Chased for a 10 year old debt uksearchltd

elliebella · 26 February 2015 at 3:36PM

Hi any advise would be greatly appreciated.

i received a letter around 3 weeks ago from a firm (uksearchlimited) saying they are contacting me for the repayment of a debt to a housing agency for the amount of £4600, the debt in question is from a house i rented over 10 years ago, i left the address around 2003 and took my daughter with me whilst my ex partner stayed in the house for a few years, at the time i phoned up the housing firm and told them i had moved out the house, i really can not remember if i sent them a letter to confirm this, before i left all rent was payed upto date, i lived in two more addresses since i left there and was registered as living in them and heard nothing at all about any debt until 3 weeks ago, i ignored the letter then today i had a letter with red writing saying i need to contact them to arrange a collector to visit my address to take payment!

im a single dad i work but i simply can not afford to pay the debt in question, im assuming after i left my ex partner did not pay any rent as it was fully payed upto the time i left.

any advise would be much appreciated as im going out of my mind with worry at the minute

fermi · 26 February 2015 at 3:38PM

How long was the contact to run for after you left? How long did he stay?

Unless your ex parter has been paying on and off over the years against the debt, it's likely this is statute barred.

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

elliebella · 26 February 2015 at 3:59PM

sorry my profile name is misleading , im a male my names mark lol, at the time i worked fulltime and she sorted out the house i just payed the rent, i have no idea how long the contract ran for i think it was just month on month it was a housing association (bit like council house) we got the house with as we was young. after i left she moved another guy in. surely if they wasnt paying rent they would of been evicted?

fermi · 26 February 2015 at 4:25PM

Best thing you can probably do then is give National Debtline a ring on freephone 0808 808 4000, and talk it through with one of their advisors as to where you might stand legally.

fatbelly · 26 February 2015 at 7:53PM

There are two strands to this - whether your liability continued after you left (i.e. whether this became a sole tenancy in your ex's name) and when the debt actually dates from. If it is 2008 or before and no acknowledgement since then, then it is likely that you both have a statute barred defence.

As a starting point, I'd send a prove-it

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=2607247

Further thought - no mention of a court judgement is there? Just realised your second post said Housing Association - I would have expected them to try court action within the time limits

fermi · 27 February 2015 at 7:47AM

True, at the moment it is just a 'trace' after all.

Chased for a 10 year old debt uksearchltd

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