Bad debt 10 years later

Morby

Hi all,

Asking on behalf of a friend (no really!)

To make a VERY long and convoluted story short, they purchased a TV on hire purchase back in 2007. Always made payments on time but there was a cock up made somewhere and finance company claimed they weren't being paid when in fact they were. At the end of the day friend stopped direct debit as finance company said they weren't receiving payments.

In the end she paid a full and final settlement in order to sort the whole mess out and just be done with the finance crowd. Money she paid wasn't the "full" figure owed as she disputed the amount as the finance company hadn't taken her previous payments via direct debit into account. Sounds very messy.

Anyways she recently got an ICB credit check done as she's thinking of applying for a loan and loan and behold there's a black mark on her history dating from this finance company back in 2007. Queried it with the ICB and they told her that said finance company send them a report EVERY month about this debt.

I've told her that it shouldn't be on her credit history as it's longer than 6 years ago. Shouldn't the slate be wiped clean after 6 years? ICB told her to contact the finance company in question to get them to remove it however I've advised her not to as if I can recall I can remember reading something on here about that if you engage with a finance company they can restart the 6 year period again as it were.

I'm not sure what else to advise her, she wants this debt cleared as she made a full and final settlement payment at the time and is now surprised to see this company still effecting her credit rating. If it makes any difference she hasn't been receiving any written correspondence looking for payment or so she says anyhow, but I can't understand how and why 10 years later this debt is following her?

Should it not have simply gone away as it were after 6 years? Should ICB be showing a black mark from a debt 10 years old?

What would be the best approach for her to get this cleared? She's adamant she paid what was due at the time and that it was a full and final settlement. Not sure she has any proof however unless she goes to the bank and gets some paper trail as she paid by cheque. How would you prove it was accepted as a full and final settlement though?

maximoose

Did the finance company agree to accept this 'full and final settlement'? Did she get this in writing?

Sounds like they are still reporting it as an outstanding bad debt, which they are entitled to do if they never agreed to this settlement amount

Morby

To be honest I don't know all the ins and outs and nitty gritty about it, I'm not sure she even fully remembers herself either as it's going back so long ago.

She seems to recall she worded the letter enclosed with the cheque something along the lines of "accepting this payment constitutes a full and final settlement". They cashed the cheque and she never heard from them again. They haven't chased payment of the remaining balance (which is disputed) in intervening years however they're still sending in a month report on this debt to the ICB for the past decade.

I can't understand how the debt is still "alive" after 10 years though? From my understanding I thought that any debt after 6 years were statute barred? Am I incorrect in thinking this?

Morby

OK, so I got a bit more info today. Apparently the payment was accepted at the time and she got a letter back at the time stating that "their clients would be happy to accept this amount". She is currently sifting through paperwork looking for previous correspondence from them, hopefully she still has it.

It appears that at the time that was the end of the matter and the debt was settled on both sides, it was accepted and no further demands were made for payment.

However it seems that what the company are sending to the ICB monthly is notification that the debt was settled but not for the full amount originally sought (as there was a question mark over that originally) so every month since 2007 this debt collection crowd have been sending monthly reports to ICB about the debt, it says it was paid but not at the full amount or words to that effect..

So again, how can this be going on for more than 6 years? I thought all bad debts and black marks against a person were wiped after 6 years?

ICB were no help and said to write to the debt collection company to ask them to stop submitting said reports, but is that opening up a can of works for herself as I think I recall reading on here before that if you engaged with them you could potentially start up another 6 years before a debt becoming statute barred?

beechwood55

So again, how can this be going on for more than 6 years? I thought all bad debts and black marks against a person were wiped after 6 years?

Have read the citizens advice page on this. If the creditor does not start legal action to recover the debt within 6 years, then it may be statute barred.

This is the Irish Credit Bureau site http://www.icb.ie/credit_rating.php
It is up to her to contact the company.

yosser hughes

Usually there is a scheduled removal date on the ICB record for the debt impairment.
When did your friend actually finally settle the debt? She started the HP agreement in 2007 but when was it finally settled/written off
What is indicated on the report is it W for "element written off" ?
Who was the finance company?

Morby

Just got this from my friend when i sent her on your questions;

”scheduled removal date "to be determined"
HSBC bank
Also 24 on credit bureau report =payments in arrears opening date Oct 2007”

That's what it says on credit report.

yosser hughes

I'm assuming the letter your friend got when the debt was settled,was not from HSBC but rather a debt collection company?
If they have written proof of a full and final settlement, then this needs to be presented to whomever they paid and ask them to have this removed from the ICB as it sounds like it's going to remain on there.The debt collection company won't be able to update the ICB as it won't be a member but HSBC definitely will be.
It may be just an oversight on their part.
No harm asking on www.askaboutmoney.com. It's usually pretty good at these types of queries.
5 or 6 years is the usual time for something to remain on the ICB

ICB reports will always have the last 24 months of payments of any loan/credit card there. For example if you had a loan and were meeting the payments every month; all of those boxes would have a tick.

alig123aileen

Morby wrote: »

Just got this from my friend when i sent her on your questions;

”scheduled removal date "to be determined"
HSBC bank
Also 24 on credit bureau report =payments in arrears opening date Oct 2007”

That's what it says on credit report.

Write to original lender (phone call will not suffice) say despite full and final settlement of loan they or companies acting on their behalf inserted incorrect personal data on you to iCB that they should contact ICB to ask them to delete the data and confirm to you it had been deleted. If they do not reply in full within 15 working days you will bring your grievance to financial regulator and data protection commissioner. This worked immediately for me in a similar situation. Good luck to your friend!

daheff

Does your friend have proof of payments that were made (not just the final settlement cheque, but the others)?

So long as you have proof then there should be no issues having this closed out.

GerardKeating

beechwood55 wrote: »

So again, how can this be going on for more than 6 years? I thought all bad debts and black marks against a person were wiped after 6 years?

Have read the citizens advice page on this. If the creditor does not start legal action to recover the debt within 6 years, then it may be statute barred.

This is the Irish Credit Bureau site http://www.icb.ie/credit_rating.php
It is up to her to contact the company.

It's six years from the last time they nagged you about the debt, so if they send a letter once ever five years, they can keep it alive for the rest of your life.
Also "statue barred" just means they can no longer sue, the debt is not wiped and they could send you mean and misleading letters nagging you to pay up.

CeilingFly

Morby wrote: »

I've told her that it shouldn't be on her credit history as it's longer than 6 years ago. Shouldn't the slate be wiped clean after 6 years? ICB told her to contact the finance company in question to get them to remove it however I've advised her not to as if I can recall I can remember reading something on here about that if you engage with a finance company they can restart the 6 year period again as it were.

Your advice is not good.

Firstly it is more that 6 years. Secondly you say that it HAS been paid and thirdly only the finance company can correct the error and leally they must do so (assuming it is an error) and if not you can take a case to the Data Commissioner.

Errors do happen. Most of the data is automated, so unless it gets corrected the incorrect information will be supplied every month.

A quick phone call followed by an email with all the relevant details will probably sort it out.