Ancient account being held to ransom

Bex82a

Hi,

I had an account with Halifax and just as the claiming back your bank charges scandal I closed my account - to my knowledge this was the end of it however I have recently looked at my credit file and found a debt recover agent is claiming I owe the Halifax £1400 and that I need to pay them the money.
I have no idea how I owe this money and the Halifax won't acknowledge me as I no longer have an account or any details of the account (closed 2009) how do I sort this out as I do not want to pay money I firmly believe I do not owe and I want my credit rating to go back to how it was before this firm started contacting me but know one will talk to me?
I know the Statute of limitations states 6 years however I closed my account in 2009 but this new company contacted me in 2014 so not sure when it will take effect.

Thanks for your advice

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

You need the Prove it Letter.

EDIT: In post #4 Tixy has advised that this letter is out of date. This is what you need.

Tixy

Have you been contacted by the debt collection agent yet?
If they write to you then reply to them asking them to provide evidence that the debt is owed - Letter when you know nothing about about the debt - AKA "Prove it" letter

You say halifax won't acknowledge you - you could send a subject access under the data protection act for a copy of all information then hold on file for you. This does have a £10 fee but would give you the information as to how this debt arose.

When you closed the account did you get a final statement showing that the account was closed? or a letter from halifax confirming the account closure?

If a debt does exist then the statute of limitations would likely be the later of
- the date the debt arose,
-the date the bank officially recalled your overdraft (if you had one)
-the date you last used the account
-the date you last acknowledged the debt in writing (to either the bank or debt collector)

What date it was sold to a debt collector or them contacting you does not alter the relevant date for statute barred purposes.

Tixy

Fruit_and_Nut_Case wrote: »

You need the Prove it Letter.

Hi, just to let you know that template is now out of date as it refers to the OFT. The updated one referring to the FCA is on this link Letter when you know nothing about about the debt - AKA "Prove it" letter