Bought debt help

littlun

Hi everyone. Hope someone can help with this.

Yesterday I received a letter from the Land Registry regarding an application to put a charging order on the house I own with my husband. It relates to an old debt of my husband's that I didn't know about and is now being chased by TBI Financial Services (it was originally with Frizzell).

Since he has failed to deal with this since 1996 (!), I would now like to sort it all out. I'm assuming it's statute barred, but I need more information.

I've spoken to the solicitors for the finance company and they said they'd need a letter from my husband authorising them to deal with me, but from a quick Google, I've read that I shouldn't send them anything with a signature on (presumably in case they use the signature fraudulently).

Is this being over-cautious or is it good advice? Since my husband has kept this debt from me I really don't trust him to sort it out himself, but I also don't want to send them his signature if there's a chance it could make things worse.

Any advice would be gratefully received! Thanks

GeorgeUK

I suggest you contact nationaldebtline to check what details are required. Also what is the debt for? If it was secured against a property or land then i believe the statute barred time is 12 years instead of 6. Do you know when the last payment he made towards the debt was?


Instead of you dealing with the debt on his behalf, you could just print out the statute barred letter for him to sign.

Make sure you know what the debt is for though and when roughly the last payment was made towards it.

Usually it is not advised to send anything with a signature incase it appears on a credit agreement so i think in this case you are okay.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=11571227#post11571227
Have a look at the factsheets in this thread. Hopefully it won't take much to sort this out.

littlun

Thanks, George. I rang nationaldebtline last night (and then, of course, woke up in a panic worrying they weren't really a charity and I'd given all my info to some shysters!).

They were extremely helpful, but also upset me even more by saying he'll have to go to court, etc. It also sounded much more involved than simply printing out a letter (presumably because there's already a court date set?).

No, the debt wasn't secured, so I feel fairly sure it's statute barred.

Make sure you know what the debt is for though and when roughly the last payment was made towards it.

He doesn't have any of this info so I need to get it all from the creditor, which, I imagine, is going to be a bit of a 'mare.

Anyone want to buy a slightly soiled (at least he will be when I've finished with him) husband? :rolleyes:

GeorgeUK

You could do a subject access request (SAR) cost £10.
This sould allow you to see transactions and documents that the creditor holds on you for the last 6 years.

This pdf explains SAR's a little more.
http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/library/data_protection/practical_application/subject_access_-_guide_for_data_subjects.pdf

There is a template letter here to get the details, but they have 40 days to respond. If he doesn't think he has made any payments towards the debt for 6 years it may be worth sending the statute barred letter if there isn't enough time. Then they will need to provide proof that the debt is still enforcable. Was a CCJ issued for this debt?

If you google registry trust, there is a company that collates all ccj information for the courts - not sure how much it costs to search but if you haven't been notified of the ccj then you may be able to ask for it to be set aside.

SAR template:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=963087&page=2

littlun

Thanks so much, George. Have applied to the Registry Trust re CCJ (don't know if one has been issued - there's nothing on *my* credit file, which includes some of husband's info, but don't know if it would include a CCJ in his name).

I'm sending the CCA letter, but who do I make the £1.00 payable to? The solicitors or TBI? Don't want to get it wrong and have them get another 12 days' grace.

Thanks again for all your help so far.

GeorgeUK

I would have thought you should send it to whoever is asking for payment, but just to be safe, you could send a letter to each of them as timing may be important. I wouldn't take any risks.

Then i would send the statute barred letter in to them - they would need to prove it wasn't statute barred. During this time you may be able to get details of when the last payment was made.

littlun

Okay, will do. Thanks again.

GeorgeUK

You may also want to have a read of this.
http://www.insolvencyhelpline.co.uk/debt_factsheets/charging_orders_in_the_county_court.php

littlun

Thanks. And back again... sigh. It looks like there was originally two debts which were consolidated (by the court), but that CCJs were issued for them both in 1996.

Does this now mean statute barred doesn't apply?

GeorgeUK

Statute barred doesn't apply, but i'd get back on the blower to nationaldebtline.

It sounds as if you didn't hear about the CCJ
http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=12_how_to_set_aside_a_judgment_in_the_county_court

and also as they are trying to oursue a CCJ more than 6 years after the judgement (although this does not mean it is statute barred)
http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=25_liability_for_debts_and_the_limitation_act#7

littlun

Thanks. The thing is we don't know if there was a CCJ or not, so I've written to them to try and establish that.

If there was a CCJ, we can't prove we didn't know about it - it's possible my husband did, but it's 12 years ago!

I've written to get the details of the account and I've sent the statute barred letter (in case there wasn't a CCJ and that way I guess they'll have to prove there was!).

Next up is contacting the Land Registry. The notice from them says we have until 19/9 to object to the application, but I don't know on what basis I can object until I've got more information about the debt. It's completely ridiculous and exhausting!

Thanks so much for all your help so far.