Fredrickson International text.

hollylab

Guys,

I rented an address 18 years ago from a friend, I was not on the electoral roll nor did I have any utilities in my name. I did have a bank account and I did foolishly leave a credit card debt there (CREDIT CARD WAS NOT WITH THE BANK.)

I was approached by letter from a DCA two years ago, I replied asking them to prove the debt and then heard nothing back.

Today I have received a text message from Fredrickson International asking me to call them urgently and to quote a reference number. I phoned them and quoted the number but did not tell them my name or address, they said that they would write to me.

I am concerned and yes I am a gutless coward for not facing up to my debt but I have no intention of paying it after all these years, the additional fees would be astronomical!

My questions are:
Is this debt now statute barred, If so what happens now?
Should I reply back to the letter(if it comes)asking for proof of debt?
What should I do if they persistently call or text me?
What do I do if they knock on the front door?

Help and advice would be much appreciated.

FireWyrm

hollylab wrote: »

Is this debt now statute barred, If so what happens now?

Almost certainly. What is the status of your credit report. Anything on there?

If it is statute barred, then you need do nothing other than ignore them and refuse additional contact as you did 2 years ago. If you are feeling generous, a standard 'stat-bar' letter will do the trick. If you are feeling less generous, a more robust letter telling them where to stick it and you consider the matter closed.

hollylab wrote: »

Should I reply back to the letter(if it comes)asking for proof of debt?

No. If this is stat-barred, they are chancing their arm. No need to encourage them.

hollylab wrote: »

What should I do if they persistently call or text me?

Write an even stiffer letter telling them it is now a case of criminal harrassment and you will be reporting them to the FSA. Since DCAs are now formally regulated, this should pull them up short.

hollylab wrote: »

What do I do if they knock on the front door?

What do you normally do to unannounced and unwanted doorstep callers?
Firmly close the door and get on with your life.

Tixy

Did fredrickson give you sufficient information for you to know it is this very old credit card debt they are chasing?

Whether it would be statute barred would depend on whether the creditor or a debt collector ever took court action against you for the debt.

If they do manage to write to you and it does appear to be this debt then given that it is very old then I would likely send back the hybrid letter that states you have no knowledge of the debt and believe it would be statute barred regardless. http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=34906257&postcount=5

If the persistently call or text then either look to see if you can block the number, or you could write to them to state that you require them to remove those phone number from their records and only communicate in writing.

If they knock on the door (exceptionally unlikely) you tell them to leave and to put details of any alleged debt to you in writing.

hollylab

FireWyrm wrote: »

Almost certainly. What is the status of your credit report. Anything on there?

If it is statute barred, then you need do nothing other than ignore them and refuse additional contact as you did 2 years ago. If you are feeling generous, a standard 'stat-bar' letter will do the trick. If you are feeling less generous, a more robust letter telling them where to stick it and you consider the matter closed.



No. If this is stat-barred, they are chancing their arm. No need to encourage them.



Write an even stiffer letter telling them it is now a case of criminal harrassment and you will be reporting them to the FSA. Since DCAs are now formally regulated, this should pull them up short.



What do you normally do to unannounced and unwanted doorstep callers?
Firmly close the door and get on with your life.

Many thanks indeed for your response.

I will get an updated credit report but when I looked at one a couple of years ago there was nothing on there that looks bad. I do seem to have good credit, i.e credit cards, a good bank account, mortgage, mobile phone etc...

Where is the best place to get my credit report? Will this show me what Fredrickson are after me for?

OnlyAlan

To be SB (in England) you must have made no payment or written admission of the debt for six years since you breached the agreement. If you are sure this is the case you have no fear of enforcement.

If you are not sure you can send a Subject Access Request to the original lender and get copies of everything they hold on you and see when the last payment was made.

It certainly sounds to me like it will be SB.

hollylab

Tixy wrote: »

Did fredrickson give you sufficient information for you to know it is this very old credit card debt they are chasing?

Whether it would be statute barred would depend on whether the creditor or a debt collector ever took court action against you for the debt.

If they do manage to write to you and it does appear to be this debt then given that it is very old then I would likely send back the hybrid letter that states you have no knowledge of the debt and believe it would be statute barred regardless.

If the persistently call or text then either look to see if you can block the number, or you could write to them to state that you require them to remove those phone number from their records and only communicate in writing.

If they knock on the door (exceptionally unlikely) you tell them to leave and to put details of any alleged debt to you in writing.

The only debt that I left was the CC 18 years ago, since then I have been squeaky clean...

Thank you for your response.

Tixy

hollylab wrote: »

The only debt that I left was the CC 18 years ago, since then I have been squeaky clean...

Thank you for your response.

Unless they give you enough identifying details of this debt then I wouldn't assume they are definitely chasing an 18 year old debt.

It could also well be the case that they are chasing a debt that is nothing at all to do with you (but that perhaps belongs to someone with the same name as you).

FireWyrm

Tixy wrote: »

Unless they give you enough identifying details of this debt then I wouldn't assume they are definitely chasing an 18 year old debt.

It could also well be the case that they are chasing a debt that is nothing at all to do with you (but that perhaps belongs to someone with the same name as you).

Either way...is it really something she needs to delve too closely into? If it is the 18 year old one, it is almost certainly statute barred and if it is someone else with a similar name, it isnt her problem anyway.

OP, get all your credit reports - the £2 statutory ones will do (you will probably have to request at least two by post, but Noddle will do one online).

Once you have that information, come back and we can advise further.

hollylab

Tixy wrote: »

Unless they give you enough identifying details of this debt then I wouldn't assume they are definitely chasing an 18 year old debt.

It could also well be the case that they are chasing a debt that is nothing at all to do with you (but that perhaps belongs to someone with the same name as you).

I am pretty certain it is that debt because the last DCA tried to get me to admit that particular address and I denied it.

FireWyrm

hollylab wrote: »

I am pretty certain it is that debt because the last DCA tried to get me to admit that particular address and I denied it.

Admission of a previous address means nothing and is not 'acknowledgement' of the debt for the purposes of this law. Only written acknowledgement or a payment, neither of which I presume you have done. If you have made a payment - then that *could* be a different story.

Get those reports. You could go for a trial at Experian and Equifax, but remember to cancel before your 30 days are up and be prepared for the hard sell when you do.

hollylab

FireWyrm wrote: »

Admission of a previous address means nothing and is not 'acknowledgement' of the debt for the purposes of this law. Only written acknowledgement or a payment, neither of which I presume you have done. If you have made a payment - then that *could* be a different story.

Get those reports. You could go for a trial at Experian and Equifax, but remember to cancel before your 30 days are up and be prepared for the hard sell when you do.

I have not made a payment and I appreciate what you are saying regarding acknowledgement in the eyes of the law.

I did register with Noodle and I keep getting their emails from time to time so I will have a look at my credit report and see what's what. I wasn't sure if Noodle where very comprehensive but I guess it will give me any accounts of any misdemeanour's..