hahaha honestly I feel the same way, its just finding out I have a CCJ already and cant get any form of credit or mortage for the next 5 years put me into shock

yeah but i might have to as I want this sorted and hopefully being out of the country makes them more pliable to a low a F&F settlement as from what i understand they cant chase me

Actually I was completely wrong. The account I didnt use since 2004 was a Lloyds tsb account I used to have. The total debt is £2584 though my overdraft was £2000 so assuming everything else is charges. I contacted Natwest and was told the last debit from that account was march 2014. Which considering I have been banking with the Co-Op since March 2013 and have been out of the country since Jan 2014 I pointed out cant be possible. they will be sending me the last 6 years of statements. I changed my address with them so they now know I live abroad which I hope makes it easier dealing with any issues with them. Was also told the account is now being serviced by Apex Credit Management. but they have not sold the debt on, they are merely working as agents. I have not been in contact with Apex yet, will wait until I have my statements so at the very least I might be able to have the deault pushed back and have the charges wiped out.. But in terms of dealing with Apex and trying to make a settlement offer is it slightly different because they have not bought the debt for peanuts? Though to be clear at the moment it seems no one is chasing me for this debt. It just I have a CCJ which will expire August 2020 and need to make sure I dont get another CCJ and being completely useless with money management dont know th ebest way to avoid that thanks again for all the help so far, this seems the last hurdle I have before

thanks guys for taking the time to read it. and I know you guys are right could have fought it but I have a defaulted overdraft from a student account that is still with natwest so just wanted out of the way so I can deal with that, as from what i understand that will be more difficult to sort out a settlement as they havent sold the debt on.

thanks will do, just wanted to make sure there wasnt any extra info I needed to insist on to ensure no one else will be chasing me in the future

Hi guys, Following on from a earlier post I made where I talked about getting a settlement offer from Lowell I got the letter from them, wanted to make sure it was ok to accept or if I needed something else in writing from them. (sorry for creating a new post but for sake of clarity thought it best. The first part of the email is discussing a complaint I made so more wordy then usual so sorry about that but thought best to show the entirety of the email. thanks in advance guys, been a real life saver getting advice from people here ================================================================ I write further to our telephone today in regards to the above account and would like to thank you for taking the time to speak to me. I appreciate the comments you raised in regards to the default which is being reported on your credit file for the above account and that you had moved out of the country prior to the account entering default status with Capital One. Therefore, you have requested a discount to clear the outstanding balance and for the default to be removed from your credit file. As discussed, as you are the account holder, the onus is with you to maintain the day to day running of the account; this would include notifying the original creditor of your change of address and circumstances. The above account entered default status prior to our purchase. The default notice, which is a technical document and is applied to a credit agreement should, the customer fail to repay their account over a prolonged period of time and is issued by the original creditor. At the point of purchase, Lowell Portfolio l Ltd gained the rights and benefits associated with this account from Capital One and became the data controller in respect of this matter, as defined by the Data Protection Act, replacing Capital One. A default will remain on your credit file for six years from the default date; this is compliant with the terms of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and the Information Commissioners Office (ICO). The credit file of an individual must give a true reflection of how credit has been managed including the recording of defaults were the relationship between the lender and borrower has broken down. Your concerns in regards to the above account have been raised with Capital One. However, during our conversation you stated you would be happy for us to no longer await their response as you were looking at an amount in full and final settlement of the account. Also as discussed, we are under no obligation to accept any offer of a partial settlement amount for any outstanding balance on an account. However, as agreed in resolution to your complaint and to bring this matter to a conclusion to prevent any further delay or inconvenience, I am happy to offer a 50% discount as full and final settlement of the account. Therefore, the outstanding balance due for the above account is £156.76, as agreed you will make payment upon receipt of this email via our web facility. Once this amount has been paid, I will take the necessary steps to close the account. I must advise that once the balance is cleared the default will be marked as ‘partially satisfied’ with a zero outstanding balance to reflect the balance being cleared through a discounted settlement. This is to give a true and accurate reflection of how the debt was cleared. I trust you will find this to your satisfaction, although if you disagree with how I have reached my conclusion, please do not hesitate to contact me on Freephone 0800 5420058 telling me your reason and include any evidence that has not already been provided that you think is important to your case. Alternatively you can email me using [email protected] or write to me at the above address. The Financial Ombudsman Service also provides a dispute resolution service to assist customers who feel their complaint remains unresolved. You have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, free of charge. Although there are time limits for referring your complaint to the Ombudsman, we will consent to the Ombudsman considering your complaint even if you refer the complaint outside the time limits. For more information, the Ombudsman’s consumer leaflet, “your complaint and the ombudsman” can be accessed via the following hyperlink: http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/consumer-leaflet.htm Alternatively, you can visit their website www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk

Thats the thing I really dont think many charges have been added to the CC, £323 makes sense to me. the CC was with Capital one. Out of interest what is the issue with them offering 50% settlement? you seem to be implying that if they are offering that then something must be wrong. I was under the impress that DCA buy debts for a fraction of their original amount so are willing to offer reductions if that means making a profit. Also is it usual that the CC debts would show on Equifax but not on Experian? Just got my experian CF a few mins ago and no mention of the CC debts

Seems I wrote the same time you did. I understand you are right but I just prefer to not have it hanging over my head in anyway. I understand that they are all not nice but I do have to take responsibilty for letting it get to the stage where it was being dealt by a DCA. I could have just contacted the credit card companies and sorted it out but human being make mistakes sometimes Going through this process of dealing with these things most of my anger is at the government really and the extremely poor framework they have in place. as much as the DCAs are mostly not nice there is still the matter of a 6 year period for defaults why not create a gradient system, ie 2 years for low level debt etc etc. Seems insane I am locked out of credit until 2020 for credit card I forgot to pay £20p/month back in 2012 Really not sure exactly, either next year or the year after but all depends on work I am already making payments to the CCJ. it will be repaid within 6 months. The debt is for £160, and luckily I can afford so if it really makes no difference if it was partially satisfied then I will just pay for peace of mind

Also on a side note anyone have any idea why one would go to a CCJ and the other didnt? They were both handled by Lowell Group. £323 defaulted on 05/09/2012 £404 defaulted on 31/01/2013 But the £404 one got passed on to Fredrickson and then onto Bryan Carter (I only found this out when I contacted Lowell Group after seeing them listed on my CRF)

The incentive I have is so I dont end up with another CCJ. My CCJ stems from another credit card I had at the same time. I had moved abroad and forgot about them both. Both more or less defaulted around the same time. One stayed in default and the other progressed to a CCJ for some reason, even though there was only an £80 difference between them. and honestly the £323 seems about right, think it was a case that I live abroad now so realistically they cant chase me for it but for the peace of mind that I dont get another CCJ I will pay £160 thanks for the quick reponse though and will probably be back here once I get round to sorting out my overdraft

Hi Guys, got some previous help from people and was hoping for just a little bit more info as I try to get myself out of this mess specifically what would be the impact of having an partially satisfied debt on my account when I have a CCJ on it already? CCJ was on 06/08/2014. making repayments on this and it will be satisfied fairly shortly. plus have the intial default for this debt which is 31/01/2013. A default for a overdraft dated 31/05/2014, will be making a full and final offer soon and lastly a credit card debt with a default 05/09/2012 for an amount of £323. For the debt of £323 lowell have offered to accept 50% payment but the debt will marked partially satisfied. I just want to know how much this would actually make a difference. Because of the low amount I could just repay in full and have it marked satisfied but would this make any difference to other lenders? Would it help to have at least one debt as satisfied or is it really a case once I have 3 defaults and a CCJ then it makes no difference? getting abit confused by all the info out there about this really not sure if having 2 satisfied debt/ccj and 1 partially satisfied debt is any better then having 1 satisfied CCJ and 2 partially satisfied debt any input would be greatly appreiated

What I meant was that NatWest stated wasn't in credit, overdrawn or managed within the T&C's of your agreement. But it was overdrawn. I have not used that account since 2004 from what I can remember, then I opened a new account with Co-Op, ironaically for ethical reasons, and forgot about the NatWest one. So to answer Boos question the last time I made a payment to that account ot used in any way must have been in 2004. Normally I would stay off the phones but I am not in the UK at present so sending letters is not pss, normally I would record the conversation but forgot to start the program before I rang, stupid me I know wont make the mistake again

thats a shame. so basically I am screwed if they dont change it out of their volition

I am hoping I may have found a way out of this, fingers crossed though i maybe wrong I contacted Natwest Recoveries dept. I told firstly I had no knowledge of this debt as it is extremely old I then stated that Banks have a legal reuirement to privide accurate information, that stating I was up to date on my debt for 8 years every month contrives the Data Protection Act and also the ICO guideline of when a default can be placed which should be a maximum of 6 months of non payment because according to experia stating the account is up to date means one of the following Your account is in credit. Your account is not overdrawn. You are managing your account within the terms of your agreement. none of which is true. Not sure if the guy understood really what I meant but he tried to get into contact with their own credit reference agency to check, couldnt get through but he said he was going to send an email to that dept. Told me to check my credit file on Tuesday and it should have been amended, or I have to call back to their recoveries to see what notes are placed. So sounds good but will have to see living abroad right now so sending SAR and letters not possible right now

When you say the ICO needs to take a stab at it, what would that involve? I read somewhere that it is not possible to default a debt that has passed the statue of limitation so thats why I thought you cant default a debt after 6 years. It seems what they have done is state the debt was up to date for around 10 years even though I never paid a single penny towards the debt which is inaccurate information. Spoke with Equifax to raise a dispute and they are contacting Natwest but they will probably ignore it. if that happens then what would be the next steps? Contacting ICO or sending the SAR template?