Advice request for dealing with old debt and credit scores

slammingvictim

I have today received a letter from a debt collection agency, it refers to a MBNA debt of £596.19p dated April 2009 after contacting MBNA today direct it appears the debt is from a credit card which was sold to Activ debt collection agency in 2015 who have since moved it onto another agency.

It is a letter offering a repayment solution which includes a single payment offer of £59.62 in full and final settlement, subject to a review of current financial circumstances and will expire in February 2018.

I have no previous communication from anywhere including MBNA and Activ in relation to this debt but MBNA inform me it is in my name and the debt sold was £596.19p

The question is do I contact the current agency who have sent this letter, do I take up their offer, how does this effect my future credit rating and how best do I approach this especially as it is from 2009 and this is the first time I have received any correspondence in relation to this.

[Deleted User]

Is the debt yours? How close is is to being statute barred, if not already? It looks like a prove it letter would be the place to start.

You don't have a credit rating or a credit score, but lenders obviously look poorly on defaults and outstanding debts.

GM1880

First of all, make no contact and check if it's statute barred. That I suspect is the best thing to do first. Someone will be on here to give better advice soon I'm sure, but the only reason I suspect they're offering such a settlement is because they know it's unenforceable and they bought the debt for pennies.

But, have you checked your credit file, is it on there?

[Deleted User]

Looks like they are clutching at straws and asking for a 10% settlement figure to clear it off their books.

It looks to be statute barred now though, given it was defaulted in April 2009.

As for your credit rating - as it's over 6 years old it won't be on any of the CRA's records

slammingvictim

Thanks for your comments, I have to assume the debt is mine, we did have a number of credit cards during that period all of which were cleared, except it would seem this one ? We moved between addresses and sold our house, had I been aware of this it certainly would have been paid. I have a clear score account and a this agency has flagged up on my report very recently then the letter arrived today, I have every intention of offering a settlement as I would rather it removed from my report. The question remains, as I can see no other reference to it apart from the flag on clearscore and the letter today, it is the first I have heard about it and the debt appears to have been sold on to two agents from MBNA since 2015, we know this as during the telephone conversation today they confirmed it is no longer on their system so we could not enter into any arrangement with them. They also confirmed the amount outstanding in 2009 was £596.19p

[Deleted User]

What are the details of the account on your Clearscore file?

Same question for your other two files - does it appear there?

slammingvictim

In the letter it also states that should I make the discounted settlement payment that is offered ....... where appropriate my credit file will show as
'Default Partially Satisfied' as opposed to 'Default Satisfied' if paid in full

slammingvictim

There are no details just notification

[Deleted User]

You need to view your reports and see how the account is reported.

[Deleted User]

Ask them when the account defaulted.

If it was in 2009, then it should not be in your credit files at all, and you are not at liberty to pay it since it is statute barred.

slammingvictim

It shows as a negative on clearscore and just says default or repossession but no actual details