Letter regarding debt we've never heard of.

Daffodil78

Hoping this is the correct board to ask and that someone might point us in the right direction please.

My husband received a letter from a debt recovery company saying he has an outstanding balance with Abbey National for over £4k. He hasn't banked with them for over 20 years. He had an account there with his ex-wife at one point, but he never had an overdraft or any other credit with them.

We've been together for 18 years and he's never had a letter from them in all that time. He did have some debt back then that I helped him clear. We got his credit report and went through everything and there wasn't anything from this bank on it, and everything that was on it. was paid off in full that year.

I've just checked his credit report today and it's completely free of any kind of unpaid debt other than his regular credit cards that are paid off in full each month. There's nothing under active, settled or defaulted accounts that could be this debt. There's nothing under 'adverse events' and under 'linked people' there is only me. His ex-wife isn't mentioned anywhere. There's nothing listed under queries and disputes' either.

How can we find out what this debt is and what should we do about it?

He knows he did not have any debt with the Abbey National when he got divorced, but he can't remember closing the account. Is it at all feasible that his ex continued using the account and accessed credit on it after they split?

That's the only scenario that we can think of that may have happened. If that is the case, what can we do about it?

I Googled 'debt that isn't mine' and found some articles about 'statute barred' debt. Usually I would say everyone should pay their debts, like my husband did when we first met, but this isn't his debt and so I'm wondering if this 'statute barred' thing could help us out?

Any advice appreciated as I'm not sure where to start.

Grumpelstiltskin

Start  with the Provit letter.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2607247/letter-when-you-know-nothing-about-about-the-debt-aka-prove-it-lette598ef342e339120001fb8ac8r

Send it by snail mail and what ever you do don't phone or E Mail them.

If you do get a reply come back for more advice.

Daffodil78

Thank you for a quick reply. 

When I googled 'statute barred' earlier, I saw that writing to a company can restart the 6 year period until the debt becomes statute barred again. Is that only if he writes to Abbey National (Santander?) or does it apply to the collection agencies too?

Thanks

peb

The provit letter is specifically drafted so as not to trigger a possible latent debt.  

Daffodil78

Fantastic, thank you so much. I thought that would be the case, but I like to check what I'm doing to be sure.

Your help is very much appreciated.
Thanks again.

sourcrates

There is currently an upsurge of debt collectors chasing old, statute barred, or otherwise unenforceable debts from years gone by.

The PROVIT letter should reveal what this debt is they are chasing, you can then act accordingly, and put it to bed once and for all. 

fatbelly

Abbey National ceased to exist as a brand 14 years ago!

This will be so clearly statute barred even Lowell or whoever have bought it won't be putting up much of a fight.

After 6 years of no acknowledgement (by payment or in writing) a debt becomes statute barred and stays that way.

The prove-it letter should establish whether this is your debt. It may not be.

You can then inform them that it's statute barred and you won't be paying.

MDMD

fatbelly said:

Abbey National ceased to exist 14 years ago!

Abbey National was just a brand. The legal entity is still in existence and has simply been renamed (in 2010).

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/02294747

Sea_Shell

I had a similar situation with Lowell's.

A debt that I knew wasn't mine.

I sent a prove it letter, which they acknowledged, and said they would investigate, but nothing since, other than a flurry of ignored "fishing" texts.   Never did work out how they got my number?

They have now stopped too.

That was a few years ago now.

sourcrates

MDMD said:

fatbelly said:

Abbey National ceased to exist 14 years ago!

Abbey National was just a brand. The legal entity is still in existence and has simply been renamed (in 2010).

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/02294747

Doesn't change the advice though.