statute barred debts

gaznkaz08

pretty new to this so bear with me please, is this the right forum??

i've been contacted by a firm called link financial in the last few months regarding a 13k unsecured loan i had off abbey years ago. I'm pretty sure it's over 6 years since i've made a payment or had any contact from anyone regarding this loan

so i replied with a template letter off here saying if they coudn't provide proof of the last payment or contact was within 6 years then to close the case

they replied just saying they can confirm it was defaulted march 04, I wrote back again saying i would like to see hard evidence of this eg old statement of account or simlilar until then i would not be acknowledging this debt as i am sure it's over 6 years

just had an argument with them on the phone after they called, with them saying they don't need to show proof their word is good enough, and the fact that i wrote the first letter is the acknowledgement they needed anyway

where does this go now, ???


any help would be greatly appreciated thanks

Jesthar

Hmmm, not my specialist subject, but did the template letter include the standard phrase "I acknowledge no debt to your company" or something very similar?

Sounds like they are trying it on, though - and they DO have to provide proof, 'their word' isn't usually worth the air used to utter it, let alone the paper it is written on! And, besides, if the debt IS already Statute Barred, even acknowledging it in writing (which is the only way which counts anyway) CANNOT reactivate the debt...

Have you tried checking your credit record yourself regarding the default?

~Jes

rog2

If a 'debtor' informs a creditor, or dca, that he/she will not be making any further payments towards a 'debt' because it is 'Statute Barred' then, if that creditor/dca disputes that the debt is 'Statute Barred' they must provide evidence to substantiate their 'claim'.

It is not the responsibility of the 'debtor'.

There is, often, a discrepancy between the date that the 'last payment or written acknowledgment' was made and the date that the creditor registers a 'default' on the crf of that debtor. This should not be, but often is, more than six months.

Have you checked your crf?

gaznkaz08

Jesthar wrote: »

Hmmm, not my specialist subject, but did the template letter include the standard phrase "I acknowledge no debt to your company" or something very similar?

Sounds like they are trying it on, though - and they DO have to provide proof, 'their word' isn't usually worth the air used to utter it, let alone the paper it is written on! And, besides, if the debt IS already Statute Barred, even acknowledging it in writing (which is the only way which counts anyway) CANNOT reactivate the debt...

Have you tried checking your credit record yourself regarding the default?

~Jes

this is the passage out of the template letter


The last correspondence/payment/acknowledgement or payment of this debt was made over six years ago and no further acknowledgement or payment has been made since that time. Unless you can provide evidence of payment or written contact from me in the relevant period under Section 5 of the Limitation Act,. I suggest that you are no longer able to take any court action against me to recover the alleged amount claimed


he was adamant they don't need to provide proof, surely if they have the info then all they would need is to send me an old acccount statement with the payments listed which would show the date of the last one


i did an experian free trail a few months ago and it wasn't on there, but to be honest there were a few that weren't that we are currently paying

gaznkaz08

rog2 wrote: »

If a 'debtor' informs a creditor, or dca, that he/she will not be making any further payments towards a 'debt' because it is 'Statute Barred' then, if that creditor/dca disputes that the debt is 'Statute Barred' they must provide evidence to substantiate their 'claim'.

It is not the responsibility of the 'debtor'.

There is, often, a discrepancy between the date that the 'last payment or written acknowledgment' was made and the date that the creditor registers a 'default' on the crf of that debtor. This should not be, but often is, more than six months.

Have you checked your crf?

regards the default date, they have it as 09/03/04 but i'm thinking that can't be the last payment date because you would have to miss quite a few for it to go into default wouldn't you???

Jesthar

gaznkaz08 wrote: »

this is the passage out of the template letter


The last correspondence/payment/acknowledgement or payment of this debt was made over six years ago and no further acknowledgement or payment has been made since that time. Unless you can provide evidence of payment or written contact from me in the relevant period under Section 5 of the Limitation Act,. I suggest that you are no longer able to take any court action against me to recover the alleged amount claimed


he was adamant they don't need to provide proof, surely if they have the info then all they would need is to send me an old acccount statement with the payments listed which would show the date of the last one


i did an experian free trail a few months ago and it wasn't on there, but to be honest there were a few that weren't that we are currently paying

OK, if that's the template letter I think it is, did you include this bit at the top?

"I do not acknowledge any debt to you or any other company or organisation that you claim to be representing."

If you did, no way can they claim it as admission of the debt. If not, then things might be trickier, but if you genuinely haven't made a payment to or acknowledged the debt in the last six years, then the debt is statute barred, end of.

As ever, it is up to THEM to prove their claims, not YOU to prove otherwise...

~Jes

gaznkaz08

"

Jesthar wrote: »

OK, if that's the template letter I think it is, did you include this bit at the top?

"I do not acknowledge any debt to you or any other company or organisation that you claim to be representing."

If you did, no way can they claim it as admission of the debt. If not, then things might be trickier, but if you genuinely haven't made a payment to or acknowledged the debt in the last six years, then the debt is statute barred, end of.

As ever, it is up to THEM to prove their claims, not YOU to prove otherwise...

~Jes

it was

"you have contacted me regarding the above acc number which you claim is owed by myself"

and the second letter included

[FONT=&quot]"Therefore I am still not acknowledging any liability for the sum owed."[/FONT]

have just done my credit report with equifax and all that has is the default date 09/03/04

but i stopped paying my mortgage when we hit the bad times june 03 so i would have thought thats when we stopped paying the loan as well

rog2

gaznkaz08 wrote: »

but i stopped paying my mortgage when we hit the bad times june 03 so i would have thought thats when we stopped paying the loan as well

Then the loan would be Statute Barred. My guess is that Link Financial don't want to, or can't, send you the current 'statement' of the account (as they are legally obliged to on your request) because this would confirm that the 'debt' is now legally unenforceable through the Courts.

This re-inforces your 'defence' should they decide to try their luck and take you to Court, as, in addition to your 'defence' that the debt is SB, Link Financial are refusing to supply you with any evidence to back up their claim that it is not.

Personally, I would wait for them to make the next move.

gaznkaz08

rog2 wrote: »

Then the loan would be Statute Barred. My guess is that Link Financial don't want to, or can't, send you the current 'statement' of the account (as they are legally obliged to on your request) because this would confirm that the 'debt' is now legally unenforceable through the Courts.

This re-inforces your 'defence' should they decide to try their luck and take you to Court, as, in addition to your 'defence' that the debt is SB, Link Financial are refusing to supply you with any evidence to back up their claim that it is not.

Personally, I would wait for them to make the next move.

thats what i'm thinking that they don't have anything to prove it or they have and it's out of date, if i was chasing 13k and had proof that would be the first card i played when questioned not just quote the default date

RICK..._2

I'm just about to send a template letter off to a company trying to chase a 6-7 year old debt. wonder if they'll try this with me? debt is only £400 though so hopefully they'll see it's not worth their time!

rog2

RICK... wrote: »

I'm just about to send a template letter off to a company trying to chase a 6-7 year old debt. wonder if they'll try this with me? debt is only £400 though so hopefully they'll see it's not worth their time!

Basically, RICK, most of these 'debts' are 'sold' to debt collection agencies, who actively 'trawl' the credit reference agency files looking for 'debts' which are about to 'fall off' off a person's file. They know that the original creditor will not pursue these 'debts' because they are 'unenforceable' and will offer to 'buy' that 'debt' for an often miniscule fraction of its face, or original, value. They, then, go in 'fast and heavy' on the 'debtor', often threatening all sorts of 'legal' twaddle, in the hope that the 'debtor' will be so scared that he will pay up, just to get them off his back. Most 'debtors' will be unaware of the rights that the 'Limitation Act' affords them, and will do just that - pay up - even if it means incurring more debt.
Other 'debtors' will know their rights, or at least question the dca, and the dca will not be able to collect against these 'debts'.
It is a 'risk' for the Debt Collection Industry, but, sadly, the 'risk' element is weighted heavily in the favour of the DCA. The 'rewards' are so high that they can, in most cases, afford to put the occasional loss down to 'experience'.