Intrum: what a letter means and what to do

A letter from Intrum is not a court document. The first thing to work out is whether Intrum owns your debt or is collecting it for someone else, because that decides who you deal with. Then check the debt is yours and the balance is right. You have time to ask questions and get free advice. This guide covers England and Wales, with a note for Scotland.

Who are Intrum, and why are they contacting you?

Letters usually come from Intrum UK Limited, company number 03752940, incorporated in 1999 and active, with its registered office in Reigate, Surrey. It has been authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority since 15 April 2016, firm reference number 718918. Its permissions include debt collecting, debt administration and exercising a lender’s rights under regulated credit agreements, and it cannot hold client money.

Companies House shows Intrum UK Limited is controlled by Intrum AB, a Swedish public company, which has been recorded as its direct owner since 22 May 2025. Intrum says it follows the Credit Services Association code of practice.

Intrum Justitia, 1st Credit and Capquest

You may have older letters with different names. On 1 March 2018 the UK company 1st Credit Limited changed its name to Intrum UK Limited, and the company then called Intrum Justitia Limited changed its name to Intrum UK 2 Limited. A debt first chased by 1st Credit or Intrum Justitia may now be with Intrum UK.

Capquest is also part of the Intrum group. Companies House shows Intrum UK Group Limited took control of Capquest Group Limited on 31 May 2023. If your letter is from Capquest, see our guide to Capquest and Arrow Global. Intrum also owns a mortgage business, Intrum Mortgages UK Finance Limited, formerly Mars Capital Finance, which Intrum says rebranded in September 2024.

Has Intrum bought your debt, or is it collecting for someone else?

Intrum does both. It says it buys unpaid loan, credit card, store card and other debts from banks, card companies, retailers and utility and telecoms providers, and also collects debts for other lenders and businesses. Its letter should say whether it is collecting for a client or for itself.

When a debt is sold, the sale only takes full legal effect once you are told in writing, usually by a notice of assignment. Intrum says that once it buys your account, the money is owed to Intrum instead of the original lender. For a regulated credit agreement, the new owner counts as the creditor, so your Consumer Credit Act rights apply against it.

Is the debt yours, and is the amount right?

Check before you pay or admit anything.

1. Compare the letter with your records: the original company, account number, your address at the time and the balance.
2. Ask Intrum in writing whether it owns the debt or is collecting for a client, and for the original creditor, the account number, the default date and a breakdown of the balance. Firms must give you information on the arrears and the balance. See how to ask a creditor to prove a debt.
3. For a regulated credit agreement, ask the creditor that owns the debt for a copy of the agreement and a statement, with a £1 fee. It has 12 working days to reply and cannot enforce the agreement while it fails to do so.
4. Check your credit file. Intrum says it reports to Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.
5. If the debt is old, check whether it could be statute-barred. In England and Wales most debts cannot be recovered through the courts once 6 years have passed from when the creditor could first sue, but a payment or signed written acknowledgement before then restarts the clock.

If you do not recognise the debt, Intrum says you should contact it and it will investigate. Put your dispute in writing with your reasons. For a credit debt, where there are valid grounds, or what appear to be, the firm must suspend collection, investigate and tell you the outcome. It must not keep pursuing someone it believes may not owe the money, or keep demanding payment once you say a debt is statute-barred.

What will show on your credit file?

Intrum says a default stays on your credit file for 6 years from the original default date. When you clear a defaulted account in full it is marked “fully satisfied”, and after a reduced settlement “partially satisfied”, both with a £0 balance. It also says you may see two entries, because the original creditor can keep its entry after selling an account and Intrum must register the account once it owns it. Our guide to how long a default stays on your credit file explains more.

What can Intrum do, and what can it not do?

These limits come from the FCA’s CONC 7 rules for credit debts. For a debt that was never credit, such as a utility bill, the FCA rules may not apply, although harassing someone with demands designed to cause alarm, distress or humiliation, or falsely claiming official authority, can still be a criminal offence.

What should you do at each stage?

When the first letter arrives

Work out who owns the debt, check the details and reply in writing if anything is wrong. If you are getting debt advice, tell Intrum: a firm told that you, or an adviser, are working out a repayment plan must pause active collection for a reasonable period. Intrum says that if you cannot afford to pay anything it will not ask you to pay and will help you get free money advice.

If you can pay something

Budget first so priority bills such as rent or mortgage, council tax and energy come first. The firm must consider a reasonable offer and explain clearly if it refuses. Get any settlement agreed in writing before you pay.

If you get a Letter before Claim

Intrum says a Letter before Claim warns that court proceedings will be issued if you do not respond, and asks you to return the reply form and Standard Financial Statement enclosed with it. In England and Wales you have 30 days from the date on the letter to reply. If you say you are getting debt advice, the creditor should not start court action until at least 30 days after it receives your reply form, and not while you keep to an agreed plan.

If a court claim form arrives

Respond by the date on it, using the response pack. You can pay, admit the debt and ask to pay by instalments, or defend all or part of it, and if you are not paying in full you can ask for another 14 days. Intrum says that if there is no response, its solicitors will ask the court for a county court judgment for the debt plus court fees and fixed solicitors’ costs.

A county court judgment is removed from the register if you pay it in full within one calendar month; otherwise it stays for 6 years from the judgment date, marked satisfied once paid. Intrum lists an attachment of earnings order, a warrant of control (county court bailiffs) and a charging order on property as enforcement options. Judgments on regulated consumer credit agreements can only be enforced in the County Court.

If you live in Scotland

Intrum says the process in Scotland is different: if you do not respond to a Letter before Claim, a claim goes to the Sheriff Court, which can grant a decree; after that a sheriff officer may serve a charge for payment, and enforcement can include an earnings arrestment or an inhibition over property. See what sheriff officers can do.

How do debt solutions affect Intrum?

• Breathing Space: creditors cannot contact you about included debts, add interest or charges, or take enforcement action, for up to 60 days (England and Wales only).
• A debt management plan: informal, so creditors do not have to agree, freeze interest or stop action. Intrum says it has a team that deals with debt management companies.
• An IVA: a legally binding agreement under the Insolvency Act 1986. Creditors bound by it cannot take further action to recover the debts included in it. Protocol IVAs usually last 5 or 6 years, fees come out of your payments, and it usually stays on your credit file for 6 years from the start. See does an IVA stop debt collectors?
• A debt relief order: for debts under £50,000, less than £75 a month spare, assets under £2,000 and a vehicle worth less than £4,000.
• Bankruptcy: creditors owed debts in the bankruptcy have no remedy against your property or you personally for those debts.

Each has costs and long-term effects, and none suits everyone. The debt solutions comparison sets them side by side. IVAs, debt relief orders and Breathing Space are not available in Scotland.

How do you complain about Intrum?

1. Complain to Intrum first. It has a complaint form on its website, or you can use the details on your letter. Say what happened, with dates, and what you want done.
2. For a credit debt, if you are unhappy with the final response, or 8 weeks have passed, you can go to the Financial Ombudsman Service. You normally have 6 months from the final response.
3. If Intrum is collecting for a client, you can complain to the client as well.

Our guide to dealing with debt collectors explains your wider rights.

Is this letter really from Intrum?

• A genuine letter names Intrum UK, gives a reference number and says whether Intrum is collecting for a client or for itself.
• Use the contact details on your letter, Intrum’s official UK website or the FCA register (firm reference number 718918), not a number or link in an unexpected message.
• If unsure, ask the original company, using details you already trust, whether it sold or passed your account to Intrum.
• Be wary of anyone who rushes you to pay into an account you do not recognise.

What to do next

1. Find out whether Intrum owns the debt or is collecting for a client, and check the details.
2. Ask in writing for anything missing, and dispute anything that is wrong.
3. Get free, impartial debt advice from MoneyHelper, StepChange, Citizens Advice or National Debtline. See where to get free debt advice.
4. If a Letter before Claim or court claim arrives, reply by the deadline.