Should I contact creditors?

louise1984_2

I have no secured debts, but have quite a few little unsecured amounts, I am not entirely sure how many. I know I could look at my credit files and see from there, however if the particular creditor is not contacting me about the debt should I contact them or just leave it?
I understand that after 6 years items come off your file, but are they then still allowed to chase you for the money? I have things like a capital one card that I took out when I turned 18.. (10 years ago) would this have just disappeared? Or so I expect it to just pop up again sometime?
I want to work out how much I owe completely so I can begin to make a plan to clear them.. Would I just include the debts that are chasing me ATM and then factor in any that pop up at a later date?
I have been so irresponsible with credit and now cannot get any (which I see as a bonus) so would love to try and rebuild my credit records.. Any helpful hints would be great!

fatbelly

louise1984 wrote: »

I have no secured debts, but have quite a few little unsecured amounts, I am not entirely sure how many. I know I could look at my credit files and see from there, however if the particular creditor is not contacting me about the debt should I contact them or just leave it?
I understand that after 6 years items come off your file, but are they then still allowed to chase you for the money? I have things like a capital one card that I took out when I turned 18.. (10 years ago) would this have just disappeared? Or so I expect it to just pop up again sometime?
I want to work out how much I owe completely so I can begin to make a plan to clear them.. Would I just include the debts that are chasing me ATM and then factor in any that pop up at a later date?
I have been so irresponsible with credit and now cannot get any (which I see as a bonus) so would love to try and rebuild my credit records.. Any helpful hints would be great!

If you apply for a credit report (and I know a lot of posters will advise doing that) it tends to tie all your addresses together and you will then get demands from collectors.

I would only recommend that you do that if you are adopting a 'dig them all up in order to bury them again' approach, as you would do with a Debt Relief Order.

In order to get a picture of your situation it would be helpful if you could complete a statement of affairs, listing the 'active' debts that you are being chased for. There is a calculator here:

http://www.stoozing.com/msoc/soacalc.php

Please 'format for mse' and remove links before posting.

mildredalien

Debts stay on your credit record for 6 years, so anything from prior to that will no longer be on your file. Companies may start to contact you about them still (as technically you will still owe the debt) but the debt will no longer be enforceable (statute barred). If you are prepared to write a lot of letters and field a lot of phone calls then by all means, get your credit record and you can begin sorting out your finances - probably if you contact a chasing creditor and make the point that a debt is statute barred, it won't be in their interests to carry on chasing you.

It's commendable that you want to do the right thing and start clearing your debts! There is loads of great advice and support available here, posting an SOA should get you some specific advice about your situation.

Rileybaby

Can someone clarify for me what you mean by debts being statute barred?

when does the 6 years start from?

mildredalien

After 6 years (5 in Scotland I think), if you have not acknowledged or paid anything towards the debt in that time they become unenforceable in court. You still owe the money of course, but it being statute barred is a complete defence in court and most companies won't bother trying to chase you for them.

I believe this does NOT include CCJs against you.

Separate to the above, information remains for 6 years on your credit file. So if you received a default or have a missed payment recorded against you, it will stay on your file for 6 years and after this time will drop off. I should have clarified that a debt is statute barred ONLY when you have not acknowledged or paid anything towards it for 6 years or more.

Lensman_2

Good post by Mildred.

I would add a few minor points to that.

A debt is statute barred if a period of 6 years has existed at any time in the debt's history. This is important for people who are contacted by a DCA about a SB debt and are bullied in to making a payment. Once statute barred, it cannot be unbarred by making a payment.

A County Court claim stops the clock. Some of the less scrupulous DCAs will start a claim a few months before the 6 years are up to stop the clock.

Some of the less scrupulous DCAs will also "find" a payment from a few years ago and claim the debt is not SB as a result. Making them provide proof of this payment usually shows it is internal - e.g. a repayment of interest.

They will also claim that the clock starts at the date of default. I was put right on this recently. Not so, the clock starts at the last payment.