Demanding letters 10 years after DRO finished.

ReleaseTheHounds22

Hello, a close friend of mine had a DRO that ended in 2015.  He has recently disclosed to me he gets the odd letter from Santander every year with a statement of what he stills owes but it says "this statement is for information only". 

This year he's received 3 letters.
1st letter states "23/09/2023 opening balance £1564.70" (for a bank account) again as above saying its for information only.
2nd letter states "23/09/2023 opening balance £731.59" (for a loan) again information only.
3rd letter states "22/09/2023-21/03/2024 Notice of Sum in Arrears". It goes on about the consumer credit Act 1974 and asks to please contact them as soon as possible about the missed payments. Amount owed £731.59

I've looked at his DRO from 10 years ago and he has on there
Santander £1400
Santander  £748.24
Santander.  £5817
Santander Cards  £994.40

What do I advise him as there are autistic adults in the household and it is causing a lot of distress.
He doesn't have a Santander account now and we've checked his credit files and there's nothing on there.

Thanks for your help.

Brie

Best thing perhaps is to send back a polite letter with a copy of the DRO to point out that all of these have been dealt with and even if they hadn't they are statute barred due to the age.  And then a polite request that they stop harrassing the individual and if anything else is received an official complaint will be made.

ReleaseTheHounds22

Thanks Brie, the trouble is we don't understand why they've written "22/09/2023 opening balance"

RAS

If your friend hasn't got any record of any Santander account on their credit record and has no record of paying anything to Santander since 2015, even if the account was not included in their DRO it will be statute barred anyway.

Does the friend have any record of the relevant account numbers for the DRO accounts? Or for the accounts about which Santander are writing? 

Go over to the main DFW forum, look for the Prove-it letter. Send that to Santander and give them 6 weeks to reply.

ReleaseTheHounds22

Thanks, I'll ask him for the account numbers.

ReleaseTheHounds22

He doesn't have the account numbers.

RAS

OK, just send the Prove it letter to Santander with the reference number on the letter.

Hopefully their response will provide some sort of evidence if the type of account and number that can be cross referenced with other documents.

sourcrates

It sounds like they haven`t realised he had a DRO, or someone there has failed to update the accounts after completion.

You may want to adapt the letter to say the debts were all included in his DRO, some ten years ago, and if they require any further clarification to please contact the DRO unit at the insolvency service.

ReleaseTheHounds22

Thank you everyone, I'll get the ball rolling on this and keep you all updated.

ReleaseTheHounds22

So it's been 6 weeks today, no reply whatsoever. I have proof they received it. What's my next step?

Thank you 😊 

RAS

The chances are that someone at the other end has realised they'd made a boo-boo and would rather not admit it. 

So do nothing unless another letter arrives, when a formal compliant would appropriate.