If you get a letter saying that a debt has been sold to a debt collector you may be very worried.
This article answers common questions about what has happened and how it will affect you:
- will the debt collection agency (DCA) be horrible to deal with?
- is it legal to do this?
- do you still have to pay the money?
- what about your credit record?
- what if you don’t owe the money?
Contents
I don’t think this is my debt
The letter doesn’t say what the debt is!
If you get a letter that might be about a debt but it doesn’t give any details at all, it is just asking you to call them, then this is a “fishing expedition”. They don’t really know who the debt belongs to and they are hoping someone will give them their details (date of birth, previous addresses) that will match.
You can usually ignore these vague letters – see Prime Location Services – do I have to call them? for an example.
But I don’t owe this money
When the letter mentions a debt that you don’t think you owe, do not ignore it.
If you have already repaid the debt, tell the debt collector this. Ask them for a Statement of Account for the debt if they say you do still owe money.
If you have never borrowed from that lender, or never used that electricity supplier, reply telling the debt collector to Prove It!
It is the debt collector’s job to show you are the borrower. You don’t have to prove you aren’t. But unfortunately you may need to be persistent about this.
Has the debt really been sold?
A lender will often appoint a debt collector to try to collect the money for them. This isn’t a “sale” – you still owe the money to the original lender. None of the rest of this article is relevant.
If you aren’t sure what has happened, the best thing is to contact the original creditor and ask them if your debt has been sold or not. If you are worried and don’t want to talk to the creditor, phone National Debtline for advice about the letter.
Is the sale fair?
Is this even legal? Why wasn’t I asked?
When a sale happens, everything about your debt remains the same, except that you now owe the money to the debt collector who has bought the debt. The T&Cs of the debt haven’t changed – just who the creditor is.
You won’t be asked to agree to the sale. AndYou can’t object to or stop the sale.
You agree to the original terms when you borrowed the money or opened the account. In the small print, there will have been a clause that said that the lender can “assign his rights” to a third-party. This is the legal term for a “sale”.
Your debt can be sold if you are in debt management or you have an arrangement to pay. It may not feel fair if the lender accepted your monthly offer and you are making the payments as agreed, but legally the lender can still sell the debt.
There is one exception here. If your lender subscribes to the Standards of Lending Practice and if they had previously been shown evidence that you have mental health problems or critical illness, your debt should not have been sold. Most banks and many major credit cards are subscribers. Go to your local Citizens Advice if you would like help with this situation.
How much was my debt sold for?
That will depend on the state of your account. A debt where you have paid token payments or nothing for a long while may have been sold for very little, just a penny or two in the pound. If you are making regular payments then it will have been sold for more.
You won’t be told what your account was sold for. The sale is a commercial agreement between the seller and the buyer.
This may seem annoying or unfair, but the debt collector and the original lender are not doing anything wrong by not telling you the sale price.
The price the debt collector paid for your debt is irrelevant to you. It doesn’t affect the amount that you now owe. You still owe the full amount but now to the debt collector.
If the lender has been paid, why do I owe anything?
The original lender has had the debt settled by the DCA. But you now owe the money to the DCA instead.
Think of this example. You borrow £200 from your sister for some car repairs, agreeing to pay her back £50 a month. But she suddenly needs all the money immediately, so your dad gives your sister the £200 and you repay your dad instead. Same debt, same repayments. You borrowed from your sister but now you don’t owe her anything but you do need to repay your dad.
This is pretty much what has happened with your debt being sold. Your debt stays exactly the same, you just owe it to a different person.
NB This example isn’t an attempt to explain the legal contractual obligations – it is an analogy illustrating why you now have to repay someone else.
I want to carry on paying the original lender
You can’t do this. You don’t owe any money to the original lender anymore.
Has this reset the 6 year period for becoming statute-barred?
No, this hasn’t changed anything about statute barring:
- if the debt isn’t yet statute-barred, the 6 year period carries on, it doesn’t start again after the sale. But if you were hoping the debt would soon become statute barred, the debt collector may push you to make a payment or go to court for a CCJ if you won’t. See “My debt has been sold, just when I thought I was out of the woods” for your options.
- where you have been making payments, this debt will never become statute-barred.
- a debt that is already statute-barred will continue to be so after the sale.
Read Statute Barred Debt – Common Questions because statute barring is complicated.
My debt has now been sold to another debt collector!
This happens. Sometimes several times. There is nothing you can do about it.
Sometimes the debt collector is going out of business. In 2022-3 there was a very big transfer of debts from Hoist to Lowell for this reason.
If you have been paying the previous debt collector, just start paying the new one.
What will the debt collector do?
Will the debt collector be difficult?
You may find that debt collectors are as easy to deal with as the original lender. Indeed they may be more likely to freeze interest or accept a full and final settlement offer!
If you had a payment arrangement with the original lender, for example in a debt management plan, you just need to offer the same amount to the debt collector.
There are regulations to make sure that consumer credit debt collectors behave fairly. All debt collectors handling credit card, overdraft and loan debts have to be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and if you have problems with one, the Financial Ombudsman will look at your complaint.
Unless you ignore the debt collector, it’s unlikely that you will get phone calls at work.
Will they come to my house? send bailiffs?
Bailiffs can’t be sent until the debt collector has got a CCJ (see below) and you are not making the CCJ monthly payments. this is very unlikely unless you ignore the debt collector.
In theory, a debt collector can send someone to your house. They have no more right to enter your house and take your things than the postman has. You don’t have to open the door to them.
As a result, this is pretty rare. It isn’t going to happen unless you ignore the debt collector, and even then it’s pretty unusual.
Can the debt collector take me to court?
Legally, yes. The debt collector now has all the rights that the original lender had and this includes applying for a County Court Judgment (CCJ).
You don’t have to worry that this is going to happen straight away. The debt collector would rather reach an agreement with you for monthly payments and not have the cost and bother of going to court.
But in 2022, there were nearly 900,000 CCJs. Many of these CCJs are for quite small amounts – much less than a £1,000.
Very few original lenders go to court for a CCJ – they usually sell the debt and let the debt collector take you to court. You may have been ignoring the original creditor and all that has happened has been a few emails and letters. But if you ignore a debt collector they are much more likely to take you to court.
How much can you pay to this debt?
I already have a payment arrangement in place for the debt
If you have a debt management plan, tell the DMP company. They will switch your monthly payment to go to the debt collector.
Where you have set up the payment arrangement, you need to ask the debt collector for their bank account details so you can start paying them.
I can’t afford to pay anything as I have arrears on important bills
Explain this to the debt collector. Most of them will let you have a break from paying if you have priority debts.
DO NOT PANIC and offer too much
You should only offer what you can afford for regular monthly payments. Not the maximum you think you can stretch to next month.
Never borrow money to try to pay a debt collector. This is an already defaulted debt where interest should be frozen. You will make your situation worse by borrowing more money to clear this and paying interest on it.
If you have been ignoring this debt, this is a good point to review your whole situation and your possible debt solutions.
If you aren’t sure what to offer, or feel a debt collector is trying to push you to pay too much contact your local Citizens Advice. Or phone National Debtline on 0808 808 4000,
But I now have two defaults on my credit file!
Debts are usually already defaulted before they are sold. When it is sold the original creditor will mark the debt as settled with a zero balance owing and the debt collector will add the debt with the same default date that the original creditor used.
So now there are now two debts with defaults on your credit record. You may be alarmed because that looks bad.
But the debt isn’t being double counted because one of the debt entries says that there is zero owing.
And when your credit rating is calculated, only one of the two debts is counted. So your credit score will not get worse because you now seem to have two defaults.
Nats says
Hi Sarah,
I have an old default on my credit report that was from missing payments to a credit card that was then sold to a DC. The credit card ended up removing their mark from credit score as they agreed I shouldn’t have been given the credit card in the first place (there was already a ccj on my report at that time). Do I stand a chance in getting the debt collection company to remove their default now that the debt has been paid and because I shouldn’t have been given the credit card in the first place?
Thanks in advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
did you get a refund from the card lender? did they not agree to sort out the balance with the debt collector?
Peta says
Hello
I defaulted on a credit card with Marriott in 2016, I did not keep up with my lower payments and they sold the debt to Lowell in 2017. Unfortunately my account was never reported as default to credit reference agencies and although I didn’t make any payments to Lowell, Lowell reported my account as ok. Then in may 2021 Lowell sent me a letter saying that I was behind on my contractual payments of £276 a month and my account was recorded as a late payment. I have a terrible credit rating but this late payment popping up sent it flying downwards even further. So I said I could pay £40 a month and they said they would mark me as late each month even with the £40 a month because my contractual payments are £276 a month. I asked if they apply a default back to 2016 but they declined. I also asked Marriott and the declined. I have appealed to the ombudsman and they said that Lowell would remove the reporting from the credit reference agencies and then start reporting again. This doesn’t make any sense as a solution to remove information and then start again? I have said I am not happy with this solution. To make matters worse I am unemployed since making the offer of £40 and so would not be able to afford that at the moment. I am at a loss as to what to do because it will take a lifetime to pay the debt off because it is nearly £9000 and my credit file will show as late payment for the rest of my life? Do you have any advice? Many thanks for your valuable time.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Was this decision from FOS from an adjudicator or an Ombudsman?
Is this your only problem debt at the moment? Are you behind with any bills?
Peta says
Hi
Thank you for your prompt reply. When I posted the message earlier I felt at my wits end because I couldn’t believe that the financial ombudsman was saying that Lowell was going to wipe my record clean but then restart it again. I sent a message to you in haste because after I had messaged you , the ombudsman said they had made a typo error in their solution and they didn’t mean that it would be restarted and that it would indeed be removed from the credit reference agencies reporting permanently. I got into massive debt in 2016 after a failed business and relationship and all my debts were from 2016 were defaulted except the Marriott/ Lowell which for some bizarre reason was left as ok , I hadn’t made any payments since 2017 but it always showed on my report as ok until this summer when Lowell said I needed to pay my original contracted payments and as I couldn’t afford this they would mark me as late each month. The ombudsman said that Lowell admits to making mistakes and would remove all reporting to cras permanently but then they added a typo of . “Then they will start reporting again”. I contacted the ombudsman and they have apologised and said that was an error. So fingers crossed everything will be ok
Thank you for replying, I should be more patient
Sara (Debt Camel) says
excellent. I hope this gets sorted soon.
You do need to go back to Lowell and say you have lost your job and you can only make a token payment of £1 a month at the moment.
Peta says
Hi ok will do thanks for your advice
Sara M says
Hi Sara,
I would appreciate some advice please.
I have two Barclaycard debts going back over 20 years, in which I have been paying a nominal amount each month for the duration of the debt. One has been with Link for some years and the other was passed to PRA Group a few months ago.
In late July this year, I applied for a CCA from them both, which resulted in an initial reply saying that they were unable to supply the information within the 12 days.
On November 5th, I received a letter from Link, stating that the original creditor has been unable to comply to my request and therefore the account is considered unenforecable. I originally took out the card in 1977. So far, I have continued to pay the monthly nominal amount of £6.23 a month.
I am still awaiting further communication from the PRA group but, I suspect they will not be able to supply the original agreement, as I took out the card in 1994. I am still paying £6.29 a month.
I am now 78 years old, have no immediate family, am in privately rented accommodation and am in receipt of Pension Credit. There is no way I will be in a position to settle the debt wholly anyway.
I have recently received a small inheritance and would be willing to make a settlement offer of 5-10% just to get rid of the debt once and for all. I don’t want to be receiving letters from them in the future.
What do you consider to be my best way forward.
Many thanks.
Sara
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do these debts still show on your credit record?
If you want to make a full and final offer, I suggest you stop paying them for three months first. That way they know you are serious.
But in your position, I would be inclined to not make an offer. These debts aren’t just old, they are ANCIENT.
Sara M says
Hi Sara, thank you for your reply.
I don’t know if they are on my record, how do I find out?
Yes, they are ancient! But, I always lived in hopes that one day I would be in a position to pay them off. Never happened.
I could just walk away but I don’t want this hanging around my neck until my dying day. I just want it settled.
I will follow your advice and stop the payments and then see what happens.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can check your credit records for free – see https://debtcamel.co.uk/best-way-to-check-credit-score/
Sara M says
Hi Sara,
Thank you for the links.
I know some time has passed since my last post but now the position is, I stopped payments to Link in December, so have now missed 2 payments They are now phoning me every few days but I have not returned their calls. I intend to write to them today and tell them as the debt is unenforceable, there will be no further payments until such time that the CCA is provided. There is no default showing on my record, I assume it fell off years ago as the debt is around 20 years old!
In regards to PRA, I stopped payments to them this month and will send them the same correspondence. 2 years ago, when it was still with Barclaycard, I checked my credit report and found that 2 of the 3 didn’t list it. However, PRA bought the debt in March 2021 and of the 3 credit reports I checked recently, none have included this debt. It seems very strange.
The last letter I received from PRA on 11/08.2021, informing me that at that time it was deemed unenforecable, they also stated: “Until the information is received I have placed your account on hold, which will cease any further collections activity until further notice.” However they still took the monthly payments.
I will sit tight and see what transpires over the next few weeks, but I do want this settled for my peace of mind.
I would appreciate your comments.
Many thanks.
Sara M says
Hi Sara, thank you for your reply.
I don’t know if they are on my record, how do I find out?
Yes, they are ancient! But, I always lived in hopes that one day I would be in a position to pay them off. Never happened.
I could just walk away but I don’t want this hanging around my neck until my dying day. I just want it settled.
I will follow your advice and stop the payments and then see what happens.
James says
Hi, A few years back I got myself into 32000 worth of debt due to various reasons, all either credit card or loans. I started paying back via a DMP with stepchange for around a year but when covid hit I decided to stop and offer repayments directly to the creditors. The creditors in question are PRA, Intrum and Wescot, I currently pay wescot for 2 debts at £10.00 per month each, 2 to PRA, one at £25.00 and one at £5.00 per month and one to intrum at £50.00 per month. At this rate it will currently take me around 29 years to repay all debts. I work full time and earn 32k a year before tax, I have no savings and no access to a large amount of money.
My questions are as follows.
1. What would be the best approach from here in your opinion ?
2. Can i ask each creditor to reduce each debt into a manageable payment which could clear the balance within say 2 years ?
3. If I do just continue paying as I am, will the defaults still fall off my history as of the 6 year point even though I’m still paying the debt back ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What were you paying to StepChange each month? Has your income increased or decreased since then?
Are all of the debts marked as defaulted on your credit record?
Are you buying or renting?
James says
I was paying £260 per month to stepchange but needed to reduce payments. At that point I found it easier to speak to creditors myself and they were understanding. All have defaulted in 2018 I believe and all original creditors are no longer the creditors now. I currently rent due to my job.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
To answer your questions in reverse order:
3. whatever you do, the defaults will drop off after 6 years. the only danger to your credit record is if one of the creditors go to court for a CCJ.
2. Well you can ask, but if you can’t afford much more than you are currently paying, it’s highly unlikely they will agree. From the creditors poit of view, things may get better – you could get a better paid job or inherit money – so why would they accpt a very low amount now?
1. It may well be bankruptcy. There are options like asking your creditors to produce the CCA agreements for the debts (see https://debtcamel.co.uk/ask-cca-agreement-for-debt/), but these are unlikely to get the debt down to a level it can be repaid in a reasonable time. is it possible;e you could make affordability complainst about any of the debts?
James says
For 2. I can get help to pretty much double my payments for 2 years but that would only cover about 25% of the debts I owe over a 2 year period, I am going to ask the question with a view to either a DRO or bankruptcy if not.
The thing with the CCA, I asked a while back for original credit agreements and they sent me back what appeared to be some sort of statements from a balance transfer ? But how do I prove I was given the credit when I couldn’t afford it ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I can get help to pretty much double my payments for 2 years but that would only cover about 25% of the debts I owe over a 2 year period, I am going to ask the question with a view to either a DRO or bankruptcy if not.
Then I suggest a much easier route to trying to get all the creditors to agree to this is to simply make the monthly payments but get the relative helping to the extra money aside in a savings account each month. Then at the end of 2 years you offer a full and final settlement.
Asking for the CCA – did you use the formal letter and send £1 cheques as that link said?
Affordability – can you write something about how the debts grew so large? Are any of the loans high cost (over say 10%?) – who was the lender? the credit cards, were you given increased credit limits when you had already only been paying the minimum for many months? Did you have an overdraft during this period?
James says
No I did not send anything away, I did it via email I didn’t know of the £1 process at that point in time.
All the above you have mentioned about reasons why I couldn’t afford the credit are pretty much true I just don’t know how I would prove that as all accounts are no longer accessible to me.
Going forward I think to take your advice on the f+f might be best option for now, in the meantime will it be worth sending away for CCA to see if they can actually produce that ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I have template letters to help with affordability complaints – you don’t need to know the account history. But if you describe what happened and who the lenders are it would help are there are different letters… also it’s good for you to know which are the strongest claims.
Yes I think it’s worth asking for the CCAs – you may as well know where you stand.
James says
The original creditors where lendable,mbna, tesco, and barclaycard, the current creditors are wescot, pra and intrum. I defaulted with all the original creditors. Where can I get the letter you speak of from ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
for Large loans (not small payday loans) the template is here https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-large-high-cost-loans/
For credit cards the template is here https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-catalogue-credit-card/
Those articles explain how these affordability complaints work.
Mike_p says
I’m not sure if this is the right place to ask. Paypal credit have sent me a default notice giving me until 1st December to get up to date, but today I’ve learnt that they have already passed it to Moorcroft to handle collection (Moorcroft say Paypal still own the debt). Are Paypal allowed to do this?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes – they are just asking a debt collection specialist to collect the debt on their behalf.
This isn’t anything to worry about.
If you need a payment arrangement and to have the interest on the debt frozen, tell Moorcroft.
Kat says
Hiya – I don’t know if this is the right place to write this ?
My son rented a place with a couple of friends for a year in 2018 but moved out feb 2019 – as it wasn’t working out . I sent a letter to the Council confirming all the details for his hb etc and that was all ended officially with them and the letting agents .
Whilst there, they had had Sky put in and he agreed to put it in his name . When he left it was agreed that the other two would carry on with sky and the details were all changed over to one of the other lads bank accounts .
Two years later out of the blue he has received a bill from a Credit Agency re unpaid sky amounts in his name for that old address sent to our home address ,
We are unable to contact the other two lads and as my son and his girlfriend want to buy a house together next year , they are really worried what they should do . All’s his bills etc were paid up to date so it’s pretty shabby what the other two have done but what is the best thing to do now ?
Take care and thank you for your help.
K
Sara (Debt Camel) says
the details were all changed over to one of the other lads bank accounts .
Did he actually see that that was done? Any confirmation from Sky?
Kat says
Hiya ,
Together they all changed the bank details on the sky portal and then the password so only the two other lads knew it . He though that was all that needed to be done .
Many thanks
Cathy xx
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ah, so he never told Sky… they still think he is liable for the whole contract.
I suggest he talks to National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 about his options.
Sally says
I have just found out that an old debt with Welcome Finance that I really thought I had paid was sold to PRA who are telling me I paid until 31 October 2018 and then apparently I stopped paying, I have not been chased by PRA and its only because I found out a CCJ was issued by them in 2017 has caused me an issue this week, so I had to contact the court to find out about this debt they suddenly produced another.
I had no idea about the CCJ in 2017 or this other debt still being owed in 2018, and now they are suddenly chasing yet I’ve had nothing for almost 5 years, is there anything I can now do. Both debts would have been unaffordable at the time as I was badly in debt and these will both be for extortionate interest. The 2017 CCJ apparently is Vanquis credit card.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If this is a CCJ that you knew nothing about, talk to National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 about whether you may have a case for setting it aside. And about the rest of your current finances.
Sally says
Thanks Sara, do you mean talk to them about the fact PRA have never chased me either on the debts so I was unaware of it all?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is a part of it. If PRA had contacted you, you might have let them know you had moved so the court papers went to the wrong address.
Chanel says
Hi,
I’m looking for some advice for my partner. Prior to our relationship he has a Barclays credit card he defaulted in this and it got sold to a debt collector. He had an option for a you pay we pay scheme (he pays an amount a month and they also pay some giving him a discounted balance) the following day he was going to accept this offer but it was no longer showing I contacted hoist finance and sent them screen shots of the offer. In which I didn’t get a reply.. after a few months had past (not thinking about it) he received a CCJ I rang to ask if a payment plan was Available to stop the ccj to them directly and they said no and to fill them out the form from the courts and payment plan of £100 was agreed when I called hoist finance to make this payment the man on the end of the phone had noticed we had a few problems including the non response we’d asked to be contacted by email and letters were still being sent l so he said he’d put the account on hold and raise a complain, fast forward I got an email
Stating they believe they weren’t in the wrong even though the lack of response and not replying by our chosen contact
Method. Do we have a case here if we were to contact the financial ombudsman, we’re more than happy to pay the amount disregarding the you pay we pay scheme and just want the CCJ removed
Thanks for reading
Chanel
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did he ever get a Letter Before Action (may have been called a Letter before Claim?)? See https://debtcamel.co.uk/letter-before-claim-ccj/ for what one looks like.
Chanel says
I believe he did and this was the letter I called straight away about and hoist finance said unless we could pay the full amount and ccj would be issued x
Sara (Debt Camel) says
oh it is a shame you did not take debt advice at that point.
I don’t know if you will win your FOS complaint but this seems well worth trying – Hoist have been very unhelpful when you were trying to make a payment arrangement.
Chanel Dodd says
It’s just a nightmare really I contacted them straight away and they just said there was nothing to be done at all I think I’ll contact the FOS Then do I need to notify
Hoist that I’m doing this? X
Sara (Debt Camel) says
you have made a complaint to Hoist and they have rejected it?
Chanel says
I suppose so I guess as the man told me he’d would put a complaint in and escalate it but now they’ve come back saying there not at fault Thankyou
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They came back in writing? That should hav3 told you you Can take the complaint to the Ombudsman.
John says
Hi my debt to provident was sold on can I dispute this as provident are wiping all debts as I’m in a dmc as well
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They only wiped debts that had not been sold.
Have you made a complaint to the Scheme? See https://debtcamel.co.uk/provident-scheme-claim-refund/ for how to do this.
This has to be done by the end of February so this is now urgent.
If you win the complaint you may get some refund, it may not be huge, but the default with Provident and with the debt collector would have to be removed – whihc can be worth more than a small cash refund.
Debi says
Hi Sara,
You’ve given given me good advice in the past so my Cabot debt is not enforceable, no CCA with a letter confirming, they have been contacting me recently until I told them that I am still awaiting the CCA, it has been quiet now for about 4 weeks but I have just received 2 letters one was from Cabot saying that they have sold it on and the other from Ruthbridge stating that they have bought the debt. On checking I have just noticed that the reference number is wrong, the amount is wrong and I have never had a credit card from capital one everything is wrong what do you suggest please
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Email Cabot and Ruthbridge saying you dispute the debt because you have never had an account with Capital One. I wouldn’t mention the other Cabot debt as it clearly isn’t that one.
Antony says
I was in a debt management plan, which I have now come out of, I contacted myjar for a final settlement in September last year, I paid what they said I owed and had paid off the rest through my dmp, my loan was staying on my credit file, so I contacted them 3 weeks ago, they said I still owe them £74.50 which I dispute, then I get an email saying my debt has been sold to perch capital, and aci, and it says i owe £650 not the 74.50! When i try and contact myjar they are not interested, in my mind I don’t owe anything, any advice would be welcome
Sara (Debt Camel) says
contacted myjar for a final settlement in September last year, I paid what they said I owed
was this in writing?
Antony says
I had it on an email, but can’t find it! I have an email from them on the 9th December saying my loan is closed, then I received the following
We apologise for any miscommunication that has taken place previously. Unfortunately it was miscommunicated that your account was closed, please kindly note this is not the case.
We received a payment from yourself on 30/09/2021 for the amount of £334.04, you made us aware that this was a settlement payment. Unfortunately after a thorough review of your account, there was not a settlement payment agreed as we did not receive the settlement form for the complaint and therefore the reduced balance could not be applied.
Please kindly note on the 11/08/2021 we advised you that your outstanding balance was £408.53.
Please also note that as no settlement figure was agreed the money you paid onto the account of £334.04 only reduced your balance. Please kindly note you have an outstanding balance of £74.49.
The next contact I had was an email saying my debt had been sold, and the debt company saying I owe £650!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
did they ask you to complete a settlement form for the complaint?
Have you made an affordability complaint to the administrators?
Antony says
No, they didn’t ask me to do anything, when I went into my dmp then said they would cancel all the interest on my loan as it was unaffordable at the time, I am guessing they are making me pay the interest now, I don’t get how if I owed them still nobody contacted me to tell me, the last contact I had was my loan is closed in full, now I owe a debt collection company £650 through no fault of my own when I have just cleared all my debts! I can’t even put in a complaint as it won’t matter now they have sold my debt on
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then I suggest you do two things.
First send a complaint to Myjar saying they never asked you to complete any settlement form and they are behaving unreasonably.
Second tell Perch/ACI that you dispute the debt as you made an agreed settlement with my jar and forward them a copy of the 9th December email saying the loan is closed.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
have you made any payments since 2013 to any of the debt collectors?
Steven says
Hi Sara,
I defaulted on my Nationwide credit card in March 2020, at the of December 2020 my debt was passed onto ARC Europe.
Nationwide is still showing on my credit file, does this mean ARC are collecting the debt on behalf of Nationwide? Or have ARC bought the debt from Nationwide?
They have sent me a letter reviewing the current agreement, I currently pay them £29 a month against the total debt of £4,500.
Would it be best to leave it as it currently is, or would it be better if I tried to settle with them?
Currently money is tight but I have received a one off bonus from my work but it doesn’t come anywhere near the full amount so I am wonder what percentage should I be offering the DCA? or would it be better for me to contact Nationwide directly to see what they would accept?
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The letter from ARC will normally make it clear whether they own the debt or are collecting on behalf of Nationwide. What phrase does it use?
What is the rest of your financial situation like? Do you have other defaulted debts? Any debts that haven’t defaulted that you are currently paying?
Is interest frozen on this debt?
Are you up to date with your bills, because if money is tight at the moment, then it may be going to get worse from April when Enewrgy bills, National Insurance, council tax, broadband, mobiles etc are all going up for most people. And petrol and food prices are also getting higher?
Steven says
Thank you for the quick response.
It doesn’t really give a lot away, it states “Regarding Nationwide Building Society”
And then goes on to say :
“Dear X,
Thank you for the payments you have made so far. When we agreed to accept instalments to clear this debt, we informed you that the arrangement would be subject to a periodic review.”
Not sure if that helps at all? I’ve only ever had 2 letters regarding this and one from Nationwide informing that ARC would be dealing with my account (or to similar words, I can’t remember exactly).
All my other debts the interest is frozen, in total I have 2 credit cards(including Nationwide)
And 2 loans, 1 of which is maturing and ends in August.
The fact that everything is going up is a contributing factor as to why I have reached out for advice.
What would happen if I just kept on paying the £29? Would it continue until its paid off which by quick maths would be 12 – 13 years? Or would ARC look to resolve it sooner rather than later?
Thank you again.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Tha5 sounds like they are collecting for Nationwide. In this case, the6 probably won’t accept a low settlement offer.
It’s normal for creditors (and their debt collectors) to check every few years if you can pay more.
Do you have other debts that you are currently paying normally? Others in a payment arrangement?
A defaulted debt where interest is frozen is just about your bottom priority to make a settlement arrangement with. One thing you could do is reply that you are finding money very tight at the moment and are worried that in April when a lot of bills go up you made need to reduce what you pay them.
Carl says
Hello,
I have a debt that Lowell bought from Shop Direct. The original debt credit agreement dates from 2015. I wanted to do a full and final settlement with Lowell of £750 but they wouldn’t accept as I am making regular payments and can afford these for the foreseeable even though I have made them aware of a potential redundancy and the increasing living costs which are eroding my available income.
I have asked for a copy of the original agreement of the debt with ShopDirect. Is there anything else I can do?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
asking Lowell for the CCA agreement is a good move here.
The debt – had SD increased your credit limit to a level that was unsustainably high?
what other debts do you have at the moment – any you are not paying anything to? any others on payment arrangements? any other you haven’t defaulted on? you are up to date with all bills at the moment?
Carl says
Thanks Sara
Yes it was a while ago but from memory I had significant increases over a short period of time and I wasn’t earning much at the time.
I have a few others which are on payment arrangements which I have kept up to date on the agreed payments.
All my other bills are currently up to date.
The lowell debt is a default that is due to fall off my credit record by 2024.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
in that case as well as asking for the CCA agreement, I suggest you send Shop Direct an affordability complaint – see https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-catalogue-credit-card/ for more about what these are and a template letter you can use. Don’t be put off id SD reject this, or say it was too long ago – send the complaint to the Finacial Ombudsman where a lot are being won.
Carl says
Thanks for your help and advice on this Sara, I will wait to see what comes through on CCA and submit a claim as you suggest.
Really appreciate it!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I would kick off the affordability claim now. It can take several months before its clear whether the CCA can be produced or not.
Carl says
Thanks I will do!
If they can’t produce the CCA what are my options?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can just stop paying, the debt will drop off your credit record in 2024
Carl says
This has been so helpful! Thank you again Sara.
Edward says
Dear Sara
In 2006 I had a loan debt for £!7,000 which due to loss of income resulting in inability to pay caused me to enter into an IVA in after the job 2007. I managed the payments but after the job loss defaulted in 2008 and subsequently moved house. Today I received a debt collection letter advising they had taken over the debt and asking for payment of the £15454.60 balance.
I am an 82 year old recovering from a stroke with severe mobility problems. My only source of income is State pension, Pension Guarantee Credit , Housing Benefit for my rent as well as Attendance Allowance and Disability benefit in with the Pension Credit. The have to pay for my daily carer.
Can you please advise me what to do. I have no assets at all. No Car jewelry or watches etc. to sell
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Edward,
That debt sounds so old it is likely to be “statute barred”. If you talk to National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 and they agree, they can give you a template letter to send to the debt collector. I would add a sentence into that standard letter saying you are 82, have had a stroke, and have no income apart from benefits.
If this doesn’t solve the problem, you can ask them to “write off” the debt because of your age and health problems – https://debtcamel.co.uk/debt-options/less-common/write-off/.
And failing that, National Debtlone can set up a Debt Relief order for you – including any other debts you have in it as well.
So there are lots of ways forward, and you scraping to pay this debt is not one of them. National Debtline are great to talk to.
Daego says
Hi, any advice would be much appreciated.
I defaulted on a vanquis credit card in January 2016. I made payments of £1 to them until June 2016. They then sold the debt to Lowell in July 2016. I have never acknowledged the debt with Lowell. However, Vanquis never registered a default against me. But Lowell have done. Lowell registered a default in February 2017. Are they allowed to do this? As this was 7 months after the bought the debt and also 13 months after the account defaulted? Should the debt be statute barred as of January 2022?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Vanquis should have added a default to your credit record in Juky 2016, 6 months after the token payments started. Certainly it should have been defaulted long before they sold it to Lowell.
You can ask Vanquis to add a default date, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/debt-default-date/. Then Cabot has to use the same default date.
Should the debt be statute barred as of January 2022?
A default date has NOTHING to do with whether a debt is statute barred.
You carried on making payments until Jun 2016. So July 2022 would be the earliest possible time this debt could be statute barred. BUT were you ever sent a Default Notice by Vanquis? You may not know. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/statute-barred-debt/ for more about why a Default notice (which is not the same as a default being added to your credit record0 matters for statute barring.
Daego says
Hi, thank you for your reply.
Vanquis have said they can not add a default as one has already been added by Lowell. Should they have legally added it in the first place in July 2016? What can I do about this?
Also when I was paying vanquis £1pm, was this not a breach of the terms and conditions I signed stating I would pay at least the minimum payment and would it therefore not be classed as defaulting?
Also I am unsure as to whether I was sent a default notice by vanquis.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Tell them they can add a backdated default and then Lowell will have to use that. Say this goes to the Ombudsman if they don’t agree.
Amanda says
Hi, I had a CC with Nationwide which defaulted in Jan 2015and is now off of my credit report. I got my mortgage in June. Today I have come to a letter from Cabot to say that they are collecting on behalf of Nationwide and to pay it. Its £4000 and I just don’t have that money.
I do not know if I ever made a payment and this letter is out of the blue. What do I do? Can they put another Default on my credit file or even get a CCJ?
If I pay monthly – how will this show on my credit file?
I’m so worried as I don’t want my credit affected as I have a mortgage now.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
When was the last time you think you made a payment to this debt?
Amanda says
I dont think I made one since 2015 but Nationwide said I made 1 payment in 2018! Not sure I would have made 1 random payment.
Cabot said they can’t issue another default or even a CCJ but reading above comments they can. I’m so confused.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A debt that has dropped off your credit record can never reappear with another default.
WHat exactly did Cabot say about not being able to get a CCJ?
Amanda says
I asked if they could put another default and she said no. I said what about a CCJ and she said no. So I asked what about an arrangement to pay and she said no. So I said you cannot do anything for this or my credit report and she said no. I think the actual debt started about 2012 but defaulted in Jan 2015.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
She is correct that a default can’t be added. And nor can an arrangement o pay .
But I am not sure why she says a CCJ isn’t possible.
You could ask Nationwide to send you a statement of the account from 2015 until when they sold it. That should show the mystery 2018 payment. Then when you know when it is, you can get your bank statements to prove you never made that. In that case the loan may well be statute barred and Cabot could not go to court for a CCJ.
Amanda says
should I let Cabot do their investigations or go to Nationwide now? I just don’t see why I would of made 1 random payment in 2018. I had 3 things with Nationwide and don’t trust that this payment was for that – it will be my word against theirs.
I thought this was the case and I specifically asked this a few times and the lady at Cabot said no they can’t do anything! I thought the could still go for a CCJ.
The debt is £4k, I’ve read that they would of paid about £400 for it. Is it worth asking them for a full and final settlement figure of £500 to £1000 ir would they likely laugh at me for this? I cannot get a CCJ as it would even affect my job.
Appreciate the advice 🙏
Sara (Debt Camel) says
should I let Cabot do their investigations
what investigations? they own the debt and they want you to set up a payment arrangement.
If you had other products with Nationwide at that time, ask them for statements of account for the period for all of them. Until you know what these say, there isn’t much point in speculating.
you can offer a settlement if you want, but can you afford that amount?
Amanda says
Cabot said they would go back to Nationwide to query the payment in 2018 but I disputed it. That’s how it’s been left.
I will speak to Nationwide myself and get statements for all accounts. I’ve had a lot of disputes with them and have gone to Ombudsman about my overdraft which you advised previously.
I cant afford to pay the full £4000 but depending on the amount the will accept I may be able to pay. I dont want this hanging over me and I cannot get a CCJ.
Michael says
Re dialogue with Amanda who is worried about the impact of this resurrected debt on her mortgage taken out in june ( 2021?).
Am i right to say that this interaction with Cabot can have no effect at all as the mortgage was granted, and there was no non-disclosure of material fact as Amanda acted in good faith towards her mortgage lender?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
no it shouldnt affect her current mortgage but any impact of credit record or starting ot make monthly payments will make it much harder to remortgage with a different lender at the end of a fix.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t give debt help by email.
Bev says
Hi – Not sure if this is the correct place to write or get advice . I have just applied for my first mortgage and a £667 debt has shown with Virgin on Equifax. I have no clue what this debt is for . It says it was taken out in 2012 and defaulted 2018. I have rung Virgin and they have no reference or knowledge of the debt . I have a Virgin account already which they have assured me is up to date and not related to any debt. I have no idea who to ring or contact as Virgin say they cant find anything ? My mortgage is dependant on it being cleared and Im at the stage where for the sake of not losing my mortgage I would just pay it but Virgin wont take the money as they say I dont owe anything ?? Who do I contact next please . I have no knowledge of the it being taken out and dont know where to turn ?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It is a pity you did not check your credit reports before applying for a mortgage as mistakes can take a while to sort out. Can you get Virgin to put in writing that you are a current customer of theirs and do not owe them any money?
At the same time you need to dispute the debt with Equifax, say you have no knowledge of it and Virgin say you do not owe them any money. See https://help.equifax.co.uk/EquifaxOnlineHelp/s/
Elaine says
Hi Sara,
I got a job that included a welcome bonus and a relocation package. I have had to move due to unforeseeable circumstances and will not bee able to commute there anymore. Spoke to HR about this and they advised that if I can’t pay them back both these amounts as I have not stayed for the stipulated amount of years in the contract, they would hand over what I owe to them to debt collectors. Will this affect my credit score as I will not have defaulted on payment but the company just wants collectors to facilitate the whole thing
Sara (Debt Camel) says
no I don’t think this will affect your credit record UNLESS the debt collector takes you to court to get a CCJ. A CCJ wouyld show on your credit record even though the debt itself doesn’t.
What is the rest of your financial situation like? You should not offer to pay more to this debt than you can really afford, taking account of bills and other prices going up.
Is this your only problem debt?
Ali says
Hi Sara , I have personal loan defaulted and paying token payment £1 since October 2021, now I thinking go to DRO , can I do that
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can switch from making token payments to a DRO if you qualify for a DRO. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/debt-options/dro/ for an overview of this and phone National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 to discuss your options.
Token payments are not a good long term option, so unless your situation will improve in the next year or so, it is a good idea to look at different options that will clear your debts.
Karen says
Hi Sara I had a loan with cash4u. It was sold to a debt collector. I arranged with debt collector to pay £20 per month and have done for nearly a year. On my credit report every month cash4u reports missed payments I don’t understand this if I’m paying. Obviously this is having a huge impact on my credit score. Can you help me to understand?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did Cash4u sell the debt or is the debt collector collecting on behalf of Cash4u? The letters from the debt collector should make this clear.
Was this the first loan you had from them? Was it large?
Karen says
Hello Sara cash4u said ‘Your account has now been passed on to an External Collections Agency, you will need to contact them to discuss repayments.’
It was several loans to about £1000 I tried to do an affordability claim cash4u made an offer of a reduced settlement but I took it to FOS who did not uphold claim. But all through this I continued to pay the collection agency.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok then it hasn’t been sold.
The payment arrangement will harm your credit record. How much is staill to be repaid? If it is a lot, then there is a case for asking for a deafult to be added back a year ago, it’s worse for your credit score now but the debt will drop off after 6 years. Without a default it will stay for 6 years after it is settled.
What is the rest of your financial situation like? With bills and prices going up, is the £20 a month still affordable?
Karen says
So I owe about £450. £20 is affordable. Should I just pay if off if I can? Would that have a positive impact on my report?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Settling the debt will not improve your credit score now.
do you have any debts you are being charged interest on? or important bills?
If you do, I suggest you use the money to reduce them. You aren’t being charge interest on this debt, so just pay the £20.
Karen says
Thank you so much. So just to clarify cash4u reporting missed payment every month to the credit agencies is normal even though I’m paying the debt collection agency?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes. Well they could report a payment arrangement but that isnt a lot better.
Gabrielle says
Hi Sara.
I have been chased by Cabot since Oct 21. Out of the blue. Harassed with texts, calls and letters.
I defaulted on a Lloyds credit card in 2007. £4198. I think I took the card out in 2000/2001. Reasons for default, just graduated in 2001 with student loan debts had freelance work but had a baby in Sept 2001, bought a house with husband in 2003 as luckily parents gave us £30k deposit (self-certified) another baby in 2004, and only got my 1st full time job in later in 2004 but my disposable income mostly went on paying the nursery ☹️ And mortgage, new home costs/bills meant we hd no money for this.
I got a CCJ in the end but nothing ever happened/no charge, no contact from DCA’s and that dropped off my file 8/9 months ago.
Oh We entered an IVA in 2008-2010 so my last payment to them was 2010.
What should I do? Ask for a CCA? Ignore? Is the debt SB?
I am so confused but am trying to sort out my finances (it’s going well!) then this crops up! Any advice truly appreciated!
Thanks!
Gabrielle
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Was the CCJ listed in your IVA?
Gabrielle says
Sorry my mistake, it was Debt management program with Churchwood Financial (and the CCJ came after we stopped that) thanks!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so it wasn’t cleared in the DMP I assume.
Once there is a CCj there is no point in asking for the CCA agreement – the creditor doesn’t have to produce it.
A CCJ never becomes statute barred but it does become harder to enforce after 6 years. I suggest you phone National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 next week about this.
Gabrielle says
I will, thank you!
Wondering if I should just ask for a settlement figure and see what they say?
Also, from 2002-2016 my total charges for my current account with Lloyds are over £5500. The bank let me take out an overdraft for £2400 on an income of £22k initially in 2004. I had 2 children while freelance so only got SMP while off. Which didn’t help with the spiralling lending in those times. Wondering if that’s worth any chase-up with Lloyds for unaffordable lending? In 2017 they offered me a loan to pay the £2400 off and it’s now all repaid. Your thoughts?
Thanks again!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you should talk to National Debtline first so you know where you stand before you talk to Cabot.
Did the bank ever increase your overdraft?
Gabrielle says
It looks like I had £400 before starting a full time job, then it went to £2400 in 2007. My salary had increased to 28k then but I was never able to clear it!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So this is worth a complaint but as it is such a long while ago it may not be easy. You should expect the bank to reject it and send it to the Ombudsman. Explain that you had no idea that a bank should have made sure an overdraft was affordable until recently and you have complained as soon as you found out. Point out that an overdraft that was larger then you monthly pay was impossible for you to clear.
Nat says
Hi there, I’ve just had a quick quid loan transferred over from Lantern to BPO and I think I’m in the financial position to settle (finally…) however a weird thing has happened where a new address where I have never lived (completely different county, don’t recognise it at all) was registered by them and I’m worried they are going to try and serve me a CCJ there. I’ve raised a dispute by Experian say that BPO have confirmed it’s correct, I don’t know how as I’ve never lived there! I’m a bit concerned by this.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Complain to BPO not to experian.
Jack says
Hi Sara, I to had few loans sold to Moorcroft for provident, they agreed them ones also were unaffordable & upheld. Been a battle communicating with both to get answers. Today I got this from provident which you can share.
Thank you for contacting us about the Provident Scheme of Arrangement.
We are currently in the process of informing Debt Purchasers to write off balances for agreements where claims have been upheld.
Regards,
Lori Ullah
Scheme of Arrangement
sally codd says
I too am in the same situation as had irresponsible lending upheld and I have a ccj on it that I have been paying since sep 2019, should I go straight to FOC?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This is with Lowell?
Jack says
This is what provident told me today & said look at website.
Loans sold to Debt Purchasers will have their balances reduced
Our Debt Purchasers have agreed to reduce loan balances for customers with an upheld claim against the Scheme of Arrangement, in the same way Provident has. Where appropriate, the Debt Purchasers including Lowell, Cabot, PRA, Vanquis Bank, Arvato, Grove and Moorcroft will also refund any over payments. We will advise our Debt Purchasers regarding the outcome of your claim during May 2022, so please allow them some time to amend the balance of your account.
Julia says
Hello,
I have been contacted by a solicitors claiming I owe Quid Quid £1000. I have had no contact with QQ since 2015. They contacted me by text which stated I needed to agree that I am responsible for contents to read said text. I had no idea who it was and was worried so opened. My question is – as had no contact for over 6 years am I liable or, does this fall outside of statue of limitations? QQ made totally no response prior to 2015 to any emails re refunds etc and now over 6 years later being asked to pay back this…
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It sounds as though this may be statute barred – I suggest you talk to National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 about his – they have a template letter you can use to send the solicitors if it is statute barred.
Lucy says
Hi I had a loan with my jar that got sold to aci in January, I paid it with aci the next day and the account with them shows as paid. When I log into my jar though the £181 loan still shows as not paid and its still on my credit file, I’ve emailed my jar about 2 months ago and they told me to ask aci to update the details. I messaged aci and their response was ‘ don’t worry about it ‘ now my jar and aci won’t respond to messages about it, but is 5 months a long time for it still be on my credit file?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send ACI a complaint in writing – email is fine.
Feels says
HI Sara,
Top of the day to you.
1. Is it possible to send a Provit letter to Lowell for a mobile phone debt. I am aware that I cannot send a CCA but can I send a provit?
2. I also have an old paypal loan debt that is with Lowell as well. Can I send them a CCA for that?
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you have any reason to think the mobile debt is not yours? Have you ever made a payment to it?
Who is the payday lender?
K J says
Hi there. I have debts that have been defaulted for about 4 years. I have set up a payplan debt management plan and payplan say that if my debts are sold then the new debt company can place a brand new default on the loan and the default date would be when the new debt company (not the originator) have placed the new default. They said this could happen more than once. Is that correct?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
if my debts are sold then the new debt company can place a brand new default on the loan and the default date would be when the new debt company (not the originator) have placed the new default.
That is rubbish.
If the debt is sold, the debt purchaser has to use the same default date that the original creditor did.
They said this could happen more than once.
the debt can be sold more than once, but this isn’t a problem for you – Payplan just need to change who they pay.
Jason says
Hi Sara I wonder if you can help me with a query.
10 years ago my partner received ppi off HSBC bank but automatically thought that the claims people had taken there cut, but out of the blue yesterday she received a letter stating she owed 1.5k to them.
She received no correspondence throughout all these years until yesterday.
Surely the debt should be staue barred as its been well over 6 years with no letters or communication.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is a new one on me.
After 10 years, it’s unlikely she has any documentation about what happened at the time – that is the reason statute barring rules exist.
I suggest she phone National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 next week – if they think the “debt” exists but is statute barred, they have a template letter she can send.
Kelly says
Hi, I have had my claim upheld with Provident, my problem is that Cabot and Mortimer Clarke own the debt and I am still paying them, is there anyway I can stop this, any help appreciated thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think Provident will be sorting this out with Cabot – assuming the debt that was sold is one of the one loan provident have decided was unaffordable. You need to ask Provident what is happening.
Hannah says
Hi Sara,
Hope you don’t mind me messaging.
My partner was married and suffered years of domestic violence from his wife. They defaulted on mortgage payments and eventually agreed to sell their house 10 years ago to the council using the mortgage rescue scheme. They were informed by the solicitor that it would be very unlikely, but the mortgage lender (Halifax) could come asking for the mortgage shortfall £55k).
He finally left the relationship and a few years later he got a letter from a debt collection agency chasing the debt. They then sold it on to Moorcroft.
He had been in negotiations and then moved house, to which they couldn’t locate him.
We are now married and have bought a house together (using my equity) and they have now located him at our address. He has communicated back to renegotiate to partially settle but they are very slow to respond.
What is odd, is the original Halifax debt shows as 0 and there are no defaults on his credit report. He was able to get a mortgage with me fine.
My questions are, if we partially settle, could this cause it to appear on his credit report? Would waiting for the debt to become 12 years old help avoid this?
Are they able to find out there is equity (this was mine) in the house and make us sell as we are now married?
His ex is no longer liable for the debt.
Thank you!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
oh dear, it would have been better to have gone bankrupt all those years ago.
What is odd, is the original Halifax debt shows as 0 and there are no defaults on his credit report.
A defaulted debt drops off your credit record 6 years after the default date. You cannot assume the balance showing on a credit report is accurate.
if we partially settle, could this cause it to appear on his credit report?
no.
But they may not accept a low settlement.
Would waiting for the debt to become 12 years old help avoid this?
The debt is unlikely to get to that point – the current creditor will probably go to court for a CCJ before then,
Are they able to find out there is equity (this was mine) in the house and make us sell as we are now married?
Yes if they go to court for a CCJ and then get a charge over the house. Unless there is a formal agreement between you saying that all the equity belongs to you … I guess there isn’t? But Orders for Sale are VERY rare.
His ex is no longer liable for the debt.
why? did she go bankrupt?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I’m not sure what business it is of them? Unless they are worried that your friend is a loan shark.
D says
Hi Sara,
Thank you so much for all your help and advise, it is truly invaluable!
I had a loan with Myjar taken out in 2017 which I then struggled to repay and entered a DMP. I subsequently submitted an affordability complaint to Myjar who upheld my complaint and agreed to remove any interest from my balance and to remove any negative information from my credit file, which was all actioned. However as I believe they’ve now gone bust they have sold my remains debt to AIC who have wrote to me advising they will be issuing a default against me. Are they allowed to do this? I have always stuck to my repayment plan and have had no contact from AIC until this point.
Any advise you could give would be hugely appreciated
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You need to talk to AIC and explain this.
MC says
Hello, I have a few debts that have been transferred to debt collectors even though these companies have been notified of my mental health issues (depression). Is there any draft letter you can point out to me or law I can use to speak to them please?
Thank you very much in advance.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have these debts been sold to a debt collector? or are they just collecting the debt on behalf of the creditor? the letters and emails from the debt collector should make this clear.
MC says
Thank you for your reply. One has been sold to the debt collectors. The other letters are not clear, they only say ‘transferred’.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So transferred doesn’t sound as though the debt has been sold.
Have you told the debt collectors about yout mental health problems and asked to be dealt with by their vulnerable customers team?
It may be a good idea to talk to a debt adviser first so you can talk through you whole financial situation, not try to deal with creditors one at a time. I suggest you talk to your local Citizens Advice.
Thomas Irvine says
Hi Sara and all at Debt Camel, I would like to give credit where credit is due and praise to everyone’s favourite debt collectors “Lowells”, after some once in a lifetime life changing issues and Lowells processing my carer to speak on my behalf and looking properly at all information requested I received the letter stating that the £2271 debt purchased from VANQUIS has been wrote off and no further action will be required. Thanks again Lowells
Kerry says
Before my debt was purchased (im already in a DMP) i asked the lender for a total amount if i wanted to pay it off. tehy gave me £10670 which still had all the interest on as i had only wanted to lend £10,000.
Any way the debt has now been sold at £14,456 do i pay all this back? is there a way i can get it back to the £10,000.
I just feel a bit out done by.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
who was the lender?
how large are the total debts in your DMP? and what are your monthly DMP payments?
Kerry says
Oplo or first stop
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, how long ago did the car finance start? and was it hard to pay from early on?
Kerry says
Started october 2020. Wasn’t unable to afford properly until after Christmas when I had to start lending of my mum to help me get by.
That’s when I put myself in a DMP with q company and my overdraft to keep payments down so j could be comfortable. They were aware and happy but then they’ve randomly sold it on.
I was looking at ways to get rid of it hence why i qsked for a settlement amount and because I have a claim coming in from a car accident I was hoping it would be gone but now with 5000 nearly added on to that it won’t happen.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So you still have the car?
Can you say how much the car cost? Did you put a deposit down? How much have you paid to it so far, before and during the DMP?
(This may sound irrelevant but you may well have a possible affordability complaint… so I am trying to get the details.)
Kerry says
Yes i still have the car, it cost £9,500.
Yes the £500 from my car was a deposit to the dealer.
Total paid to them so far £4878. That includes with the interest etc and the DMP.
I did email them a couple month ago to see what the settlement figure would be and they said £10670. i have a claim coming from a car accident i was in (not my car) that i thought may help to pay of some.
This was before they sold the debt to ACI for £14400.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok do you have any idea when the money from the car accident will be paid?
the reason you were quoted a lower amount is that was for early settlement. The loan has been sold on at the full value but in practice you can usually get a lower settlement offer from a debt purchaser if you make an offer when your claim arrives.
BUT you can also make an affordability complaint to Oplo/1st Stop. If you win this and you have paid more than the price of the car, everything over that would be refunded to you… Plus your credit record would be cleaned of any missed payments, defaults etc.
If you haven’t paid more than the price of the car, then they would normally repossess the car – I haven’t actually see a case like this where the debt has been sold and is in a DMP – it’s really unusual.
That’s why it’s important when you may get the accident money as it affects when it would be a good time to start this affordability complaint.
Read https://debtcamel.co.uk/unaffordable-car-finance/ which has more about affordability complaints.
NB a suprising number of car affordability complaints are unusual. It doesnt mean that it will be hard to win, just a bit hard to predict what refund you would get. Oplo have lost a lot of these complaints…
Alice C says
Hi Sarah, I recently received a letter from a DCA which has lapsed and they are entering a period where they will apply for a CCJ for the recovery of a debt that they had been passed by 118118. Earlier this year the FOS ruled in my favour for an affordability complaint against Loans2Go which I had taken out at roughly the same time as 118118. Is it too late to write an affordability complaint letter to 118118 seeing as they’ve sold my debt off to this DCA and is now about to proceed through to the CCJ process?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No it’s not too late, do this right away.
(And tell the debt collector and their solicitor that you are disputing the debt with 118 and ask them to put a hold on starting any court case while the 118 complaint goes through. If it’s too late to stop this, you need to defend the court case, talk to National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 about this.)
Also look at all the rest of your loans etc and think about affordability complaints about them! These are much better sorted before court cases start.
Alice C says
Thank you Sara, that’s clear.
Billy says
Hi, I have a weird one. I took out a loan with 118118 money about 2 months before the covid pandemic. I was paying the loan off and everything was fine. Me and the Mrs used to keep a separate account that we would transfer our bill money too so we could better manage our money. I had spoken with a colleague at work who also had a loan with 118118 and stated he discovered that they had not taken his payment 2 months in a row. I checked my account and the proof was there, 2 months worth of payment not taken. I contacted 118118 and they told me they were halting all payments due to the pandemic and looming lockdowns etc. so fast forward a little and I receive a letter from PRAC stating I have fallen into default on my account Much to my confusion I contacted 118118 who completely washed their hands with me…..
Angry at the fact the Default has now ruined my credit completely I have contacted PRAC over 10 times to set up a payment plan, even contacted them for a settlement figure back in summer. I keep getting the same every time I ring up and talk to them ‘the team that deal with payments are currently dealing with a lot of requests, we can take your details and get them to call you back’ really confusing as I have admitted the debt is mine offered to pay and they seem to not want my money. Is there any reason they would not want to collect this outstanding balance? They aren’t actively sending any letters, aren’t updating my credit report al all, and haven’t ever other than that the balance is there.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so you had a direct debit set up and it wasn’t taken for several months?
Did you tell 118 you were happy to pay?
When did you next make a payment, if ever? When was the account sold to PRAC?
Billy says
Hi apologies just confirmed with wife regarding finer details.
Credit was taken out December 2018 I first noticed the payments not being taken around beginning of June.
118 confirmed that they sent an email regarding payment break just after the first lockdown announcement and this was confirmed when I checked online account. Debt was sold to 118118 the later part of 2020 first letter from PRAC was received in early 2021
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So you spoke to them and said you wanted a payment break but may be able to make some lower payments.
Are you saying they never contacted you to restart paying at the end of the break? And you never cancelled the direct debit to them?
If that is the case, then you can argue that 118 should not have recorded missed payments and then no default could arise. You have to complain to 118 about this, not PRAC. If you get 118 to correct your credit record, PRCA have to do the same.
Also read https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-large-high-cost-loans/ and see if you think you have a case for asking for a refund of interest on this loan because it was unaffordable at the time it was given. If that is upheld, all negative marks on your credit record have to be removed and you would have to now pay much less to clear the blanace. 118 lose a lot of these cases at the ombudsman…
The affordability complaint would be a different complaint from the one about your credit record. You can make them both at the same time though. Start the complaint email by saying “I have two complaints about my loan. First it was wrong for you to record missed payments when I was willing and able to pay you but you never collected the direct debit…. more details on that… Second I want to complain that the loan was unaffordable when you gave it to me …. details on that from the template on the refund page….”
Billy says
Thank you for your help. I will read through the attached post and start my complaint to 118118 money. For some time both defaults were also recorded on my credit report so will mention this also. Thanks again
Katie says
Hi, dont know where to post this. My daughter went to a nursey and it was funded for (the 15 hours) as I’m on benefits. She started in Nov 2016 and finished in July 2017. Then in Sept 2022 I recieve an email from Judges Demand Debt Collectors saying I owe over £500. I emailed back explaining I have no debt as it was funded. I asked for proof and they sent me forms I filled in for my daughters registration at the nursery and invoice that charged me £128 from Apr-Jul 2017. Then £333 for August 2022. When I required what is this the debt collector after a couple of days said this was for the lunches that they had to start charging and everyone had to pay these even the funded children. The £333 in August 2022 is interest over late payment fees. The nursery never once told me we was going to be getting charged so I asked for proof of this. They sent an email showing an email that was allegedly sent to me and later sent another email that was allegedly sent to the father a couple of weeks earlier both of these was not sent to us. The total debt is over £500 now even though for the lunches it would of only been £128. Is anything the nursery done illegal? Not letting us know lunches are starting to be charged (we didn’t get the emails), not telling us we’ve missed any payments and then adding £333 interest on top 5 years later or passing the debt on to a debt collector 5 years later without us knowing there is a debt.
Thanks for reading
Katie
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That doesn’t sound right. Talk to National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 or ask your local Citizens Advice for help.
Rebecca says
Good evening. My son has just opened a letter in his name with my debt and information on it asking him to pay. Its for a water bill which is owed but the water bill is in my name and so is the debt! Surely they cant do this ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is this for the current year? Or arrears from previous years?
Have you made any arrangement to pay this debt?
How old is your son and did he live in the house at the time the debt relates to?
Rebecca says
This is for this year, he is 24 and has never been on my water bills, left home years ago. I pay one agency already for 1 water bill and have just sent off my expenses to a court for my other water bill. I am also in an IVA and have been for 4 years. My debt are none of mt sons business and they have told him without my permission.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so what years do the water debts relate to? Are they in your IVA? or after your IVA started?
was your son at home for those years the water debt relates to?
Rebecca says
Older water debts are in my IVA newer ones are for this and last year. I struggle to pay bills and water is my last go to. My son left home 5 years ago but why does that matter? He is not on my water account and never has been this is my debt not his
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so which year(s) has he received a bill for – all of them? just the ones in your IVA? just the newer ones?
Your son can not be liable for any debts incurred before he was 18. Nor for any when he did not live in the property. If that covers the debts he has received a bill for, then this is simple – he sends it back, explaining he was under 18 or had left the property years before. It may help to say he is your son in case they have guessed that they have found your partner.
If he has been billed for some years when he did live in the property, then I suggests he talks to National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 and asks if he has any liability to pay this. In some situations there is “joint and several liability” for water debts – so that all adults living in the property can be required to pay the bill. National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 can help him sort out if this applies or explain if he has no liability.
If you are struggling to pay your IVA, you need to talk to the IVA firm about getting the amount reduced. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/help-ivas-cost-of-living/. You should not be getting behind on household bills in order to pay the IVA.
Rebeccs says
Its for the new ones, he doesnt live here his name is not on the lease of my house or the water bill and he is not liable for it. They have surely breached confidentiality laws? Im not struggling to pay my IVA i only have one year left. Ive already sent UKSEARCH LIMITED an email explaining so we will see what they come back with thank you.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then this is simple. Don’t argue he isn’t on the bill – that is not relevant as he may still be legally liable. Instead say it’s your son who is 24 and who left home 5 years ago – so did not live in the house at the dates the bills relate to so has no liability.
Your son also needs to reply to the debt collector saying the same. Do not get distracted by arguing his name was not on the bill.
if you are getting behind with bills then your IVA payments ARE too large – read that link and ask your IVA company to get it reduced.
Paul says
What happens when a credit agreement is terminated by the original creditor? Surely they can’t sell the debt and assign their rights to a debt buyer after they have terminated an agreement? How can they assign their rights under the agreement when the agreement has ended and all the rights and terms and conditions cease to exist? My sister has a situation at the minute where the original creditor terminated the agreement but 6 months later wrote to her to tell her that they have assigned their rights under the agreement and that all the terms and conditions of the (terminated) agreement remain the same.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suspect that depends on what they meant by “terminated”. Did they tell her the debt was being written off? or did they just default and close a credit card account? Could you suggest she posts here?
Jason says
Can a credit card company except a payment after dept was sold.
I owed money to a cc company .
So I cancelled the holiday it took a while to be refunded.
By this time dept was sold holiday company reimbursed money cc company excepted the payment according to travel agent. Is this legal and now I have ccj appearing
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What was the timeline for this – when did you miss payments to the the card?
When was it sold? When did you get the CCJ and did you defend the court case?
dengard says
I am beginning to receive chase letters from DCAs, have written to each DCA asking for copy of the original Agreement CCA 77/78/79 none have been able to supply said copy, I advised them I would not pay any further money until they comply with my CCA request.I propose to ignore the Chase letters, is this OK.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Has each debt collector confirmed they cannot produce the CCA and that the debt is unenforceable until they do?
dengard says
Sara, YES, they have all confirmed UNENFORCEABLE and the usual the debt still remains and I should make arrangements to pay, which I have chosen to ignore,I have suggested they not contact me until they can produce the required document to which they have said we will contact you from time to time
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They are allowed to do that but
A) it can’t be excessive and
B) whenever they contact you they should state that the debt is unenforceable.
Tell them in writing that you will not be making any payments unless they can produce the CCA
dengard says
Sara many thanks will follow your suggestions
Happy New Year
A S says
Hello any help would be appreciated.
I defaulted on lots of account in 2017 due to redundancy and life. One of these was a car insurance account. (I believe I paid the balance and am trying to prove this currently)
This account didn’t actually default until 2019 as I managed to make some of the payments etc
I believing the balance is paid moved and have hear nothing until last week where I had a letter from a debt collection agency. I explained what has happened but paid the bill instantly.
The default from the original account was never registered.
A) will the new holder register it as a default.
B)if they do when would the default date be ?
Thank you so much for any help!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Why did you pay the bill if you think you do not owe this money? This is the point you should be pursuing – if no money is owed no harm can be done to your credit record.
A S says
I was worried that as these people don’t tend to be very nice if I didn’t sort it out their end,while I was trying to sort out with the original lender they may report a default or anything else they could legally do.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You need to write asap (email is fine) and say that although you have paid this you dispute that the money was owed and you would like them to produce a statement of account showing how the debt arose so you can check this against your bank statements.
A S says
Thank you for the advice. I have notified if this and it has been put in the records. I have a meeting to check statements etc with the bank.
I was just unsure on what would happen if I cannot prove I did pay?
I terms of default and date.
The company said that they do not register defaults as policy
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you need to find out what happened and when. It’s hard to say much without that info.
Jackie says
Sara – I am currently having an issue with Azzuro. In 2017 i borrowed £2500 from 118 money. After 6 months of £250 per month successful payments I got into difficulty. I contacted 118 who agreed to an arrangement of £50 per month. I made payments totalling £2100 and was in the process of getting some money together to request a settlement figure. At this point it was sold to Azzuro – Moorcroft got in touch with me (circa March 2019) saying the debt was £4000. The credit agreement was 24 x £250 = £6000. I disputed the amount given i was 15 months into my plan and would not owe £4000 – I said the figure would be nearer £1000 and offered £800 as a settlement figure. They declined and i spent the rest of 2019 going back and forth with Moorcroft. I then didnt hear anything until July 2022. I have complained to Azzuro who remain unmoved on me owing £4000. Since July we have been going back and forth again. They say my only option now is to the ombudsman. There have also been inaccuracies in the info Azzuro have come back with ie payment dates, payment amounts, contact dates etc. Complicated further by Moorcroft liasing by phone but they can’t make a decision and Azzuro only liaising via email. A very frustrating process. Is ombudsman my only hope? And if so, do i have a case in your opinion? I have since reduced my offer to £400 given the timeframe and inaccuracies
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If the credit agreement was for 24 x £250 = £6000 and you have made payments totally £2100, who do you think you would only owe about £1000?
Have you considered whether you have a good affordability complaint against 118? See https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-large-high-cost-loans/ – 118 have lost a lot of these complaints.
Jackie says
My rationale for owing circa £1000 is/was based on when the debt was sold and what the settlement figure would have been at the time. Roughly 14 months after I took out the loan eg day 1 I’d owe £2500, day 2, 2525, day 3 2535 and so on. So my settlement figure 14 months in wouldn’t be 6000 minus instalments paid (2100). Is this a sensible assumption or am I way off the mark?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It doesn’t work that way as interest is front loaded so in the first 14 months you are paying almost all interest and not much capital off. And when a debt is sold, it is not sold at the settlement price but at the full loan amount.
Have a look at an affordability complaint against 118.
Jackie says
Thanks Sara, I thought I may have a case, but doesn’t sound too promising for me. I’ll look into an Affordability complaint.
Andy says
Hi Sara, I have a debt collection agency called ‘lantern’ harassing me for quickquid and provident debts, as I understand the debts were written off by provident and quickquid not long after they fell into administration. Could you give me any advice as to what steps to take, thank you.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
do you know when Provident sold this debt to Lantern? Did you make a claim to the Provident Scheme?
Andy says
In all honesty, I can’t remember, the debts have to be at least 6 years old
Sara (Debt Camel) says
have you made any payments in the last 6 years?
Andy says
No,I haven’t made any payments in the last 6 years.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then talk to National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 and talk to them about whether this debt may be statute barred – that is too old to be enforced in court. If they think it is, they have a template letter you can send.
Andy says
Thank you for your help Sara, you’re doing great work.
Mandy says
I’m in part time employment, years ago my ex took a 20k secured loan out against my house and fled the country leaving me to pay, now elderbridge have said they want over a £1000 a month to bring it up to date, or I face losing my home, I was paying £100 a month as payment plan with them for about 15 years, now they have said they added on £25 k interest, What can I do if anything to keep my home, and will they try to compromise a deal to pay what I can afford, I’m 64 and they say they can’t wait 27 yrs to be paid off,,, I have an insurance in place so when I’m no longer here it’s paid off anyway, Please advise
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did you actually consent to the loan at the time?
Is there also a mortgage on the property? When does it end? Is it repayment or interest only?
How much equity is there in the house – value of the house minus the mortgage minus the secured loan?
How much is this insurance costing you a month?
Do you have a spare bedroom so you could get a lodger?
mandy says
Cant get proof of the paperwork to see signatures. Only paid as its my house. My name only on deeds. His name was added because of the secured loan . . I have 30k left to pay on mortgage at £500 pm . Its a variable interest repayment mortgage . 6 yrs left. House value about £170k .
I dont have any single rooms as my 2 adult sons live with me
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you remember signing the secured loan documents or did it come as a complete surprise to you?
So in 6 years you will be able to significantly increase your payments to the secured loan?
What does this insurance you are paying cost?
How much rent are your 2 sons paying you?
Francesca says
I have a debt which was sold to the PRA group. They can’t find the credit agreement so I haven’t made any payments to them for over a year as the debt is unenforceable. However, recently they have started to call me every day in relation to this to see when payments will be made.
I haven’t answered the phone calls as they always call during my work hours so I obviously don’t want to speak to them in front of my colleagues. I have told them in the last to call me before 9 at lunch or after 5.
Should I speak to them or should I keep ignoring their calls. I haven’t got any available cash to start making payments to them however it is unforceable so I don’t need to make payments to them. Do I?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you told them in writing that you will not be paying until they produce the CCA agreement?
Francesca says
I haven’t told them in writing would an email to them be sufficient?
Will that start the 6 years for the statute barred as the last payment I made them was in 2020
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes an email would be fine. They are entitled to ask you to pay, even though the debt is unenforceable but being phoned that ioften is unreasonable. When you tell them you will not be paying, ask for all future communications to be by letter or email. And from that point keep a record of the date and time of any phone calls.
yes this will restart the 6 year clock. It is a shame you did not tell them originally that you would not be paying, but unless you want to carry on being harassed you are going to have to communicate with them.
In practice as they have not produced the CCA agreement this debt is currently unenforceable.
Katie says
My husbands ex business partner took out a loan of 25,000 with cap on tap. He used my husbands laptop in his office and typed my husbands name in. Result we have now been forced to pay the debt that is for the business not us. My husbands no longer in the business. We are in a payment plan but cap on tap have sold the debt on and added more money to it even though we have paid 6 months already. What can we do? They are saying they will get a ccj and on about baliffs. Have two teen children and it’s very worrying and stressful
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What was the money used for?
I suggest he needs to talk to Business Debtline on 0800 197 6026.
Matt says
Hi Sara
Was not sure which section to post this message , had a letter from hoist finance saying my Barclays credit card account has been sold to them as Lowell have bought hoist finance , I sent a cca back in 2019 and hoist were unable to find it . I did try to offer a 5% to close the account but they did not accept the offer . I am not sure what to do next ? Do I just leave it and see if they contact me again or do I send another cca address to Lowell .
It only been about 4 years so would need another two for it to become status barred . Or do I contact them and tell them I am currently out of work and offer £1 until I start working again .
As always thanks for your help
Matt
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you do nothing. If Lowell contact you you can say that Hoist were unable to obtain the CCA so the debt is unenforceable
Shaun says
Hi
Can I ask please if I had 6 loans that were all written off by CashEuroNet UK August 2021 but we’re sold to Deb collection before I made the claim. One of the debts I am still paying to PRA Group, should I still be paying this debt collection company when CashEuro had accepted all loans. any advice would be very appreciated.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What date did you make a claim – was this to the administrators?
Bex says
Hi hope you are well. I have been in communication with AYOM (are you owed money) from the start of my first collection demand email and set up a dd. I had a few issues from the start, saying I needed to increase the amount which I did and there was also a mistake I made on the dd form meaning that they only took one debit each time. Stupid me did this a couple of times and only realised the third time, I mistakenly read amount of debits to be debts. So I received another demanding email where I emailed straight away to say I will cancel my dd and redo it. I noticed the amount had gone from £223 to £465. I said I had not had any response to say that my dd had not been taken the last few months and they said they have been in contact. But they hadn’t. I followed up saying that I owed £223 paying £20x and got no response to this. I have also been in contact recently to confirm the exact amount and I asked how do I owe that amount as it was £223 and I have paid of this amount etc. Twice I have had no response from them. I understand it was my error on the dd form but can they just add all that extra debt onto it without communicating. Annoying when I have always communicated with them as debt makes me very anxious and upset.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you should Talk to National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 about this. It’s too detailed for general guidance to be useful to you.
T says
Hi Sara,
Less than 2 weeks ago my adjudicator advised me that Barclaycard have accepted his view and will carry out his recommendations. However, I had stopped paying in October last year as I was planning to Default and start a DMP. Over the weekend I have had confirmation that the account has been defaulted and sold to PRA. PRA are now trying to contact me about repayment but this doesnt reflect the position the account should be in if Barclaycard refund as agreed. Is it likely that Barclaycard will buy this back and then I can start repaying the revised amount or will PRA keep the account with it being reduced in line with what Barclaycard agreed? I’m a little unsure who I should contact.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This decision is up to Barclaycard. Tell PRA what is going on.
Did you start the DMP?
T says
Thanks Sara, I’ll give Barclaycard a call to discuss.
I’ve not started the DMP as I was going to do it once the card had defaulted but after a couple of successful complaints I should be in a position to pay the minimum monthly payments without entering a DMP.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Barclaycard have probably now defaulted the debt.