Credit card time lapses???

pokerkev

Hi people,

Is there a time limit a credit card company has to chase you for a debt? I am not contesting the debt but this credit card relates back to 2001. I have just recieved a debt recovery letter in the post which i am obviously concerned about.
I have also just had to give up my job as a part time taxi driver as the expenses incurred are just far far too much. Is there a chance that i could make myself bankrupt to avoid paying the outstanding balance?
I AM TO BLAME......I SPENT THE MONEY etc etc but would appreciate any feedback as i am in a world of the proverbial!!!!
With thanks............. a single father of 3 with a bad past!!!!!!:(

3Dogs

A debt is statute barred after 6 years from the point you last paid anything towards the debt or they placed a default notice on your credit file

Tixy

Hi, need some more information - but I'm sure we can help.

When did you last pay anything towards this debt? or write to acknowledge you owe the money?
Do you know if there is a CCJ on the debt?

What sort of balance are you talking about? No way is it worth making yourself bankrupt for, but even so there may be a way in which you don't need to pay.

pokerkev

Tixy wrote: »

Hi, need some more information - but I'm sure we can help.

When did you last pay anything towards this debt? or write to acknowledge you owe the money?
Do you know if there is a CCJ on the debt?

What sort of balance are you talking about? No way is it worth making yourself bankrupt for, but even so there may be a way in which you don't need to pay.

Hi Tixy, Thanks for your reply. I have recently telephoned the debt company and confirmed verbally my mothers maiden name which confirms it is my debt. I have also paid them £10 by debit card (telephone payment). This was to buy me a bit of time and to prevent further action. The balance is £1699.00. Initially i was going to pay through the CCCS (8yrs ago), but when i moved house did not inform them of my new address. CCJ? not sure. Apologies for the vague info. thanks again!!!

pokerkev

3Dogs wrote: »

A debt is statute barred after 6 years from the point you last paid anything towards the debt or they placed a default notice on your credit file

Ok thanks 3Dogs

Locke

pokerkev wrote: »

Hi Tixy, Thanks for your reply. I have recently telephoned the debt company and confirmed verbally my mothers maiden name which confirms it is my debt. I have also paid them £10 by debit card (telephone payment). This was to buy me a bit of time and to prevent further action. The balance is £1699.00. Initially i was going to pay through the CCCS (8yrs ago), but when i moved house did not inform them of my new address. CCJ? not sure. Apologies for the vague info. thanks again!!!

Are you saying there was an 8 year gap between your last payment and the £10 you recently paid over the phone?

pokerkev

Locke wrote: »

Are you saying there was an 8 year gap between your last payment and the £10 you recently paid over the phone?

Hi. no i only paid the £10 a few days ago. Before that though it was approx 5-7 years i last made a payment. Thanks:)

DarkConvict

Find your last payment date, if there was a gap of 6 years or more even 6 years and 1 day, between that and your payment a few days ago the debt is statute barred. And as such in England payment is then voluntary as the debt is not enforceable in court. Once a debt is statute barred it is always statute barred, so if there was a gap the recent payment does not make the debt un-statute barred.
Further to this if you say you won't pay an SB debt and they demand payment it becomes unlawful harassment under the Justice Act.

In Scotland, the date is 5 years, and the debt no longer exists at all.

Letters - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=11571227#post11571227

Tixy

Hi

Thats unfortunate. You may have prevented it from going statute barred soon. As DC suggest you really need to work out when you last paid anything to it (before the £10). Can you tell from old bank statements etc. If not you could do a subject access request under the DPA. It would cost £10 but they would have to provide a record of all payments.
The key is whether there was the 6year gap. If there was (and no CCJ, which its quite likely there isn't-again you could find out from the info they would have to send) then the debt would be statute barred and you are no longer required to pay anything.

If you find there hasn't been a 6year gap then all is not necessarily lost, there is still another potential way to help you. You could instead consider seeing if this debt is unenforceable. There are quite a lot of old credit card agreements that never contained all the legal stuff that they should have done.
Should yours be one of those then you could simply decide not to pay and they cannot enforce the debt against you (i.e they cannot take you to court), they can apply a default against you but you will already have one for this debt so they cannot harm your credit agreement further. So at that point you can either stop paying or some people prefer to do a really low full & final settlement of the debt.

So step 1 try to find the last payment.
Step 2 consider doing a SAR request.
Step 3 - read this thread https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2305463 (well the first few pages) and see if your agreement is unenforceable.