Unknown Debt from 2014?

ColS888

Hi all,

Newbie here, just wanted some advice if possible.

I have received a letter today advising that a Debt(?) of mine has been sold - From Arrow Global to Capquest.

This was a surprise to me as it is a Debt I genuinely have no idea about. Even more stumped as I made a conscious decision to sort my debts and credit score out a good 6 ago and have done so - after a few stupid mistakes when I was younger - but I was aware of all of them.

Have searched high and low and have an email from November 2014 from Arrow asking me to contact them for a Telefonica (o2) debt.  

Now because of my decision to sort myself out a few years back I know for a fact I have never received any letters/call or emails from Arrow or anyone else about this before or after this email in 2014, as it would have been on my mind and on my list of things to clean up.

Sorry for the novel, my 2 questions:

I know there are templates and help on here to request proof of debt from these companies. Is this an option for me as I really don't know what it is, and if I send this request, am I accepting responsibility?

Also, if I have never made any payments, received or responded to any communication and have one sole email from 2014, is it not barred?

I'm thinking maybe Arrow never tried to enforce the debt and have sold it in bulk to capquest who have sent a comms out automatically to everyone? The letter isn't asking for anything.

Thanks in advance for any advice, much appreciated.

C

Brie

Sounds like a fishing expedition to me and not worth responding to.  I wouldn't respond to confirm your address or anything else.  And I certainly would NOT ring them and give them an easy way to pester me.  

Have you checked your credit history anywhere recently.  If you have a debt it should be listed there.  And if it's not there it very likely doesn't exist any more.

jlfrs01

The 6 year rule should apply here, if it's been that amount of time minimum since a payment was last made or any legal action to enforce the debt has occured. Legally, this should be unenforceable, even though the debt still exists.

Most likely you've received a standard letter from Capquest and it won't be the last I'm sure. Subsequent letters will no doubt be designed to scare you into making contact or settling in full or in part. They'll also ask you to confirm your details. They may even attempt to call you and email you, if so you are best off not engaging and there is no legal requirement to do so.

At this stage it is advisable not to respond, it will be a red rag to a bull. If you begin to get inundated, just post them a letter being careful not to provide any details (just list their reference number) stating that as the debt is more than 6 years old it is disbarred, you consider the matter closed and all future correspondence will be ignored, any letters will be returned to sender at their cost. 

fatbelly

They're only telling you that a debt has been sold - not asking for payment.

They are probably well aware that it's statute barred.

Expect a letter offering a big discount - and you can ignore that too.

ColS888

thanks both! I thought as much. there is and has never been a record of it on my Credit report. I have monitored it closely for years. I'll keep an eye out for any more contact and consider a letter with no details on (they already have my address).

Thanks!

sourcrates

The hope is you will react by getting in touch with them, so that you can be "persuaded" to part with your hard earned cash by the call handler, that is the underlying reason these "change of ownership" letters are sent.

It`s just one of the little tricks used by these companies to try and collect on long since statute barred accounts.