Welcome finance -help needed with statute barred debt

iwantahouse

Hi all

I have an account on my credit file with Welcome finance.

As the account was started on 31/10/2003 I was under the impression that it would be statute barred and automatically drop off my file on 31/10/2009.

When I noticed this hadn't happened I sent the template statute barred letter to Welcome to ask them to remove it. I know that I have not made any payments or acknowledged the debt for 6 years bu theyhave replied that they have sent various letters and default notices to me over the years and that they last had telephone contact with me in January 2005.

My questions are:

1. My credit report is marked 6 payments late and not default - does this make a difference?

2. How should I reply to the correspondence from Welcome saying they had telephone contact with me?

3. If they have sent default letters to me, wouldn't my acount be marked 'defaulted'?

Generally does anyone know if this debt can be classed as statue barred?

Thanks in advance

speirsro

Hi Iwantahouse.

Other folks will know more about this than me, but what I do know might help.

Statute barred debt is taken from the date of the last payment or written acknowledgement of the debt.
Telephone contact doesn't count.
This means you would have to have only paid 5 monthly payments from opening the account? Is this right?

If you've got the dates right and are 100% that this debt is statute barred, then you've done all you have to do by sending the letter.

Someone can hopefully confirm your other points shortly.

Hope this helps!

Robert.

iwantahouse

Thanks Tobert

Basically the car was written off and Welcome received the insurance funds and due to personal problems I couldn't afford to make the shortfall payment so I know the dates are write and Welcome have advised me in writing that the last contact they had with me was by telephone in January 2010 howevr they cannot prove this and I don't recall ever speaking to them!

iwantahouse

Quick update on this for you - I had a reply from Welcome Finance saying that they had passed the account to a company called MKRR. A couple of days later MKRR wrote to me saying the account was not statute barred as I had been sent payment reminders. (Not true)

I repliedto them with the Formal Complaint letter from the templates on here and have been waiting to hear back from them.

However I have today checked my credit file and the entry now looks like this:

Company name:WELCOME FINANCIAL SERVICES LTDAccount type:Hire purchase/Conditional saleSpecial Instruction Indicator:Debt AssignedSpecial Instruction Start Date:01/05/2010Started:31/10/2003Default Balance:£8,804Current Balance:SatisfiedRepayment Period: Monthly Payment: £268 over 61 months Defaulted On:23/10/2006File Updated for the Period to:09/05/2010Status history:
[] brackets indicate most recent months status [ ] What's this?

Are they able to enter a default after all this time? Also is the default date of 23 October 2006 enforceable even though I have never received a default notice, which is quite obvious as they have only set the account to default (but satisfied) this week?

I am unsure what to do now???? Aaggh! One problem sorted and another created!!!!

DVardysShadow

iwantahouse wrote: »

I have an account on my credit file with Welcome finance.

As the account was started on 31/10/2003 I was under the impression that it would be statute barred and automatically drop off my file on 31/10/2009.

You are mistaken. The Statute Barred clock starts when you last acknowleldge or pay towards the debt - not when you open the account. Unless you have never paid anything

iwantahouse wrote: »

... A couple of days later MKRR wrote to me saying the account was not statute barred as I had been sent payment reminders. (Not true)

It is a porkie. What matters for resetting the Statute Barred clock is the you acknowledge the debt. That does not happen when they write to you

property.advert

iwantahouse wrote: »

Company name:WELCOME FINANCIAL SERVICES LTDAccount type:Hire purchase/Conditional saleSpecial Instruction Indicator:Debt AssignedSpecial Instruction Start Date:01/05/2010Started:31/10/2003Default Balance:£8,804Current Balance:SatisfiedRepayment Period: Monthly Payment: £268 over 61 months Defaulted On:23/10/2006File Updated for the Period to:09/05/2010Status history:
[] brackets indicate most recent months status [ ] What's this?

Seems you agree the start date, 31/10/2003. They say the default is 23/10/2006. They have updated it on 09/05/2010.

For it to be statute barred on 09/05/2010, you would have not to have acknowledged the debt since at least 09/05/2005. However, I'm not sure you can pick that date out because if you paid a DD on 08/05/2005, they would not be expecting anything else until 08/05/2005.

You need to fill in what happened and what stopped happening in the period 23/10/2003 and their default date 23/10/2006 which strangely is exactly 3 years after the agreement started.

If you do not dispute that you serviced this until 23/10/2006 then it is live until 23/10/2012 when it will fall off, unless you acknowledge it beforehand or they push you to a CCJ, which I'd say was likely now they know you are talking to them again !

You need to explain when you stopped paying and when you stopped acknowledging this as worry is that it will be taken as 23/10/2006.

iwantahouse

They have confirmed to me in writng that the last payment they received was in December 2005 however this was from an insurance company and not me.

Can they still enter a judgment now even though they have marked the balance as satisfied?

I suppose I really want to know if they can effectively backdate the default as they only marked my account as in default this week even though they have dated it 2006?

Basiccaly what they have done is changed the balance from being owing to being satisfied and they have changed the payment status from 6 months late payments to default.

property.advert

If you paid them in December 2005 and it may well be that an insurance policy you had would count as your paying them, then the clock would start then, meaning you have until December 2011.

People say it falls off the CRA 6 years after the listed date of default but we don't hear much from people actually confirming these dates. I suppose technically you are in default on any credit agreement the day after you miss a payment but I'm not sure when debts are actually listed as defaulted or whether it is simply up the the creditor.

Those in the know would probably argue that it is barred 6 years from the last date you paid or acknowledged the debt but is that perhaps not 6 years from the date it is registered as a default ? That argument rests on the a CRA being able to list a defaulted debt for longer than it could be claimed under the 6 year rule and that does not seem right or equitable. Until I know more, I am not working from 6 years from the last date I acknowledged it and would prefer 6 years from the date of default. I may be wrong but I don't see how a CRA can list a time barred debt.

chickencurry

Good old Welcome. I defaulted Oct 2003 and default was recorded April 2006. Complaint is now with ICO as trying to talk to Welcome is near on impossible and very slightly frustrating!

iwantahouse

Don't they only have three months to record a default once payments stop? Also do you think its worth sending off the request for a copy of the default notice as I know this was never issued?

PNPSUKNET

as the insurance are paying it still counts as your payment, with any w/o their is always a short fall and you are liable unless you have gap. As long as the default is accurate date cant see anyone doing anything to remove it