house of stirling then global arrow now provident

calshan

hi, my partner took out a loan with house of stirling a few years ago, they went bankrupt and she has not heard from anyone in around 5 yrs, now she has a letter from provident saying the loan was refinanced 3 times and she now owes on three accounts. Yes, i'm thinking is this statute barred, truth is, it may be 6 years since last contact, i'm not sure. Was thinking about putting the account into dispute and either a credit agreement request sent or dpa letter, any advice?

calshan

forgot to add, there was no contact from House of Stirling to say account passed to Global, no contact from Global and now Provy are demanding repayment all of a sudden!! We are in uk.

crazyguy

The Limitation Act 1980

If its been six years with no contact from the company then you can use the
The Limitations Act 1980 outlines the time limit within which a creditor can chase a debtor for outstanding debts. The Limitations Act 1980 only applies when no contact has been made between the creditor and debtor within the given time limit and only applies to residents of England and Wales.
Creditors are given a fixed period of time to chase their debtors, which is outlined in the Limitations Act 1980. The time scale mainly depends on the type of debt and can be extended at the courts discretion. The time limit begins when you last admitted owing the money or made a payment.
Should the creditor fail to maintain contact with the debtor, for a period of 6 years or more, it is possible to claim that the outstanding debt is "Statute Barred" under the conditions of the Limitations Act 1980.
The Limitations Act 1980 also has additional effects, depending on the type of debt in question:
Unsecured debt

You may have assumed that your creditor has "written-off" a debt if you have not heard from them for a long period. In many cases, it could be down to your failure to inform them of a change of address, but the debt will still exist and creditors are entitled to chase the debt indefinitely (even after the debt has become Statute Barred), however they can only use the legal system to recover the monies for up to 6 years after the last payment was made to the account.
Remember, creditors are still able to pursue an unsecured debt if:

• They have previously obtained a judgement against you (a CCJ);
• You have made a payment to the account within the last 6 years (this includes anyone else named on the credit agreement)
• You have not written to the creditor acknowledging or admitting that you owe the debt during the previous six years.

If a creditor continues to contact you after accepting that a debt is Statute Barred and you have stated that you no longer intend to pay the debt, you may be able to claim harassment contrary to section 40 (1) of the Administration of Justice Act 1970.

Hope this helps.

calshan

thanks for this, its a great help. Should it not be 6yrs since last contact, what is best action? Ask for a copy of the original agreement or the £10 data request? I would assume if HOS have gone bust, the debt passed to Global then provy, it may be difficult for them to comply

crazyguy

First you should check it it has been 6 years before you speak with them, either on the phone or via post !
And it it should be 6 years from last contact with you where the debt was ackowleged, if they failed to contact you in that time frame then the above rules should apply, in any event the likely senario here is that the original company went bankrupt then the 2nd company came in and purchased the debts owed to them at a reduced rate and so on thus leaving this debt with provident as of now.

Personaly if I were you, I would make sure 100% that no contact has been made for the 6 year period and then write them a letter stating the above Act, in most cases these company's work on an intimidation basis and look to scare people into paying up whats owed.