Unenforceable credit card debt - are these dates right ?

property.advert

Say you have an agreement from 2001 and you manage it ok until 2003 when things go a bit pear shaped and your last contact was in January 2004 when you cancelled the direct debit for the minimum repayment. You used the card last after this, in March 2004. There has been no contact since.

Do I presume that as far as unenforceability goes, the last relevant date is the last use of the card and not the last direct debit repayment made ?

If no CCJ has been sought and presuming the default was listed in February 2004, it should now have fallen off a credit record or will the series of 9999 or whatever they put up each month will still show ?

Can a CCJ be obtained after this length of time ?

Lastly, for another debt, when a CCJ has been obtained but there has been no contact for 6 years, is the holder of the debt entitled to petition for payment or another CCJ or start putting black marks back on the credit file ?

Thanks

Tixy

property.advert wrote: »

Say you have an agreement from 2001 and you manage it ok until 2003 when things go a bit pear shaped and your last contact was in January 2004 when you cancelled the direct debit for the minimum repayment. You used the card last after this, in March 2004. There has been no contact since.

Do I presume that as far as unenforceability goes, the last relevant date is the last use of the card and not the last direct debit repayment made ?
With regards to the debt being statute barred (which is what I think you mean rather than unenforceability), it is the last action by you that would be relevant, so yes the last use of the card would count. Remember the creditor/DCA can continue to chase a statute barred debt until such time that you advise in writing that you know its SB and do not intend to pay.

If no CCJ has been sought and presuming the default was listed in February 2004, it should now have fallen off a credit record or will the series of 9999 or whatever they put up each month will still show ?
Should have gone from your file altogether I think.

Can a CCJ be obtained after this length of time ?
They have 6years from your last action/acknowledgement to start CCJ proceedings so from what you have written - no.

Lastly, for another debt, when a CCJ has been obtained but there has been no contact for 6 years, is the holder of the debt entitled to petition for payment or another CCJ or start putting black marks back on the credit file ?
Once a CCJ has been granted the creditor has 6years from the date of the CCJ to chase the debtor for payment/or instruct baliffs etc. They would be able to mark the credit file in this period. After 6years to continue to chase for payment they would have to go back to court and to give good reason to the judge why the CCJ should be extended (eg a judge may allow it if the debtor had been living abroad for the last 5years and had since returned, much less likely to give continued permission if the debtor has been contactable and on the electoral roll for the entire 6year period).

Thanks

Hope that helps - here is a factsheet which should explain it all in more detail http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=25_liability_for_debts_and_the_limitation_act
(all above is based on a debt taken out in England or Wales, Scotland's law is different and the NI law varies slightly from the above)

tyllwyd

Just out of interest, if you use the card in March, that use wouldn't appear on your statement until several weeks later - so assuming that the statement was sent out as normal, wouldn't it be fair for the credit card company to say that the statement date was the last contact?

Tixy

Intersting point tyllwyd. But I think that as the statement if sent out by the creditor then it would be resonable to say that that was not an action by the debtor.

property.advert

Thanks for your help. I have a follow up if you do not mind.

If someone has managed to obtain a CCJ over 6 years ago, then lets say 7 years later they make contact with the debtor, what actually happens ? Now I read where you say they can go to court but in terms of your credit file, what is the position ?

Say you are 7 years down the line and you both know that going to court is not guaranteed to get a result for the creditor, can the creditor just place some more "stuff" on your credit file and essentially blackmail you into settling ?

Finally, am I right in thinking that a creditor could wait until the last week of the 6th year to get a CCJ and then have another 6 years to enforce it, making nearly 12 years in total ?

property.advert

Tixy wrote: »

Intersting point tyllwyd. But I think that as the statement if sent out by the creditor then it would be resonable to say that that was not an action by the debtor.

Just thinking about that, as the creditor would not know anything until the direct debit was refused or they found out it was cancelled, could they not also claim that the last action was the date of the failed direct debit ? Would any notification to the creditor by the debtor's bank also count as an action, with the bank acting as agent for the debtor ?

never-in-doubt

property.advert wrote: »

If someone has managed to obtain a CCJ over 6 years ago, then lets say 7 years later they make contact with the debtor, what actually happens ? Now I read where you say they can go to court but in terms of your credit file, what is the position ?

Only one default can ever be registered per debt, with a CCJ this updates and remains so long as the debt remains, so as Tixy explained once 6 years have passed, if the lender did not trace you then it's unlikely a judge will extend the CCJ so therefore it becomes void, i.e. the entry on your credit file must also be removed as void. Remember a CCJ goes under public data - not account data so it can be removed at the courts say-so, or upon expiry if no extension was given.

If the lender got a judge to extend it, then a new CCJ would be placed on your credit file, but remember lenders do not use credit files to check for public data - they search the Registry Trust (one such example for consumers is here: http://www.trustonline.org.uk/)

property.advert wrote: »

Say you are 7 years down the line and you both know that going to court is not guaranteed to get a result for the creditor, can the creditor just place some more "stuff" on your credit file and essentially blackmail you into settling ?

No. See above, after 6 years of original CCJ if the lender does not get an extension then it is removed - they cannot add another marker, the debt would also be statute barred at this point so you'd get in there with the SB letter before they reapply for a continuation CCJ.

property.advert wrote: »

Finally, am I right in thinking that a creditor could wait until the last week of the 6th year to get a CCJ and then have another 6 years to enforce it, making nearly 12 years in total ?

Yes, but they could never manage things that way - they do not work like that, usually in year 6 they will hassle you more - if you've just vanished then they will stop pursuing you and the CCJ will automatically fall off.

Why don't you tell us why you need to know these answers and we can actually answer specifics to you...... I assume you're in year 6 and panicking, cos you've got away with it for so long? If so, don't - it is rare for them to attempt an extension and rarer for a judge to grant one.

property.advert

What about charges on property ? A charge on property made in 2006 but paid in 2008, would that fall off in 2012 or in 2014 ?

property.advert

never-in-doubt wrote: »

A Charging Order you mean? It would be the same, 6 years from settlement date.


p.s. don't you sleep? i'm still here from last time we spoke! haha

I'm a vampire, sleep in the day !

6 years from settlement ? that hardly seems fair.

Would not a CCJ show only as the date it was granted and a default as the date of default, both falling off records 6 years from that date, not the date of any settlement ? if so, it seems inequitable to have a charging order reported from the beginning of time until 6 years after it was paid off.

The long term risk to the lender of not being paid out under the charging order is far less than the CCJ or simple default but reporting that for 6 years after the sale of the property would appear an unjust and unfair punishment. From the date of the order yes, but from the date of settlement ?

property.advert

Just been looking around and I seem to get conflicting information. Some says 6 years from the date the charge was put on and the contrary view is 6 years from the date the charge was removed. No authoritative sources.

DarkConvict

CCJs/COs fall off 6 years from the court date.

The creditor can ask that CCJ/COs are readded to your file if they have not been settled.

The SB date would be March 2010 (last use of your card/or payment/or acknowledgement)

If a CCJ was obtained over 6 years ago, they would have to go back to court and submit a case why they did not use the CCJ. If they have a valid reason it will be made enforceable again.