Have Barclaycard written off my debt?

[bundleofbabyboy]

I had this letter today and I can't quite believe what I've read and would like a second opinion.

It says "Following a review of our operating procedures we have identified that for customers who have fallen behind on their payments, we did not always meet our expected standards for assessing customers' circumstances or engaging with them".

They go on to offer me £75 as an "inconvenience payment".

but it then goes on to say "We may not have been in contact with you for some time about your account. However we want to let you know that we're now closing your account and do not require any further payments in relation to the outstanding balance".

Do you think I'm right and they have written the debt off? I'm stunned if so!

@Bluetit101 - no, the payment plan was directly with Barclaycard. I found them incredibly helpful and understanding actually. Good luck.

That’s ok - it’s worth a try. I’m pleased for you, OP, that you no longer have that debt hanging over you (those are congratulations flowers btw!)

It looks like it's real as it's on Moneysavingexpert.

File the letter away safe

Never mind filing it away, frame the thing! 😂

I'm happy for you OP. I had a debt of £20K that I never got to spend. My parents signed up for a business loan and £10K overdraft and asked me to sign some paperwork as I was secretary of their business. They didn't pay it back and apparently I was the guarantor. DPs shrugged it off and told me to just go bankrupt while they blew a £26K inheritance. My own parents.

I only knew about it when the debt company finally tracked me down after mum hid the letters from me. I told them it wasn't me they'd been talking to with fake promises to pay (unsurprisingly my mum knew my personal details such as DOB and previous addresses and could easily say she was me on the phone)
The lovely and sympathetic chap told me they would not pursue it because I was a now unemployed new mum. They returned the debt to the bank and the bank, presumably seeing that I lived in my £150 overdraft with them knew it was pointless too. That was 8 or 9 years ago now.

And no, I didn't go to the police about my DPs. I was too trusting in my 20's, after all, they were my parents and employers. I signed what they gave me willingly enough. Damn fool.

Thanks everyone for the nice comments. I feel like my luck's always bad so I'm still a bit stunned to be honest.

Congratulations lol

Boris - that’s terrible! are you still in touch with them? Do they acknowledge what they did?

I’m glad it got sorted in the end for you though.

That was awful Boris I’m a true cynic and believe that families take the piss like no one else. Not all families obviously.

I’m glad the bank/debt company didn’t push you to pay the debt.

I had a similar experience but with HSBC about 6 years ago. I received a letter saying as they had forgotten to send me a letter with regards to an interest rate change, they would now close my account and actually refunded me the payments I'd made since the letter they should have sent out! It was like I'd won the lottery! Enjoy! X

I had an Egg card years ago that was transferred to Barclaycard automatically when they took over. Been using my yearly bonus to clear it off each month. Wonder if I can do anything. Would worry it would effect my credit history though.

Boris, a friend of mine was in a similar situation. Her mother took out a load of debt in her name. She cut her out of her life. Her dad is a bit of a dick too. I’m so glad I have a mother like a do. With all her faults she would never hurt me like that.

To those who asked, I am still in contact with DM.

I wrote a long detailed reply last night but it disappeared and didn't post. Basically she has a victim mentality. Always has done. Everything is someone else's fault. She still doesn't take responsibility because it was because of limited company clients closing down owing her business thousands only to open up the day after with no debts, a slightly different name and a new company director - often in the name of a sibling or spouse.

She felt that the guarantor paper meant nothing and they couldn't chase me because I didn't have anything. In a way she was right but it did have lasting affects on my life. I never did go back to work after DC because I knew they could easily and legally chase me again and garnish my wages, making me pay a debt that was never mine. I laugh it off saying I love being a SAHM (and I do) but there is a sad part of me too.

I had a choice. Owe £20K and my kids have grandparents, or owe £20K and be without them. I chose the one better for my kids. DM isn't a bad person, just a self-centred one and completely blind to her own faults.

@FrankieChips this is for people who have been in payment plans/in financial difficulties. From what I understand the advice and assistance given was incorrect in some cases. They aren't writing off existing accounts so it depends on your particular circumstances. If you are due a payment they will contact you automatically but as you are worried about it affecting your credit rating I imagine you won't be eligible unfortunately. The people this involves will already have a default

FrankieChips have you looked to see if it is still on your credit file.

Were you on a payment plan.

Oliversmumsarmy no. I’ve never missed a payment. I’ve cleared most of it.7k down to 3k. Should have it cleared next year with bonus and my partner has offered to pay off the rest (he’s a good dude most of the time).

I've just started a payment plan with them a couple of months ago. Interesting!

I received the same letter this morning. Had to go into a payment plan after losing my job coming back from maternity leave. Written off the remaining £1600 (it’s marked satisfied on my credit report) and just had to confirm bank details for the £75 ‘inconvenience fee’

Couldn’t have come at a better time!

The £75 is in my account today. Perfect timing

I also had a letter regarding barclaycard and one for Barclays partner finance. Each letter offered 75 compensation and both balances written off and the accounts closed. I tackled them for a reason this week and apparently for Barclaycard it is because they no longer have my original agreement (opened my account 2014) and for BPF it is because DFS sales staff did not follow the correct procedures when the finance was sold for our sofa 😀👍

That’s awesome.

My colleague also had a same but different letter from them - because she had actually cleared her debt they refunded all her payments that she’d made since June 2017 and she’s getting £1700!

What great timely news. Congrats everyone

Do not reply. At all. If you haven’t had contact with them for a while, they need you to acknowledge that you have an outstanding debt. This could be a back handed way of attaining that acknowledgement. If you don’t acknowledge the debt, have no contact, make no payments etc, then due to the statute of limitations, eventually the debt will indeed be wiped out. From a strictly legal standpoint, that is, they could still ask you for it but wouldn’t be able to claim it through the courts or whatever. If you acknowledge it, then you’re back to day one..

The most sensible thing is not to touch that 75 quid.

@oofadoofa this is genuine. Barclays have made mistakes dealing with people in financial difficulties. They're not asking for anybody to acknowledge the debt or sign anything to that effect

That's great op!
I do wonder what Barclaycard have been up to. I cleared and closed my account with them in 2009. For years I had been struggling with making minimum payments, so when I came into some money I was pleased to pay it all off and be done with them for good, the credit card was chopped up and account closed.
A few weeks ago I got a letter offering me a small amount of compensation for some 'irregularities' that had occurred on my account, to do with interest charged. And this is 9 years later! Very odd. I wonder if there is some shit waiting to hit a fan.

I got this this week too! About £8k in debt written off and £75 to be paid to me for the inconvenience.