Debt not on credit file

[Tylawson]

Hi I am looking for some advice please. I have been receiving letters from Cabot about an old credit card debt. This debt has dropped off my credit file. I don’t even know when so must be over 6 years ago. I know the debt has been sold to various different agencies over the years. My question is can Cabots somehow make this debt appear on my credit file again?

Thanks

[jaguarsuk]

I believe Cabot can now register the debt in their name, but I may be wrong.

If I were you then I would make a Subject Access to Information request to the original credit card company, here's a guide on doing that: https://legalbeagles.info/library/gu...ccess-request/

Ask them for statements of the account and a copy of the default notice specifically, but say you want copies of ALL information relating to you and the account. If the last payment date and default date are over six years years old then Cabot couldn't take you to court and win due to the debt being statute barred.

If that is the case you'll be able to write back to Cabot saying exactly that, but lets see what the SAR turns up before we start getting excited.

Come back with what you get once they return the SAR.

[Tylawson]

Hi thank you for the reply. I see you advised me to send that to the original lender, in this case Natwest, but I believe I may have made payments to a debt company prior to Cabot. I have checked but can’t be sure of this. I wrote to Cabot asking for proof the debt was mine but have not received anything as of yet

[jaguarsuk]

Do you remember the name of the collection agent? If you do, then send them an SAR too.

If you don't, write to Cabot asking for any and all statements of the account including those of the lender, any other debt collection agent and themselves.

[Diana M]

I have been receiving letters from Cabot about an old credit card debt. This debt has dropped off my credit file. I don’t even know when so must be over 6 years ago. I know the debt has been sold to various different agencies over the years. My question is can Cabots somehow make this debt appear on my credit file again?

The answer to your question is an account can only be defaulted once so if the account no longer shows on your CRA file then it's likely to have been defaulted more then six years ago because the whole file entry is removed on the sixth anniversary of when it went on.

Cabot cannot start to report the debt again (or you'd complain to the ICO).

I suggest you send a s 77-79 CCA Request to Cabot if you haven't already done that. Until or unless they comply with your request the debt will be 'unenforceable' in court.

You say it's an "old" credit card so when did you open the account, when did you last make a payment and what was the remedy date on the Default Notice (if one was issued by Nat West)?

I ask to see whether this debt could be Statute Barred.

Once that's known you can decide your next step because if there's a possibility that the debt may be close to becoming SB then asking Cabot for the payment history could trigger a court claim in order to beat the SB clock once you've drawn their attention to it.

Di

[jaguarsuk]

This is the reason I suggested contacting the original creditor to obtain the information not Cabot initially.

If you have been with the same bank for a long period you might be able to check bank statements, I found my online banking has statements back to 2011 on it now (when I opened the account) or if not try contacting your bank at the time to see if you can get copies.

Anything you can do not to make Cabot suspicious is good to prevent them issuing a claim on a knee jerk reaction.

[Tylawson]

Thanks for the replies and advice everyone. I made payments to a company called Moorcroft, now from what I can see on my statements this was 4 years ago so it wouldn’t be SB. Would Cabot know this? Another thing,if they can’t add the debt to my credit file again how can they potentially issue court proceedings?

[jaguarsuk]

Thanks for the replies and advice everyone. I made payments to a company called Moorcroft, now from what I can see on my statements this was 4 years ago so it wouldn’t be SB. Would Cabot know this? Another thing,if they can’t add the debt to my credit file again how can they potentially issue court proceedings?

Yeah, they'll more likely know that you made a payment and even if not it'll be easy to dig up when they go to verify what you say that it's not stat barred.

They won't add the default again, they'll just update the original and because the debt was sold on to them that's how they can issue court papers.

Go with what Diana M has suggested above, CCA request to them as a first instance and then go from there.

[Tylawson]

I had written to Cabot just asking them to confirm the debt was mine, I received a reply today which seems just generic. It starts with them “thanking me for my telephone call” I never called them, I wrote to them. It states that they are going to try to get documentation from the original lender. It also says “if I’m unable to resolve your dispute within 5 weeks, I will contact you with an update and I will contact you again as soon as we have a resolution. Please be aware that the time frame for resolving our disputes is 16 weeks, however the account is currently on hold”

what should i do now? Is this just a delaying tactic?i think it’s very unprofessional that the letter starts with them thanking me for calling them when I never did!

[jaguarsuk]

Unfortunately that's debt collectors all over - unprofessional.

The timescales are just their standard timescales.

Personally I'd still send an SAR to Natwest to obtain the documents via them if you can, so that should Cabot furnish you with a CCA that you have something to compare it with from the bank themselves... just to verify it's authenticity, I'm not suggesting Cabot would falsify documents of course. Plus the information you get could be useful.

[Diana M]

I had written to Cabot just asking them to confirm the debt was mine, I received a reply today which seems just generic. . . . . It states that they are going to try to get documentation from the original lender.

You've written to Cabot asking them to confirm the debt is yours, but was it a formal section 77-79 CCA Request with a £1 statutory fee enclosed?

A letter asking them to confirm the debt doesn't give you legal protection - a s 77-79 CCA Request does (if they can't comply with your request).

What you have got is a letter from Cabot confirming that they don't have the documents they need in their possession. Keep that letter safe in case you need it further down the line.

And send a CCA Request to them.

Di

[jaguarsuk]

You've written to Cabot asking them to confirm the debt is yours, but was it a formal section 77-79 CCA Request with a £1 statutory fee enclosed?

A letter asking them to confirm the debt doesn't give you legal protection - a s 77-79 CCA Request does (if they can't comply with your request).

What you have got is a letter from Cabot confirming that they don't have the documents they need in their possession. Keep that letter safe in case you need it further down the line.

And send a CCA Request to them.

Di

Guide on how to do a CCA request here: https://legalbeagles.info/library/gu...etter-example/