Statute barred debts and the Limitation Acts

CakeCrusader

Hi,


I have a very old energy debt that was sold on to a collections agency. The last payment to the energy company was in 2011, I moved house in June 2012 and gave them final readings. The bill they are trying to make me pay is from September 2011 to November 2012. They are saying it was never defaulted but have agreed to adjust the balance to cover September 2011 to June 2012 (when I moved out). Is there anything that I can do considering the last payment I made was longer than 6 years ago? The bill I've received is all estimate (they never read the meter, I tried giving them readings but they rarely sent bills out). The final reading's a customer reading, but I wasn't living there when this was sent so it wasn't my reading.



Thank you

Willing2Learn

Hi CakeCrusader,

If you have not acknowledged the debt in some way for over six years, well then the debt is considered to be Statute Barred. I believe you could use the Statute Barred letter template on page one of this thread

CakeCrusader

Willing2Learn wrote: »

Hi CakeCrusader,

If you have not acknowledged the debt in some way for over six years, well then the debt is considered to be Statute Barred. I believe you could use the Statute Barred letter template on page one of this thread

Thank you. I did start a thread a couple of days ago but the National Debt Line confused me as they said the 6 years started when I was sent the bill (I wasn't living there so didn't receive it), which makes it statute barred in November. I haven't acknowledged it in writing or made a payment since 2011.

Willing2Learn

CakeCrusader wrote: »

Thank you. I did start a thread a couple of days ago but the National Debt Line confused me as they said the 6 years started when I was sent the bill (I wasn't living there so didn't receive it), which makes it statute barred in November. I haven't acknowledged it in writing or made a payment since 2011.

If it were me, I would go with the advice given by National DebtLine. It would appear as though your debt would not be considered statute barred until November 2018 as the original bill was issued in November 2012.

National_Debtline wrote: »

With regards to an energy debt being statute barred, that will apply if there has been 6 years since the bill was issued where no payments were made towards the debt, you did not acknowledge it in writing and no court papers were issued. If this particular bill was issued in November 2012 it cannot be statute barred yet. Until this debt becomes statute barred try to sure you avoid acknowledging it in writing otherwise you'll restart the 6 year limitation period.

CakeCrusader

Willing2Learn wrote: »

If it were me, I would go with the advice given by National DebtLine. It would appear as though your debt would not be considered statute barred until November 2018 as the original bill was issued in November 2012.

I've just googled that, they are right. I'm not sure if I can string it out for another couple of months, I could do with popping to the CAB, I think.



Thank you!

sourcrates

CakeCrusader wrote: »

I've just googled that, they are right. I'm not sure if I can string it out for another couple of months, I could do with popping to the CAB, I think.



Thank you!

Hi,


Another string to your bow could be the back billing rules, you will have to Google them to see the finer detail, but essentially if the bill is an estimate, and they have not been in touch for 12 months or more, you may not have to pay it.


Not completely au fair with the finer details of this, but worth taking a look.

devouk

Hi, wonder if I can get the input regarding this letter

Held a MBNA card pre 2003, had a accident which left me unable to work, tried to work out with the creditors but they kept raising the bar even though I had PPI protection, which they dismissed.

Had advice by the insolvency agency and due to not owning a house / car or any assets, was told to personally bankrupt. This was for a period of approximately 6 years, about a year later after the discharge , I obtained a certificate of discharge.

Today I received a letter from the PRA group out of the blue , saying that they have brought the debt in 2009 (after bankruptcy started in 2003/4 and MBNA was declared a debitor / creditor) the first time I have been contacted even thought I have lived at two address since then.

The accident has left me disabled and on benefits so have no money. This has kind of scared me as far as I know all creditor have been discharged.

After reading this thread it seems this letter would be a good start but unsure if it would have to reworded .

There has been no contact as far as I can remember previously and not at this current address, and after reading the information about no contact for 6 years later.

To me its like MBNA has sold a discharged debt ! The letter has scared me so wanting to hear any views on how I should tackle this and what I need to state.

Would appreciate any input and the best letter to compile.

Thank you for any input and your time reading this.

sourcrates

devouk wrote: »

Hi, wonder if I can get the input regarding this letter

Held a MBNA card pre 2003, had a accident which left me unable to work, tried to work out with the creditors but they kept raising the bar even though I had PPI protection, which they dismissed.

Had advice by the insolvency agency and due to not owning a house / car or any assets, was told to personally bankrupt. This was for a period of approximately 6 years, about a year later after the discharge , I obtained a certificate of discharge.

Today I received a letter from the PRA group out of the blue , saying that they have brought the debt in 2009 (after bankruptcy started in 2003/4 and MBNA was declared a debitor / creditor) the first time I have been contacted even thought I have lived at two address since then.

The accident has left me disabled and on benefits so have no money. This has kind of scared me as far as I know all creditor have been discharged.

After reading this thread it seems this letter would be a good start but unsure if it would have to reworded .

There has been no contact as far as I can remember previously and not at this current address, and after reading the information about no contact for 6 years later.

To me its like MBNA has sold a discharged debt ! The letter has scared me so wanting to hear any views on how I should tackle this and what I need to state.

Would appreciate any input and the best letter to compile.

Thank you for any input and your time reading this.

Hi,

• If the debt was included in the bankruptcy, don't pay the creditor anything.
• Write and tell the creditor the debt was included in your bankruptcy, and to contact the official receiver about this matter.
• If the creditor won't co-operate, contact the official receiver yourself to tell them about the situation.

fatbelly

'The debt pre-dates my bankruptcy in 2003 and would be statute barred anyway'

Reword that a bit if you like but just fire off one letter to them and don't get involved in a long exchange.

CakeCrusader

sourcrates wrote: »

Hi,


Another string to your bow could be the back billing rules, you will have to Google them to see the finer detail, but essentially if the bill is an estimate, and they have not been in touch for 12 months or more, you may not have to pay it.


Not completely au fair with the finer details of this, but worth taking a look.

Thank you. It's all estimate, apart from the last readings, which are 'customer reading' (not mine as I'd called with my readings 6 months earlier). I haven't heard from EDF since the bill before this, Aug/Sep 2011 (I think).