1st Credit - Old Debt

[janiswhyme2]

Hi, I am new here having just come across your site when googling 1st Credit and what an eye opener this has been!!!

 

I do not know if anybody can help me here but I would very much appreciate advice please.

 

Basically around five years ago, I had run up several debts with credit card companies (unbeknown to my husband) but with some help from my mum and a good friend, paid these up in full - or so I thought.

 

Imagine my horror, as I say, five years down the line when I received a letter last week from 1st Credit in Reigate, saying that I still owed £4,200 on a credit card that I had settled with a previous company for £1,000. Unfortunately despite going through all the old papers etc. I am unable to find copies of the letters etc. from this company to prove this and I am really worried as I simply cannot pay this off and thought I'd put all this behind me for good. I cannot tell my husband and am worried sick he'll find out and it is making me ill with worry.

 

As I say, I am certain it was paid yet am at a loss to prove it. Is this a [problem] on behalf of these companies, knowing that most people would not keep paperwork all these years later and they just let the years go by and then ambush you with letters saying you owe money? Before anybody says check bank statements, I think it was paid with the previous companies bank giro paying in book in cash so I am unable to trace any payment from my end it seems. As I say, I did not want my husband to find out, hence payment in cash.

 

Where do I go, what do I do and can anybody here help me PLEASE? I have not admitted any outstanding debt for as far as I am concerned it was paid, settled and forgotten about years ago.

 

1st Credit have a pretty bad reputation and I cannot believe I am in this situation.

 

As I say, any advice will be much appreciated indeed.

[ukaviator]

Is there any chance that this debt is over 6 years old? Statute barred debt is debt which in certain circumstances becomes unenforceable in court. The piece of legislation which sets out these circumstances is the Limitations Act 1980. So when a creditor comes chasing you for an old debt you can use the following information to access whether or not your debt is time barred. The Limitations Act 1980 states that when the following conditions are met then the debt cannot be pursued through the courts:

 

That the creditor has not taken court action against you, eg CCJ, You have not made any payments on the debt over the last 6 years,and during the years, you haven't written to the creditor acknowledging that owe them money. All three conditions must be met in order for the debt to be "time barred".

[janiswhyme2]

No, it was registered with the previous debt recovery company (don't want to say who with because I am sure 1st credit read these forums and I don't want to give too much away here) in 2006 and it was not long after that I paid the £1,000 off as a final settlement. Something that seems a complete and utter waste of money now sadly.

[ukaviator]

I would send in an S.A.R (Subject Access Request) to the original creditor asking for all of the information they hold on you. The cost is £10 no more than that amount. Check through all of the overlimit and late payment fees on the account, then claim back the charges with interest. Let 1st credit know that you will be claiming back unlawful charges on the account. Don't sign anything you send in writing. . .

[janiswhyme2]

Thank you UK Aviator - I really do appreciate you taking the time to do this for me. When you say the original creditor, I take it that you mean the credit card company with whom I ran up the debt in the 1st place? Who could I claim back the overlimit and late payment charges from? Themselves or 1st Credit? Sorry if these are stupid questions but I really don't know where I am with all this at the moment!!!

[dx100uk]

always the oc

 

dx

[Bazooka Boo]

And just to add, it is for them to prove you do owe them anything, NOT for you to prove you don't!

 

All that has happened is the previous company who you paid £1000 to to settle the debt, has conned you and made money by selling on the remainder of the debt to another sleaze bag.

[janiswhyme2]

I am in the process of sending a SAR to the original creditor UK Aviator, thank you - I will certainly try this and see where it goes. I wrote to 1st Credit and told them that as far as I was concerned this debt was settled with the CA they purchased it from and that as far as I was concerned this was settled then and that there is nothing owed to them at all. In the letter I requested a CAA and full details of this alleged debt, dates etc. and I received back a letter around ten days ago headed "request for copy agreement" stating that "the document is retained by their client. We will therefore advise them of your request and arrange for the document to be sent to you as soon as possible" and adding "on receipt of the copy agreement we would expect you to contact this office immediately to arrange settlement of the debt".

 

I add that (when I spoke to them on the phone & in my short letter) I have stated that I do not acknowledge that their is any balance outstanding now and this debt was settled, hence why I have not heard anything regarding this for five years now.

 

I am disgusted to find myself in this position and am even thinking of contacting my MP to see if he can help. As far as I am concerned, this practice (by 1st Credit and the previous CA) has to be both unlawful and fraudulent and needs to be looked at by not only financial regulators, but the government as well.

 

I welcome any comments you may have.

[Bazooka Boo]

A complaint to your local MP is always a good idea, get them to raise the issue of these unregulated unlawful practices employed by uneducated immature financial companies to be brought to book!

[janiswhyme2]

It is now over twelve days since I wrote my letter requesting a CAA and still I have heard nothing from 1st Credit. I did however yesterday recieve an e mail from them requesting that I get in contact with them.

 

What is my next move now that they have not complied with my request for the CAA? I would add that I did not send £1.00 for this - could this affect matters in any way or be detrimental to my cause?

 

Are they likely to add this alleged debt to my credit file yet and what would you imagine that their course of action would be from here on in?

[Bazooka Boo]

IMO they will ignore your request if you didn't enclose the stat fee, however if they were mature about it, then they would have replied to you stating that your request was missing the stat fee.

 

Did you get evidence that you sent them the request? Recorded delivery or proof of posting|?

 

This will probably already be on your credit file (CRF) if it isn't already then yes it will be.

[brokebutnotbeatn]

If you got proof of posting, now send the in dispute letter. If you didn't get PoP then I would re-request the CCA this time enclosing a £1 postal order and getting PoP.

[brokebutnotbeatn]

on second thoughts - send them the proof it letter instead... and don't sign your name, print it.

[janiswhyme2]

They did reply to my letter and stated that they have requested the CCA from the original creditors, with no mention whatsoever about my not sending £1.00. Does this matter as I do not want these people to have a loophole to get out of having not sent this within the twelve specified days.

 

Are we talking working days or just twelve days including weekends? If so, the time has passed now and still no contact from 1st Credit. I cannot tell you how disgusted I am with these people (and also the previous debt recovery company) for dragging me into a situation I should not be in and I cannot believe all this has come back to haunt me despite having originally paid £1,000 to settle the debt - or so I had thought. I really want to fight this all the way but a friend of mine has offered to lend me around £1,000 to offer them the money to settle and although I really want to fight the injustice of all this, part of me wants to end it and if they would take another offer I might want to persue that avenue.

 

Thing is, if I offered the money, I take it that is almost paramount to accepting the debt (which 100% I do not!!!) and if they didn't want to settle for a grand, I think that they might come after me for the whole lot probably.

 

I am horrified to think that this may now be on my credit file and that in time my husband may see it. Is there any way I might be able to appeal this if an entry has been made yet or will they have to wait to enter this against myself? When would the six years be up if they have? Six years from now or six years since the last payment to the original credit card company up until I defaulted or since the last payment to the previous debt recovery company five years ago? Is there any chance this may eventually be time barred if I can defer for another year. I have to say that there is nothing whatsoever relating to the original debt on my credit file from either the CC company nor previous debt recovery company - something that also makes this debt coming out of the blue like this even more surprising.

 

Do you therefore think I should now send the "prove it" letter or indeed, what would you consider my next move to be?

 

As ever, many thanks for all your help and advice.

[dx100uk]

if there is nowt on your file

there is nowt to pay

 

ignore them

 

dx

[janiswhyme2]

Absolutely 100% that there is nothing whatsoever referring to this debt (to either the original debtor credit card company nor the previous debt recovery company before 1st Credit) which is another reason I had shall we say, doubts about the legitimacy of them trying to recoup this (alleged) debt now.

 

Surely if there is money owed somebody would have chased it before now and my credit file would reflect a default.

 

Can I really just ignore this and expect it just to go away and what course of action should I now take? As I say, I have requested a CAA from them and nothing has been returned 14 days and counting now. As I say, the fact I have nothing on my credit file at all relating to this matter surely has to be very rellevant and hardly strengthens 1st Credits claim against me but where do I go from now please?

[brokebutnotbeatn]

you wait.

[janiswhyme2]

Wait for what exactly? What do you think their action might be from here now that they have not sent the CCA back within the specified 12 days? As the debt is not on my credit file does this mean that they would not be able to endorse it in court and if they did try to do that I could have it annulled?

[dx100uk]

its sb'ed, they were trying to spoof you,

they did not find a mug, you called their bluff.

 

end of!

 

get on with your life

 

dx

[janiswhyme2]

Do you really think that might be it DX? Resolved and over as easy as that? I cannot understand why they would go to all the trouble of buying (what they percieve to be debts) then give up as easy as that but hey, I hope most sincerely that you are right. Sorry to be ignorant by the way but what is sb'ed?

 

Do you think that anything will be entered by this company on my credit file and if so, what will be my chances of getting it taken off?

 

Thank you for all your help and advice. I really do appreciate it!!!

[dx100uk]

if its not on your CRA its statute barred and prob already fallen off.

 

there is nowt they can do to you.

 

statute of limitations applies.

 

dx

[janiswhyme2]

Thank you DX. Really appreciate your help here. So is that it? Do they have any other options to try to attempt to extort this unethical debt that they have invented for me? Is there any chance they could try to put something on my credit file to try to get this going for themselves and how would I go about getting this removed if this was the case?

[dx100uk]

it is statute barred

once a debt is sb'ed

not even a judge can unbar it

 

go get on with your life

 

dx

[Bazooka Boo]

And if they were ever to be so foolish as to start placing adverse info on your CRF, then you will have an open and shut case for claiming damages off them and the CRA's for defamation.

[janiswhyme2]

Still no sign of the CCA I requested from 1st Credit 16 days ago now but instead, this little gem dropped through the letterbox this morning -

"Dear Janiswhyme2,

 

We regret that the sum detailed remains outstanding. We are considering issuing County Court proceedings against you and any claim would include aq claim for legal costs and interest.

 

If we obtain a judgement against you and it remains unpaid for 30 days, it will be entered in the Register of Judgements, Orders and Finance, making it difficult to obtain credit at competitive rates.

 

Subsequent failure to make payment of the judgement could result in enforcement action.

 

An application to your employer for an attachment of earnings.

 

An application for seizure of your assets by County Court Bailiffs.

 

An application for Charging Order against your property (if owned by you)

 

In order to avoid any potential proceedings, please contact one of our agents (@ tel. no) and discuss payment terms."

 

So there we have it, the bullying tactics have started, despite as I say that they have failed to supply the CCA in the required time (though they acknowledged in writing they would contact the original creditor to request this from them when I wrote and originally asked for this) and there is nothing on my credit file that even relates to a debt of this nature owing to anybody, original credit card company, prevous debt recovery company (who sold the debt to 1st Credit) etc.

 

I am still very concerned about this matter as this 1st Credit company (reading other posts on her) seem to have more tricks than Tommy Cooper in a barrel full of monkeys.

 

What should be my next move here please? Is now the time to send the "I have not received the CCA agreement within the 12 day required period" letter? Any advice is greatly received. Many thanks.