DLA and Carer's Allowance on Financial Statement

ferretlives

Hi all

Same old same old with me as so many others, getting letters and texts from Mackenzie Hall about a debt.

As per usual whenever I get a new letter from some chancers who've taken over one of my debts I send out a standard letter saying that because of my situation (no longer work after a long stretch as incapable of work and now am a carer for a child with special needs) there is not a chance of anything being paid back and taking me to court would be a waste of time cos they'd come to that conclusion too.

Usually this does the trick and I don't hear from them again but Mackenzie Hall have replied asking for a Financial Statement.

I'm worried about sending one off at this time as we claim Disability Living Allowance for my child, we have a higher rate of child tax credits and I claim Carer's Allowance on top of income support (although this only works out as an extra twenty odd quid a week, which brings up my benefit to almost the same level as incapacity benefit which is why I stopped claiming it, that and the constant stress of appealing against dodgy Personal Capability Assessment results).

All that makes it look like we have a fair bit of money and enough disposable to pay something back but this is mostly money for my child and covers a lot of the extra expense that comes with having a child with complex special needs.

Should I send a Financial Statement off or just ignore them? Has Mackenzie Hall ever taken anyone to court, doesn't seem like it as far as the posters on this forum and others say? The debt they are talking about will soon by coming up to its 6th birthday so I'm worried about any further contact with this company over this as it may be classed as acknowledging the debt.

I think I did mention the name of the original creditor in my letter, but don't think I acknowledged owing them anything, so not sure whether I've dropped myself in it as far as getting it classed as Statute Barred.

What is everyone's opinion?

Stu

Tixy

Hi Stu

I would probably say don't bother completing the financial statement. If you did decide to then I would think you could omit the DLA as surely this is your son's income not yours? That would presumably mean that you were not showing a surplus at all.

Not sure if your letter would have made a difference re the debt being SB - I suppose it depends on what you said - did you actually deny that you owed the money/or type something like I do not acknowledge any debt to your company? or did you just talk about not being in a position to pay towards the debt?

If it comes to it you could ask national debtline for their advice - email them a copy of the letters you have sent to see whether they think it would be classed as acknowledgement.

Are you sure its not SB yet? You are going from the date of last payment rather than the date of the default I assume? (as many dcas will tell you the default date is the relevant one, when it isn't).

beanielou

As Tixy says I wouldent include the DLA as its not your income.

ferretlives

Thanks for the answers, I feel better about making a Financial Statement now but think I won't bother.

As for the SB debts I think I may have been a bit of an idiot when contacting all these DCAs when they kept taking on the debts, saying that I couldn't pay the debt rather than denying it at all. Even though a lot of my debts are from 2005/2006 I've contacted companies as recently as 2009, dumbass that I am. But do you have to acknowledge it to the actual creditor themselves? I'm hoping it doesn't count if it is to a DCA but I'm going to have to look into the nitty gritty of the law on limitation.

At least I can rest a bit over Christmas, and I hope you all have a restful and joyous Christmas too!

Stu

Tixy

Sorry I'm think either the DCA or original creditor would count the same in terms of acknowledgement - not sure if you have seen this, but it might help - http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=25_liability_for_debts_and_the_limitation_act (assuming you are in England/wales).