Old Debt - your help please?

dens_debt_disaster

I've been paying debt collection agency's (started off with 8 agency's now only 3) for the last 10 or more years for debts I ran up on credit cards and loans when I was in my early twenties.
This week one collection agency "Rockwell" has said that they can no longer accept my monthly payment of £10 for a debt of £2500 and that they were passing me onto their legal team which would possible mean CCJ or Balifs at my door, this really upset me as I dont want it to go that far, but I cant possibly pay any more at this time, I've been on maternity leave and am now returned to work 20 hours per week where previously I was doing 40+.
I've been doing some research and I've come accross some statements that say that I can write off old debt over 6 years old if the collection agency cannot supply the original credit agreement!
My question is - after agreeing to pay these people all these years, can I now ask for a copy of the agreement and stop my payments if they cannot supply a copy? And how would I go about this?
The company Rockwell have quite a bad press when you do a web search on them! They've been calling 2/3 times a day for the last week even though I'd agreed to call them back with income and expenditure on friday(11.09.09):eek:

Surely somone on here knows what I should do??????

GeorgeUK

Hi Ddd, welcome to the board.

Need to clear something up here first. If you have made no payment towards a debt for 6 years and not acknowledged it in writing, then the debt may be statute barred and therefore unenforcable. For a CCA request, you have a right to do this at any time.

To do a CCA request, the debt would need to be regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974. This would include creditcards, loans, catalogue and most HP debts, but not overdrafts. There are plenty of templates available on the forum and guidance available, but i should point out that this is not a silver bullet.

When you request a copy of the customer credit agreement (CCA) the company is allowed to supply you with a reproduction which would not have the signatures. If you have had charges applied to the account in the last 6 years it may be better to do a subject access request (SAR). This allows you under the data protection act to a copy of all data that the company holds on you which will include all transactions and documentation - including the CCA. It is quite often the original creditor that holds this so we would need to know if the debt is with a debt collection agency (DCA) which would probably only require a CCA request (cost £1) or with the original creditor in which case a SAR (cost £10) may be better to send.

If they threaten to take you to court, then you would be in no worse position than you currently are as they are already threatening to take you to court. If they did go to court, they would need to supply the original CCA which should be signed and properly executed. This means that for CCA's before 6th April 2007, certain prescribed terms must be on the document for it to be enforcable. If they don't have the agreement, then it can't be enforced. If it doesn't have all the terms - it can't be enforced. If they don't supply all the documents that should have come with the original agreement such as the original T&C, then it can't be enforced.

Here's some other threads on this.

Details: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=578486
Legislation: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1496721

dens_debt_disaster

I have been making regular payments for the last 10 years to reduce the debt, my circumstances have now changed and i'm earning less than I was previously and they wont accept my continued payment and are threatening legal action, so what should i do now?

alenax

I'm no expert but I heard it's just an intimidation tactic? My OH got taken to court a while ago because a DCA wouldn't accept his offer of £5 a month, it got thrown out because he didn't refuse to pay them anything.

GeorgeUK

I agree that it may be an intimidation tactic.

If the debts are with a DCA, send the CCA request letters, complete with £1 fee.
Do not sign your name on the letter though and do not write a cheque for the payment.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=11636295#post11636295

They have 12+2 working days from receipt of the letter to provide the CCA. If they failt to do this then they cannot enforce the debt until a properly executed CCA is provided. It is best to send the letters by recorded delivery so that you have proof that the letters were received by them.