Settling old debts

oneam

If a dca can’t locate a credit agreement for a credit card debt that’s been with them for 20 years and is therefore currently not enforceable (as per their reply), even though I’ve been paying them £5 p/mth for 10 years is that the end of it, can I stop paying the £5, can they still chase me?

The debt is also not showing on my credit score/report but presumably it still exists?

Is there any benefit to offering a settlement to clear it?

fatbelly

They can ask you to pay, but as things stand, if they tried court action to enforce this, you would have a defence to the claim under s77-79 Consumer Credit Act 1974

If they could reconstitute the original agreement they could in theory get over that hurdle.

If you want to offer something in full & final settlement, you are in a position to get a good deal. Equally, you could pay nothing and nothing may ever happen

The debt is not showing on your credit report because it defaulted over 6 years ago

ManyWays

This card must have been opened a very long time ago so there is a good change the dca won't be able to locate the agreement.

If you ask for the credit card agreement (use template here https://nationaldebtline.org/sample-letters/information-about-your-agreement-under-consumer-credit-act/) and the dca can't produce it, they have to tell you it is unenforceable. They can still ask you to pay it from time to time but you can simply ignore this.

You would think they would then be happy to settle the debt for a low amount but often they won't. If you want to try then I suggest you stop paying for 6 months so they get the message that you aren't just going to carry on forever and only then make a settlement offer. 

oneam

Thank you both for your replies.