Advice needed on how to deal with debts going forward

[PlanB]

this has cost well over 15k (Hence the debts below)

Current Bal Date Taken Out Defaulted
Capital One - £2,337 - Feb 12 - July 17
MBNA - £10,614 - May 15 - March 18
Barclays - £7,404 - Sept 12 - April 18
Halifax - £2,690 - Oct 14 - June 18
Aqua - £4,892 - Sept 12 - July 17
Tesco Loan - £6,955 - May 16 - July 17

Tesco CC - I cant find details on this either on Credit Karma or Clear score. But I think its about 3k.

Since 2018 I have been making token payments of £1 a month to Capital 1, and Tesco X2 for the CC and Loan.

I am still living in Cyprus. All of the lenders are aware of this.

. . . . advice on how to proceed firstly with Intrum, and going forward as a whole. Will the other debts go off the credit file in 3 or so years? Or are they likely to all sell them on like tesco?

I think you need to form an overall strategy for these seven debts rather than just focus on Intrum because they have been calling your mobile which is understandably unsettling for you.

All seven debts were defaulted in 2017/18 and only one has been assigned to a debt purchaser so far (at least as far as you are aware), while the others remain with the original creditors.

Gradually the other six will probably be assigned to debt purchasers who will start to call you relentlessly so consider whether a change of mobile number might be useful, or get a dual SIM card handset so you can keep one number for the 'pursuers' and the other for friends and family and all things nice

You've posted that you have been making £1 token payments to the Tesco credit card (and two other debts) since 2018, so are you still paying Tesco the £1 by standing order from your UK bank account or has that stopped?

You're also saying the balance showing for Intrum on your CRA file seems to be less than you thought it should be, which could be for various reasons such as Tesco forwarding your £1 token payments to them. That's just a wild guess until you receive anything tangible from Intrum.

If everything is quiet with those six original creditors then I would think about the timing of sending CCA Requests especially since you may be only overseas for a few more months.

Royal Mail have an International Redirection Service but if you plan to return to the UK soon that may not be necessary if Mum will carry on forwarding any correspondence to you.

Royal Mail Redirect International Service > https://www.royalmail.com/sites/defa...march-2019.pdf

Di

[a718671076]

Thanks so much for all of the help! I should be getting my post delivered tomorrow, so I'll update the thread with some more info then.

[PlanB]

I should be getting my post delivered tomorrow, so I'll update the thread with some more info then.

Good news about your post delivery arriving tomorrow - perhaps the mystery of which debt Intrum have been calling about will now be solved.

The best way to manage your Diary is you add an update to the specific debt in your original post #14 on this thread.

Then make a new post alerting forum members to your 'news' ideally re-quoting your original (updated) debt history so we can see the history as things evolve.

Then suggestions can be made on what your next step might be, which more often than not will be 'nothing' unless it's from solicitors.

There are forum template letters to send if needed for such things as harassment or threat of a doorstep visit and so on, but these probably won't be suggested or advisable until or unless you return to the UK in the coming months. Members will guide you each step of the way based on our personal experiences.

Each debt will be different depending on how things unfold, and what has been going on since 2016 when you left the country.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend in the sun

Di

[a718671076]

Hi All!

I finally got my post through. As expected there was a letter from Intrum, and in the same envelope was the letter from Tesco, its worth noting the address on the Tesco letter was my Cyprus address, but on Intrum it was my mums address, also the dates are bizarre the Tesco one from 30/1/20 and Intrum 30/6/21. I have notidea why they decided to wait 18 months to get in contact with me.

I'll update my debt diary with the development, but what is the next step?

Thanks

[Colin G Quinn]

Hi,

As an immediate observation, which may become important later, I note the date of the alleged assignment is contradicted.

Are these the only letters received in respect of the matter?

You may want to consider removing the photo's and reposting. Just in case you are identified from the quoted balance.

[Colin G Quinn]

I'm also noting the dates of the correspondence. Were these received in one envelope or two?

[PlanB]

I finally got my post through. As expected there was a letter from Intrum, adn in the same envelope was the letter from Tesco, its worth noting the address on the Tesco letter was my Cyprus address, but on Intrum it was my mums address, also the dates are bizarre the Tesco one from 30/1/20 and Intrum 30/6/21. I have notidea why they decided to wait 18 months to get in contact with me.

I'll update my debt diary with the development, but what is the next step?

It seems my guess that Tesco were forwarding your payments to Intrum was correct. That could also explain why the balance is different in the two letters if Tesco were slow to forward the money which they admit was being transferred, as does Intrum.

Those are very mild letters so you can safely ignore them., but keep them for your records.

The best part is that you say Tesco's letter states your address in Cyprus while Intrum's letter states your Mum's address in the same envelope (which is why she got them not you)

Did your Mum send you the envelope too, and if so you need to keep that in your file with those two letters.

Was there also post/letters from anyone else about your other debts which had been sent to your Mum's address?

Di

[a718671076]

Here are the pictures posted again with the balanced removed. These were received in one envelope. These are the only letters I've received regarding the Tesco CC in over 2 years!

[Joanna Connolly]

I deleted the photos as personal data could identify you. Ensure it is redacted (blacked out) if you repost.

[Colin G Quinn]

Hi,

Sorry, just to clarify, is that in one envelope from your mother, or one original envelope that they would have been sent out in to your mum's address by the creditor?

[Colin G Quinn]

Hi again,

I've just noticed the Intrum letter discloses the Intrum reference number in the paragraph entitled 'You don't need to call us'. You need to redact that.

Also, I'd redact the letter coding down the right hand side of the letters.

I noticed you were offline, so we have deleted the photos, just in case they were seen in the meantime.

[PlanB]

These are the only letters I've received regarding the Tesco CC in over 2 years!

Maybe that's because you say that you informed Tesco that you had relocated to Cyprus at the time of your relocation (giving them your Cyprus address details?) which is possibly evidenced by 'Tesco' in that quasi Notice of Assignment which you say refers to your Cyprus address which you have just received via your mother's address in the UK in an envelope together with a possible Notice of Assignment from Intrum dated December 2020 i.e seven months after the event .

If you follow my logic

And/or has your Mum forwarded other earlier correspondence from Tesco in the four years since you relocated (2016 according to you) which was also 'addressed' to your Cyprus home but posted to your Mum's home since you've also said that you still appear on the Electoral Roll at her address?

Di

[a718671076]

Thanks for the help as always

Yes its odd Tesco state it was taken over on the 29th of Jan 2020 and Intrum the 16th. There is an £17 difference in balance between the 2 letters so this seems about right with there being 18 months between them and me paying £1 a month, it must be that tesco are informing Intrum of the payments I have been making.
Seeing as I am already making token payments to Tesco, should I engage with them and attempt to set up the same repayment plan? Or just keep it going to tesco as I have to minimise contact. I have heard they are unable to try to obtain CCJs if payments are being made, or is that incorrect?

No letters from any of the other debts fortunately. To clarify the 2 letters I put online were in the same envelope from Intrum (despite the 18 month gap in dates). Also you can tell they have been printed on different paper.

I never received the original letter (from tesco with my Cy address). I must say though the post is extremely unreliable here, I've had a lot of stuff go missing, and now if I want to make sure I receive it, I pay for UPS (as I did with these letters). As far as I am aware none of the other debts have sent out letters, nor have they been passed onto 3rd parties.

[Warwick65]

Hi
Sadly even if you are making payments they can issue a claim against you. I believe in Santander v Mayhew, the defendant was making regular payments.Of course Santander lived to regret that decision :-) However, and who knows, if you have no assets or income and are making token payments, they might think what is the point in taking legal action if a court would only order the same amount. That is just an opinion and one of the reasons I believe, out of all my creditors, only one ever took me to court. As Victoria Wood said 'A pot to p**s in, I did not have'

[Colin G Quinn]

Hi,

It would be a waste of your time engaging with Tesco, as they will only say they have no interest in the matter owing to the alleged (and I stress the word alleged) assignment. Are you making payments direct to Tesco or via Stepchange or another debt advisor etc?

A Claim can still be issued regardless of whether you are making payments and regardless of who to. A creditor's right to issue a Claim arises after they have served you with a compliant Default Notice, and after the deadline for payment of the arrears demanded under the Default Notice passes, absent payment of the said arrears. Beyond that point they have 6 years to issue.

The issue of a Default Notice isn't really something you want to get into at this stage. Service and expiry of a compliant Default Notice is an essential part of any Claim, as opposed to any Defence of yours. In other words, its for the creditor to prove without doubt.

The two letters, dated so drastically differently, being placed in one envelope is curious to say the least. It may be that there has been a prior alleged assigned to the alleged assignment to Intrum.

In any event, there is nothing to worry about in terms of a Claim at this stage. Service of a Notice of Assignment (alleged) is the first step in their attempts to coax you into paying them. I think I highlighted on a different thread recently that Intrum, generally in the cases in which I am instructed, tend to have a quite protracted pre-action (pre-Claim) process.

You will likely continue to have them write to your mum's address numerous times over the next few months. They will not be in any rush to issue, as every time you make a payment the 6 year period for them to issue a Claim is continually extended.

The decision you need to make is whether you admit any liability to Intrum absent any evidence of, amongst many other things, the alleged assignment. That will ultimately determine whether or not you want to carry on making payments. I cannot advise you on that issue, it is a matter of personal preference. I can only advise you of the likely outcomes of either continuing to make payments, or if payments were to cease.

[PlanB]

Seeing as I am already making token payments to Tesco, should I engage with them and attempt to set up the same repayment plan? Or just keep it going to tesco as I have to minimise contact.

I saw both of your letters and it seems Intrum is happy to let you carry on making a £1 token payment so I doubt they'll 'go legal' as long as that arrangement continues.

The decision you need to make is whether:

(a) you carry on paying Tesco who might carry on forwarding the £1 to Intrum, which it seems they've been doing despite the 'assignment' over eighteen months ago. Their letter made that clear (that they've been forwarding your payment).

(b) or do you 'out' yourself to Intrum and make the payments direct using their online portal (as referred to in that letter) without the need for any human contact by phone or letter.

(c) and/or do your make Intrum aware that you are currently living in Cyprus, which is a decision I can't make for you since I have only seen limited information.

You've said that you are on the Electoral Roll at your Mum's place which is something that is refreshed every year (at least my Local Authority send me an update form/online confirmation). If your Electoral Roll status is showing on your CRA file then Intrum might be forgiven for assuming you are in the UK at that address which is why they sent the correspondence there. Especially since the Tesco 'assignment' letter (with the Cyprus address on it) is so old, Intrum might think you've moved back to the UK from Cyprus in the meantime.

This debt won't become Statute Barred for another six years after your last payment. All of your debts have been Defaulted in 2017/2018 so they will fall off your CRA file six years from those dates (the whole account history vanishes).

You've said you will be returning to the UK in the coming months when you will need to make a new decision of what to tell to whom and when. That might be the time to send the CCA Requests as and when people catch up with you (you're not making token payments to all of them are you?) .

While you mull over the pros and cons of the long term situation, consider whether paying £1 per month is a small price to pay for the peace and quiet because SB status is six years away.

Finally, you've proved your mail redirection is working using UPS so why not wait to see what Intrum send next.

Have the phone calls to your mobile stopped?

Di