Ive asked PRA Group ( debt reclaim) to send documents of

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1. I am very sorry to read of the above. May I clarify which company precisely has registered a default against your credit file please? A debt collector would not have the right to do so and as such, I assume the default has been registered by the original credit provider?
2. on what basis broadly do you dispute the debt is owed?

1. thank you. Do you even know what the debt relates to? ie is it claimed to be an overdraft, or loan for example?
2. from what you say, the default has likely been registered by Barclays. Is that correct?
3. Is the date of the default Oct 2017?

thank you. Finally, from what you say, you ceased your relationship with Barclays in or around 2012 is that correct? In any event, can you confidently say that you have not acknowledged the alleged debt to Barclays or any third-party debt collector nor made any payments towards the alleged debt within the last six years?

thank you. From our point of view of liability of the debt, it is important that you do not acknowledge the debt nor make any payments towards the debt as I'm sure you would not in any event. This is because that if the debt has not been claimed against you in court within six years of you doing either of the above, it will become stale under the limitation act and should not be able to be claimed. If you carry out either of the above, then this will reset the 6 year clock making the debt recoverable again potentially.

there is a separate matter of the default which is determined on different grounds. When you apply for an overdraft or indeed a number of other credit products, you give permission to the lender in most cases to record entries in relation to the performance of the debt against your credit file including registering a default if you default on the credit product. As such, if you did obtain an overdraft and breach the terms-I do not suggest you did-then it is likely that the lender would have a right to register the default in question.

as such, it would be necessary to write to the organisation that registered the default in order to ask them for evidence of the original debt and evidence of your agreement to allow them record entries against your credit file and finally, for evidence that you are in default of your agreement with the organisation. This can be raised in the form of a formal complaint which the bank must respond to within eight weeks.

If they are not able to evidence the above, then it follows that they must remove the default. If they can, then the course you will need to consider the evidence they provide and it may be that if they can evidence all of the above, that the default will stand there it will automatically drop off your credit file after six years.

If you are not satisfied with the response of the bank or they do not respond within eight weeks, you can escalate your complaint to the financial ombudsman for independent determination:

https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumers/how-to-complain

as above, the limitation act is likely to apply in respect of the debt itself but the default notice is a separate matter which would need to be resolved as discussed above

it is not necessary for a debt to be acknowledged by a debtor for a default to be registered. If that were so, then very few defaults would ever be possible. Plainly it is not possible for a default to be registered against a debt that does not exist but the lender in this case would no doubt assert that the debt does exist. As above, the way in which you go about challenging a default is precisely as you suggest to put the creditor to proof on the above points one of which is to show that the debt was properly incurred by you in the first place. If it was not, then through the above dispute process, the default will have to be removed and if it is referred to the ombudsman, you can also claim compensation for loss and inconvenience if you are able to show the default should not have been registered

I'm glad the above answers all your questions for now. If you have any follow up questions please revert to me.