Bit of advice please

SixNineSix

hey all, first post here so hope this is in the right place.

basically, when i was younger i took out a loan and a credit card, paid off a bit and didnt pay them off anymore due to loss of job etc, stupid thing i know.

anyway, since then, the loan has been given to debt collectors (to which i havnt receieved any contact) and my credit card hasnt responded at all either.

ive moved house twice since i took out these things and am just wondering how i can find out how long a go it was that i took them out as i have no records of it.

ive also been told that if they havnt found me in 6 years that they become void and im free of debt? could anyone shed some light on this.

ideally id like to go 6 years and wipe them free, as with additions to my family, i simply cannot afford to pay these things off.

any help would be appreciated (all legal obviously)

thanks

hypno06

Someone will soon be able to help out regarding the 6 year rule.

I think you can find out your liabilities from your credit report but I think I read on here recently that by applying for your credit report you could actually be tipping off your creditors who will then come hassling you.

Sorry - not much help, am I!!

SixNineSix

thanks for the quick reply

yeah i kinda guessed that id be shooting myself in the foot with the credit checks.

ive been as careful as possible with regards to where im living, everything is in my partners name

iolanthe07

It's not true that the debt gets wiped out after six years. Some (though not all) debts become 'statute barred' after six years, and therefore cannot be enforced by the courts. But you borrowed it, spent it, enjoyed it, so you may well consider that you have a moral obligation to repay it.

mizzbiz

could you not apply for your credit report but give a false receiving address, like a PO Box or something?

fiodyl

I had some old loans/credits cards like you that I hadn't paid towards in 3 years. I also did not have any of the details about what I owed.

I recieved a lump sum from my redundancy this year and i have been using it to try and pay back everything I owe.

I checked my credit file online using checkmyfile.co.uk. I thought some of the companies I owed money to would contact me but after about 2 months I had heard nothing.

Next I changed my billing address for my barclays current account- I had a £5000 loan from barclays in 2004 that I stopped paying after 3 months, hoping that someone would contact me about it.

I received nothing from barclays, but I did get a letter from a company that I had a HP agreement with did so I paid them. I then wrote letters to all the other companies I owed money to- giving rough dates and previous addresses and asking them to send info on what I owed so I could arrange to repay.

capital one replied first and they have now been paid, and I have just recieveda letter from a company called BMS who claim to have bought my barclay loan debt- although the letter is very confusing and an attached letter on barclays paper but signed by the same person as the BMS letter!

Egg loans and Barclaycard have yet to reply 6 weeks later- Im going to give them a bit longer but it seems like it has been so long they aren't that bothered about having their money back.

fatbelly

mizzbiz wrote: »

could you not apply for your credit report but give a false receiving address, like a PO Box or something?

This won't work.

Regarding statute barred debts the best source of info is National Debtline. They have a factsheet here or you might like to give them a call on 0808 808 4000