Owe money to Portfolio Recovery? Read this before you pay or call back

If a letter or text from Portfolio Recovery has just landed and the debt feels unfamiliar, you are not alone. Portfolio Recovery is the consumer-facing brand of Portfolio Recovery Associates — the US-listed business (Nasdaq: PRAA) that operates in the UK as PRA Group. The two names refer to the same underlying business and the same legal entity structure. Letters may carry either branding.

Portfolio Recovery is a debt purchaser, not the original lender. They buy old, written-off accounts from banks, telecoms providers, mail-order catalogues, payday lenders and other consumer-credit firms, and pursue you for the balance. This guide covers what they can legally do under the FCA’s CONC rules, how to confirm the debt is genuinely yours, and the realistic options if you cannot pay it in full — including how an IVA can legally freeze action and write the debt off.

Who Portfolio Recovery are

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Portfolio Recovery Associates is one of the world’s largest debt-purchasing groups, listed on the Nasdaq. Its UK operation trades primarily as PRA Group UK Limited, headquartered in Kent. The group purchases bulk portfolios of consumer-credit accounts that the original lender has already given up on as bad debt. Typical sellers include high-street banks, credit-card issuers, telecoms providers, mail-order catalogues, payday lenders and former store-card programmes.

When the original lender sells the account, your details — name, last known address, the agreement, the balance — are transferred to Portfolio Recovery. Many people receive a Portfolio Recovery letter for a debt they assumed had been written off years ago. That’s a common situation, not an error.

Portfolio Recovery is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and must follow the FCA’s Consumer Credit Sourcebook (CONC). They are also bound by the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and are members of the Credit Services Association, the trade body for the UK debt-collection industry.

What Portfolio Recovery can and cannot legally do

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Portfolio Recovery are debt collectors, not bailiffs. They can:

• Write to you, including by post, email and SMS
• Phone you on numbers held by the original creditor
• Apply to a county court for a CCJ if they believe you owe the debt
• After a CCJ, apply for an attachment of earnings, charging order on a property, or instruct a High Court Enforcement Officer
• Sell the debt on to another debt purchaser if they choose

What they cannot do without a court order:

• Force entry to your home
• Take goods, including from your driveway
• Threaten arrest — the debt is civil, not criminal
• Continue contacting you after a written request that they stop
• Add fees that aren’t agreed in the original credit agreement

If a Portfolio Recovery representative ever turns up at your door, they are field agents — not bailiffs — and you have no legal obligation to speak to them, let them in, or sign anything. Politely ask them to leave and follow up in writing.

Step 1 — confirm the debt is actually yours

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Before paying anything, the single most useful action is a CCA request. Under sections 77/78 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, you have the right to request a copy of the original signed credit agreement. Send it in writing, enclose the £1 statutory fee, and keep proof of postage:

Dear Portfolio Recovery,

Re: Account [reference], in the name of [your name]

Under sections 77/78 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 I formally request a true copy of the original credit agreement under which this debt arose, together with the statement of account showing the assignment of debt and the current balance.

I enclose the £1 statutory fee. The £1 fee is in respect of the request only and is not an admission of debt or an offer to pay any amount.

Portfolio Recovery have 12 working days plus a further 30 calendar days to respond. While they are unable to comply, the debt is legally unenforceable — they cannot lawfully use court action against you. Many old or bulk-purchased debts cannot be backed by the original signed agreement, and a successful CCA request often ends the matter.

Step 2 — check whether the debt is statute-barred

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Most consumer debts in England and Wales become statute-barred under the Limitation Act 1980 once six years have passed since you last made a payment or acknowledged the debt in writing — provided no court proceedings were started in that window. Statute-barred debt cannot be enforced through the courts, although it does still legally exist.

If the last payment or written acknowledgement was more than six years ago and there has been no CCJ, write to Portfolio Recovery asking them to confirm the debt is statute-barred and to remove their contact. Do not pay anything — even a small “good-faith” amount — before checking the dates. A single payment resets the limitation clock. In Scotland the period is five years, and once a debt is “prescribed” it ceases to exist legally rather than just being unenforceable.

How Portfolio Recovery tend to pursue accounts

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Portfolio Recovery’s UK operation runs on portfolio efficiency. They contact in bulk, settle in bulk, and litigate the small minority of accounts where it’s cost-effective. In practice that means:

• Their first letters often offer a settlement discount of 20–40% off the balance for a one-off payment. Counter in writing — their pricing model assumes negotiation.
• They issue a high volume of CCJ claims through the Northampton county court bulk centre. If a claim form arrives, respond before the deadline printed on it. Even a holding acknowledgement of service buys you 28 days.
• After a CCJ, typical enforcement is attachment of earnings against employed debtors, or an application for a charging order on a homeowner’s property — rather than escalating directly to High Court Enforcement.
• Cases sometimes pass to a solicitors firm for the litigation step. A solicitors’ letter usually means a Portfolio Recovery debt has moved one step closer to court.

Step 3 — pay, partially pay, or use a formal solution

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If the debt is genuinely yours, recently incurred and within the limitation period, the question is what you can realistically afford:

• Pay in full with a written discount agreement where possible
• Affordable instalment plan — under CONC they must consider what you can genuinely afford after essentials, not what they would prefer
• Debt Management Plan (DMP) — a single monthly payment distributed across all unsecured debts; no write-off, but the chasing stops
• IVA if you owe £5,000+ in total unsecured debt across two or more creditors — the IVA legally stops Portfolio Recovery and writes off the unpaid balance at the end of the term
• Debt Relief Order if total debt is under £50,000 and your spare income is very low — writes the debt off entirely after 12 months
• Bankruptcy where there is no realistic capacity to pay

Always confirm any agreement reached in writing, and never give bank details over the phone unless you are confident the call is legitimate.

What happens if you ignore Portfolio Recovery

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The escalation track is fast and standard:

1. Letter cycle — settlement offers, then escalation, then a letter before claim
2. County court claim form through the Northampton bulk centre — 14 days to acknowledge service, 28 to file a defence
3. Default CCJ — entered automatically if you don’t respond within 14 days
4. Enforcement — attachment of earnings, charging order, or High Court enforcement on the CCJ

A default CCJ stays on your credit file for six years and makes future borrowing significantly harder. The window of maximum leverage is the 14 days after the claim form arrives.

Common pitfalls

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• Don’t ignore CCJ paperwork — most Portfolio Recovery wins are by default
• Don’t make a token “goodwill” payment before checking dates and validity — it can reset the statute-barred clock
• Don’t ring numbers from a text without verifying the line through Portfolio Recovery’s official channels — phishing using their brand is common
• Don’t agree to a payment plan you can’t afford — they will increase pressure if you default
• Don’t assume Portfolio Recovery and PRA Group are different businesses — they are not, and offers given to one apply to the other

Frequently asked questions

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Are Portfolio Recovery the same as PRA Group? Yes — same parent company, same UK operation. The branding is interchangeable.

Are they bailiffs? No. Debt purchasers and collectors. They cannot force entry or take goods.

Can they take me to court? Yes. If the debt is in the limitation period and unpaid, they can apply for a CCJ.

Will an IVA include the debt? Yes — unsecured debt goes into an IVA on the same basis as a credit card or personal loan.

Related guides

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• PRA Group — same business, different brand surface
• Lowell Financial — UK’s largest debt purchaser
• Cabot Financial — major debt purchaser
• How long can I be chased for a debt?
• Can debt be written off?
• How do I apply for an IVA?