Statute barred debt & Default reporting to CRA's

Simon7685

I have an old debt from a credit card that was originally defaulted on in 2004, so I know that any default on my credit report would have dropped off in 2010.

I have received a letter from a debt collector (Robinson Way) stating they know who I am and that I live at my address so I must know that this debt exists and should take responsibility for it. It goes on to mention default reporting to CRA's, which could affect my future chances of obtaining credit etc etc.

Now I am pretty sure that this debt is almost statute barred as I haven't had any contact, or paid any money or anything for around 5 and 1/2 years now. So I do not intend to respond to this letter at all.

What I am wondering though is can this company who are not the original creditior register the debt as defaulted with a CRA? I am not entirely sure whether the original debt was registered as defaulted as I didn't obtain any credit reports until after it would have naturally dropped off in 2010.

What I don't want to happen is a new default appear on my credit report which is now just beginning to recover, that would be a real killer.

fermi

Either....

a) There was an original default that has now dropped off. - They are not allowed to add another under any circumstances.

or

b) A default was never registered. - After all this time it would be a grossly unfair practice to add a new default. It would be against the Data Protection Act as it would be inaccurate and misleading. It would also be against ICO guidelines, which say that if a default is to be recorded it should be done within 6 months.

So either way you spin it, they shouldn't be adding anything to your credit reports. If they do, you have an excellent case for complaint and having it removed.

However, I suspect that letter is just the standard wording that they send to everyone, old debt or new.

Simon7685

Thanks Fermi, that's just what I needed to know. I agree it is probably just a standard letter they send out to get people to respond but it isn't going to work with me. I just need to make sure it is definately over six years so I can go down the statute barred route. I can't quite remember the last time I had any contact with anyone regarding this debt which is the frustrating part. I thought I had records of a letter on my laptop but as usual when you try and find something need, you can't find it!!! Think it might of ended up deleted or lost when moving stuff accross from my earlier laptop.

Simon7685

If I sent a statute barred letter to them and the time was less than 6 years and they provided proof to that effect, would the letter reset the clock do you know?

Simon7685

Anyone any idea on the other question in the above post please?

fatbelly

Simon7685 wrote: »

Anyone any idea on the other question in the above post please?

Probably not if worded carefully using Fermi's template.

But I would hold the SB argument as a defence against any attempt at court action until I was sure it was SB - ideally I would want to know the date of my last payment/acknowledgement. Only then would I send the SB letter.

What you don't want to do is encourage a last-ditch court claim by the creditor when they might just squeeze in before the deadline.

Simon7685

The original debt was owed to Capital One, they sold it on to Buchanan Clark and Wells. I did at that time (around 2004/5) make an arrangement to repay the debt. then after becoming seriously ill I couldn't afford to make the repayments and they wouldn't reduce them to a nominal amount so I told them to take me to court for it, after that I heard nothing until it was then sold on to Robinson Way who have it now. They detail the debt as owed to Robinson Way (ex Capital One), I have received a few letters from them and to date ignored them. If I could just find the letters relating to it from years ago, I would know where I was with SB but I can't.

Would any court action they could take have to be within 6 years of the original default - when I had the account with Capital One, or does it defer to 6 years from when they bought the debt?

SusieT

SB would be 6 years from when you last aknowledged the debt either by paying something towards it or in writing.

Simon7685

Since starting this thread I have had 3 or 4 letters from Robinson Way threatening all sorts of action. I have still not been able to tie down the exact time I had contact with them or paid anything, though I am 90% sure it is either just over or just under 6 years. I am still searching everywhere because I keep everything so it has to be somewhere.

Anyway I have in the last few days received a further letter. This time it from a company called Horwich Farrelly Solicitors acting on behalf of Robinson Way (Ex Capital One). They say they have been instructed by their client to claim from me full payment of the account. Court action may be taken against you unless you act quickly to resolve the matter, within 10 days.

They want either;
Full Payment (£2383.35) or
A substantial payment with proposals for payment of the balance.

Now there are a number of issues here for me.

Whilst I accept that I did default from Capital One in 2003/4, it is not as straight forward and clear cut as that.

We had a disagreement with our employers at that time and left their employ via a compromise agreement. Our Area Manager was a decent guy and he agreed to do it that way before his bosses went through disiplinary procedures to get rid of us. At least that meant we came away with something rather than nothing. Anyway I ended up on JSA C and having been paying PPI to capital One I tried to make a claim to cover the £1k I owed them. They flatly refused to pay out, so I advised them I would not be making any more payments to them what so ever until my curcumstances improved and I was working again. They started charging for this, charging for the other, passed it to debt collectors and the next thing, I suddenly owed £2400, £1400 of which was charges and interest.

Now being much older and wiser, I know I handled it badly and should have carried on making a minimum payment but hindsight is a wonderfull thing. I thought eventualy it might all go away and having been paying PPI to them for 3 years I was really annoyed that when I needed it they wouldn't help me.

So I now wonder if this company does take me to court over this, can I make a counter claim to recover the PPI - I suspect not because it is over 6 years since I paid it, so will be statute barred but not knowing a great deal about PPI, I am not sure.

Should I just sit tight and wait to see if they are going to take me to court and then make a move on the debt being statute barred?

My circumstances now, either way are that I can't pay it. I am on disability benefits and have been for over 5 years, so any payments would only be a couple of pounds a week anyway.

I have gone a long way to try and restore my credit worthiness in the last few years after a really bad time with illness and debts mounting after losing my business through ill health. I know that I should take the hit and pay this but to be honest as most of it relates to charges, fees and interest and after them taking my PPI for years, then telling me to sod off when I needed help I don't want to give them another penny.

I am continuing to look for the details of when I last acknowledged this debt but in the meantime any advice would be appreciated on my options.

sportbeth

My advice if its Robinson Way or Horwich Farrely is to ignore all of their idle limp threats until you are sure that the 6 years have passed. They've been hounding me for years under a mistaken identity and normally they will send 2-3 letters (all follow the same pattern if you let them go for long enough) they they stop after 3 months. Another 3 months later they go through the same rounds of letters.

If you look at their letters there are also a lot of use of the words "Could" "May" and "might". They dont have an definite threats in there as in most cases they dont ahve the laws of the land backing them, these guys are con merchants who have bought debts at 1p in the £1 compared to the original debt on the basis that they may be able to frighten a few people into paying.

If you're really nervous, spend (waste) some time sending them the "Proof of debt" template letter to see if they even have their paperwork in order. But I wouldnt be overly scared if I were you. I asked them to prove that I was the original person that they said they were chasing (I have a common surname) and they had nothing. The odds of them pursueing you to court with 6 months to go are limited. There are more people at the front of the timeline that its far more worthwhile pursueing.

Simon7685

Thanks for the advice Beth, I wouldn't say I am scared of any action they may take, I am tired of having to waste energy worrying about it though. I know that morally I have an obligation to repay my debts but after all the goings on associated with it and what they did regarding the insurance when I tried to make an honest claim, I think they have had there pound of flesh.

The biggest worry is if they got a CCJ against me, I have been through all of this before, defaults and CCJ's and am now slowly rebuilding my shattered credit rating through a lot of hard work. Ironically since I managed to get back on the ladder, that is how Robinson Way have found me again, as they searched my credit file last September. So they will see that I now have credit cards and a current account etc, which is why I think they have started chasing me again. I just don't want to end up having another 6 years against me!

I think I will sit tight and wait to see what their next move is and then if needed go down the statute barred route. If I could find my paperwork I would know for definate and could do it now, so I will keep looking, it has to be somewhere.

I have also checked out Horwich Farrelly on this forum and having read what I have that has reassured me a little bit that this is liable to be a hollow threat because they want to provoke an action of me suddenly paying them when they have no legal right to persue the debt anymore.

Thanks for your support and advice