Old debt appeared on Credit Report and Bank charges.

hannahkaty

Hi,

I have just done a couple of checks on my credit report, one with Experian and one with Noodle. Neither make for great reading, but I noticed on Noodle that there was a debt dating back to 2007 on there that isn't on my Experian report. It says it's a Credit Card, but I can't really remember even having a credit card then (although it is possible). The amount is showing that it defaulted recently at the end of last year and was last updated at the end of April. However, I didn't even know about this debt until I saw it on the noodle report and it is registered to the address i lived at in 2007 not to any of my previous or current address(es).

It is saying it is a debt of Cabot Financial (Europe) LTD who I assume must have bought the debt from someone. I've read that if i've not acknowledged the debt in 6 years that a statute exists? Is it worth me contacting Cabot with a limitations letter or should i wait until they contact me (which i assume they will do) and then send the limitations letter?

Also, an additional question on bank charges. I previously banked with HSBC where I had an overdraft and got into a pretty crappy state with constantly being charged fees for being overdrawn. That account has since gone into default and i'm in the process of paying it off but I was wondering if there was any worth in me contacting HSBC regarding those charges and trying to get it wiped off the debt? God knows how much i got charged in fees over the years but it sure as hell felt like a lot at the time.

Thanks in advance!

National_Debtline

Hi Hannahkaty,

hannahkaty wrote: »

Hi,

I have just done a couple of checks on my credit report, one with Experian and one with Noodle. Neither make for great reading, but I noticed on Noodle that there was a debt dating back to 2007 on there that isn't on my Experian report. It says it's a Credit Card, but I can't really remember even having a credit card then (although it is possible). The amount is showing that it defaulted recently at the end of last year and was last updated at the end of April. However, I didn't even know about this debt until I saw it on the noodle report and it is registered to the address i lived at in 2007 not to any of my previous or current address(es).

It is saying it is a debt of Cabot Financial (Europe) LTD who I assume must have bought the debt from someone. I've read that if i've not acknowledged the debt in 6 years that a statute exists? Is it worth me contacting Cabot with a limitations letter or should i wait until they contact me (which i assume they will do) and then send the limitations letter?



This is one of those situations where you have to be very careful, There is a piece of legislation called the Limitations Act that does state, if there has been a 6 year block of time since the debt fell due, with no written acknowledgement or payment to the debt and no County Court Judgement has been obtained, the debt may no longer be enforceable through the County Court and becomes known as Statute Barred.


If Cabot are not chasing you then it is whether or not you want to approach them and potentially stir up a hornets nest. If you are confident this is statute barred then you could write to them with our limitations sample letter and add your complaint about the default date. You could argue that the default should’ve been registered, normally, within 3-6months under the Information Commissioners Guidelines and ask them to amend the date but you would need to be very confident this debt is statute barred. If you don't need any credit for anything at the moment then you may want to ask yourself if it is worth pursuing right now.

Also, an additional question on bank charges. I previously banked with HSBC where I had an overdraft and got into a pretty crappy state with constantly being charged fees for being overdrawn. That account has since gone into default and i'm in the process of paying it off but I was wondering if there was any worth in me contacting HSBC regarding those charges and trying to get it wiped off the debt? God knows how much i got charged in fees over the years but it sure as hell felt like a lot at the time.

Thanks in advance!


If you think that you have been unfairly charged then you should make a formal complaint. to the bank and ask for the charges to be refunded. There is more information about this here. Best of luck,

Laura
@natdebtline

sourcrates

On the issue of bank charges, most banks will refund any charges that are the subject of a complaint, at least once every Calendar year, usually as a matter of course.

All you have to do is put in a written complaint, and tell them how you have been impacted by the charges, and tell them how they can resolve the issue for you, which is usually by a full refund.

fatbelly

On the earlier point, I would wait until they write before sending the statute barred letter. If you want, you could precede this by sending the prove-it letter, as they are probably not going to identify this account to your satisfaction - you say you're not even sure you had a credit card 9 years ago.

As things stand, regardless of whether this is your debt, and whether it is SB or not, your file is going to show this as a default for the next 5 1/2 years. This may not matter if you are not applying for credit. Laura's comments and links are very helpful if you do want to do battle.

hannahkaty

Thank you for the advice. That's the thing though, i would like to apply for credit in the future as I have been working really hard to improve my credit and I am worried that it is going to negatively affect me, but at the same time, i don't want to open a hornets nest. It is also not appearing on my Experian report but is appearing on my Noodle report so i'm a bit confused/worried about that as well.

Regards the bank charges, thank you for your help. I don't have any bank statements anymore though, is it worth me asking for those or just send the reclaim letter?

fatbelly

hannahkaty wrote: »

Thank you for the advice. That's the thing though, i would like to apply for credit in the future as I have been working really hard to improve my credit and I am worried that it is going to negatively affect me, but at the same time, i don't want to open a hornets nest. It is also not appearing on my Experian report but is appearing on my Noodle report so i'm a bit confused/worried about that as well.

Regards the bank charges, thank you for your help. I don't have any bank statements anymore though, is it worth me asking for those or just send the reclaim letter?

I've often found Noddle unreliable. The odds are that anyone doing a credit search on you won't use them. Experian seem to be the main CRA with Equifax coming second. Maybe try a £2 check with Equifax and just leave it alone if it's not on the main two.