Help, I've been bad, and not sure where to start....

Edmondos

A few years back (approximately arround 2002 - 2003) i was quite reckless, I was young, and didn't have a good understanding of how money works.

I had a couple of credit cards, the odd loan, unfortunately i can't be more specific because i wasn't paying much attention to what i was doing (it sounds really shamefull to me, that i can't even remember who i owe now)

In fact far from paying them off i just got in a habit of not bothering making repayments, the reminders were so common that I got to know the font and type of envelope used, so i'd just bin them without even opening them, unread.

Debts i do remember that i have are with: egg card, Abbey national (had a visa and loan from them), but there was also a couple of store cards, and maybe a few HP agreements that were forgotten.

I honestly could not say who they are with, i know it sounds bad, but I'd got in a spiral and now i want to know how to sort things out.

These days i have a wife, a son, and i own a house in the north west. However I move home with work every couple of years (currently i live and work in the south east), which means i don't get the letters any more ( I've laid low, and kept off the electoral rolls for 5 years, by simply not registering).

I thought the companies I owed had lost track of me.

The other month I got a letter from a company that collects debts, it was for a computer i used to have, I am now paying them £35 a month.

My dad rang me out of the blue the other day, and told me that a company called Red Debt collection services / Lowell Financial had sent a letter to me at their home.

The letter said they believed that i was now residing at their home, and i owed the abbey national plc nearly £5000, but if I paid 'just' £2289.70 they'd call it quits. They needed confirmation that i was living at my dads home (which I haven't done for 11 years) or they'd update their records to say i was living at my dads. So i assume then that they would have people come a knocking at my dads home. Trouble is that i think i owe abbey for 2 debts, and if i go asking about one debt, i may end up with people chasing me for both.

So what do i do?

• initially to sort out the problems with red debt, so they will leave my mum and dad alone,
• secondly to do something with red debt, the debt with abbey would be nearly 6 years old because i've been married 5 years, and the loan / card were from before i got married.
• Next is there anywhere i can get a list of what i owe, and to who? I know i should know who i owe, but the truth is i dont, which means i don't know how big/bad my debt is. If 2 companies have tracked me down, then i'm not sure how long before the others will be writing to me.
• Finally go about making payments to clear myself, once i find out who.

Lemon_Tree

there will be better people than me alone soon i'm sure, but you may possibly be able to get a list of your debt through experion or something similar. You can even join free for a month (well you used to be able to). Good luck and well done for facing this head on. You'll soon get lots of much better advice.

postingalwaysposting

you need to get copys of your credit report(s), on these will list how much you owe and to whom. You can do this by sending a standard letter (can be obtained free through this site) and a £2 cheque to each companys or there are some free trials (as long as you canel within 30 days) which allows you to view your report online. I say companies as there are 3 and each hold different information that others may not.

http://www.experian.co.uk/

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/credit-rating-credit-score

Once you know who you own money to you can contact the companys and start repaying your debts.