Natwest has reclaimed my debt back from 3rd debt collecting agency they used

Sheesha

Hi all & happy new year. Bit of advice if I may please.

12k o/s debt with Natwest (loan)

Default date 09/2010
Started paying Apex debt collectors a month or so later. Paid them direct debit for 3 years.
09/2013 I canx my direct debit (circumstances had changed) which led them to chase for a while.

Sometime after, a new debt collecting agency (Thomas something) sent me 1/2 letters chasing the debt. I did not acknowledge them.
12/2014 Allied International Credit sent 1 letter chasing for the debt. I did not acknowledge.

07/2015 Natwest (creditor) send 1 letter reminding me of the debt.

Today - I phone AIC to offer a payment plan but they confirm Natwest reclaimed this debt in 04/2015.

I now want to start paying this monthly but I can only afford £50 for the time being. What can Natwest legally do as my mortgage is up for renewal in 2 months & although I haven't had a CCJ or been taken to court in all this time, I'm worried if I make an offer they're not happy with & this kicks off some investigating they would see I have a mortgage & things could start getting messy.

Also this September 2016 is when the original default is removed from my credit file & I wouldn't want that getting affected.

Another thing - I assumed Natwest sold this debt to Apex back when I first defaulted & it kept getting sold on to other debt collectors - why would they reclaim 5 years later?

Any advice?
Thanks in advance

National_Debtline

Hi Sheesha

I really don’t think Natwest would have bought the debt back after selling to debt collectors so I can only assume it was never actually sold on originally.

To answer your question, legally they could apply for a CCJ within 6 years of your last payment or written acknowledgement, and in theory get a charging order or restriction against equity in your property. That’s not to say they will actually do that though, and even if they did it’s normally just a case of repaying the debt at a rate set by the court.

You could wait to see whether they contact you asking for payment or not. If they do intend to take court action they should contact you to attempt a payment plan first.

James
@natdebtline

sourcrates

The number of debt collectors you mention, suggests the account wasn't sold, but just assigned to these companies.
Sometimes if one DCA can't get full payment straight away, they pass the debt to another DCA, who attempt to do the same, and the process goes on.

They are after a quick profit, if they can't get that, they lose interest.
James has covered the legal possibilities that could happen, sometimes a creditor will just sit on an account that's been returned, best advise is wait and see what happens.
I would assume this account is defaulted, so will show on your credit file as such, this may give you problems when you come to remortgage.

Sheesha

Quick update - contacted Natwest lastnight, asked for a status of the account and they confirmed (via phone) they have "written off" the debt... I didn't quite know what to say. He said although I'm still liable for it, but they will no longer be chasing the debt, and twice said it's "written off". I of course asked if this could be confirmed in writing, which I had to request in writing...

The default is on my credit file which comes off this September, and I was given a mortgage 2 years ago with this on my credit file, I just had to pay a higher deposit..

I guess I will wait to hear from Natwest in writing.

National_Debtline

It sounds like they've decided they don't want to throw any more money at it as three different collection agencies haven't recovered the debt

It's certainly a good idea to get that in writing though.

James
@natdebtline