Persistent Debt occurs when you have been paying minimum payments for a prolonged period of time and you have only been repaying interest and charges as opposed to the actual original balance of the account.
If or when this occurs, your creditor should contact you to encourage you to clear your debt so that that it is gone within 18 months. If this is not possible, then you will often be contacted as follows:
After 27 Months
You will be contacted again by your creditor, encouraging you to deal with the debt.
After 36 Months
If your persistent debt remains, then your creditor should offer you a method of paying the debt within three to four years. This could be a payment plan that is affordable or a loan or credit card. If these options aren’t suitable to your circumstances, then your creditor may consider ceasing any interest or charges on your account.
At this stage, your credit history will almost certainly have been negatively affected.