Debt collector letters and texts

[Morello339]

Hello.

I have recently started receiving letters from debt collectors regarding a credit card. It doesn't say when it is from, just that it is a Barclaycard and the last 4 digits.

I have moved back to my family home, don't know if it is relevant that it is a previous address.

Anyway, I have a credit card with Barclaycard, but it has no balance and isn't that number.
My credit report shows no defaults or missed payments etc.

I can only assume that this is maybe a card from when I lived here with my parents 18 years ago? I don't remember, but who would?

How do I navigate this? I had a generated text to say they will visit my home.

I don't know whether to contact them or not.

If it's over 7 years old with no acknowledgment in that time it's statute barred

They can do absolutely fuck all

Don't be so dramatic 😆

I said upthread I had an old debt from years and years ago. Ignored it. Now no sign of it anywhere on any credit report...my rating is absolutely perfect and I've a mortgage

That said if op wants to ring it's up her of course but I'd be careful and I do stand by that .

If it's definitely over 7 years old with no payment or contact then they can't do anything apart from ask you to pay - and you can say no

They can't put anything on your credit file

They can't take you to court

They can't recover the funds in court but that doesn't stop them trying. Most debt collection companies rely on you not knowing this, so they issue court proceedings, often people end up finding out at ccj stage if it's a particularly old debt and they've moved house etc. The process then is that you would need to apply to the court to set aside the ccj and the defence is that the debt is time barred. That process wouldn't fail, and if you do receive court documents you can present your defence in your response at that point to halt the process, but just be wary that debt collectors are cheeky and will often try and reclaim the money via court hoping the individual is ignorant to the limitation act.

You may find that it's completely not you. A credit card holder might share your name and DOB or a similar name and DOB and they've lost track of them, but finding you've moved has triggered them to claim 'you' are the card holder. Happened to a friend of mine, card was long lines of in name Sarah Jane Smith, her name was Sarah Judith Smith, same DOB.
Ring them and find out.

How much do they claim you owe?

Try Citizens Advice for what you should do. Do not admit the debt, you think you would have closed any old accounts and surely it would have come up when you opened a new card with the same company. They should have given you full details of the debt, which it doesn't seem like they have.

There are also a lot of scams around with phoney debt collectors. Some of which use the names of real debt collectors, so be very careful.

I suggest you repost this on Legal Matters

This 🙌🏻