Statute barred and going to court...

LostMeWay · 18 September 2017 at 9:40PM

Evening all, hope this is in the correct place.

I'll try and keep it simple.

Got myself into about £20K of debt about 10 years ago. Have worked my !!! off and have more or less paid the most of it off.

However, I had a loan from Welcome Finance from about Feb 2008 (according to recent court papers I received) which has recently surfaced. Think the loan was originally for £6K but according to the recent court papers the outstanding amount is/was now £2047.65

Once I defaulted on the loan from Welcome it was passed to a few collection agencies. I remember making regular payments to one of them but then for one reason or another I ceased payments. Not big or clever I know.

My first question is, is the statute barred 6 year time frame from when I made the last payment to Welcome Finance, when I defaulted with Welcome Finance or when I made the last payment to whatever debt collection company Welcome sold it to? Think I know the answer hence my second question.

Received court papers from Shoosmith solicitors working on behalf of PRA Group who I assume have bought the Welcome debt from somewhere or someone.

I have 28 days to respond to either dispute, counter claim or accept liability.

The court papers are saying the amount they INTEND to apply to the small claims court is £2675.

£2047 plus £517 interest and £110 court fees. So a total of £2675

If the debt is not statute barred which I don't think it will be, is my best plan of action to get in contact via writing to Shoosmiths or the PRA Group and try and negotiate a reduced full and final settlement figure BEFORE sending back 'acceptance of liability' to the court. Or should I accept the debt to the court then try and negotiate a reduced full and final settlement.

Any help or advice much appreciated. Thanks for reading.

poppasmurf_bewdley · 18 September 2017 at 10:10PM

It's statute barred if the time since you last paid or acknowledged the account was six years ago or more. The date of the default does not matter.

However, some DCA's have been known to invent phantom payments of £1 or some such small amount. Hopefully, if you have bank statements you will be able to show you have made no payments if they do take it to court.

However, if you confront the DCA with the fact it's statute barred, it's unlikely to go to court.

sourcrates · 18 September 2017 at 11:41PM

If it's not statute barred, you can contact the creditor and make a settlement offer.

They will probably stop the action if you do so.

LostMeWay · 19 September 2017 at 6:45AM

So is a payment to the external debt collection agency who have purchased the Welcome Finance debt, an inadvertent acknowledgement of the debt?

I know I have definitely made payment to an external debt collection agency (however not the PRA Group who currently have the debt) within the last 6 years. However I don't know how easy or hard this would be for the current solicitors/PRA Group to prove?

LostMeWay · 19 September 2017 at 6:48AM

Just to clarify I do hope to pay the debt off in some way or another. However if it's statute barred it just gives me a little breathing space. Whereas if it's still a legally enforceable debt then time is not on my side....

fatbelly · 19 September 2017 at 7:38AM

Why don't you just assert it's statute barred and see what happens?

As you say, the payment history often gets murky and the debt buyers may only know the default date which, although not entirely relevant, is more than 6 years ago.

You refer to these as court papers. If they are an actual court claim you have 14 days from service (14 + 5 days) from issue to do something.

If it's just a threatening letter, all the more reason to say 'it's statute barred' and see what argument they bring forward.

StopIt · 19 September 2017 at 8:12AM

LostMeWay wrote: »

So is a payment to the external debt collection agency who have purchased the Welcome Finance debt, an inadvertent acknowledgement of the debt?

I know I have definitely made payment to an external debt collection agency (however not the PRA Group who currently have the debt) within the last 6 years. However I don't know how easy or hard this would be for the current solicitors/PRA Group to prove?

Yes.

Any payments to a debt, whether to the original creditor, or to a DCA after a debt is sold is acknowledgement of the debt and resets the 6 year statute bar.

However, no harm in saying you think it is statute barred as it is down to the DCA to prove that it isn't. If they come back with evidence that it isn't, then you can offer a settlement.

LostMeWay · 19 September 2017 at 9:06AM

Morning. Thanks the information.

Definitely all above board papers from the court in which I have to respond that I'm either disputing the debt, counter claiming the debt or accepting liability of the debt.

So do I say I'm disputing the debt to the court on the grounds I think it's statute barred? Is there a fee for this? Will I have to attend court?

Or do I dispute that I think the debt is statute barred direct to the solicitors/debt collecting agency? But surely I still have to send something back to the court as it's mentioned numerous times that I have to dispute, counter claim or accept liability but that I shouldn't ignore the letter.

StopIt · 19 September 2017 at 9:44AM

LostMeWay wrote: »

Morning. Thanks the information.

Definitely all above board papers from the court in which I have to respond that I'm either disputing the debt, counter claiming the debt or accepting liability of the debt.

So do I say I'm disputing the debt to the court on the grounds I think it's statute barred? Is there a fee for this? Will I have to attend court?

Or do I dispute that I think the debt is statute barred direct to the solicitors/debt collecting agency? But surely I still have to send something back to the court as it's mentioned numerous times that I have to dispute, counter claim or accept liability but that I shouldn't ignore the letter.

The defence has to go to the court. The DCA/Solicitor will respond to that defence. If they have evidence that it isn't statute barred it'll be put to you and you'll be able to attend court if you wish, or withdraw the defence and make an offer to get them to stop proceedings. If they don't accept they'll push the CCJ through and you'll have to pay within 30 days of judgement to avoid the CCJ being put on your credit files.

You'll have to pay court costs if you lose the case, but that's part of the claim.

LostMeWay · 19 September 2017 at 10:22AM

Thank you so much! Really appreciate that being made so simple to understand.

So basically 'dispute the debt' to the court that it is statute barred. They will tell Shoosmiths/PRA Group this is the case.

Shoosmiths/PRA Group would then have to prove to me (or the court?) that the debt isn't statute barred before proceeding with any further court action?
They obviously only check if it's statute barred if requested by the respondent?

If they prove it isn't statute barred and is still legal to collect, I can then try and hopefully negotiate with the Shoosmiths/PRA direct on some arrangement before they would actually take the next step via the legal system? Would this also mean I wouldn't have to go to court and my credit rating would not be effected if I sorted something out direct at this point?

Sorry for all the questions. Only just got my credit rating up so don't want to damage it.

StopIt · 19 September 2017 at 10:33AM

LostMeWay wrote: »

Thank you so much! Really appreciate that being made so simple to understand.

So basically 'dispute the debt' to the court that it is statute barred. They will tell Shoosmiths/PRA Group this is the case. That is correct.

Shoosmiths/PRA Group would then have to prove to me (or the court?) that the debt isn't statute barred before proceeding with any further court action?
They obviously only check if it's statute barred if requested by the respondent? Again, correct. Normally these cases are not challenged for many reasons, the main one being people sticking their heads in the sand. A judgement by default means that the case is taken in good faith, but no checks are made to challenge this. It is up to the debtor to challenge the debt, otherwise you WILL get a CCJ for a statute barred debt. For others who may see this thread, it is good practice to let a creditor know when a debt is statue barred before a legal claim is issued. If they admit this, they cannot launch legal action.

If they prove it isn't statute barred and is still legal to collect, I can then try and hopefully negotiate with the Shoosmiths/PRA direct on some arrangement before they would actually take the next step via the legal system? Would this also mean I wouldn't have to go to court and my credit rating would not be effected if I sorted something out direct at this point? Again, correct. If it isn't statute barred, you can settle out of court at any point, so long as they're willing to settle. They have the right to reject any offer below the value of the debt, but most will settle as it still costs them to claim.

Sorry for all the questions. Only just got my credit rating up so don't want to damage it.

Replies in red. No apologies needed, and good luck. Be sure to come back if you have any questions.

Statute barred and going to court...

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