthorn

Write to them and ask them for a copy of the original agreement and a copy of the last statement which you may have to pay for. If they can't do that or refuse to do that write again and give them 30 days notice that you will complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Just because you paid doesn't mean you can't get it back. If you were paying ppi you should also look into a ppi claim.

Tiddlywinks

You *thought* you'd paid the account but didn't formally close the account or make any attempt to ensure that all was settled properly.

For years you've been paying £5 per month without knowing what it was for.

From the company's point of view... you owed a small amount on your account and kept paying the minimum payment. You moved address, changed your phone and made no attempt to contact them regarding the status of you account.

You needed to get a grip and you didn't - why shouldn't they charge you for ignoring an open account where there was a small residual balance?