Is there a time limit

southernscouser

CLAPTON wrote:

the question was 'is there a time limit for debts' the answer is it depends upon the type of debt...some debts have no time limit , mortgage debts have 12 years...the OP didnot say what type..I merely asked what type...you replied making assumptions...on this board my view is always to assume nothing but ask for clarity... your view is different ...that OK by me

So what was with the dig at me?

CLAPTON

ok maybe i was over sensitive, lets leave it lie

regards

southernscouser

CLAPTON wrote:

ok maybe i was over sensitive, lets leave it lie

regards

No worries!

Tootsie_Roll

The ruling comes under the statute of limitations. Simply put if you have not acknowledged the debt in writing and have not made any payments then the debt becomes 'Statute Barred' after 6 years (from the last payment or last acknowledgment). You still owe the money but the creditor cannot pursue you through the courts to pay it. It is often posted that it is illegal for a lender or dca to even write asking for the debt to be paid - this is not so (as you still owe the money), in those circumstances you write a letter to the creditor advising them that as the debt is now Statute Barred you will not be paying it - it is only then that the creditor has to stop chasing you for payment. Mortgage shortfall debt becomes statute barred after 12 years not 6 but all CML members should not pursue after 6 years.

If however the creditor or dca has been to court and you have got a ccj for the debt then the statute does not apply and they can keep chasing you until the debt is cleared.

MrsP_5

I was once told by a solicitor that unclaimed mortgage debt ie repossession was wiped out after 12 years - don't know how true that is.

alwaysskint96

The debt is a gas bill dayed from 1997/8. My friend moved out of her ex's house in 1998 and apparently the bill was outstanding. Recently she received a letter asking for payment for this.

How would she knowif there is a CCJ for it?

Tootsie_Roll

alwaysskint96 wrote:

The debt is a gas bill dayed from 1997/8. My friend moved out of her ex's house in 1998 and apparently the bill was outstanding. Recently she received a letter asking for payment for this.

How would she knowif there is a CCJ for it?

Get her to check her credit reference file - try a search, the details have been posted many times. Experian do a free 30 day trial.