Old credit card

savage80

Hoping someone can help. I used to have an Egg card opened in 2002. I had it, used it, paid monthly direct debits etc. My ex partner used it to book hotels for his work and when work paid him he'd pay it off. Approx time would be up to 2007/8. When we separated I had no documentation to say I had debt on it.....bearing in mind EGG was internet based company so all correspondence was sent by email. I never had anything sent to me whether a debt letter or even a monthly statement. In my eyes this card was nil void.

A week ago I received a letter from a company called Cabot financial saying I owed 2k. I phoned them immediately to find out any information as shock was not the word!!!!

They I had no documentation of where this 2k came from no statements, no history of my EGG. They said Barclay card bought out egg, and they now have control of this debt. But in my eyes I have no debt on the egg card. I asked if this amount was interest built up over 7 years they couldn't answer that either. I said how come nobody has contacted me for all these years I may have moved but 1 you have located me at this address and 2 my email address remains the same as what you have on file. They assured me the debt doesn't effect my credit history (how is this possible?) I also have a Barclays card how come they never contacted me as they a,ways had my up to date contact details?

I spoke to a really nice person who was understanding but I had to say why would I pay this money with no evidence to where it has come from. Am I being unrealistic?

Any advice on this

Candyapple

They've probably just purchased a load of statute barred debts and are trying the rounds in the hopes that some people won't know what that means and will pay them.

What date did you close/cancel the card?

Have you checked your credit reports from all 3 credit reference agencies (Call Credit, Experian and Equifax)?

Does the alleged debt show on there?

Even if you had somehow managed to have a debt of £2k, if it was from back in 2007, it would have been statute barred in 2014.

savage80

I never really closed the account as "I believe there was nothing owing" I let it expire and didn't have new card sent. I have been on noddle credit scoring web site is this different to the ones you mentioned?

Think I'm cross as they cannot produce firm evidence like you say if it is right I would pay it but for all I know I had £10 on there and this is interest from all those years!!!! But they have provided me with the account details which I had lost so I can now claim ppi from that credit card!!!!!

WorkingTowardsDebtFree

The only way "it can't affect your credit file" is if the debt doesn't exist (or at least they can't prove it's yours) and they know it, or if it's statute barred and they know it.

Oh - there is one more way actually. That's if the debt really does exist and they can prove you own it but they're going to be awfully nice chaps and chappesses and not report it to anyone at all and just ask for payment. Do a Google for Cabot and make up your own mind on whether that's likely.

Send them a Prove It letter. If they can't prove it, you don't owe them it's that simple. They can't just say "You owe me £XXX" without substantiating it. Well they can, and they do, but they shouldn't.

If they send anything that proves a debt does exist but that the last time you acknowledged the debt in writing or made a payment was over 6 years ago, send them a Statute Barred Notice.

HTH.

savage80

Ive logged onto Noddle and nothing on there, I even have recently had a new credit card, as wanted a new one with lower interest rate and it was accepted, so I'm thinking/hoping my credit is not effected by this. I am going to write to them asking for evidence to back up the claim, I've never heard of the statute barred notice so will look into that. Thank you

WorkingTowardsDebtFree

Check the other CRAs too. ClearScore is free and is to Equifax what Noddle is to CallCredit. That still leaves Experian - although you could get a free trial with Experian or CheckMyFile (if you haven't already used them). Of course, you can also get your £2 statutory files from each of the CRAs too. It's best to make sure rather than trust Cabot or any DCA or creditor.

LHW99

Write to Cabot as suggested at #4, stating you don't believe you owe the amount, and that in any case you believe it is statute barred.
Keep a copy of the letter, and get a receipt by sending it recorded delivery (cheaper than guaranteed, and still gives a formal record of posting, and hopefully delivery).

If the debt gets passed to a debt collection agency, despite everything, you will be able to prove the amount is in dispute. If you were then pursued, this may be helpful:
http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?281781-Disputed-Debt-and-Debt-Collector-Agency

jonesMUFCforever

From what has been written it is possibly statute barred - HOWEVER using the old excuse ''nothing to do with me guv as I didn't receive statements or correspondence'' when you willingly agreed for your ex to use the card is not going to be your best defence IMO.

WorkingTowardsDebtFree

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

From what has been written it is possibly statute barred - HOWEVER using the old excuse ''nothing to do with me guv as I didn't receive statements or correspondence'' when you willingly agreed for your ex to use the card is not going to be your best defence IMO.

That's kind of missing the point. The OP has not denied that they were responsible for their ex using the card. What they're saying is that they believe nothing was owing on the card, Egg got bought out by Barclaycard and closed from a time more than 6 years ago whilst having a zero balance, and there's been no attempt to chase the debt until now. That is very,v very different from claiming naivety (of which there is no defence in law).

jonesMUFCforever

WorkingTowardsDebtFree wrote: »

That's kind of missing the point. The OP has not denied that they were responsible for their ex using the card. What they're saying is that they believe nothing was owing on the card, Egg got bought out by Barclaycard and closed from a time more than 6 years ago whilst having a zero balance, and there's been no attempt to chase the debt until now. That is very,v very different from claiming naivety (of which there is no defence in law).

How do you explain then the OP ''assuming'' there was no outstanding balance to where she is today?
Why all of a sudden she was unable to access statements?

WorkingTowardsDebtFree

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

How do you explain then the OP ''assuming'' there was no outstanding balance to where she is today?
Why all of a sudden she was unable to access statements?

I hate this world we live in where so many people question individuals' integrity - directly or through insinuation - at the very first chance they get without any indication that they've done anything wrong.... Yet the same people that do that don't seem to afford the same criticality to businesses within an industry that appears to have a bad reputation due to the actions of quite a few companies within that industry?

Given that the OP has heard nothing about this card since 2007/2008 it's not that they were unable to access statements all of a sudden. Egg closed some years ago, so I doubt you can just log onto the Egg website and view statements today.

If someone "assumes" something, they believe it to be true. This was from 2002 to 2007/2008 and they know they'd let their ex partner had used the card. Instead of saying that there's categorically nothing owing, they're probably wondering if their ex partner had used the cards after they believed they'd stopped.

The OP has also said that they've had no statements or letters regarding the debt, so again a reasonable conclusion for them is that they owed nothing until someone tells them otherwise.

Now they've been told otherwise, fair enough - however it's only right that whosoever claims that someone else owes them money can prove it. I've been chased in the past by multiple DCAs for the same debt, sometimes where it never existed because it had been paid. It is not wrong for the OP to question the existence and ownership of any debt someone claims they have to them.