Advice dealing with EquiDebt and Statute Barred debt

InaTizzy_2

Hi all,

I recently started receiving letters from EquiDebt regarding an outstanding debt for a loan. I have had success previously in sending the forum's 'statute barred' letter, i.e. I do not acknowledge the debt - as a first port of call, I decided to give this a shot with this particular debt and this is the letter I sent:

I do not acknowledge any debt to you or any other company or organisation that you claim to be representing.

Dear Sir/Madam

Reference number : XXXXXXXXX

You have contacted me regarding the account with the above reference number, which you claim is owed by myself.

I would point out that I have no knowledge of any such debt being owed to CREDITOR.

I am familiar with the ‘Office of Fair Trading Debt Collection Guidance’ which states that it is unfair to send demands for payment to an individual when it is uncertain that they are the debtor in question.

I would also point out that the OFT say under the Guidance that it is unfair to pursue third parties for payment when they are not liable. In not ceasing collection activity whilst investigating a reasonably queried or disputed debt you are using deceptive/and or unfair methods.

Furthermore, ignoring and/or disregarding claims that debts have been settled or are disputed and continuing to make unjustified demands for payment amounts to physical/psychological harassment.

I would further note that based on the information you have supplied, this account would also be statute barred under the Limitation Act 1980

Under the Limitation Act 1980 Section 5 "an action founded on simple contract shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued".

I would also point out that the OFT say under their Debt Collection Guidance on statute barred debt that "it is unfair to pursue the debt if the debtor has heard nothing from the creditor during the relevant limitation period".

Furthermore that the OFT Debt Collection Guidance states further that "continuing to press for payment after a debtor has stated that they will not be paying a debt because it is statute barred could amount to harassment contrary to section 40 (1) of the Administration of Justice Act 1970".

I would ask that no further contact be made concerning the above accounts unless you can provide evidence of both:

(1) proof of my liability regarding this debt.

and

(2) payment or written contact from me in the relevant period under Section 5 of the Limitation Act.

I await your written confirmation that this matter is now closed.

Otherwise I will have no option but to make a complaint to the trading standards department and consider informing the OFT of your actions.

I look forward to your reply.

Yours faithfully

However, they sent TWO letters, one is the default "important, do not ignore this letter, we can help blah blah blah" letter, the other is a direct reply to my letter that seems to completely ignore the points I raised in my letter. It reads as follows:

With reference to recent correspondences regarding the above account.

We can confirm this balance relates to a CREDITOR account. The account was sold to EquiDebt Limited on XX / XX / XX with a balance outstanding of £XXXX.XX

Please be advised the above balance is the balance CREDITOR transferred to us, we do not add interest or charges.

The reference number relating to this account is XXXXXXXXX however; please quote the equidebt reference in any contact with ourselves.

We now require your proposals for repayment.

Should you have any further queries regarding the account, please contact us immediately on XXXXX XXXXXX quoting the equidebt reference number.

I am fairly certain that the debt in question is well past the 6 year statute barred limit and they have completely ignored my request to provide written evidence

What would the recommended course of action be now? I was halfway tempted to write a follow up to the effect of:

"As you have ignored my request to provide evidence of my liability for this debt, I will have no choice but to forward all correspondence to the trading standards department and OFT and raise a complaint against you"

...but thought I better double check with you guys here first to see if there was anything you could advise?

fermi

InaTizzy wrote: »

"As you have ignored my request to provide evidence of my liability for this debt, I will have no choice but to forward all correspondence to the trading standards department and OFT and raise a complaint against you"

Pretty much, yes.

What exactly is the debt for?

A follow up letter about them ignoring the statute barred issue is here:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=34906247&postcount=4

One regarding them ignoring the disputes status and not supplying proof of the debt is here.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=27362873&postcount=4

If you want to write back then I suppose you would put together something that covers the points from both.


Or just ignore the slimy toads?

InaTizzy_2

It's for a loan that I took out around the start of 2001

Good to know that my first instinct was correct, I shall draft a letter to the effect of what I put, using those letters as a basis to work off of

Thank you!

fermi

InaTizzy wrote: »

It's for a loan that I took out around the start of 2001

OK.

Just had to check that to make sure the FOS quoted applies. Which it does with a loan.

InaTizzy_2

Ok, stripped out quite a bit because I want to keep it short and sweet, but this is the response I've got at the moment, how does this look for a simple "give me evidence or I'll complain" letter:

I do not acknowledge any debt to you or any other company or organisation that you claim to be representing.

Dear Sir/Madam

Reference number : xxxxxxxxx

Thank you for your letter dated xx/xx/2011, the contents of which are noted.

On xx/xx/2011 I wrote to EquiDebt regarding a debt that was alleged to be owed by myself. That letter was received and signed for on xx/xx/2011 as confirmed by Royal Mail tracking.

In this letter I pointed out the following items:

1) Under the Limitation Act 1980 Section 5 "an action founded on simple contract shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued".

2) The OFT say under their Debt Collection Guidance on statute barred debt that "it is unfair to pursue the debt if the debtor has heard nothing from the creditor during the relevant limitation period".

3) The last correspondence/payment/acknowledgement or payment of this debt was made over six years ago and no further acknowledgement or payment has been made since that time. Unless you can provide evidence of payment or written contact from me in the relevant period under Section 5 of the Limitation Act, I suggest that you are no longer able to take any court action against me to recover the alleged amount claimed.

4) The OFT Debt Collection Guidance states further that "continuing to press for payment after a debtor has stated that they will not be paying a debt because it is statute barred could amount to harassment contrary to section 40 (1) of the Administration of Justice Act 1970".

Therefore it is clear that your original contact regarding this debt may well have been in breach of the Office of Fair Trading Guideline referred to in item (2).

Furthermore, your second letter is in breach of Office of Fair Trading Guideline referred to in item (4) and directly constitutes harassment.

As you are no doubt aware, breaches of the OFT's Guidance on Debt Collection are treated seriously by the OFT when considering your fitness to hold a Consumer Credit License.

Therefore I wish to formally notify you that unless I receive confirmation that this matter is now closed, then I will not hesitate to make a formal complaint to the 'Office of Fair Trading' and also to 'Trading Standards'.

Furthermore, any attempted contact (other than to confirm that this matter is now closed) by any:

• "trading style" of the EquiDebt group
• constituent member of the EquiDebt group
• a third party acting on your behalf
• a third party that claims to have been legally assigned this debt

will result in an immediate complaint to the aforementioned regulatory bodies.

I therefore request a independently verifiable copy of any acknowledgement or payment that you may claim was made within the limitation period.

I would appreciate your due diligence in this matter.

Yours faithfully

fermi

Depends.....

In the original letter that you sent you also pointed out that:

I would point out that I have no knowledge of any such debt being owed to CREDITOR.

I am familiar with the ‘Office of Fair Trading Debt Collection Guidance’ which states that it is unfair to send demands for payment to an individual when it is uncertain that they are the debtor in question.

I would also point out that the OFT say under the Guidance that it is unfair to pursue third parties for payment when they are not liable. In not ceasing collection activity whilst investigating a reasonably queried or disputed debt you are using deceptive/and or unfair methods.

Furthermore, ignoring and/or disregarding claims that debts have been settled or are disputed and continuing to make unjustified demands for payment amounts to physical/psychological harassment.

Are you still disputing those points?

i.e. you do not recognise the debt?

Or is the dispute now just the statute barred issue?

fermi

InaTizzy wrote: »

Ok, stripped out quite a bit because I want to keep it short and sweet, but this is the response I've got at the moment, how does this look for a simple "give me evidence or I'll complain" letter:

I would leave in the parts about the FOS complaint.

If you go ahead with that, it will cost equidebt £400+ regardless of whether the complaint is upheld, so they will really want to avoid that. :cool:

InaTizzy_2

fermi wrote: »

Are you still disputing those points?

i.e. you do not recognise the debt?

Or is the dispute now just the statute barred issue?

In all honesty, I recognised the debt and left that part in accidentally - I recognise that the debt is mine but yes, the only dispute is whether or not it's statute barred.

I'd put off sending off a response to them until tonight but we keep getting phone calls from an automated system leaving messages to the effect of "it's important you call EQL immediately quoting reference XXXX"

I'll get another draft of the letter up here before posting again!

InaTizzy_2

Ok, response from equidebt... they say I wrote to them in mid-2007 however did not provide any copies of the letters to prove the fact, is it a reasonable request for me to ask them to provide the proof to me? and also, is it a reasonable request to tell them that I will not deal with them face to face or over the phone, and only via letter (so that I have proof of all communications to and from?)

fermi

InaTizzy wrote: »

Ok, response from equidebt... they say I wrote to them in mid-2007 however did not provide any copies of the letters to prove the fact, is it a reasonable request for me to ask them to provide the proof to me? and also, is it a reasonable request to tell them that I will not deal with them face to face or over the phone, and only via letter (so that I have proof of all communications to and from?)

Both of those are reasonable requests.

Did you write?

Any reply would be much along the lines of previous ones, but emphasising that:

In line with pre-action protocols on seeking a resolution prior to legal action, you require disclosure of a copy of the proof of written acknowledgement that they will be relying on in court.

Failure to take reasonable steps to resolve the dispute at this stage by providing this proof will be brought to the attention of the court.

Remind then that any written acknowledgement must be "an unequivocal written admission clearly acknowledging that the obligation still exists". And that a letter querying or disputing the debt does not count.

So far their failure to provide evidence of any acknowledgement DESPITE repeated requests for them to do so, will be forwarded with a complaint to the OFT and trading standards.

Remind them that the timescale for responding to your complaint still applies, and that you will take the issue to the FOS when the 8 weeks from your original complaint is up.

InaTizzy_2

Ok thanks, worst case scenario is that even if it delays them a while it should buy me some time whilst I try to find a solution - best case is obviously that the debt is statute barred Shall keep you posted!

Thanks again for the advice