Received unsolicited cheque from Monument

Nibblonian

Hello

Just looking for some advice (or similar experiences) please.

Many years ago I had a Monument credit card (2000/1 or thereabouts). I think I settled this account as whilst I've had some debt issues, I'm not aware of anything in relation to that particular account. As it's so old I no longer have any paperwork on it either.

Back at the start of 2017 I received a letter from Monument (I've moved addresses many times since then) - my details were correct (aside from a name change due to marriage) and it asked whether I wanted to request a refund/compensation in relation to my credit card account but as I no longer have the letter I can't check the specifics. To be honest, I assumed it was a phishing attempt of some sort and given my debt issues previously I didn't want to 'trigger' anything so just ignored it.

In February 2017 a cheque for £3000 arrived from Monument. It looks perfectly legitimate and has my details on it. My bank have confirmed they will accept it (so no need for me to contact Monument to tell them of my name change etc) but I'm still concerned that paying it in (and I haven't so far) will somehow set some debtor alarm bells off somewhere if in fact I didn't settle the account!

I've managed to sort myself out financially in terms of my credit file and I know that nothing so old could now appear on it (unless a CCJ was issued) but I've heard nothing to that effect. They clearly have my address and I've heard nothing more from them.

So, my question is has this happened to anyone else? Did you pay the cheque in? Did the sky fall in as a result?! National Debtline can't think of any possible action that would result from 'activating' this cheque by paying it into my account, but with the obvious caveat that they're not legally qualified. Sadly, I'm not in a position to take legal advice on the matter right now due to the cost involved. It seems that the worst case scenario is that it is a mistake and they want it back. I'm happy to leave it aside in my account for a while just in case.

I know my situation is very specific, but I would be very interested to hear the experiences of others. I do know Monument are now defunct and the cheque letter mentions CCUK and Raphael's as managers of their matters. I also know Monument (and by association Barclays) were in trouble with the FCA for PPI misdealings so it all seems to fit. And yet, I still feel suspicious... It would seem to be a rather costly way of tracking someone down for debt issues though wouldn't it? The simple solution would be to call them I know, but again I'm wary of making myself prominent after so long if there is an issue as it would now be statute barred.

Thanks

[Deleted User]

What exactly did the first letter and whatever came with the cheque say?