need advice on haunting debt

lolly123green

hi all

i have recently received a letter from a debt collecting agency stating that i owe £120 on an old mobile phone bill from 2004. a few years ago i got myself into quite a bit of debt but it was all paid off in a lump sum in 2006. i got in touch with orange at the time to pay the bill and i was told that the account was closed and there was no balance showing so it must have been written off.
so for over 2 years i have believed that i was debt free and that my credit score would be recovering and now i found out that orange are now going to take further action if i do not pay it and my credit rating is still in the same state it was. im now at uni and cant afford to pay it and also think that it is wrong for them to get in touch 2 years after i was told the account was cleared.

can anyone give me any advice on what i should do?

Tigert

I'm afraid that they can chase you for a debt for as long as they like. They can only enforce it for 6 years though. As the debt is from 2004 they are still within there rights to try and reclaim it, though if Orange told you they'd written it off then it's unfair. It's more likely that they have sold your debt to the debt collection agency.

If you can't afford to pay the first thing to do is to work out what you can afford, even if it's only £1 a month and offer them that.

There are people that can help if you need advice Payplan, CCCS and the CAB are the most recommended on here as none of them charge for their services.

all_change

lolly123green wrote: »

hi all

i have recently received a letter from a debt collecting agency stating that i owe £120 on an old mobile phone bill from 2004. ... i got in touch with orange at the time to pay the bill and i was told that the account was closed and there was no balance showing so it must have been written off.
quote]

Do you have anything in writing (e.g. a final bill, a closing balance, a letter from Orange)? Any chance they would have a recording of the call where they told you this? (unlikely after this long, and obviously it's not in their interests to provide it, but perhaps worth a very long shot).

Being able to prove it would be the easiest way to get the ball rolling.

lolly123green

no, i have nothing in writing, i have stupidly got rid of all of my old letters.....i was so glad to be out of 18k debt and thought i wouldnt need any more. i know it is only a small amount to pay but its the principle of being told that the account is clear and thinking that my credit score could have been recovering. i will never have credit again but would like to think that one day i will be able to get a mortgage lol