Letter from 'Lowell Portfolio' about old debt

[TheOneWiththeNicestSmile]

DD2 got this letter, at our address, last week. Shop Direct is Very, Littlewoods etc; she has no idea what, or how much, the debt is for - the account was opened close to 6 years ago & she's lived in various places since then (& doesn't actually live here now although she uses the address for official stuff)

Does she have to ring them? Can she just ignore it? I hate these discount debt buyers. & why didn't they put the details of the purchase on the letter?

Sorry, this is the text

Either she owns & owes the debt or she doesn't?
She can ring them or ignore them. Debt can follow you around.
What do you think the right thing to do is?

Um... so is it her debt? Did she buy stuff with them 6 years ago? I "think" debt can effect your address, so you need to get it sorted so you aren't blacklisted.

It doesn't really matter when the account was opened. It matters when your daughter last acknowledged the debt, which is usually through payments - was the last payment within the last 6 years? If so, the debt isn't old enough to be statute barred.

She could write back and ask for details of the account, or she can log into her Very/Littlewoods account to see how much is oweing, and check all transactions are genuine.

Presuming they are, she risks her credit file if she ignores this. It's possible that if Shop Direct have sold the debt, they have already defaulted her.

Debt doesn't affect an address. Addresses being blacklisted is a common myth.

It will affect her credit, and anyone she is financially associated with - so anyone she has a joint account with, a shared mortgage, etc.

elQuinto, there's no such thing as blacklisting.

OP, this won't affect you as credit is linked to the individual. It'll only affect your daughter.

I'm not sure what you mean by "details of the purchase" - they've said who they bought the debt from and how much it is, surely that's enough info?

I'd recommend that your daughter gets a copy of her credit file from at least one of the credit reference agencies so she can see how the debt has been recorded (if it's on there at all). The three are Callcredit, Experian and Equifax. All of them have an online service. I believe there's more info on MoneySavingExpert as to how to do it (I'd go into it but my arms are full of baby right now!).

If she does owe the money though it's better to clear it if she can. If not, Google MoneyAware - it's StepChange Debt Charity's blog and there is info there on statute barred debts, if she wants to wait it out.

What also sometimes happens is that someone can be erroneously traced to an address. If someone in your area has the same name and DOB as your DD then sometimes the trail can go wrong and the wrong person is contacted. It's fairly unusual though.

Thanks, all.

They haven't said how much it is so she has no idea if it's genuinely her debt, that's the problem. She can't remember ever buying from eg Littlewoods, & she was sharing with 3 others at the time, so it's even possible one of them opened an account in her name.

Obviously if it is her debt she should pay it but it would have been helpful if they'd told her the amount at the very least!

The consensus is that she should contact them & find out more details? (Should they have purchase details, or will they only have a figure?)

I think remembering a random purchase from nearly 6 years ago would be a challenge for most of us!

Im wondering why they didn't give any more information at this stage - as if they're not actually sure it's her debt & are fishing for more from her, especially as it's getting quite close to the 6-year mark.

She has had debt issues in the past, but had cleared everything, & her credit rating has been building up nicely, so it would be a bit tragic if this mucked it up.

I would doubt it is her debt. I think they are buying old statute barred debts and sending out these letters to hook whoever shares her name to pay a debt which is not hers

Go to MSE forum and search, and do not reply to the letter. They are fishing.

Thanks, summer - is it odd that they didn't give any details? I was surprised!

It's not statute-barred though - it's 6 years in Feb from account opening, but with no account information there's no way to tell when any payment was last made.

Would it be best to wait & see if they send anything else?

forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4190587

no it would be best to read up about it - this is just one of many threads

you said it wasn't her debt? Am confused.

She doesn't know if it's hers or not, that's the problem. They haven't given her any details, & she can't remember having bought from eg Littlewoods (Shop Direct have several brands) at the time this account was opened.

If she checks her credit file that should list all current debts. If there's nothing listed they're fishing.

That company us nothing to worry about, they have paid for your daughter's debt - they are trying it on.
If you ignore them, they will keep nagging - but that is all they can do.
If the original debt is over 6 years, it will be statute barred. If you Google that companies name, you can read about the con artists they are.