DCA contacted 4 years later, help please

[purpleboxes]

Would really appreciate some help please.

I ran up some debts around 2010 and spent 8 years repaying them through a DMP, All creditors sold my debts to DCAs. The default notices were all around 2010 so long since come off my credit report. I paid about 50% of my total balance during this time.

In 2018 I became seriously ill and unable to work, I went onto benefits and couldn't afford the DMP anymore. As I was so ill, some of my creditors wrote off the balance. One DCA put my account on hold for 1 year (this was around 4 years ago, I didn't hear from them again until recently). One DCA passed it to another DCA and I never heard from them again. To be honest I completely forgot about it and just assumed they'd all been written off.

My circumstances improved over the past year or so and I got back into work, and I just got a mortgage and bought a house. Within a few days of getting the mortgage, the DCA who put my account on hold for one year has written to me to say they understand my circumstances have improved and I now need to pay them. They've given me a month to pay. It's about £6,000, which I don't have, especially as I just put every penny I have into moving. I'm worried the other DCA will pop back up again now too.

I'm so worried what will happen. I literally just bought a house a few days ago, am i going to lose it immediately because of these old debts that I'd forgotten about and can't afford to repay!? I haven't paid anything towards them for 4 years, so they are a long way off being statute barred. I'm guessing that they know I just got a mortgage and that's why they are going to chase me again. Last time when I was trying to arrange repayment plans with them they insisted I send them my bank statements every month and they questioned and criticised every transaction on there, I had to send them all my bills and medical reports and I was living on about £10 per week for food so that I could pay them as much as I could - I can't bear to go through all that again.

I don't know what to do and I'm so worried I'm about to lose everything I worked for, can someone help me please?

[MIKE770]

echat11

[echat11]

Hi PURPLEBOXES

Welcome to LB

First thing, calm down, things always seem worse then they are, the situation needs to be managed.

Lets deal with the DCA that has contacted you (put account on hold for a year).

a) You can send them a CCA 1974 request, they have 12 days to send you a copy of the agreement, make sure you get Proof of Postage.

https://legalbeagles.info/library/gu...etter-example/

b) Fill in an income and expenditure form (make sure you take account of the cost of living, i.e. food, utility etc), if you can afford to pay £1 each month, so be it. I'm not saying this is going to Court, but a Court will only ever ask you to pay what you can afford, the I & E shows that you aren't left with much. The debt is a non - priority debt.

https://nedcab.cabmoney.org.uk/

[purpleboxes]

Hi PURPLEBOXES

Welcome to LB

First thing, calm down, things always seem worse then they are, the situation needs to be managed.

Lets deal with the DCA that has contacted you (put account on hold for a year).

a) You can send them a CCA 1974 request, they have 12 days to send you a copy of the agreement, make sure you get Proof of Postage.

https://legalbeagles.info/library/gu...etter-example/

b) Fill in an income and expenditure form (make sure you take account of the cost of living, i.e. food, utility etc), if you can afford to pay £1 each month, so be it. I'm not saying this is going to Court, but a Court will only ever ask you to pay what you can afford, the I & E shows that you aren't left with much. The debt is a non - priority debt.

https://nedcab.cabmoney.org.uk/

Thanks so much for this and for your quick reply. Sorry for sounding so panicked, I just wasn't expecting this.

I will definitely CCA them, thank you. Can they take my house or make me sell it if they don't accept my repayment offer? Can I get into trouble for buying a house instead of paying off the debt? I can't see them being very sympathetic to me because of it.

[echat11]

Thanks so much for this and for your quick reply. Sorry for sounding so panicked, I just wasn't expecting this.

I will definitely CCA them, thank you. Can they take my house or make me sell it if they don't accept my repayment offer? Can I get into trouble for buying a house instead of paying off the debt? I can't see them being very sympathetic to me because of it.

Stop thinking the worse, lets see what they send. Make sure you fill in the I & E.
What are your personal circumstances?