Where do i start

evergreenandy

Many years ago i got into some debt from a past relationship and some foolish mistakes on my behalf.

This is how it currently looks:

I have 7 defaults on my account from a variety of sources including bank loan, overdraft, store cards and finance agreement.

In total I work it out to be around £11800 of debt.

I've so far ignored the companies for coming up to 5 years in July and was going to wait till the 6 year statute barred period and the defaults drop off, and this is how i was advised by CAB due to the time i've ignored them so far.

After speaking to one company via telephone (Capquest) they have no record of my debt and instead thought that I was someone else oweing to Littlewoods, though i've never had a Littlewoods account.

The other debts (Natwest) have no record of it either and those amounts (overdraft and loan) amount to around £9000, but they have no record of it and advised me to go into a branch.

My statement of means shows that I have more outgoings than incomings so £1 a month to each creditor is all I could afford, as i'm afraid that ignoring them for a further year will find me getting a CCJ onto my account.

With all of the defaults, I never had any paperwork sent to me explaining this and never had a default notice. I did move back in 2008 so this could be why, but I was still picking up my post here and there.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Many thanks in advance.

tenbob84

hi, are the creditors still contacting you about the debts? Personally i would leave things as they are, if you cannot afford to pay them but want to in the long run you will probably be better off letting them drop off your credit file first. The only problem i see with this though is that it will once again give you access to credit which, given your current situation is more than likely to see you end up in even more trouble as it does with so many others, myself included.

evergreenandy

Thanks for the response.

Currently have no problem getting a few bits of credit. Have 3 mobile phone contracts (mine, partner and relative) and all bills are in my name and have a £2000 overdraft which is never touched and credit score is 812 out of 1000 though i hear these scores don't mean much.

I don't want to write to these companies and get the 6 years rolling again but would rather see what happens i guess.

I currently get the same old letters sent to both my current address and old address which all say they "could" take me to court, and "could" get people to knock on my door of which i know are all scare tactics.

Unless i get one which informs me that a CCJ is going onto my account, i guess i am better of just sitting and waiting as i've done for so many years now.

The funniest thing is, that I only receive correspondence from Lowell and Capquest which Lowell are small amounts and Capquest have no record of anything when I called them. Natwest (£9000) don't seem to be chasing anything.

Thanks.

tenbob84

ok, there are a lot of poeple on here that will get down your throat and say you borrowed the money, pay it back. but i would leave the ones that have given up on you and pay the ones that are chasing, this of course comes down to weather it will bother you running away or not, personally it would not.

find it very surprising you get any credit with seven defaults on your file as i couldnt get anything when i had 2, are all the phone contracts from extensions of ones that were opened before all the defaults were registered?

edit- not implying anything, just interested to know

eyeopener2

If they don't contact you, forget about until they do (if they do). Don't ring them, or write to them. If you contact them you do risk awakening the bear.

If Nat west have already said they have no record, please do not chase them!

Have you obtained a copy of your credit report (not the score) to see what exactly is on there?

E2

eyeopener2

One thing though, be prepared that the closer you get to Statute Barred, the greater the risk of action. This seems to be the pattern.

evergreenandy

tenbob84 wrote: »

ok, there are a lot of poeple on here that will get down your throat and say you borrowed the money, pay it back. but i would leave the ones that have given up on you and pay the ones that are chasing, this of course comes down to weather it will bother you running away or not, personally it would not.

find it very surprising you get any credit with seven defaults on your file as i couldnt get anything when i had 2, are all the phone contracts from extensions of ones that were opened before all the defaults were registered?

edit- not implying anything, just interested to know

I took out two fresh contracts with Orange in Feb 2011 and an O2 account in Feb 2011 and have just cut them all off and gone with Orange for 3 lines last month.

My bank are also happy to offer me a £2000 overdraft which was increased once I made the account joint with my partner (980 out of a 1000 on the credit score and two successful settled accounts).

I also have several settled accounts. I actually have 14 in total ranging from Carphone Warehouse, Natwest (they see it as settled as it was bought by a debt company), T-Mobile, O2, Vanquis (same story), Santander cards (same again), HSBC, EE, British Gas etc... so I guess that has all helped me and I dread next year when they drop off and the ratio of good:defaulted tips the other way.

eyeopener2 wrote: »

If they don't contact you, forget about until they do (if they do). Don't ring them, or write to them. If you contact them you do risk awakening the bear.

If Nat west have already said they have no record, please do not chase them!

Have you obtained a copy of your credit report (not the score) to see what exactly is on there?

E2

It's funny as the only ones contacting me are the ones for £200 etc... which i'm happy to sort out. It was actually the larger ones (Natwest) that had me worrying.

Maybe I will see if I can do a deal to get the default removed if i pay off the smaller ones, but I honestly didn't get any paperwork so im wondering if I should just wait instead for them to drop off than stirring it all up again.

eyeopener2 wrote: »

One thing though, be prepared that the closer you get to Statute Barred, the greater the risk of action. This seems to be the pattern.

Thanks for the advice

eyeopener2

You won't get the default removed, even if they say they will it won't happen.

I can only speak for myself but I would let sleeping dogs lie. The more you stir things up, the more chance of debt collectors taking an interest in you and that Nat west one biting you in the ***!

Only pay what you have to pay.

adyb_3

good reading here - sounds similar to my situation.

evergreenandy

Update that I've put onto another debt site (consumer action group):

When I was younger, I was foolish and got into some debt with a few companies. Some pursue it, and some don't.

Outstanding is:

Capital One
£300
Owned by Lowell
Defaulted 12/09/2008

Three Mobile
£259.59
Owned by Lowell
Defaulted 04/03/2009

Vanquis Credit Card
£390.93
Owned by Cabot Financial
Defaulted 31/12/2008

Edge Card
£696.79
Owned by Link Financial
Defaulted 16/07/2008

Natwest overdraft from old bank
£1291
Defaulted 28/02/2009

Natwest loan from old bank
£7679
Defaulted 09/03/2009

Capquest (Formerly FTC)
£1313
Defaulted 30/11/2009

As you can see, these debts are all 4-5 years old now and I receieve the usual phone calls, text messages and letters from a variety of them (Red, Lowell, Mackenzie Hall, Hamptons Legal) though I have no clue as to why Lowell operate under so many different names and who or what Mackenzie Hall are dealing with.

Capquest I have no clue who they are and I have no idea about that amount and when I called them, they have no record of anything though they keep updating my credit file with the status code of 8.

So my question really is where should I go from here? I've just receieved the first letter from Hamptons (part of Lowell) saying that they are preparing for legal action and if they take me to court and are awarded a CCJ then i will be ordered to pay legal cost and interest plus what I owe etc...

I also currently have 12 unrecorded enquiries on my credit file from Lowell ranging from month to month really.

I haven't acknoledged these debts via writing and when on the phone, found out that Natwest (the biggest debts) have no record of my debt and my account(s) are closed and they haven't sold the debts on to anyone else. The main pain in my backside is Lowell who offered me a 10% discount if I pay it all off in full.

One of the debts (Vanquis) can't be that bad, as I currently have a Vanquis card again which they accepted quite promptly with a £500 limit (I'm not much wiser about getting credit and pay it off in full each month)

My takehome covers the bills etc... but honestly can't afford to pay these debts back and with them sitting at 5 years from the default date already, am I best trying to hold out until the 6 year period? What would be my best course of action as I don't really fancy getting a CCJ on my account.

Many thanks