Thetownend.com

So planning on moving back to the UK in September after six years in China.  Recently my mum received a letter saying I owed 17k to a debt recovery company of which I know nothing about.  Tried to use experian and those kind of credit checking companies to see what the hell this is for (and if theres anything else I need to investigate) but as I live overseas and don't have a credit card it seems impossible.  Anyone know if there are any other ways to check credit scores?

When is the debt from? Provided they haven't contacted you in the last six years it becomes statute barred , I.e. they can't enforce it anyway

Actually I have no idea when the debt is from or even what its for.  I've tried contacting the debt recovery people to no avail and I thought that checking my credit rating would be a good way to find out if I missed some payment which has built up over the almost six years that i've been here or something fraudulant.

tried CallCredit, equifax ?

You might find good advice somewhere on here on how to check credit ratings

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/index.php

This could always be a scam (false debt recovery agency or identity theft).

Equifax = fill out form, pay money, money taken from card, nothing.  No email, no record of my transaction etc etc.  Still going through all the details of trying to work out what happened.

Does anyone know if a previous owner of my house, who is still using my address for things such as dvla documents etc, store cards, will affect my credit rating? We received an emission zone bill the other day, as her log book details haven't been updated. I tried speaking to them about but they don't give a toss.

No. The credit rating is mainly made up of the following 3 things:
- Same surname and same initials (you)
- Same surname and other initials (your family)
- Other surname (your partner)
Added to the above it uses a score based on the geodemographics (e.g. Location)

You may have to talk to the credit agencies people to explain the position.  I would return to sender anything not addressed to yourself stating "moved away" and give a forwarding address is possible, unless you have an agreement with them to continue using your address.

Apparently writing "moved away" will not stop these companies from sending mail and having people knock on the door.  Better to call the companies and tell them, even better if you have a forwarding address

True, but I was stung for ages after my address was mistyped against my name by one of the people Experian go to in order to check credit. Couldn't get credit for a couple of years because of it!

If it turns out to be a valid debt, they will have no legal right to make you pay after 6 years - provided it is 6 years since they contacted you about the debt.

They can still harry you for the money but have no legal standing to make you pay up.

when you say 'first contacted you about the debt' what does that mean?  I always thought it was 6 years for any CCJ's

It means if they have written to you or phoned you in the last six years.

What's the date of the letter? When did you leave the country? If it's six years or more between these dates then it is statute barred i.e. they cannot legally enforce the debt.

Apparently their are a few shady outfits buying up statute barred debt for pence in the pound, then chasing people in the hope they are not clued up enough to pay it.

 

Doesn't matter if they've written to you or phoned you. If they haven't taken you to court, you haven't made a payment and you haven't acknowledged the debt then after six years they cannot enforce the debt.

It does, it is a legal requirement that they have to actively pursue collection of debt in order to be able to legally enforce it in court.

Best place to find stuff out is www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk

Thanks for the advice.

Is it also true that now they can apply to have monies owed taken out of wages?  I couldn't believe it when someone told me.

I thought that was only the council ad government bodies that could do that- not for civil debt...

You really need to find out about the debt they are claiming is owed.

There should be some hint in the letter, if not contact the debt collection agency - do not give them your phone number and if you write to them do not sign the letter. Google their name as well, this normally turns up some useful information. If the letter was sent to your Mum's address then check that address with the credit reference agencies.

Chances are it's nothing, you really wouldn't believe some of the tricks debt collection agencies pull.

Chinese phone number anyway.

Only if they took you to court, won and got a CCJ against you and you subsequently defaulted on that CCJ. They can then apply for 'attachment of earnings' and the court can then tell your employer to deduct £xx out of you pay. So it would have to go a long way before this happens.

What you must not do is acknowledge the debt.

If it is statute barred then write to them and say it is statute barred under the Limitations Act 1980, there are plenty of template letters on the internet.

If the matter continues write to them stating that you will only consider existence of the debt if a copy of the original signed credit agreement is provided to you. Every time they contact you write to them requesting this.

Should it continue and go to court you have a complete paper trail as evidence for the judge.

Debt collection agencies will try anything on, they will scare you with threats of CCJS, attachment of earnings, bailiffs and doorstep collectors. Do not get pressured into anything and keep all communications in writing, email is good because it is free and you can keep a good trail.

wise words from Mr Pieman

You've been watching too much TV. If you get taken to court for a debt the judge won't give a fuck about a paper trail and won't necessarily pay close attention to evidence. I've been there, done it and somehow managed to win - it's one of my proudest achievements, the day I beat a proper solicitor in court.

Find out more about the debt so you know what you are dealing with and take it from there.

I haven't watched too much tv. When you get court papers you get a chance to defend the claim. Off goes the email trail with the defence you've written. Read the forums I referred to in my earlier post, people do this all the time.

I've managed to outsmart creditors trying it on but you can only do this in writing. Should they do anything naughty you can also forward the emails to the OFT, ombudsman and trading standards. It is so important to have everything in writing as you can't prove phone conversations.

I agree that China Red needs to find out about the debt and take it from there but a lot of people don't know their rights and get bullied into doing things, hence the advice above.

If it's not your debt why do you give a monkeys?

The way you are firing questions off suggests it probably is your debt, you've been caught out after a few years and now you need to get your hand in your pocket :)

Just wondering if when I left there was anything I didn't cancel.  All my bank accounts were closed down etc etc but not sure if any stupidity on my part has left huge charges and interest over a 6 year period.

Trying to find out what the debt is at the moment.

Sure, you need to keep a paper trail and send everything recorded but it's highly unlikely any of it will make any difference when it comes to your defence in court as it just doesn't work like that. Same for complaining to regulatory bodies, it's worth doing but nine times out of ten no one really gives a fuck.

You're right about people getting bullied, in fact this is how debt collection works a lot of the time. A collection agency buys a massive amount of debt for a few pence in the pound, none of it legally enforceable, and sends threatening letters. They know that a certain percentage will pay up when receiving the first letter. They'll even issue court papers they have no intention of actually pursuing as again, they know a certain percentage will just pay up on receipt of them.

You do need to be careful though as sometimes these things turn to shit pretty quickly. Plenty of people do nothing and end up with the court enforcing the debt and placing a charge on their homes.

A good place to start is the debt collection agency. Do some digging and there is a good chance you'll figure out what the debt refers to. A lot of them are owned by credit card companies and banks, or have ties, or they issue a lot of letters at once and you'll find someone else that has received the same one.

If a bailiff turns up that's not from the court you can tell him to fuck off.

A bailiff not from a court is a debt collector and they have no right to be on your property.

Had my fair share of these over the years

They don't affect your credit score but the system and shouldn't affect your credit rating. If something does affect your rating then once you ask for your reference file from Experian they WILL tell you what it is. If there is something that does cause you problems (usually the same surname details) you can place a notice of correction on the file, which means they need to read it and not reject you because of it.
I could go on but I would need to know more specifics to advise better
Defaults / write offs are removed after 6 years and bankruptcies used to be 12 years in the uk / 3 years in Scotland, but I think this has changed in the uk now

No company reads the corrections on a credit report....i have two corrections.

And sadly the corrections do not change your points amount.....and 99% of people checking your rating check your points total......and not your credit history.

In hindsight my bad credit rating is the best thing that has ever happened to me....i have learnt how to deal with money i earn and have....rather than thousands that isn't mine and the thousands added over time to pay it back in most cases.