Old Debt

Ashamed_2

My wife has recently been chased up for an old debt that she is unsure is her's. The company contacted us in writing first and said we owe them £826. They then wrote again 3 weeks later offering to settle for £413. Again after 3 weeks they wrote again offering a settlement for £207.

My wife contacted them to ask them what this debt was and the date the loan was taken out. It's a debt going back to Feb 2003. Whilst on the phone My wife asked for them to send a copy of the original signed agreement. If this was indeed her debt then we would have to pay it. However not knowing if it is ours or not we don't want to pay without first seeing the original contact with signature.

They have once again contacted us now by telephone asking us to pay the £826. They got the number from when we called them to enquire about it. Again we asked for the contact and they said we need to send them a letter asking for it and also £1 to cover the cost of posting it back to us.

This all seems a little odd to me and I'm not sure where we stand.

Can anyone advise ?

RAS

Hi

If this debt is for unsecured credit, then it is statute barred unless there is a CCJ against it. Given the offer for a 25% settlement, I seriously doubt there is a CCJ.

A request for the Consumer Credit Agreement does have to be in writing with a £1 statuatory fee.

Much better just to send a prove it letter, regsitered post, in case the debt is not covered by the CCA.

paulmcerlean

The fact you are recieving reduced settlement figures almost certainly suggests they wont be able to provide the agreement. Also the debt is now barred so you do not legally have to pay it. There is a template on the site to this effect. Send and you wont hear from them again.

Tixy

Prove it letter to start with (to prove its her debt) - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=11570893&postcount=2

If they prove it was her debt originally then Statute barred info http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=25_liability_for_debts_and_the_limitation_act
(or if in Scotland)
http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/scotland/factsheet.php?page=23_prescription_and_limitation_act

Ashamed_2

Many Thanks.

"Prove it letter" now in the post.

the_insider

It's not necessarily statute barred, there's no mention of when the account was defaulted, the lender has 6 years from date of default to litigate, after that 6 years it is statute barred. But they can still report the outstanding amount on your credit file until it is settled and they can continue to contact you for payment.

Ashamed_2

I'm a little worried now as we have just recieved another letter saying that because they have still not heard from us, they will now send an "Agent to the door" if they do not recieve a reduced payment of £620 by 1st July.

Does this mean I'm going to have the heavies knocking at my door and taking my furniture away ?

I sent the prove-it letter to them on the 18th by 1st class post, so they should have had it by now.

Extremely worried, shall I just pay the money ?

CHR15

It's always better to send these letters by Recorded Delivery. Sending it by standard post leaves the door open for them to deny receipt.

Sounds like they are scaremongering, hoping to scare you into paying up.

Don't give in to the demands, personally, I would send the Prove it letter again, but Recorded this time.

This has been running on since 2003 so there is no mad panic now to resolve it.

Keep it all official in writing, if they knock the door, close the door on them without engaging in conversation, nor should you engage in telephone conversations.

Ashamed_2

Will send again recorded delivery

Joeler

Or considering they write to you every 3 weeks and offer to reduce the outstanding amount by 50%, why not just wait 45 weeks until the outstanding balance is less than a penny or technically... nothing

Evilm

write to them recorded delivery asking for proof of the validity of the debt. They have to reply within a certain amount of time or stop chasing the debt.