PRA Group- Barclaycard debt

6ft2oflovely

Hi

My husband had a debt with Barclaycard for £13k that was sold to PRA Group in March 2020. 

He has been paying PRA via direct debit £20 per month, he was for a while before B/card sold the debt to PRA paying £20. He didn’t have to change direct debit details or anything, this just continued once PRA took the debt on. 

My question is, this does not show on his credit report at all (Experian and Transunion), plus it is about to hit 6 years. Although we live in Scotland so is it 5 years?)

Do we write to PRA and ask for CCA using a template (can someone point me in the right direction for this?)

Does he just stop paying now or wait until they reply?

In no way can we afford to pay this off, even with a settlement… 

We recently tried to get an agreement in principle for a mortgage from Skipton but were declined, so we will in the next 1-2 years work to paying off our credit card balances so we can try again

are we to assume that this debt might have come up on the internal scoring for Skipton, even though it is not on credit report

Thanks for reading

Emma

ManyWays

My question is, this does not show on his credit report at all (Experian and Transunion), plus it is about to hit 6 years. Although we live in Scotland so is it 5 years?)

This will be because the original default to Barclaycard was over 6 years ago (5 years is for statute barring in Scotland, not relevant to credit reporting)

Do we write to PRA and ask for CCA using a template (can someone point me in the right direction for this?)

Good idea. National Debtline has a template in here and note that you need to attach a £1 cheque or postal order with the request

Credit agreements | Getting information | National Debtline

Does he just stop paying now or wait until they reply?

Some people say stop paying. But it may be simpler to pay for two of three more months just in case they find the CCA, in which case the payment just carries on

are we to assume that this debt might have come up on the internal scoring for Skipton, even though it is not on credit report

yes, they will have seen the PRA payments on his bank statements and known that they are to a defaulted debt. This has to be sorted.

6ft2oflovely

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81869450#Comment_81869450

Hi, thanks for the quick reply. We didn’t provide bank statements as it was an agreement in principal not a full application.

I think we will request the CCA via the template and sent a £1 cheque and go from there, will continue paying until we hear back…

ManyWays

We didn’t provide bank statements as it was an agreement in principal not a full application.

In that case they did not like what they could see on your credit records. But just sorting these out will not solve this problem, as any mortgage lender will ask for bank statements and will not like seeing the payments to PRA.

MEM62

It would have fallen off your credit report six years from the default date in any case. If you are referring to the six-year period with a view to it being statute barred then it won't be as you have been making payments. No harm in testing the waters with respect to the CCA though.

6ft2oflovely

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81870088#Comment_81870088

Thanks for the reply

So, if PRA can’t find the CCA and the debt becomes unenforceable, if we stop paying I appreciate they can’t chase for the money, but what about background checks done by banks/building societies for the purpose of a mortgage application in a years time? Could they still see the ‘debt’?

If we don’t request the CCA(and I don’t think they are going to produce it anyway as it’s a 20+year old card) and stop paying, will a default appear on the credit report? If so, the original default with Barclays was over 6 years ago now, so could we get it removed if necessary?

sorry for the different scenarios, we’re basically going to be spending the next 18 months throwing all our spare money at our 11k credit card debt and will look at a mortgage application then, and I want to be as informed now and take the right course of action….

Freeatlast

The problem with asking about different scenarios is no one can truly answer what may happen. In my own case dealing with PRA and Barclay card debt, I ignored them for just 3 months after they bought the debt, then they took a CCJ. This seem to be an exception to the norm, but it hilights what can possibly happen. If you really value your credit report in the hope of buying a house in the near future then you best option is to keep paying. Otherwise it's a gamble as to how it can go.

Rob5342

You might find this heloful:

https://debtcamel.co.uk/dmp-mortgage/

MEM62

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81871561#Comment_81871561

If a CCA cannot be produced the debt in not enforceable and you can stop paying it. The lender cannot add a second default. If the debt has been defaulted already then there will not be another default recorded.

sourcrates

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81872052#Comment_81872052

Yes but a CCJ can be averted if you respond to the letter before claim and come to an agreement with the creditor, before it reaches the claim stage.

You can also defend a court claim, if you have a reasonable defence, lack of a compliant CCA would constitute such a defence, you will only end up with a CCJ if you fail to respond to the LBA, and you agree terms at the claim stage, or ignore the claim altogether.

If a lender cannot produce a compliant copy of your credit agreement, then you can stop paying the account, as lack of compliant CCA prevents a lender from obtaining a CCJ against you, they can still ask you to pay the debt, they can still report to your credit file, they just can`t enforce an agreement that can`t be verified, and it will eventually become statute barred, and drop off your credit report 6 years after date of default.

6ft2oflovely

so we received the letter back from PRA saying that the debt is unenforceable and they have requested the CCA/paperwork and will be in touch when they have an update.
do we stop the direct debit now or wait?