Advice on the rules of statute barred

Milly68

My friend received a letter from a debt recovery agency claiming she owed money on a credit card. She knew nothing of this card or the debt, so wrote and advised them that she knew nothing of this debt and could they provide details so she could report it to the proper authorities (ie police).
Some months later they sent the paperwork through, which had her signature on. Payments have been made - the last one being September 2003. Having looked through the paperwork, she now thinks this debt may be hers and due to a very bad trauma in her life had just forgotten about it. The debt recovery agency have sent a further letter stating that they will be calling to see her. Obviously, she is somewhat worried. Are these people allowed to enter her property? It is now past 6 years since the last payment was made so is it statue barred, or will the fact that she wrote to them prior to the 6 year date to say she knew nothing of the debt be taken as acknowledging the debt? My friend can't sleep at the thought of these people turning up at her house.

hippyadam

Milly68 wrote: »

My friend received a letter from a debt recovery agency claiming she owed money on a credit card. She knew nothing of this card or the debt, so wrote and advised them that she knew nothing of this debt and could they provide details so she could report it to the proper authorities (ie police).
Some months later they sent the paperwork through, which had her signature on. Payments have been made - the last one being September 2003. Having looked through the paperwork, she now thinks this debt may be hers and due to a very bad trauma in her life had just forgotten about it. The debt recovery agency have sent a further letter stating that they will be calling to see her. Obviously, she is somewhat worried. Are these people allowed to enter her property? It is now past 6 years since the last payment was made so is it statue barred, or will the fact that she wrote to them prior to the 6 year date to say she knew nothing of the debt be taken as acknowledging the debt? My friend can't sleep at the thought of these people turning up at her house.

First off, no they cannot enter her property without an invitation ( a bit like a vampire )

Secondly if there was no contact between September 2003 and September 2009, this debt is statute barred. If however she wrote to them in that period then the 6 years starts from that point.

Basically a creditor has 6 years from the date of the last payment/contact to issue legal proceedings.

It is perfectly legal to ask for a statute barred debt to be paid, but illegal to threaten legal action or bailiffs etc.

This will all depend on when she received the letter regarding payment and when she replied. If either occurred prior to October 2009 it's probably still within statute.

fermi

Milly68 wrote: »

will the fact that she wrote to them prior to the 6 year date to say she knew nothing of the debt be taken as acknowledging the debt?

Writing to someone stating that you know nothing of a debt cannot be taken as 'acknowledgement'. The DCA may fib to her to try to make her believe otherwise, but it cannot.

Out of interest, when did she write?

RAS

Hi

It rather depends EXACTLY what you friend put in the letter to the DCA.

She needs to come on here or talk to NDL and go through the letter.

Milly68

I think she wrote the letter last year some time, prior to September 2003. It wasn't an official letter - she was angry. From what I remember it just stated that she knew nothing of this debt and had never heard of the credit card company, that either they (the debt recovery agency) were trying to con her into giving money or someone else had taken out a card in her name. Therefore, she requested that they send her all the details they had so she could take it up with appropriate authorities (ie police). Like I said - she was angry. And she didn't sign the letters - she thought they might copy her signature to prove the debt was hers!

RAS

As said, she needs proper advice and it cannot be given without a copy of the letter.

In the standrd prove it letter for instance it states "I do not acknowledge any debt to your company" which allows people to write challenging the debt safely.

So it will depend on exactly what she wrote and the legal implications of those words.

Milly68

I will see if I can get copies from her. In the meantime, according to the statements they sent through, the original outstanding amount on the credit card was for approx £200. With interest for non-payment it rose to £500 by the credit card company. The debt recovery agency are asking for approx £1,500. Are they allowed to do this?

DarkConvict

The debt company can only add interest/fees if it was allowed in the credit agreement she signed back in pre-Sept 2003. If the agreement was not transferable to the DCA, then they can only ask for the amount at the time it was passed to the DCA. They cannot apply interest or charges.
Only if a court order is made could additional costs like 8% interest, court fees etc be added.

As it is upto a DCA to prove a debt is not statute barred, i would be tempted to send them the statute barred letter and see what proof they can show it is not statute barred. If they have no proof the debt is not statute barred they have to leave it alone. Generally a DCA can only ever track last payment made. http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=11571227#post11571227

Milly68

Thanks for that. I read the statute barred letter and it states that no acknowledgement/payment has been made in 6 years. Obviously in my friend's case no payment has been made, however it is the letter she sent to them totally denying any knowledge of the credit card or the debt that concerns me. Unfortunately, I don't have the wording of that letter right now, but from what I remember, it totally denies ever having heard of the credit card company, or of any debt - for at the time my friend had no recollection whatsoever of either and even now, is somewhat unsure. Could this letter still be classed as an 'acknowledgement?'

RAS

Milly68 wrote: »

Thanks for that. I read the statute barred letter and it states that no acknowledgement/payment has been made in 6 years. Obviously in my friend's case no payment has been made, however it is the letter she sent to them totally denying any knowledge of the credit card or the debt that concerns me. Unfortunately, I don't have the wording of that letter right now, but from what I remember, it totally denies ever having heard of the credit card company, or of any debt - for at the time my friend had no recollection whatsoever of either and even now, is somewhat unsure. Could this letter still be classed as an 'acknowledgement?'

Until you have the content of the letter and get proper advice, no one can say.

zzzLazyDaisy

You can only acknowledge a debt by either making a payment, or by making some sort of admission (however woolly) that you owe the money, or that you did take out the agreement.

If, as you say, her letter clearly denied that this was her debt then that isn't an acknowledgement.

She needs to speak to a money adviser, or the CAB, who can look at the letter and advise her accordingly. But if she has not admitted that this is her debt and/or that she owes the money, then I think I'd be inclined to send the statute barred letter making clear that this is not her debt and she denies that she owes the money demanded, but in any case, it is clear from the dates that the debt is statute barred.

I would then refuse to enter into any further correspondence, and I'd put my phone on answerphone to screen my calls, until I had spoken to a real person who could advise me.

(please note, this is what I would do in her situation - it isn't legal advice)