My partner is ignoring his debts

Tamji101

A big hello to everyone,

I'm new here and I desperately need some advice on what to do about my partner's credit report !

Firstly, I feel that I must point out that I've always been in debt since I left home at 18 (now 33 !!) but I've somehow managed to keep my credit report in a fairly decent state !
I recently sold my flat and made a lot of money on it.
I used most of the profit to pay off existing debts and then used the rest as a deposit on a house with my partner, determining that we would stay out of debt forever more !! Well, it lasted a month !!! :rolleyes:

Then, we'd been in our house for about a month when some threatening letters started appearing through the post .... to cut a long story short, I made my partner get a copy of his credit report so I could see the full picture. When it came I was horrified. Debts amount to £12,700 and all defaulted in 2001.

My first question is .. Is it possible that information on his credit report has not been updated properly to show that a debt has been settled ?
Because one of the debts is a personal loan and nobody has been chasing my partner for this particular debt which has £5k outstanding !

Secondly, I made him ring up two of the companies who had sent letters. One of them was CapQuest re: Barclaycard, and I've read quite a lot of interesting articles about CapQuest on blagger.com about CapQuest sending demands for debts to people with similar names and similar credit histories !!

My partner honestly cannot recall taking this barclaycard out and so wanted proof that the debt was his before he commited to a payment plan to clear the £5k they're asking for !
CapQuest want a copy of my partner's signature first before they release to him the little documentation they have left after they bought the debt from Barclaycard.

Is that right, does my partner have to send the debt collector his signature ?
And, could it be that CapQuest are chasing the wrong person ? How do we prove this without having to send my partner's signature to them, as I don't trust them !
They told him that if he started paying off the debt now they would reduce it from £5k to £3,600 (how did they work that figure out ???????) but if he required proof that the debt was his (!!??!!), he would have to send his signature and it would then take 6 weeks to verify this, and he would lose the offer of reducing the debt to £3,600!!!!!!!!! Cheeky monkeys (is the extremely polite way of saying it !) :mad:

Thirdly, my partner seems to think that after 6 years, companies can't claim back debt ? Is that right ? Surely not, otherwise, everyone in debt would just try to hide from their debtors for 6 years and then breathe a sigh of relief !!!!! It doesn't make sense.
However, it is coming up to the six year mark and suddenly all these debtors come out of the woodwork and have stamped on a sh*t load of interest on top of the original debt because my partner just ignored some of them in the first place !!!

He just wants to ignore it and hope it goes away. What can I do? and what rights do I have to get involved ? Can I talk to these companies myself on his behalf ?

I think I'd better end it there, I do apologise for such a huge first post, please forgive me, and any help or advise would be so greatly appreciated,

Thank you so much...

chevalier

the thing with the 6 years is that if someone has a debt with a creditor, and there is NO contact between the two parties for 6 years, then you can ask experien and similar companies, to take the debt off your credit file. However if you get back in contact with them again, then you start back at the begining of the 6 years. So when lenders are looking at your credit history, there is less debt on the file. BUT I don't know whether the actual debt is written off, or mere taken off your credit history.

Someone with more knowledge will be along shortly
chev

frugglewump

The official letter for getting proof of a debt (courtesy of file_wizzard):

send with £1 cheque or postal order

---

I do not acknowledge ANY debt to your company. I require you to supply the following documentation before I will correspond further on this matter.

1. You must supply me with a true copy of the alleged agreement you refer to. This is my right under your obligation to supply a copy of the agreement under the legislation contained within s.78 (1) Consumer Credit Act 1974 (s.77 (1) for fixed sum credit) - your obligation also extends to providing a statement of account. I enclose a £1 postal order in payment of the statutory fee, PO Serial Number xxxxx.

2. A signed true copy of the deed of assignment of the above referenced agreement that you allege exists.

3. You are notified that you are obliged to supply these documents, whether you are the original creditor or not.

Non-compliance with my request is a criminal offence under the above Act and will result in a report being submitted to the relevant statutory authorities.

As you are aware, a credit agreement that is not properly documented and signed by the customer is totally unenforceable under the CCA and therefore is a complete defence to any court claim that is issued.

Take note at this stage, that any legal action you may contemplate will be both vigorously defended and contested.

Tamji101

chevalier wrote:

the thing with the 6 years is that if someone has a debt with a creditor, and there is NO contact between the two parties for 6 years, then you can ask experien and similar companies, to take the debt off your credit file. However if you get back in contact with them again, then you start back at the begining of the 6 years. So when lenders are looking at your credit history, there is less debt on the file. BUT I don't know whether the actual debt is written off, or mere taken off your credit history.

Someone with more knowledge will be along shortly
chev

Cheers, that's great. How do I post a thanks to you on this forum ??? I saw an icon called "thanks" before but now it seems to have disappeared !!!!!!

Me n technology have a love/hate relationship !!

Tamji101

Sorry, found the "thanks" icon now !!!

Tamji101

Cheers that was really useful info, I'll try that and see what happens next ......

CLAPTON

the situation about 6 years is as follows:

if 6 years has gone by without 'acknowledging' the debts then the debt become un enforceable... basically it means if you haven't been in contact with the company in any way for 6 years they can't take you to court to recover the debt (the debt is still there however). This six years doesn't apply if a CCJ has been obtained.

quite seperately, the credit agencies keep information about defaults for 6 years, so that after 6 years from the time your creditor marks your account as in default, then the info will drop off. it doesn't mattter if the debt has been acknowledged or not.

Now, your creditors know this so lots of 'old' debts are sold on for low amounts to DCAs who try to recovery as much as possible before the six years run out. Often the documentation is poor and they sometime chase the wrong people.

I think you are very wise to insist that they prove the debts.

You may feel that if the debts are genuine then your OH should pay them.

If not you may consider that as the debts are old, you may be able to make them a offer for full and Final settlement (say about 25% of the debt)..but get everything in writing first.

I would also suggest your OH gets a copy of his credit files.

Tamji101

CLAPTON wrote:

the situation about 6 years is as follows:

if 6 years has gone by without 'acknowledging' the debts then the debt become un enforceable... basically it means if you haven't been in contact with the company in any way for 6 years they can't take you to court to recover the debt (the debt is still there however). This six years doesn't apply if a CCJ has been obtained.

quite seperately, the credit agencies keep information about defaults for 6 years, so that after 6 years from the time your creditor marks your account as in default, then the info will drop off. it doesn't mattter if the debt has been acknowledged or not.

Now, your creditors know this so lots of 'old' debts are sold on for low amounts to DCAs who try to recovery as much as possible before the six years run out. Often the documentation is poor and they sometime chase the wrong people.

I think you are very wise to insist that they prove the debts.

You may feel that if the debts are genuine then your OH should pay them.

If not you may consider that as the debts are old, you may be able to make them a offer for full and Final settlement (say about 25% of the debt)..but get everything in writing first.

Thanks for that, this site is just fantastic and so helpful ... I'm wondering then if it's worth just dealing with the ones who are actively seeking repayment.
I just think there's no point in reminding a debtor that they are owed £5k, if they haven't bothered chasing it for over 5 years !!!!!
But yeah, if the other debt is proven to be his, then of course I'll make him pay it back, and help him pay it back too !!!!

Cheers, Tamji