Help needed - Received a letter from Debt Collection agency

[MrGrey]

Hi all,

I'm new to this forum and I am after some advice please. I have received a letter from Blake Lapthorn solicitors claiming that I owe £386 to a company called Arrow Global Guernsey, who I have never heard of. It says there is a CCJ registered against me, the date of judgment is 19/12/12 and they quote the court claim number.

As I was very worried about the thought of a ccj, I checked my credit record, as I am registered with Experian Credit Expert.

To my relief there was no CCJ on record or any defaulted debt of that amount or referring to Arrow Global Guernsey.

I did go through a bad financial situation in 2007 due to a divorce, but I was sure I paid all of my debts and haven't had any since, my credit score is very good.

My question is, what do I do now? I don't want a CCJ or defaulted account suddenly appearing on my credit record. Do I ignore the letter and hope it goes away, or do I call them on the number provided and tell them to get lost??

I am assuming that Arrow Global are a Debt Collector, any ideas what companys they normally represent, as I am racking my brains trying to figure out where it came from.

Any advice would be appreciated, thanks

[Kati]

Re: Help needed - Received a letter from Debt Collection agency

Hi [MENTION=63416]MrGrey[/MENTION] ... can you post up a redacted copy of the letter please?
Arrow Global are a debt purchasing company, so anything they say you owe them will have been bought from a different company (there are no 'main' companies that they buy from). Does the amount due on this letter correlate to any of your debts from 2007?
As there is no mention of this on your credit report, I would say that this (if in fact it is an actual debt) would probably be from around that time (2007) as defaults will automatically be removed from there after 6yrs :nod:

[MrGrey]

Re: Help needed - Received a letter from Debt Collection agency

Kati,

I have racked my brains, but that amount does not tie up with anything from that period....

I haven't a scanner, so I took a pic of the letter on my phone!!

It states that there have been previous letters, but I haven't seen any, although I haven't been at this address that long....

[Kati]

Re: Help needed - Received a letter from Debt Collection agency

No problem ... this pic's fine
Were any of the debts from 2007 on a payment plan (that you could have mistakenly stopped paying)? Is there any mention of an original creditor on there?
I'd (personally) say that the chances are that this debt would be Statute Barred anyway (unless they managed to get a ccj in before the 6yrs was up?) but as it is not showing on your credit report, chances are you defaulted (if it is a legitimate debt) pre 2008 at any rate

You could try writing to them (without acknowledging any debt - just to be sure) using their reference number asking for clarification of the debt? Who the OC is, when AG acquired it etc...

[MrGrey]

Re: Help needed - Received a letter from Debt Collection agency

No, there is no mention of a creditor at all and I cant recall any payment plans. I think I will write them a letter and see what response I get. Are there any templates on anywhere, or do I just ask for further information?

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Help needed - Received a letter from Debt Collection agency

No problem ... this pic's fine
Were any of the debts from 2007 on a payment plan (that you could have mistakenly stopped paying)? Is there any mention of an original creditor on there?
I'd (personally) say that the chances are that this debt would be Statute Barred anyway (unless they managed to get a ccj in before the 6yrs was up?) but as it is not showing on your credit report, chances are you defaulted (if it is a legitimate debt) pre 2008 at any rate

Looking at the letter it looks like they obtained judgment in December 2012, the claim must have been issued sometime in November that year so anything paid in 2007 wouldn't have been SBd in December 2012, not in England and Wales. The clock would have stopped at the time the claim was issued.

You could try writing to them (without acknowledging any debt - just to be sure) using their reference number asking for clarification of the debt? Who the OC is, when AG acquired it etc...

If there is a CCJ then the debt would still be live and could be enforced by a warrant or an attachment or earnings. If there is no CCJ then it would be SBd and once barred, it wouldn't be 'unbarred' even if a payment was made. It does sound like they may have a CCJ, to be sure the OP could search the registry: http://www.trustonline.org.uk/search-yourself

Given the amount and age of the judgment, it may be more practical to make an affordable repayment offer rather than looking into having it set aside. :ohwell:

[nemesis45]

Re: Help needed - Received a letter from Debt Collection agency

For a more reliable info on the alleged CCJ check trust online.
Have you changed address in the last 6 years?
If AG were not the original claimant it would need to apply
for the judgement to be transferred to it, before attempting
to enforce.

nem

[MrGrey]

Re: Help needed - Received a letter from Debt Collection agency

I have changed address 3 times in the last 6 years. So if it is not on my credit record, it could still be there and enforceable?? Or is trustonline a more reliable source to find out this?

[nemesis45]

Re: Help needed - Received a letter from Debt Collection agency

Yes.
Yes and Yes,

nem

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Help needed - Received a letter from Debt Collection agency

I have changed address 3 times in the last 6 years. So if it is not on my credit record, it could still be there and enforceable?? Or is trustonline a more reliable source to find out this?

CCJs are a matter of public record and trustonline is a search engine for the registry so it should be more reliable. In principle they should also be recorded on your credit file, however, it is possible that the claimant may have neglected to update it. They would remain on file for 6 years in both cases.

CCJs are always enforceable unless the judgment creditor never makes an attempt to enforce within the first 6 years.

[ExperianExperts]

Re: Help needed - Received a letter from Debt Collection agency

Hi MrGrey,

I can understand why you would be concerned, particularly as there is nothing on your report. Your report will have all the information that we hold in your name at the addresses that you have supplied in your profile. You may want to check to make sure all your previous addresses are showing in your profile, in case the judgment has been recorded at a previous address not listed.

If a record of the judgment is at a previous address, our Ask James page goes into more detail about dealing with mystery CCJ's here.

I hope you find this useful if you need any help with your report contact us so we can go through the report with you.

Kind Regards
Neil

[MrGrey]

Re: Help needed - Received a letter from Debt Collection agency

I am a little confused now... I have just checked with trust online, entered all my details and paid my £4 and the search returned nothing!!!

So the only reference to this Judgement is on the letter I received and nowhere else. I think I might compose a letter and ask for further details

[nemesis45]

Re: Help needed - Received a letter from Debt Collection agency

Yes it would appear that one of two circumstance apply here:
1. There never was a claim/judgement.
2. More than 6 years has elapsed since a judgement was made.