They said this… · Credit & debt

“The debt was sold, so the original lender has no responsibility for anything that happened before the sale”

Generally incorrect

Assignment can change who owns or collects the debt, but it does not rewrite the historical conduct or necessarily remove complaint responsibility for the original firm’s acts.

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Why this answer

What actually matters

  • Identify whether the complaint concerns origination, affordability, reporting, collection or current balance ownership.
  • The assignee may control current collection while the original lender remains relevant to earlier conduct.
  • Credit-file responsibilities can also involve more than one organisation.

What you could say

Keep the response tied to the actual rule.

Evidence

What to have beside you

  • Agreement, statements and full account history
  • Payment records and any repayment arrangement
  • Complaint correspondence and collection letters
  • Any statutory notice relied on by the creditor

If they still refuse

Move the dispute forward.

  1. Put a genuinely disputed balance or process issue to the creditor with precise reasons.
  2. For regulated financial firms, the Financial Ombudsman Service may be an individual-redress route after the complaint stage.
  3. Keep data-accuracy and debt-enforcement issues conceptually separate; different rules may apply.

Read the full rules

Go deeper before escalating.

Primary guideRead the detailed ConsumerWise guidance.Disputed balancesRead the full guide.Consumer Credit ActRead the full guide.Debt collectionRead the full guide.