Maybe, maybe not, but a DCA is not an immediate threat, and can be safely ignored until such a time as if and when a Claimform arrives.  That point in time could be 1, 2, 5 years away or never.  So you losing sleep over this now is pointless.  It's also wasting money paying anything right now.

I don't know what your financial situation is but if the threat is to sell it on to a DCA, it really isn't an immediate worry. 

When I was paying off my CCJ's they used to send me an income and expenses review every year, to see if it was still affordable for me. I used to fill it in and the payment never changed.

Good , they have all defaulted, don't do or pay anything , aside from informing them of your current address, and I think you did that already.

All that matters are priorities like rent and council tax

Did you contact your local councillor as I advised?

For the love of all things holy, stop paying them all. All that matters are your essentials, Mortgage, Food, C tax etc etc.  

Good news doesn't generate clicks

Nothing will happen, you have paid up. Even if you hadn't paid up then they would have attempted to come to an arrangement with you.

They always do that, don't go losing any sleep over this one  and certainly don't go paying them anything.  Just make sure you open all your mail, aside from that don't do anything. I'd say it's highly unlikely this goes anywhere.

On 21/05/2023 at 17:40, London1971 said:

The claim is going nowhere, all stopped for the price of a stamp.  As for selling on the debt, just keep opening your mail, but likely there won't ever be a CCA. If they come up with anything, run it by us.

Ding ding , You win!!

I had this many years ago, it was a random check on Child care tax credits. We were told to send in evidence of what we had been paying for child care. It was a simple matter of our local afterschool club printing off a statement.

Ring them and ask

Yup, they will just ask questions, give them the honest answer and they will adjust your Tax Credits accordingly if you have been paid too much. Just from what you are saying, the chances of it being 'under caution' are miniscule.  They might just want to see proof your child is in further education, as an example.  Come back to us when you have more info, but I can assure you nothing bad will happen.  Speaking from experience.

Also be aware that if your vehicle is on HP, although they can't take it, they can clamp it, with menaces.  

On 20/04/2023 at 13:00, London1971 said:

Unless of course you have a car parked outside or close by, they can clamp or take away.

 

That's why contacting your local council representative is always the quickest way to 

 

A: Get the bailiffs off the case

B: Come to an easy payment arrangement direct with the council

C; Remove Bailiff Fees

 

Often local councillors hate using bailiffs, they also have power over the council Revenue department, and can cancel or change a lot of things. 

You wasted your time speaking directly to Bristow & Suitor, this was always going to happen. The only interest they have is charging you fees. The advice I gave you a month ago gets you directly through to the only people who can take them off your case. 

This is quite literally a 5 minute email, to your local councillor and I recommend copying your elected head of council in also. Their contact details are freely available on Google.

I understand that maybe you ignored it, or it seemed like too much effort, but I assure you I have been in far higher arrears than you and know exactly how to deal with this situation.

Just a quick glance at your history on this thread, your income and credit card debt level, tells me that you should just stop paying and let everything default. otherwise this will go on for ever. Do not pay anyone another penny ever, and this will all be over in 6 and a bit years.  Stop wasting your time writing to ombudsmen, better spending it on finding a second income or better paid job.

As for full and final settlements, honestly, that is madness, it won't do anything to help. 

Just make sure to write to Lowell with your current address details, if you have moved since the debts were taken out. 

AS for the SAR, likely Studio aren't dodging it, it can take a while.

Not going to be anything to worry about.  Either you will owe them money which they will take off your current payments if you are still claiming or will give you an amount you need to repay.  You will be able to arrange a monthly amount to pay them back, that is manageable.

Is this for Tax Credits?

I've had a stack of these 'pre legal' assessments from Lowells over the years , none of them led anywhere. Clue is in the language used lots of 'coulds' and 'mays'.  Only Caveat is make sure you have informed them, in writing of your correct address if you have moved.

Addressing your major concern first, this debt has long since dropped off any Credit Agency file, and will have ZERO effect on your Credit Score / Rating, forever invisible to any Employer or Creditor. This cannot be changed by anybody.

The DCA's use wording that make them sound like Bailiffs, to scare people into paying even small sums that spin out the Statute Barred date to infinity. Imagine how much money they make from thousands of people sending in even a fiver per month!

As for the moral aspect, you're just a line on a spreadsheet brought for a few pence in the £ by the DCA from the Original Creditor, so don't let that give you sleepless nights.

I predict there is absolutely zero chance of them coming back with a CCA, after more than 12 years Just make sure your current address is on the CCA also and very likely no more payments for you !

The only other thing to add, is make sure whenever you move send the DCA confirmation of your new address in writing !

Excellent news, that together with the CCA makes it a lot less likely for any Claimform to be issued, in the short time remaining before it becomes Statute Barred.

The claim is going nowhere, all stopped for the price of a stamp.  As for selling on the debt, just keep opening your mail, but likely there won't ever be a CCA. If they come up with anything, run it by us.

Landmark sending statements to their current address does not correlate with them having the correct address on file.  That's why it's that important , that on Monday your sibling must write to Landmark with their current address, if it has changed since the loan was taken out. 

It will cost them a first class stamp but will protect against a potential whole world of credit trouble, that would make a 5 year old default seem like a walk in the park.

It's called a back door CCJ. All the statements and threat o grams come to your sibling, but that's just the address that Landmark found on the electoral register. The actual old address that Landmark have on file, is where the Claimform will go, completely unknown to your sibling, only to be discovered when a CCJ pops up 'by surprise', driving a 10 tonne truck through their credit for the next 6 years.

Now, back to the default. If it's a five year old one off, in isolation, it's really a Nothing Burger. Even if it turns out payments were not made, and by some miracle they change the default date back, it will probably take a year anyway.

Yes, Landmark were likely taking the mickey, and yes maybe it would be worthwhile if the default was a year old, but I think now, it's really not worth the effort.

Hi Challenging the date won't re start the Statute Barred Clock, but I don't think it's worth bothering, whatever happens it's statute barred in Aug '24.

I don't think there is any need to 'wait anything out either'. That default is now so old, no potential landlord or mortgage lender will even care.  A low credit score is likely totally unrelated to that.

You should also try and subscribe to multi agency credit file checkers, sometimes it's possible that something else is causing problems that isn't listed on Experian.  

Has your sibling moved house since the loan was taken out? If so it's extremely important that they write to Landmark with current address details.