PLEASE HELP!Being chased for a debt that doesn't appear on my Experian Credit History

Moods_2

Hi Kind Forum Members,

I am currently being bombarded by 3 debt collection agencies for a Barclaycard cc debt. I am getting text messages DAILY from Fredrickson International as well as a couple of automated phone calls, all encouraging me to call and quote a reference number. So far, I have ignored all of this.

I have also been written to by MKRR including a final demand for payment and now I have received a letter from Raven Recoveries all threatening me with legal action, bailiffs, additional costs etc. if I do not settle the account in 7 days.
So far, I have not responded to any of this either.

The credit card was originally taken out with Sky probably about 6 years ago(may be even longer ago, I honestly can't remember)Sky then decided to get out of the credit card business and my account was transferred to Barclaycard, not that I had any choice.

Sometime after this, I ran into some financial difficulty and started to miss payments. Charges were applied and the minimum payment became more than I could afford and before long, I was not making any payments at all.

Subsequently, I stuck my head in the sand for a very long time. I had moved house during this period and so stopped receiving letters after this. Whilst I had never thought I was going to get away with not repaying, at least whilst I couldn't be reached during a time when I had no money anyway, I could relax a little.

So this year, I have obviously been tracked to my new address by some means or other and I started getting the letters from MKRR. The text messages from FI started last Monday and occurred every day. I didn't call them. And the letter from Raven (who I understand are the same group as MKRR but like the nastier collections arm) arrived last Thursday. And I am getting quite stressed by it all.

They are chasing me for £4888. The limit on the credit card was £3500 and I never went over it so there is obviously a lot of charges and interest been added.

What I want to know please is:
There is NO RECORD AT ALL
of the debt to either Sky or Barclaycard on my Experian Credit Report and I have a decent looking score (901).

Do I still owe the money?
Does this mean anything at all?
Why would there be no record?

My wife tells me that I should continue to IGNORE all of the DCA's. I am wondering how far from being Statute Barred the account would be, I can't find any records from it at all. I must have made a payment no less than 4 years ago, it might be 5

Can they really take me to court?
Can they really send bailiffs to my home?

I would probably be prepared to pay the money back but I completely dispute the balance being chased as I am sure I only owed slightly under the credit limit of £3500.

I don't know whether I should acknowledge the debt, but dispute the amount and if so to whom or whether I should take my wife's advice and just continue to ignore them all... Although this will, I feel sure, just lead to more stress from being hounded by these people.

Can anyone offer me some good advice please? Should I try going back to Barclaycard to see if they will settle on a more realistic figure (taking their charges into account etc.) and agree a payment plan I could afford? Any help would I would be hugely grateful for.

Kind Regards

Moods

matttye

Debts become statute barred 6 years after you last pay/acknowledge the debt.

If you don't pay they can take you to court and you'll get a CCJ. If you still don't pay after the CCJ is issued, then bailiffs can be sent round, so bailiffs are a long way off yet.

It would be in your interests to pay.

Edit: Barclaycard are unlikely to agree a full and final settlement unless you can pay it immediately. If you're going to pay in instalments they'll expect the full amount.

Moods_2

Thanks for the advice.

Do you have any idea why there is no record of the debt on my credit file? Should I be asking one of these Agents for proof that I owe the money, in the first instance and that I owe it to them? I have had no notification of the debt being sold. Do they need a copy of the credit agreement to enforce collection?

Would there be a chance I could still reclaim the charges from Barclaycard? As I said, there looks to be over £1300 on the account that was not down to my spending. Denting this would make any repayment a lot more manageable for me.

What is the most likely course of action if I do continue to ignore? I have not acknowledged the debt, my name, address or phone number to any of these people. I would imagine the account would definitely be statute barred in another 12 - 18 months... Could I drag this out that long?

Many thanks for any help.

~Beanie~

There are 3 credit reference agencies and you need to check your file with ALL of them as they are not all the same.

It might not be on your Experian file but it could be on your Equifax or CallCredit one.

simeyb

Hi OP - don't get me wrong, I hate Bcard with a passion - they treat all of us like something they've stepped in, but the fact is that whether the debt is showing on any of the CRA files that are held on you, has no bearing whatsoever as to whether you owe the money or not - whether this is statute barred is perhaps debateable and I don't know enough about that to advise although if you have paid anything off the card in the last six years, i expect its still collectable - doing nothing isn't the answer, but you need to contact someone as you're being chased by so many people trying to collect the same debt - bit like a group of bounty hunters

matttye

Moods wrote: »

Thanks for the advice.

Do you have any idea why there is no record of the debt on my credit file? Should I be asking one of these Agents for proof that I owe the money, in the first instance and that I owe it to them? I have had no notification of the debt being sold. Do they need a copy of the credit agreement to enforce collection?

Would there be a chance I could still reclaim the charges from Barclaycard? As I said, there looks to be over £1300 on the account that was not down to my spending. Denting this would make any repayment a lot more manageable for me.

What is the most likely course of action if I do continue to ignore? I have not acknowledged the debt, my name, address or phone number to any of these people. I would imagine the account would definitely be statute barred in another 12 - 18 months... Could I drag this out that long?

Many thanks for any help.

It could just be that they haven't reported your account to Experian.

Yes, you should ask for proof that you owe these people money as, even though you acknowledge that you owed Barclaycard money in the region of what this DCA is asking for, you need proof that it is actually now the DCA's debt to collect. I think they can provide a reconstituted credit agreement but it has to reasonably reflect the original document.

You may be able to argue some of the charges. Charges have to reasonably reflect the creditor's actual costs. That said, as you have been avoiding this debt for years, it should be expected that the debt is now quite high and charges will have racked up, as they will have been fruitlessly chasing you for years. You can't realistically argue about this as you could have contacted them to let them know your new address and offer to repay the debt. You would need to look at the charges and see if each one reasonably reflects their costs.

The most likely course of action depends on how certain they are that you live at that address, and that you are the one who owes them this money. What does the letter say? Does it refer to you by your actual name? If so, you can be reasonably sure they have found you and *may* take further action.

If you try to drag this out that will be 12-18 months of worrying that you'll be taken to court.

wellynever

Moods wrote: »

Hi Kind Forum Members,

I am currently being bombarded by 3 debt collection agencies for a Barclaycard cc debt. I am getting text messages DAILY from Fredrickson International as well as a couple of automated phone calls, all encouraging me to call and quote a reference number. So far, I have ignored all of this.

I have also been written to by MKRR including a final demand for payment and now I have received a letter from Raven Recoveries all threatening me with legal action, bailiffs, additional costs etc. if I do not settle the account in 7 days.
So far, I have not responded to any of this either.

The credit card was originally taken out with Sky probably about 6 years ago(may be even longer ago, I honestly can't remember)Sky then decided to get out of the credit card business and my account was transferred to Barclaycard, not that I had any choice.

Sometime after this, I ran into some financial difficulty and started to miss payments. Charges were applied and the minimum payment became more than I could afford and before long, I was not making any payments at all.

Subsequently, I stuck my head in the sand for a very long time. I had moved house during this period and so stopped receiving letters after this. Whilst I had never thought I was going to get away with not repaying, at least whilst I couldn't be reached during a time when I had no money anyway, I could relax a little.

So this year, I have obviously been tracked to my new address by some means or other and I started getting the letters from MKRR. The text messages from FI started last Monday and occurred every day. I didn't call them. And the letter from Raven (who I understand are the same group as MKRR but like the nastier collections arm) arrived last Thursday. And I am getting quite stressed by it all.

They are chasing me for £4888. The limit on the credit card was £3500 and I never went over it so there is obviously a lot of charges and interest been added.

What I want to know please is:
There is NO RECORD AT ALL
of the debt to either Sky or Barclaycard on my Experian Credit Report and I have a decent looking score (901).

Do I still owe the money? No
Does this mean anything at all? No
Why would there be no record? Because they have to record the default within six months.

My wife tells me that I should continue to IGNORE all of the DCA's. I am wondering how far from being Statute Barred the account would be, I can't find any records from it at all. I must have made a payment no less than 4 years ago, it might be 5 It will be after six years and SB

Can they really take me to court? No
Can they really send bailiffs to my home? No

I would probably be prepared to pay the money back but I completely dispute the balance being chased as I am sure I only owed slightly under the credit limit of £3500.

I don't know whether I should acknowledge the debt No, but dispute the amount and if so to whom or whether I should take my wife's advice and just continue to ignore them all... Yes, Although this will, I feel sure, just lead to more stress from being hounded by these people.

Can anyone offer me some good advice please? Should I try going back to Barclaycard to see if they will settle on a more realistic figure (taking their charges into account etc.) and agree a payment plan I could afford? Any help would I would be hugely grateful for.

Kind Regards

Moods

Ingnore and enjoy the good weather

Think i'm wrong get over to consumer action group forum on debt

matttye

wellynever wrote: »

Ingnore and enjoy the good weather

Think i'm wrong get over to consumer action group forum on debt

There's no such thing as 'wrong' in this instance as advice on the best action to take is subjective.

However, should the OP choose to ignore the debt he could be taken to court. Whether they will actually take him to court or not is another matter, but he runs the risk.

moneymoron1

Could it not be on your credit file because the address you were at when you got the card is not on your credit report?

happy_bunny_2

Have up moved? You need to make sure any previous addresses are given when you request your credit report.

Try Equifax, Barclaycard definitely report to them.

The account drops off your report 6 years after default date.

Charges should be fair. Google OFT debt collection guidelines as its worth a read.

moneymoron1

Barclaycard definitely report to experian as it is on my file.

Most likely you haven't got all your old address on your experian, add them and it should update straight away and you may find it appears