Seeking advice regarding 10 yr debt & CCJ's

Violet1811 · 20 July 2016 at 11:57AM

Hi Everyone, I may not be posting in the right section, but hopefully someone will be able to help me. I had a quick search last night and have read a couple of closed threads regarding old debts, but I am not 100% sure if my situation can be dealt with in the same way.
A couple of weeks ago I received a letter from a Ballif with a date of when they would be entering the property I live in, I spoke to the ballif as I wasn't even aware a ccj had been taken out in my name, I then contacted the company (Caboot) asking for details. I have previously had issues with debt when I was at university (10 years ago). The debt in question is apparently a credit card from when I was at University, Caboot have bought the debt, I think in December or January of this year. The original company apparently stopped trying to reclaim the debt in 2010, the lady I spoke to mentioned something about 6 years, and Caboot buying the debt. I asked for time to look into my old paperwork, which they granted me.
Then yesterday I received another letter about a different debt, also going back to my University days, apparently the debt has been sold onto another solicitor after a CCJ was granted last year, the paperwork said I was 6 months behind on paying back the £50 a month which had been agreed when the CCJ was put in place.
In both cases I have not received communication regarding the debts until the last couple of weeks, I am unsure what to do. I have just retrained as a teacher, but am yet to secure a job for September, so although I should hopefully be earning money to pay the debts I don't want to agree or promise anything yet while I am still skint.
Last night I read a closed thread on here about an SB and how they could be sent to the credit/debt collectors. I don't know what one of these is, or whether it will help reduce the problems.
I'm really unsure what to do, and I really do not want to tell my husband, I know we should share everything, but this debt is from my University days, and nothing to do with him.
Any advice on how to handle the situation would be really helpful. I have not contacted the second company as of yet as I am scared to start communication with them before knowing what I can or should do.
Thanks in advance....

National_Debtline · 20 July 2016 at 12:29PM

Hi Violet

Welcome to the forum.

If you haven’t paid or acknowledged most types of debt for 6 years or more (5 years in Scotland), and if the creditor doesn’t get a CCJ in that time the debt is said to be statute barred (SB). That means that the debt is no longer enforceable in court, and you would have grounds to defend if a court claim is made.

This factsheet goes into more detail on the topic and includes a sample letter you can send to a creditor/debt collector stating you believe an old debt to be statute barred. The onus is on them to prove it isn’t statute barred or cease collection.

www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/25%20EW%20Time%20limits%20for%20recovering%20debts/Default.aspx

Don’t let a bailiff into your home. They can’t force entry unless you’ve already let them in and they’ve taken control of your goods. If you think the debt with the CCJ was actually statute barred at the time they obtained the CCJ you can apply to court to ‘set aside’ the CCJ, and have the right to defend the court claim. It’s a good idea to seek legal advice before applying to set aside or defend a CCJ.

James
@natdebtline

sourcrates · 20 July 2016 at 1:31PM

Hi,

You should also ask on this forum about your options :

http://legalbeagles.info

The limitations act only applies if legal action has not been taken, but if the debt was statute barred before the CCJ was granted, you can apply to have it set aside, but this will cost you £255.00, however you can get a reduction on the fee, if your on a low income.

Violet1811 · 21 July 2016 at 9:39AM

Thank you both for replying. Both debts now have ccj's against them, but from the sounds of things they sound like they were or should have been status barred. I'm not sure about requesting them to be "set aside", maybe it's a confidence thing, but if they weren't "set aside" by the court would I have to then pay the £255.00 plus what is owed?

Would it be best to go back to both organisations and try and sort out a payment plan?

sourcrates · 21 July 2016 at 10:03AM

Violet1811 wrote: »

Thank you both for replying. Both debts now have ccj's against them, but from the sounds of things they sound like they were or should have been status barred. I'm not sure about requesting them to be "set aside", maybe it's a confidence thing, but if they weren't "set aside" by the court would I have to then pay the £255.00 plus what is owed?

Would it be best to go back to both organisations and try and sort out a payment plan?

All you do is fill in and submit a form to the court, if your sure 6 years or more had passed before legal action was taken, the creditor would have to prove it wasn't, if they can't do that, then the court should agree with you.

You can apply for a reduction on the fee due to your income, if your between jobs, now would be a good time to do it, it can all be done online, you wouldn't normally have to attend court, but it is possible.

Seperate form and fee, for each debt.

Violet1811 · 21 July 2016 at 10:51AM

Thank you, I will look into the forms tonight. I have a feeling when I spoke to the one company Caboot the debt was a month or 2 off being over 6 years. I didn't know anything about the 6 year time frame, but the lady kept mentioning that the company had stopped pursing me in 2010 (I didn't even know they were), and they had bought the debt in December 2015 or January of this year. I can't remember which, as I found the whole conversation a little confusing.

National_Debtline · 21 July 2016 at 11:28AM

Violet1811 wrote: »

I'm not sure about requesting them to be "set aside", maybe it's a confidence thing, but if they weren't "set aside" by the court would I have to then pay the £255.00 plus what is owed?

You have to pay the fee to set aside regardless of whether your application is successful or not. As Sourcrates points out, you may be eligible for court fee remission if your income is low. You use a court form called EX160 to apply for fee remission.

The EX160 and information documents are available here:
http://hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/HMCTS/GetForms.do?court_forms_num=ex160&court_forms_title=&court_forms_category=

There is more information on setting aside a judgement on this factsheet:
www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/howtosetasideacountycourtjudgment/settingasideaccj.aspx

You can check whether you can access free legal advice locally through the following websites, which should help you decide whether you have a good case to challenge the debts or not.

www.lawcentres.org.uk
www.lawworks.org.uk

James
@natdebtline

Violet1811 · 21 July 2016 at 11:57AM

Thank you for all the advice!

Violet1811 · 25 July 2016 at 12:14PM

So I've read all the advice over and over again, and I think if I am in anyway going to repair my terrible credit rating I will need to contact both debt agencies and see if I can arrange to pay the debt back over a period of time. Although I think the debts are over 6 years old I do not know when the original companies stopped chasing the debt, and when the new debt companies bought them. From speaking to Caboot although they mentioned capital one giving the debt up in 2010, they were mentioning last December and this January to me, so it seems to me that they have purchased the debt just before the 6 years runs out. If I send a status barred letter to them I fear it will be ignored and cause even more issues and I do not have £255 to try and get the debts set aside, and even if they are set aside it means fundamentally I will still have a bad credit rating and will not be able to buy a house with my partner. I truly wish I could go back to my younger self and shake me.

sourcrates · 25 July 2016 at 12:32PM

Violet1811 wrote: »

So I've read all the advice over and over again, and I think if I am in anyway going to repair my terrible credit rating I will need to contact both debt agencies and see if I can arrange to pay the debt back over a period of time. Although I think the debts are over 6 years old I do not know when the original companies stopped chasing the debt, and when the new debt companies bought them. From speaking to Caboot although they mentioned capital one giving the debt up in 2010, they were mentioning last December and this January to me, so it seems to me that they have purchased the debt just before the 6 years runs out. If I send a status barred letter to them I fear it will be ignored and cause even more issues and I do not have £255 to try and get the debts set aside, and even if they are set aside it means fundamentally I will still have a bad credit rating and will not be able to buy a house with my partner. I truly wish I could go back to my younger self and shake me.

Hi again,

It makes no difference whatsoever when the accounts were bought or sold, what does matter is if a period of 6 years past without any payment been made.

Now they have obtained a CCJ, you cant just send a statute barred letter, you need to follow the correct procedure to have the CCJ set aside due to the debt been statute barred.

Have you looked on the courts and tribunals website ?

Did you say your not currently working as well ?

If not, the set aside fee may be reduced to zero.
Remember, all you have to do is fill in the form, stating the account was statute barred before judgement, and send it in, the court and the creditor then has to do all the donkey work, they must prove it wasn't SB, you don't have to prove anything.

If you can get full fee remission, then you have nothing to lose, and everything to gain, all for filling in a form.

Violet1811 · 25 July 2016 at 12:48PM

Do I not have to pay the £255 when I send the form in though? And if proven status barred will it not effect my long term credit rating?
Sorry to ask so many questions, I'm just so confused on what is best to do. I am currently not working, but will hopefully be from September when I can apply for supply roles or a teaching job if one appears in the subject I teach.
Do I send the "set aside" letter to the court and debt people?
I looked at the form and I have to state I'm married, will this mean they contact my partner?

Seeking advice regarding 10 yr debt & CCJ's

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