Demand thousands over what I owe

Loxy79

Hello,

looking for some advice.

I had a CC debt originally with BOS. I defaulted on this about 4 years ago, moved house and had heard nothing from any debt collection agencies for the last 18 month. Out of no where I received a 'Form of Citation where time to pay direction or time order may be applied for' for a demand to pay £6500. instructed by Shoosmith for Arrow Global Limited.
I had a brief chat with a solicitor over the phone who advised me that If I contested anything and went to the sheriff officer court (I believe the amount is incorrect) it would cost me more in legal fees in the long run and if I can afford it I should pay it off or pay in instalments.
I can afford to pay this off in one go but I would be using up 50% of my first mortgage deposit.
I guess my question is do I just accept that I have to pay this amount that I do not believe I owe settle that debt and let it be done with?
If I paid in instalments would it affect my credit score even more? Any information would be much appreciated. I'm not sure if they would even accept this as I have a lump sum available.

Any advice would be appreciated.

sourcrates

Hi,


I assume you are in Scotland yes ?

The laws are slightly different north of the border, but this advice applies wherever you are in the UK.

Its unclear from your post if legal action has already been taken or not, if not, and you receive a demand for payment for a debt you do not recognize, or have some dispute over, then you send them the PROVIT letter, available here :


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2607247/letter-when-you-know-nothing-about-about-the-debt-aka-prove-it-letter


They cannot just demand money without providing evidence of liability when asked to do so.

See what response you get to that, if legal action has already been taken they will tell you so, and you will need to make arrangements to pay them.

Loxy79

Hi,

Yes I am in Scotland. No legal action has been taken, although I though this citation was a legal action as it is signed by the sheriff officers. I never even received any letter leading up to this to do a prove it letter or I would have I would assume its too late for that now.

sourcrates

Loxy79 wrote: »

Hi,

Yes I am in Scotland. No legal action has been taken, although I though this citation was a legal action as it is signed by the sheriff officers. I never even received any letter leading up to this to do a prove it letter or I would have I would assume its too late for that now.

A quick Google brings this up :


"A citation is a document received from the Procurator Fiscal with a date when a person requires to answer a charge at Court. A citation can be received by post, delivered by the police or collected from a local Police Office."


As i said, the law differs from that in the rest of the UK.

All i can suggest is giving National Debtline Scotland a ring on Monday, see what they advise :


https://www.nationaldebtline.org/S/Pages/default.aspx

Dobbibill

Have they sent you a breakdown of what the debt is for?


You say it's thousands more than what you recall you owed, there will have been fees added when it was passed on and possibly some interest prior to that. Does this add up? You don't say how much was remaining on the card.

I second sourcrates option to ring National Debtline.

I hope you get it sorted soon so you can move on with your plans and mortgage.

macman

With the default still showing on your credit history, this will impact upon any mortgage application you might make: you don't say what the timescale is for your mortgage application? If you make no payments then that should drop off your report in 2 years. How much do you actually owe?

Willing2Learn

macman wrote: »

If you make no payments then that should drop off your report in 2 years.

It should be less than two years because the law is different in Scotland. In Scotland, the timescale is five years. But this is a moot point if there is already a decree. The debt is considered extinguished if:

The creditor has not already obtained a decree (a court order for payment) against the debtor, and
The person who owes the money has not made a payment on the debt during the last five years, and
The debtor has not written to the creditor admitting they owe the debt during the last five years.

molerat

macman wrote: »

If you make no payments then that should drop off your report in 2 years.

As op seems to have received the Scottish equivalent of an N1 just "not paying" is not an option as a Decree, a Scottish CCJ, is the likely next step.

sourcrates

Willing2Learn wrote: »

It should be less than two years because the law is different in Scotland. In Scotland, the timescale is five years. But this is a moot point if there is already a decree.

The limitations period in Scotland is five years, but the entry still stays on your credit file for 6 years, just the same as the rest of the UK.


This is a common misconception about Scottish law.