Very old (alleged) debt

[swansea v6]

I have just received an email from a debt collection agency pursuing me for an alleged debt back in 2006 from when I was a student. It is for an unpaid British gas bill (only £50) but I moved out of the house the year before? And all bills were settled. Can I just email them back saying do one? Or would this appear on my credit file? Or is the best thing just to ignore and not get into a conversation with them?

[ikarl]

Call Bgas and check but pretty sure the statute of limitations might means it's expired debt

[Soov535]

Tell them to poke it.

[swansea v6]

That's the thing I did ring British gas and they had no record of any outstanding debt from when I lived there (it was a shared house). So guess just ignore??

[MYOB]

swansea v6 said:

I have just received an email from a debt collection agency

It's spam - did you click open an attachment or link? If so, run a virus check.

[fido]

swansea v6 said:

So guess just ignore??

Yes.

[Simpo Two]

I thought the time limit was 6 years. If it has the hosue address in it I doubt it's spam.

[Mojooo]

6 years from the cause of action - i.e the day the bil lwas overdue

that means u cannot be taken to court after 6 years but they can still ask for the money

i wouldnt be surprised if BG have deleted their records but the debt was sold on - without knowing the ins and outs they may have been lookign for you for ages and just foudn you - or it may have been held dormant for ages

but yea absiclaly u can ignore it or just tell them direct you aint payign which might stop them contatcing you.

[swansea v6]

No link to click on, just a well written email offering me payment terms

[PurpleMoonlight]

Think about it, where would they get your email address from?

It's a scam.

[MYOB]

swansea v6 said:

No link to click on, just a well written email offering me payment terms

I just don't think they would have emailed you. Anything official normally comes by means of a formal letter through the post or hand delivered.

[anonymous-user]

What does google say about the debt collection agency? Genuine?/ landline you can call them on?