Please can someone advise me-just received a horrid letter regarding an old debt

[soveryworried]

I received a letter this morning from a debt collection agency saying they are now the owners of a Royal bank of Scotland credit card debt and have been since 2004.

I have never had a royal bank of scotland credit card.
I rang them up and it turns out its from a tesco credit card i had in 2000.

I was totally floored to be honest because they are saying it has taken them 7 years to find me !

I said i haven`t hidden from anyone. I took a mortgage out in 2004 and if i went onto any credit reference file it would take me approx 5 seconds to find myself and i have little knowledge of such things !

I cant imagine ever just not paying 541.00 then moving house and forgettig about it.

I said i wouldn`t dispute it but could i have a statement because i genuinly cant remember owing this money -no they say now they have traced me it is registered as a default and if i dont pay it i will be in court .

So its taken them 7 years to find me,no letter, no phone call-straight to court.
There is no way i could find 500 pounds at this time of year.Its my whole budget for 3 kids and christmas.

I dont want a county court judgement or for them to contact my work.
Are they allowed to do this.
Its made me feel awful-we had debts years ago and just this letter has completely floored me and brought it all flooding back-the stress and panic and feeling like i dont deserve anything ect >

Any advise would be most welcome and i`m not looking to get out of it but just cant believe this has happened.

They can do NOTHING to you if you have had no contact with them for 6 years or more.

They CANNOT take you to court.

All they can do is ask for the money.

They buy up these 'debts' very cheaply (for a penny) and then chase unsuspecting people for money they don't own or is outside the statute of limitations (6 years)

You need to send a letter to them stating at the top they you do not acknowledge a debt to them or any company they represent and ask them to provide a copy of the signed credit agreement you had with the original company. By recorded delivery enclosing a pound. They have 28 days to respond. If they don't respond they can't chase you. (consumer credit act) Only do this if it is less than 6 years (to the day) since you had contact with them. If it's more than 6 years absolutely definitely then ignore them, laugh when they call, read the paper to them down the phone, tell them to f off.

If you need any information go to www.debtquestions.co.uk where you can confirm all of the above or contact Consumer Credit Counselling Service (www.cccs.co.uk) or a specialised debt advisor at Citizens Advice.

I promise if it's after 6 years they can do nothing apart from ask for money - they cannot take you court.

HTH

Do not acknowledge the debt. They will not take you to court because that particular remedy fails once 6 years have passed without any payment or acknowledgement of the debt. If they did take you to court they would have to prove that you owe the money and they clearly can't do that if they can't even produce statements. They are bluffing in the hope that you will cough up.

Tell them to get lost.

Sorry, OT, but roseblade, I'm intrigued by your nickname as it's a family name which you very rarely hear. I wonder if we're related

Hi Daisymoo

Its my Grannies maiden name. I think its pretty!

x

roseblade, would you mind emailing me nappymad @ yahoo .com - I'm really interested in family trees so would love to know your Grandma's name and any other relatives to see if I can fit them in to the family tree I know of.

Agree with Freckle.

I haven't read the whole thread, but bookthief is correct, as far as I now.

Bad debt can only be reclaimed within a six year period.

I think, being cynical, that they've chosen to suggest that the debt is seven years. In this way, it weeds out people who know their onions when it comes to finance. They're hoping that people who aren't aware of this will pay up.

So they're fraudsters, and you should ignore their communication, but bring it to the attention of the relevant authorities.

I have had the same sort of thing, a phone call from a debt company saying they represented the RBS, and that i owed mony, I told them that i had never been with the RBS, on checking she said it was for McKays, I did have a store card with them, back in 2001, was sure I had paid it off, (am a bit paranoid about debt exH was a gambler).

Anyway, threatend they same thing straight to court. Told them I wanted statements and that I wanted proof of debt.

I have never heard from then since.