Closed Lloyds account years ago but now debt collectors been in touch

Duckady

I don't know if anyone can help. My daughter's fiance had an account with Lloyds which he closed many years ago (consequently he does not have any paperwork). He recently received a letter from a debt collection company saying that Lloyds claim he owes £400+. This is the first letter he has received concerning the so called debt and insists that he heard absolutely nothing from Lloyds since the time he closed the account. The debt collection company have said that this happens quite regularly with Lloyds customers and suggested he contact them. He has phoned them but they just kept transferring him around in circles from one person to another.
The problem is that they are trying to get a mortgage and he has been told that nobody will give him a mortgage because of this debt. It has been suggested that he just pays it off, but surely this will still show up as a late payment? Surely there must be an onus on Lloyds to provide him with details of how this debt is made up? I just want to try and get some information for them so they can get this sorted asap. Thank you in advance for any help you can give

National_Debtline

He should send a letter to the debt collector (not Lloyds) and state he does not recognise the debt and ask them for more details (try and do this recorded delivery) – they will need to provide more details in order to keep chasing him…he may have several options from there. We have a sample letter that may help with this - https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/sampleletters/sole-letters/Pages/Complaining-to-debt-collection-agencies-that-you-do-not-owe-the-debt-(sole-name).aspx

Then he might be able to complain if the debt collector cannot provide proof of the debt but keeps chasing him, or he may be able to dispute it based on its age (if it is more than 6 years old) or he may have to pay it but that will depend on what details the debt collector can provide.

Also, has he checked his credit files? He should do this rather than taking the creditors word that this is an issue - the debt may no longer be showing so may not have any impact on his ability to get further credit. Be careful that he doesn’t rush into anything out of fear,

Laura
@natdebtline