13 yo credit card debt / CCAs and partial settlement

CoyKarp

Hello - my first ever post. I have two queries.

In 2012 I defaulted on several credit cards. Been paying them all a tiny amount per month ever since. 

All has been quiet until recently when Cabot suddenly started threatening me with debt collectors and sent someone round who left a card. (An issue may be that my direct debit payment has been going to the original bank, although the original bank has been forwarding the money to Cabot.)

My queries are:

1) Before doing anything else, shall I ask them for the CCA first?

2) If I settle this debt (and potentially others), either in full or by haggling for F&F, will all this show up again on my credit report, having been gone for 7 years? I have been searching and searching and getting a variety of answers. I don't need credit right now, but I would like to know before committing to anything. 

One reason I did not start paying all this off previously when I could was lack of clarity on this. It seems impossible to find direct answers, and I am ND and cannot stand making phone calls. (I did call Debtline who were lovely but not totally specific on this.)

tigergambit

1) Yes, and a statement of account too - you want to determine where all those payments have gone.

2) No. Once it's gone it's gone forever. (Are you sure they have gone and not been registered as APs as you have been paying?) You should always request CCAs for any debts before considering a F&F.

CoyKarp

tigergambit said:

1) Yes, and a statement of account too - you want to determine where all those payments have gone.

2) No. Once it's gone it's gone forever. (Are you sure they have gone and not been registered as APs as you have been paying?) You should always request CCAs for any debts before considering a F&F.

Thank you for replying. What is an AP?

RAS

You need to get all three of your credit reports. Can be done for free.

If the debts were registered as defaults they won't be showing on your credit records after 6 years. 

If you "defaulted/stopped paying the minimums" there's a risk that some creditor might mark it as arrangement to pay. It's not clear to some debtors what is happening because letters can be vague.

AP markers stay on your credit record for 6 years after the debt is paid off. 

It's less common these days but there was a lady with 20 years AP markers around the end of Covid.

CoyKarp

RAS said:

You need to get all three of your credit reports. Can be done for free.

If the debts were registered as defaults they won't be showing on your credit records after 6 years. 

If you "defaulted/stopped paying the minimums" there's a risk that some creditor might mark it as arrangement to pay. It's not clear to some debtors what is happening because letters can be vague.

AP markers stay on your credit record for 6 years after the debt is paid off. 

It's less common these days but there was a lady with 20 years AP markers around the end of Covid.

Thank you. Yes, all of these defaults dropped off my credit reports after 6 years. I have good credit on all three. I have not stopped any payments since defaulting. Never had anything saying 'arrangement to pay' on my credit file, I don't think anyway.

RAS

Good. They cannot now issue any further default.

sourcrates

Just to confirm, once a debt has dropped off your credit file, nothing is going to bring that entry back again, no matter what you do.

Six years after an account defaults, the record is expunged forever.

fatbelly

AP = arrangement to pay

I hope you appreciate our direct  answers!

CoyKarp

RAS said:

Good. They cannot now issue any further default.

This is very good news.

CoyKarp

sourcrates said:

Just to confirm, once a debt has dropped off your credit file, nothing is going to bring that entry back again, no matter what you do.

Six years after an account defaults, the record is expunged forever.

I am curious because I have heard such mixed responses to this query. I had a long chat with Stepchange about my situation about three years ago, and they said that if I negotiated F&F, leaving 'partial' on my record, then it would show and would affect my credit rating for a while. 

CoyKarp

fatbelly said:

AP = arrangement to pay

I hope you appreciate our direct  answers!

I very much appreciate both the answers and the speed at which they came in! I was getting a bit desperate floundering around online and preparing to make likely fruitless phone calls.