Advice for old debt

paulballuk

The Lowell Group is chasing me for £800 from an old bank account, which was transferred to them on the 24th Sept 2008.

I thought it was older than this and went the statute barred letter route and asked for proof which they have now sent me. It doesn't appear on my credit file, is this possible?

Also has anyone ever challenged the amount, as after looking through all the supplied print outs, £720 is bank charges run up in the last six months of the account. I'm wondering what the best course of action would be.

Any advice would be appreciated.

matttye

When did you last pay towards or acknowledge the debt? When they bought it is irrelevant as to whether its statute barred or not.

There's an article here about reclaiming bank charges:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/bank-charges

The dca might agree a reduced settlement figure but its not guaranteed.

paulballuk

I've never paid or acknowledged the debt but the paper work shows it was transferred to Lowell in 2008 which is under the 6 year limit.

fatbelly

matttye wrote: »

When did you last pay towards or acknowledge the debt? When they bought it is irrelevant as to whether its statute barred or not.

paulballuk wrote: »

I've never paid or acknowledged the debt but the paper work shows it was transferred to Lowell in 2008 which is under the 6 year limit.

Put it another way - what was the position of this current account in April 2007? Had the original bank asked you to repay the overdraft in full by that time?

paulballuk

fatbelly wrote: »

Put it another way - what was the position of this current account in April 2007? Had the original bank asked you to repay the overdraft in full by that time?

I'm really not sure, the ex wife run the account and finances which is why I've had all this trouble! I think it was an unauthorised overdraft but really can't remember. Her usual tactic was to just stop using an account and open another.

matttye

paulballuk wrote: »

I'm really not sure, the ex wife run the account and finances which is why I've had all this trouble! I think it was an unauthorised overdraft but really can't remember. Her usual tactic was to just stop using an account and open another.

Write back to the debt collection company telling them you don't remember the debt and ask for proof of the original debt; not when they bought it. Then send a subject access request to the bank with a £10 cheque; ask specifically for details of when you went overdrawn and any charges that were added on top.

If its over six years ago and you've never acknowledged it or made a payment, it's barred.

fatbelly

The op has told the creditor that this is statute barred. They have responded with an irrelevance. So he may well be correct.

If they want to dispute this they must take court action and present their evidence to a court. So I think I would leave Lowell alone but a SAR to the original bank is probably worth doing.