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CCCS_Sue

samantha12345 wrote: »

Hi,

I hope I am posting in the correct place and that you can give me some advice on my current dilemma:
I received a letter last week from a company called Cabot Financial claiming they have bought an old debt from a bank account I had 13 years ago, they are asking me to get in touch with them to discuss repayment options.
Is acknowledging the debt a good idea?
The debt was from when I was an irresponsible teenager, I left the country to go travelling, leaving an unpaid overdraft of (approx) £400 which I never paid back, Cabot Financial are now asking for £1340.
I don't know whether I got taken to court over it or not as the address I opened the account from was rented with a couple of other friends who moved out at the same time so I never received any post.
If I did get a ccj, will it have disappeared by now from the Registry trust as it was 12+ years ago?
Basically, my question is, how do I know for sure whether the debt is statute-barred, or whether I have a CCJ and am therefore legally obliged to repay?
And, either way, should I ignore, or reply to Cabot?
I am a 35 year old student now with two small children and a mortgage, i.e. I cannot afford to repay the £1300
Thanks so much for any advice,
Sam

Hi Sam

Thank you for your email.

You could get a copy of your credit file to check if you have an outstanding CCJ, though these are normally only kept on file for 6 years.
I have attached a link to a booklet called ‘Credit Explained’ you may find useful,and which gives you further help on how to get a copy of your file. click here.

Creditors are unable to legally pursue you for the debt if, after six years;

• The creditor has not already obtained a county court judgment (CCJ)

• You or any one else owing the money (on a debt in joint names) has not made a payment

• You have not written to the creditor admitting they owe the debt

This is known as statute barred and refers to the Limitation Act.

If you believe that the creditor is timed out to collect the debt and there is no CCJ, you may wish to use the template letter below.

Hope this helps
CCCS_Sue

Example letter – limitations act

From:
Name:
Address:
Postcode:
Date:
CCCS Client No:
To:
Creditor’s Name:
Account/Agreement No:

Without Prejudice

Dear Sirs
Ref
I do not admit any liability for your claim and will not be making any payment towards it, as it is now more than six-years since any cause of action may have accrued. Any claim would, therefore, appear to be statute barred under section 5 of The Limitations Act 1980 and any court claim will be defended on that basis.
In addition section 2.14 of The Office of Fair Trading Collection guidance states that it is unfair to pursue such claims where, as here, the creditor has made no contact during the relevant limitation period.
If, however, you have substantive evidence that your claim is not statute barred then please supply it to me within 21 days. If you are unable to provide such evidence please confirm that no further action will be taken against me.
Yours faithfully
(Signature)
(Print name)

Goodtimesahead

Looks like some important changes maybe underway soon... I wonder if that will apply to existing credit agreements and the current 6 year punitive period for data to remain on your credit file revised to 3 years would be good to me and may help the economy recover quicker...comments from the experts?

Limitations Act


A person with a civil claim loses their right to action if they do not sue within a specified period of time – the “limitation period”. Current limitation periods are generally 6 years for unsecured debts and 12 years for land and money secured by mortgage. Proposals to change limitation periods and make them more coherent have been around for some time.
The major current law on limitation is within the Limitation Act 1980, which sets out different limitation periods for various rights of action. The Law Commission reviewed the Act including issuing a consultation paper “Limitation of Actions” in January 1998 which described its provisions as “unfair, complex, uncertain and outdated”.
The Law Commission’s final report “Limitation of Actions” printed in July 2001, recommended adoption of a “core regime” featuring an initial limitation period of 3 years with a “long stop” of 10 years running from the event which gives rise to the claim (e.g. default) in most cases. This recommendation remains under consideration and may be presented in a draft Civil Law Reform Bill to be published later this year, at least in respect of unsecured debt.
There is an argument that because communications today are much faster than in the past there is no longer the need for such lengthy periods to enforce claims. Another theory is that there could be general economic benefits from encouraging creditors to pursue debts and recover money more quickly at present. However many participants in the lending industry are naturally concerned at the prospect of reducing limitation periods, especially as it would provide less time to trace the many debtors each year who decide to move on without telling lenders in an attempt to “lose” their debts.
It is concerning especially in the current economic climate that changes could put pressure on lenders to act more quickly to protect their right to action than they might otherwise do. This runs counter to exhortations from government and regulators for lenders to show forbearance to debtors in financial distress, such as the “breathing space” agreements where debtors are suspended from collection activity while they liaise with debt advice agencies to draw up a repayment plan.
Meanwhile, the prospect of less scrupulous debtors evading debts more easily than was formerly the case seems to strike a poor balance next to calls on the industry to lend responsibly and treat customers fairly. Responsibility in lending must be matched with responsibility in borrowing – not just when the credit agreement is signed, but throughout the course of facilities. If this principle is not upheld it risks creating new pockets of financial exclusion amongst those consumers statistically classed as a “flight risk”.

CCCS_Sarah

stonewater wrote: »

Hi,

I've had a pretty good read through the forums and I have a question which I can't find answered anywhere else!

I lived in Scotland in 2002-2004. Prior to that I lived in England. When I moved to Scotland I had a few bank accounts / credit cards etc that I applied for in England.

Then in Scotland I ran up a bunch more (credit cards / unsecured personal loans etc).

Eventually it all got too much so I moved to Australia for a few years. So now, in 2009, I'm back in England ( I recommend this to anyone who wants to escape their debts - the weather is good too :-) ).

And rather neatly, my debts are all pretty much statue barred (no contact / payment etc). Good news since the nasty debt collection agencies are catching up with me again !

Anyway - my question is this.

What limit applies - 6 years or 5 years.

My assumption is that debt agreements that I signed in England are 6 years, and agreements signed in Scotland are 5 years but it's not clear!

The National Debt Hotline website says 'if you live in Scotland' etc but I assume it's not as simple as simply moving north of the border and suddenly debts incurred in England have a statue of limitations of 5 years!

Equally I guess (this wouldn't be such good news), it might just be as simple as where you live, irrespective of where you happened to be when you signed the agreement for the loan.

Any guidance would be appreciated. Pretty sure national debt helpline could assist but I guess they are pretty busy at the moment.

Cheers alll,

David

Sorry for the delay, in replying.

When deciding if the debt is statute barred, you should look at where you are currently living before deciding which law applies. If you were still living in Scotland then it would be 5 years, if England 6 years. If you are living in England now, in my opinion it's 6 years.

Hope this helps

msfoxymax

CCCS_Sue wrote: »

Hi msfoxymax and thank you for your email

You do not need to give them a number and they should not be harassing you for one.

If they are calling you all the time and stressing you out ,then you can ask them to stop contacting you by telephone and communicate only in writing.
I have attached a sample letter you can use to send to each of your creditors requesting this.
Keep a copy for yourself and send recorded delivery.
If they do not comply with your request, you can make a complaint to the OFT.

In the meantime, send them a copy of your budget and continue to pay what you can afford and do not be pressured into paying more.


To whom it may concern

Dear Sir/Madam

I am writing to ask that you no longer contact me by telephone as your calls are causing me considerable stress due to the frequency, and that they are being made at inappropriate times. Please remove my telephone number from your database and send all future communication in writing to my home address.

I have provided the most recent copy of my income and expenditure to make you aware of my current financial situation. I will continue to make my payment of x on the x of every month and will keep you informed of any changes in my circumstances as I am keen to resolve this issue as soon as possible.

I understand that following this request if you continue to call I can contact the Office of Fair Trading to make a formal complaint.

Please confirm in writing that your records have been amended.

Yours sincerely

Regards
CCCS_Sue

Thanks sooo much Sue you are a godsend. Keep up the good work! :beer:

Sagaris

Sagaris wrote: »

Hi CCCS counsellors,

My DH has found out that he will have to go into hospital shortly for an operation and will be off work afterwards for around 3 months.

He will only be entitled to SSP for that time, and as he is on a DMP with yourselves we are worried about what will happen - he currently pays just under what he will get in sick pay to his creditors, so we will find things impossible.
he has been on the DMP for about 4 years, never so much as a late payment in all that time.

Would his creditors accept a lower token payment while he's off work? And if that is the case is it best to negotiate that through yourselves or to approach them directly? Would they expect the deficit in payments to be made up at some point?

Thank you!

Sorry to be a pain - but DH has just got his letter, he will be having his op on the 3rd August :eek: which doesn't give us much time to sort out the finances.

If anyone can answer my query I would be very grateful!

Thank you.

dippynina

We are on a DMP and have been since March. My OH pays child support through CSA on a voluntary DEO, he also pays money towards arrears with them. It was agreed last year that the arrears would need to be paid of within 2 years. Last week they called us advising that they were putting up arrears by £25 per week. I have calculated that they now wish arrears to be paid off within 18 months.
I called the CCCS for a re-assessment, and since there have been a few changes (both positive and negative) it has ended up that we are £70 down on our usual DMP payment. I assumed they would decrease this payment but was advised it would need to be made up to the original payment and we would need to find the money from somewhere. On our budget sheet we have no money put aside for sports/entertainment/clothing etc and the only way we could make it up was by reducing travel expenses (ie weekly bus costs) and also our already minimal grocery amount. I came off the phone quite upset because I feel I was left with an unrealistic budget.
My other real concern is that when it comes to Xmas my partner only gets a basic pay which is around his protected income amount (as stated by the CSA) This means for that period he is unable to pay CSA and we will accrue arrears which will be deducted thereafter, leaving him with only his protected income for a few months. This is what happened last year and how we ended up with mortgage arrears, priority debt arrears and on a DMP in the first place! (*I have already posted questions in regard to this on Child Support thread)
Anyway, any advice would be greatly appreciated

torty

i am trying to face up to the situation, but hard as not working and living at home with parents i have started on your cccs website, but only halfway thro it but saved it, question, can i still start to sort this mess out even in my situation, i have around 8 creditors about 22k debt,
2 are charging orders
4 are agencies
2 are payday loans, i am being harrassed by some and others i have a decent relationship with, fallen on hard times due to split, only 7k equity in house, i dont mind her buying it but no going to give away, and the charging orders amount to 13k so that does not look good
do you suggest i carry on with the online cccs report, also i wish to question some of the chasers as to the true loan owners, i spoke to one on saturday who just came out of the wood work, do you suggest that i write to all asking for true loan agreement, is it possible the some agencies are chasing same debt, help from cccs needed

starlite82

hey,

im with cccs, have been since january. however due to uni placement that lasted 2 months i wasnt able to work as much and couldnt make as much money.

therefore i struggled and missed my monthly payment, now i think ive missed 2. I ve paid my creditors directly what i can afford, but unfortunately not all of them.

im starting to get a bit harrassed by them and im wondering what i should do now? the creditors are asking for the original payment amount and not the one agreed within my dmp.
should i restart my dmp, is this possible? or maybe try to get them to accept a token payment this month until i get organised again?

anybody else had this problem?

CCCS_Sarah

Crisp_£_note wrote: »

Helo thanks for the reply. I have written the letters and posted them Recorded Delivery. I still haven't heared anything back since my previous letter which included the CCCS Income & Expenditure sheet - should I be concerned?

Re the account numbers I have managed to find them all bar one now. I have the actual account number for Loan with LTSB but no sort code. How would I find this out without calling them up?

with reguards to all letters and Token Payments I have sent to LTSB since May I have not had any response what so ever. Previous to this I havent had contact with them since January and the account has been in arears for some time before that! Where do I stand now? Or more to the point what do I do now?

Thank you for your help and support it is much appreciated.

Hello,

Thanks for your reply.

If you have sent the letters recorded delivery, the creditors should have received these so I would recommend that you just start making the payments.

With regards your sort code on the Lloyds account, do you have an old statement or bank card? The information should be on there; if not unfortunately you would have to call them. If you do have to call, make sure they don’t make you agree to pay more than you can afford, just try and get off the phone as soon as possible.

With all your accounts, if during your appointment token payments were discussed, just stick to these.

Hope this helps
Regards
CCCS_Sarah

CCCS_Sarah

jelindra wrote: »

Hi,

Wondering if anyone could help me. My husband and I have just recently separated, we have a joint loan and a credit card (which is in my name but he had a secondary card which he used) which we defaulted on last year.
Does anyone know if I were to write to the banks that the loan and creditcard are with would they agree to split the outstanding balance 50/50 or does it need to be down through the court? Only he's moved back down to his parents house so he's given up his job and I dont want to be left having to pay all of the debts.

Many thanks
Jen

Hi Jen,

Thank you for your message.

Unfortunately the loan would be joint and several liability, so it is unlikely that they would split the balance for you. However as the credit card is in your husbands name they would be unable to chase you for the debt as he is solely liable for the balance.

Sarah