Thank you DX for your response. I have been unable to get on the site most of today, but will respond hopefully tomorrow.

Hi guys, I have received a letter from Cabot dated 3rd October 2017, telling me that I have to pay my account with them , the balance being £ 7568.15. and that I can set up a payment plan at a sum I can afford. The original lender they say was Associates Capital Corp PLC. I cannot honestly say that I know about this debt, but there again at nearly 80 years of age the memory is a bit vague these days and it might be. But apart from that there has never been any contact or letters or even payments concerning this account in the past 10 years or more. I do have two payment plans with Cabot for Barclays debt where I have been paying a minimum monthly payment for about 10 years and never missed a payment in that 10 years period, yet this new debt has never been mentioned in that time. Any advice on what to do would be welcome thanks.