Not sure if debt is statute barred? Please help?

babybutterfly

Hi everyone
I wonder if someone can help?
Back when I was in my early 20's I got myself into debt with credit cards etc and ended up borrowing more that i couldnt pay back to try and pay off debts.

Then in Feb 2005 I got made redundant, evicted from my flat and my boyfriend dumped me leaving me pregnant (it wasnt a great month really!). I wrote to the 3 credit card companies I owed money to and explained the situation. I never heard anything back from 2 of them, which at the time I considered a blessing as I had enough to deal with and I never bothered contacting them again or paying anything off my debt.

Now 6 years later out of the blue a company called Intrum Justitia Ltd started phoning my in laws house leaving messages asking to speak to me using both my maiden name and my married name (I use my in laws address as my husband is in the army and we move a lot so its just easier if everything goes to one address). I told them to ignore the answer machine messages, as if they did call them back, they would keep calling as I have dealt with debt collectors in the past.

Then the phone rang and my mother in law answered and it was them, they asked to speak to me and she said I didnt live there (which is true). The person on the phone then got very abusive and called her a liar and threatened to send people round to her house to take everything. She hung up the phone and called me in tears as she has never dealt with a debt collector in her life and really thought at any moment someone was going to break into her house! After I calmed her down I emailed them posing as a relative and told them if they phoned the house again and threatened my mother in law I would report them to the police and the financial services ombudsman. I got a reply apologising and promising to remove her number from their records. That was a month ago.

Now today a letter has arrived for me from them at my in laws address saying they are working on behalf of Barclays credit card and that as they know I am now financially better off I have to pay them what I owe. They want me to pay them £1225 in the next 2 weeks! My original debt was only £250! Plus as the last contact I had with them was in Feb 2005 doesnt this now make the debt statute barred? I dont know what to do?
I cant admit to the debt as they will start chasing me as I am not financially better off, but I dont want them harrassing my in laws anymore or it affecting their credt rating. I cant get hold of my credit report to see what it says as I need to give them my current address to get it and Im worried if I do that the debt collectors will then be able to see it on my credit report and start writing to my address.
What should I do????

Tixy

If you have not paid towards this debt or written to them since Feb 05 then providing they haven't obtained a CCJ against you the debt will be statute barred. You could simply send the SB letter if there is no CCJ for this debt.

This will not affect your inlaws credit rating whatever.

You are right if you get your credit report then your creditors will likely start to write to you - though if your debts are statute barred then all you would need to do is wait for a letter from them and then send through the SB letter and that will be the end of the matter.

Aside from that if you want to check if there is a CCJ registered then you could try the registery trust website which is anonymous to check (in that anyone can check any name /address combo and it won't alert the DCAs to your new address etc) - it costs £8 per address/name you search.

babybutterfly

Thanks for that advice. I just went and checked that registry and there are no CCJ's for me at the address I was living at 6 years ago.
If I write to them and say it statute barred, do they have to proove it isnt or do I? I cant find any of my paperwork from back then. I know I kept a copy of the last letter I sent them on my computer, but I have changed computers 2 times since and I have a nasty feeling it never got transferred to my new harddrive because I had a nasty computer virus and didnt want to risk it?

bottleofred

Hi babybutterfly,

There is a template letter somewhere on the forum for statute barred debts (check the stickies at the top of the page). Only print your signature though (don't sign as you normally would) as they've been known to create payments and signatures etc to get people to pay. I'm pretty sure it's up to the dca to prove the debt isn't statute barred, although someone with more knowledge than me will confirm this hopefully.

Good luck

Red

Tixy

Hi

As red says if you are pretty confident (or certain) it should be SB then you can send the SB letter. If they want to dispute its status and claim it isn't SB then they will have to prove you made a payment or admitted the debt in writing within the last 6years.
One thing to be aware of is that there seems to be an increasing case of DCAs coming back and saying - its not SB because you paid £5 on x date (usually convientely 5years 10months or so ago) - if you know you made no much payment do not take their word for it but challenge them to prove this payment happened and came from yourself (which they usually cannot do).

Here is the info red was referring to - Statute barred debts and the Limitation Acts