Great stuff, you're a star Indeed. 25th March, he signs up with Experian Credit Report thing, checks credit score - perfect record, 999/1000 internal Experian credit score. Surprised, but happy for him. Yesterday, 9th April, we check the credit record again and notice the additional entry at the bottom - the big fat [8] and Default from nearly 6 years ago. Not checked the internal credit score again (it costs £5.99) but I'm sure it won't still be 999! The only conclusion can be that actually signing up with Experian a few weeks ago and confirming previous addresses, birthdates etc resulted in Thames Credit finally finding him after 5 and a bit years!! So I'm sure Experian and the DCAs are very happy bedfellows. Anyway light at the end of the tunnel, tx again for the words of advice

Another quick question - what about getting him to get his record taken off the electoral roll for the time being? Would that help keep Thames Credit away from the current address for a while? With that Default I'm sure he won't be getting any credit any time soon anyway and to be honest I can't see him wanting to vote in the local elections! Just an idea...

Thank you so much for your reply Fuzzybobble That sounds like great advice. Just chatted again to my cousin and he hasn't received any correspondence at his current address from Thames Credit. I'm sure they're bombarding his first London address with letters at the moment and can only assume the current tenants are just disposing of them or returning them if they don't have his current address. Like I said up there he's on the electoral register now, in the same London borough as the first address in fact, so it won't be long I'm sure before Thames Credit get the new address. So, wait till June, which he's sure is 6 years since he had contact with the creditor. Then, assuming Thames Credit have found the current address and been in touch, send the Statute Barred letter template. Then in March 2009 (six years from the actual Default), the notice should be expunged from his credit record with the CRAs and he'll have an "all-clear" record? Is there any danger of the debt being turned into a CCJ anytime soon? Or will that become impossible by June (when he can prove it's Statute Barred)? Thx again Kat

*bump* (sorry) anyone able to offer advice? thx kat

Sorry, first post - this place seems to be pretty good for debt issues. Just trying to straighten out the financial affairs of a wayward cousin... OK, he was at uni from Sep 2000 to May 2004, graduated and now lives in London. When he lived at an address whilst attending uni he ran up a credit card debt of around £1000 with Halifax. The account was opened sometime late 2001 and, essentially, it seems, ignored once the credit limit had been reached i.e. no payments made. From June 2002 - August 2003, as part of the uni course, he lived in Germany. On return he lived at a different address from the one with which the credit card debt was registered. Still made no effort to acknowledge the debt or pay it off, ignorance essentially. Down in London he never bothered getting on the electoral register because he assumed his credit record would be terrible anyway but managed to get a few things on credit (mobile phone, utilities etc) and had no problems paying them in full, on time, every month. He decided that a decent credit record might be a good idea for the future and went on the electoral register in London in November 2007. We just signed him up with Experian and seen that his credit record shows up as flawless for those small things I mentioned up there (mobile phone, utilities, direct debits etc) but there's a big fat 8 at the bottom of the record. This'll surely preclude him from getting any credit in future? Do Experian keep that default on there forever? Anyway he reckons it must be from the credit card debt he ignored from uni. Here's some details: Company name: OLYMPIA CAPITAL ASA/THAMES CREDIT LTD Account type: Bank Started: 15/10/2001 Default Balance: £1,268 Current Balance: £1,556 Defaulted On: 10/03/2003 File updated for period to: 23/12/2007 Status History: (brackets indicate most recent status) [8] The address referenced by that final entry is his first address in London. He moved from there to his present address in Nov 2005. It looks like Olympia Capital/Thames Credit have bought the debt from Halifax with the intention of chasing it up. I've read on a few forums about Thames Credit and warned my cousin not to put up with any harrassment from anyone. Since he's been on the electoral register since Nov 2007, it surely won't be long before the debt chasers find him at his current address. But I've read a few things about the "six year rule" and am looking into that for him. It's now April 2008, and 5 years 10 months ago (June 2002) he moved to Germany and is absolutely certain he's had no contact with anyone (Halifax, any debt chasers) since then. He's "90% sure" that he never had any contact with them for the couple of months before then, which would make it a 90% chance that the six years is up already and a 100% chance that the six years is up this coming June. What's his best options? Ignore any contact from Olympia Credit/Thames Capital until June this year and then write back saying he hasn't been in contact for six years so the debt is "statute barred"? Any suggestions from anyone about best next move? Yes, I know hes out of order running away from a debt but he's already had loads of comments from us about the moral issues involved - not sure any more comments would do much good! So just what his rights are would be great:) Many thx Kat