Mackenzie have responded!! - Bad News?

Denis_UK

If you previously sent a statute barred complaint letter you have aknowledged you HAD a debt but it is now statute barred and unenforcable

andyfuk

I'm wondering if you can hang this out for just over another 3 months. THen you have it in writing from them it is statute barred, indeed, if it isn't already.

Then you have it in writing from them if they pester you after that date :-)

needuradvice

Denis_UK wrote: »

If you previously sent a statute barred complaint letter you have aknowledged you HAD a debt but it is now statute barred and unenforcable

Sorry Denis, but are u saying that i'm now not statute barred?

andyfuk wrote: »

I'm wondering if you can hang this out for just over another 3 months. THen you have it in writing from them it is statute barred, indeed, if it isn't already.

Then you have it in writing from them if they pester you after that date :-)

Yes, but can they within these 3-4mths obtain a CCJ if there isn't one on it already?

WRINKLES

once a debt is statute barred it can not be unbarred even if you make a payment

DarkConvict

I would write back to McKenize hall.

State the fact that statute barred relates to your last payment or written acknowledgement of the debt. The default is placed by a creditor and as such does consistute acknowledgement of the debt by yourself, furthermore the date of the default is irrelevant as a default should be placed within 6 months of the last payments (default) actually occuring. The 6 month rule is a guideline by the OFT and as such it is quite possible the last payment could have been many months if not years previous to this default date.

Point out these OFT guidelines http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/oft664.pdf

Statute barred debt
2.13 This guidance applies to the pursuit of debt regardless of its age. We will be
carrying out further work on this aspect of debt recovery including analysis of
relevant legislation and practice throughout the UK.
2.14 In the past we have dealt with a number of statute barred debt cases governed by
the Limitation Act 1980, which applies to England and Wales. Based on that
experience our position with regard to England and Wales remains:
a. we accept legally the debt exists
b. it is the methods by which the debt is collected that can be
unfair as follows:
• it is unfair to pursue the debt if the debtor has heard nothing from
the creditor during the relevant limitation period
• if a creditor has been in regular contact with a debtor before the debt
is statute barred, then we do not consider it unfair to continue to
attempt to recover the debt
• it is unfair to mislead debtors as to their rights and obligations, for
example, falsely stating or implying that the debt is still legally
recoverable and relying on consumers not knowing the relevant legal
provisions, and
• continuing to press for payment after a debtor has stated that they
will not be paying a debt because it is statute barred could amount to
harassment contrary to section 40 (1) of the Administration of
Justice Act 1970.

It would be in my due opinion that you are attempting to mislead myself into the belief the debt is not statute barred based on the default date. However this is not correct, and is in breach of the stated OFT guidelines. If however you are mistaken and have provided incorrect information in goodfaith (that a default affects the limitation act) believing it to be correct then i believe both the OFT and FSA should consider looking into your practices and procedures on debt collection which are obviously been incorrectly applied by your company as previously stated.
I would also at this time like to point out this section from the limitations act "a right of action, once barred by this Act, shall not be revived by any subsequent acknowledgment or payment." As such, once this debt has been for 6 years withotu payment or acknolwedgement it can never become legally enforceable again.

If you are unable to find any proof to my current liablity to this debt, then i consider this matter closed as any further contact will be consider as harrasment under the Adminsitration of Justice Act 1970, this is once again clearly stated in OFT guidelines.

^^
Something like the above might do it.

needuradvice

thanks for clearing that up Wrinkles and Darkconvict. You will not believe this, but I have just realised that i have got my dates wrong!!!!

Since i don't have any paperwork, originally i thought i took out a loan mid/late 2002 and stopped paying in early 2003. But in reality i took out the loan in late 2001/early 2002 and stopped making payments by mid 2002/late 2002. Therefore my last payment at the very latest would have been dec 2002 and definately not after jan 2003. I may have spoken to them over the phone or told them a change of address over the phone, but i never ever wrote to them in writing.

So if we assume the date of jan 2003, then this works out as over 7yrs ago, making the debt even older than i thought, so i'm definately statute barred, assuming they haven't got a ccj in my name already!

DarkConvict

So long as there is no CCJ (which in itself if it goes over 6 years needs to be reactivated by the courts if they made no attempt to use it), then it is statute barred.

You should knock up a letter taking the points stated in this thread, post it up to be checked, then send it off to them.
P.s. made some grammer changes to my previous post.

needuradvice

thanks darkconvict. What do i do with the SAR form which National Debtline have posted to me?

DarkConvict

SAR, is a subject access request. You send it to a company along with £10, and they give you all details they hold on you.

In your case, i would hold fire and await the DCA's response to the letter you should send them. Why? - The onus is on the DCA to prove a debt is not statute barred, not yourself. There is no point in you paying out to prove it is statute barred when it is there job to prove it isn't. Only if they prove or ''say'' it is not due to some payment, should you then query it. Some DCAs have been known to lie, saying a payment was made when it wasn't, in these cases you then need to prove it is statued barred and you didn't make the so called payment. Payments to the debt have to be made with permission from the account holder.

If you were to send a SAR, you would need to send the SAR to your original creditor. The SAR will give you all information they hold on you, in your case the important bit you are after is the statement. The statement of your account would show the date of last payment, the date from where the SB started to tick. I do not know if sending a SAR causes the SB clock to restart if it has not already passed the 6 year date, I assume if you use the template with no account numbers listed then it should not acknowledge any debt.

needuradvice

But darkconvict mate, they already have said that according to their records the debt is not statute barred and that if i want to take this further then i'm more than welcome to go straight to the ombudsman. Also i don't have any details of the original creditor other than that its lloyds bank.

Their default date must be correct, however i need them to show me what data they hold in order to figure out if i can find out when i made the last payment.