Statute barred debts and the Limitation Acts

suzie1977

Hi Many thanks for your reply, how can I find out the dates without acknowledging the debt please ? I no longer have any paperwork as I have moved a few times

jennik123

My partner took out a bank loan with a high street lender over 16 years ago. This debt defaulted over 6 years ago and within that whole time no correspondance or payment was ever sent to the company. This debt has been sold on several times and the types of letters so far have only been asking for him to call and arrange a repayment plan. At this time my partner had no financial 'assets' and his credit file looked poor. However.....now the debt has been removed off his credit file and he has been able to obtain a mortgage with myself. He is now receiving letters from Lowell stating they know he is now a home owner and will apply to the court for a CCJ and mentions bankrupcy etc. My other half is clearly extremely concerned by this threat.
Is his debt classed as statutue barred?? do we simply send the letter? does sending the letter acknowledge the debt??
He has had no contact or attempted to pay anything since the original loan was taken out in his youth (£8500).
Can anyone please assist us, we are new parents and very anxious because of this.
thanks

forgotmyname

If you are sure the debt was statute barred and they didnt get a CCJ, But have checked the credit file?

Lowells are well know for chasing statute barred debts.

fatbelly

jennik123 wrote: »

My partner took out a bank loan with a high street lender over 16 years ago. This debt defaulted over 6 years ago and within that whole time no correspondance or payment was ever sent to the company. This debt has been sold on several times and the types of letters so far have only been asking for him to call and arrange a repayment plan. At this time my partner had no financial 'assets' and his credit file looked poor. However.....now the debt has been removed off his credit file and he has been able to obtain a mortgage with myself. He is now receiving letters from Lowell stating they know he is now a home owner and will apply to the court for a CCJ and mentions bankrupcy etc. My other half is clearly extremely concerned by this threat.
Is his debt classed as statutue barred?? do we simply send the letter? does sending the letter acknowledge the debt??
He has had no contact or attempted to pay anything since the original loan was taken out in his youth (£8500).
Can anyone please assist us, we are new parents and very anxious because of this.
thanks

Sounds statute barred to me.

Send the letter so they know how you will respond to a court claim should they start one.

The standard letter in post #2 does not acknowledge the debt but this should not be relevant as, once it's statute barred, it stays that way.

Lowell do buy SB debts but also will hold their hands up when this is pointed out to them (usually). Ultimately only a court can decide this. But send the letter and see what happens.

baller123

Can someone clarify for me please if a CCJ has been issued for a debt that is 7 years old, can I still defend/dispute it with a statue barred letter when sending the court papers back?

poppasmurf_bewdley

If someone has issued you with a CCJ for a debt which you believe is statute barred, then that is what you should put on the court papers when returning them, giving the court all the details. That is your sole defence against the claim.

rizla_king

Defence something like

The Defendant contends that as this is a claim in contract and an excess of 6 years have passed since any cause of action may have accrued, any alleged debt is therefore statute barred pursuant to section 5 of the Limitation Act 1980.

The Claimant's claim to be entitled to payment of £ or any other sum, or relief of any kind is denied.

baller123

rizla_king wrote: »

Defence something like

The Defendant contends that as this is a claim in contract and an excess of 6 years have passed since any cause of action may have accrued, any alleged debt is therefore statute barred pursuant to section 5 of the Limitation Act 1980.

The Claimant's claim to be entitled to payment of £ or any other sum, or relief of any kind is denied.

Your defence response sounds better than the one I pre wrote out. Here is what I had ready to put in my defence notes:

"I spoke to a representative of the claimant on the phone in 2010 and again in 2011 and stated both times to them that I have no recolection of the accused debt and asked if they could provide me with some proof documentation. Both times they refused to comply and said the onus was on me to prove I didn't owe it.
I then pointed out it was impossible to 'prove' I don't owe something I have no knowledge of. Their response was tough. I told them I was not willing to discuss it further until I had written proof the alleged debt was mine. Cabot ignored this request and continued to harass me with a letter every 3-4 weeks and a phone call daily.
I sent them a statue barred letter in November 2013 informing them that this alleged debt was more than 6 years old that it has become statue barred and asked them to stop contacting me as they hadn't provided me with any other evidence. The next letter I received was 7 months later from Restons Solicitors and 2 weeks after that CCJ papers.
I have included a copy of the original letter I sent Cabot financial."

Is this response long winded? Is there a better way of wording things before I send my papers off? Should I include a copy of the original statue barred letter I sent in November and should I write a newer dated one out too?

Just want to make sure I cross all the t's and dot the i's.

nottoolate

a better place to ask for that https://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/

or consumeractiongroup forum

fatbelly

baller123 wrote: »

Can someone clarify for me please if a CCJ has been issued for a debt that is 7 years old, can I still defend/dispute it with a statue barred letter when sending the court papers back?

if a court claim has been issued for a debt that is 7 years since it was last acknowledged by payment or in writing, then you can defend it within the time limits by using the wording from the statute barred letter - if the claim came from the court bulk centre then it is better defended online than through the post.