Account marked as 'Satisfied' yet lender still wants money.

Rainman101

Hi All,


I'm a UK resident, self-employed, and I had a credit card with Halifax. Back in October 2009 my work dried up completely and (like a lot of people at the start of the UK recession) and had to default with a balance of nearly £16,000. All my other debts, mortgage, etc, have all been paid by my wife (I'm sooo lucky) and therefore I have no other adverse credit recorded against me.


I've never been one to put my head in the sand and hope things go away and so I made an arrangement with the appointed debt recovery agent, Moorcroft. I've not managed to regain the income I once had and so I've been paying what I could afford to Moorcroft, £200 a month. This has been going on for quite some time and we've now got the balance down to around £10,000.


I did a check on myself via Credit Expert to see what my credit rating was like, and since I've managed to pay all my other debts on time, my rating isn't too bad and I just have this one default on my file. In March I noticed that the status of this particular agreement had been marked as 'Satisfied' even though I know I haven't paid it off. I know that it drops off my credit file completely next year, but right now it's still marked as 'Satisfied' and so I put in a call to Halifax to ask them.


I ended up speaking to a call-centre in India, and I could hardly understand the lady at the end of the phone, and I also suspect that she had limited knowledge of the matter. In essence she indicated that the account shouldn't be marked as 'Satisfied' as there is still a balance on the account and that she would be making enquiries to rectify it.


Have I just shafted myself by calling them? It looks like it's an error they've made in my favour, not that it changes me paying back the money because I've maintained the payments all the way through. I have no problem in continuing to make payments on money I clearly owe, but I've just been put out of work again and so I'm facing the situation where I'm not going to be able to honour the existing agreement. What is my position on this? Are they allowed to 'un-satisfy' the entry on my credit file? Should they still be collecting money from my if it's satisfied? They've not made any other updates to it since March and I'm completely confused.


Also, what happens to the debt if I still have a balance after 6 years. In reality I'm unlikely to be able to pay back £10000 in the next year. Can they still collect it?

Thanks,
Rainman101

Thrugelmir

Rainman101 wrote: »

Also, what happens to the debt if I still have a balance after 6 years. In reality I'm unlikely to be able to pay back £10000 in the next year. Can they still collect it?

Yes you'll need to continue to pay the debt.

Maybe worth asking Moorcroft for a settlement figure. To settle it once and for all.

Rainman101

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Yes you'll need to continue to pay the debt.

Maybe worth asking Moorcroft for a settlement figure. To settle it once and for all.

Agreed, that's what I had planned to do.


What I'm more concerned about is that the status of the account on my credit file. Why would it be marked as 'Satisfied' and is there a time limit on how long they can collect the money for?


Thanks.

Thrugelmir

Rainman101 wrote: »

Agreed, that's what I had planned to do.


What I'm more concerned about is that the status of the account on my credit file. Why would it be marked as 'Satisfied' and is there a time limit on how long they can collect the money for?


Thanks.

Sold the debt?

Rainman101

Is there a time limit on how long they can pursue the debt for? I know the debt would be 'statute barred' after 6 years if I hadn't paid any part of the debt, but I've been paying it like a good citizen.


Thanks.

Jason_Bourne_2

I defaulted on a Halifax credit card years ago, it is now settled. Since I've sorted out my finances I've obtained copies of my credit reports.

My equifax report shows this account as having the same default and settled date but my experian report is diffident. It shows the same default date but the actual settlement date which is 3 years later.

I've never queried it as it doesn't make my position any worse for future applications. Strange though...