hi,

i am just wondering if anyone on here has had dealings with a company called Ruthbridge debt collectors please.

Out of the blue last week i got a letter from them stating they were working on behalf of Cabot financial services and looking to recover a debt of £2357.45 off of me in relation to Next Retail mail order.

I have had no dealings with a company called Cabot at all,

no letters, no correspondance, no phone calls

yet they claim i have failed to come to an agreement with this company and that is why it has been passed on to them.

I have also not been a Next customer in nearly 10 years and i have checked my credit report and cannot see any details of this anywhere on there.

can anyone please advise on what i can do moving forward.

thanks.

Either ignore it or send a prove it letter to cabot.

Remember, if cabot own the debt then it is very very likely that the debt is unenforceable. They rarely chase legit debts. Thats not to say they dont, but it is very rare.

is this debt on your credit file?

is it defaulted?

when did you last pay it?

Hi,

No, the first thing i did when i got the first letter last week was check my credit file and it is not on there.

I have no idea if it is defaulted and im not sure where i would find that out and no the last dealings i had was with Next themselves when they refused to accept the amount i was offering to pay each month to clear off the debt.

i am also very sure the debt amount was nowhere near as high as that!!

sorry I was on a small screen you said that in post 1

are all your old addresses showing on your credit file too?

if you took this out when living somewhere else it could be they have been sending letters to your old address.

now you said you failed to agree a solution with next..when was this please?

The first letter i received from Ruthbridge was last week,

they claimed that it had been passed on to them because Cabot had failed to establish any contact with me.

I can honestly say that during my 6 years here i have never received any letters from Cabot.

i ignored the first letter and waited to see if they would continue to pursue it.

today the second one arrived,

this one is claiming that they want to resolve the matter amicably and they are now willing to offer me a discount of 70% subject to their criteria.

It then tells me that to take advantage of their offer i must pay it by the 26/03/2017 and that this will be settlement of liability and an assurance i will no longer be pursued by them or their client.

It also then goes on to say that should i do this then they will update my credit file to partially settled. Given that i cannot see this debt on my credit file i fail to see how they can do this?

Yes i can see all my credit from the address that the next account was held up until now. this debt is not showing on there at all. i have not held a next account in nearly 10 years and i have been in this property for nearly 6.

The first letter i recieved from Ruthbridge was last week, they claimed that it had been passed on to them because Cabot had failed to establish any contact with me. I can honestly say that during my 6 years here i have never recieved any letters from Cabot. i ignored the first letter and waited to see if they would continue to pursue it.

today the second one arrived, this one is claiming that they want to resolve the matter amicably and they are now willing to offer me a discount of 70% subject to their criteria. It then tells me that to take advantage of their offer i must pay it by the 26/03/2017 and that this will be settlement of liability and an assurance i will no longer be pursued by them or their client.

It also then goes on to say that should i do this then they will update my credit file to partially settled. Given that i cannot see this debt on my credit file i fail to see how they can do this?

:wink:I think reading between the lines above its obvious what your course of action should be.....file.

Andy

Andyyorch I'm not sure what you mean??

Okay I will dissect what the above really means.......

The first letter i received from Ruthbridge was last week, they claimed that it had been passed on to them because Cabot had failed to establish any contact with me.Not quite..... passed on from Cabot for them to pursue because Cabot know its a lemon I can honestly say that during my 6 years here i have never received any letters from Cabot.So not that urgent or valid i ignored the first letter and waited to see if they would continue to pursue it.

today the second one arrived, this one is claiming that they want to resolve the matter amicably and they are now willing to offer me a discount of 70% subject to their criteria.Now why would they offer 70% discount on a debt if you owe it ? It then tells me that to take advantage of their offer i must pay it by the 26/03/2017 and that this will be settlement of liability and an assurance i will no longer be pursued by them or their client.There not really pursuing you now...just hoping you fall for it

It also then goes on to say that should i do this then they will update my credit file to partially settled. Given that i cannot see this debt on my credit file i fail to see how they can do this? Answered your own question...file it and ignore

Andy

Andy,

Thanks for clearing that up for me is it wise to just ignore them though?

I am only asking because i have worked very hard to build up a very good credit rating and would hate for them to be able to destroy that. should i send them a statute barred letter or would that be opening a whole new can of worms?

How can they destroy your credit rating if its statue barred and already passed it 6th anniversary on the CRAs ?

Its your choice..but telling them its statute barred when they already know it is appears counter productive to me and only a means of engaging with them...I personally wouldn't acknowledge them.

bottom line

just remember

a DCA or their fake/tame solicitors are not bailiffs

and have no such legal powers.

my only slight concern here is I bet you took this out at your old address

and that where cabot have sent everything to date

they employed ruths [well changed letterhead] to make it look like they [cabot] don't know your true address

and will thus file to your old one.

and get a CCJ by default.

Doubt very much Caboot will litigate...not once they passed it to the next desk..Ruthbridge...Caboot would have already issued if it was legit.

i have actually moved 4 times since 1998 for no other reason than they have all been short lease up until my current property.

i took my next account out when i was at my very first address and i still had this account in 2003 when i moved into the address i can see on my credit file.

i believe i had the account until around 2005-2006 latest as that is when my child got sick and i was forced to leave work.

it was around this time that i began making arrangements to pay with my creditors and that is why i can still see some evidence certain debts on my credit report because i carried some of these to my third address when i moved again as i was still paying them off.

If i work out the dates i can see that these should be coming off my credit file any time soon as the 6 year mark since paid is approaching and i can also see that they are all satisfied and closed.

Next however would not agree to a sensible payment plan and demanded full payment or debt collection.

this was around 2006.

I dont recall having ever received the debt collection letters

but if i did then i no longer have them.

They certainly never sent me to court as i have no ccj's on my credit file at all.

I did my best to come to an arrangement but honestly i didnt tell them when i moved as i dont recall them being an issue at that time.

i was quite surprised when i got the letter last week as this is the first contact they have made in at least 8 years possibly longer.

That is what is worrying me because i dont want them to obtain a judgement by default for something that should by now be statute barred.

I am assuming this debt is because of the age and because i cannot even see it anywhere on my credit file.

I am in two minds as to how to proceed because the only other debt

i had problems with around this time was transferred to a company called turnbull and rutherford.

they made my life a living hell.

but they got a ccj via default for a debt that was supposed statute barred.

its cleared and gone now but i dont want to go through that again.

If they are corresponding to you at your current address...then why should they issue to a previous address...you have proof by the letter they have your current address...so if they do try the old previous address judgment stunt...you have grounds to set a side for that reason and because it is knowingly statute barred.

Andy,

Yes, i see your point and have been thinking the same thing.

i havent been hard to find,

i have been here 5 years now and my last address i was at for 2 years.

At no time have i received anything at either address up until now.

They clearly havent issued judgement yet at the old address,

because the letter states if i dont take advantage of their offer then they will be returning the account to Cabot who may look at instructing alternate activity.

I think i may ride this one out a little longer and see what their next move is.