Wescot phoning daily

Tixy

Leon_Telford wrote: »

So if I ignore them for six years the debt goes 'stale' and don't have to pay something of!??!

Not necessarily. A debt only becomes statute barred if you pay nothing towards it and do not acknowledge in writing that you owe them money - but only if they don't take court action against you.

If you ignore them and they take you to court and you end up with CCJs then the debt would never become statute barred.

If you have been paying your debts up until recently then its not a good strategy of dealing with your debts to hope that you can see out the 6years without them going to court.

belcam

taffy056 wrote: »

Send them a letter saying the alleged debt is statute barred, if not done already.

Trouble is I'm not sure that it's statute barred...

Tixy

belcam wrote: »

Trouble is I'm not sure that it's statute barred...

Are you certain you haven't paid anything towards it in the last 5years? If so then it should be SB. Your recent phone call to agree to pay them back counts for nothing 1) because its already statute barred and 2) because phone calls don't count anyway it has to be written acknowledgement.

Gordon_Hose

Send the letter anyway.

Unless you can check your statements going back 5 years on your online banking (I can), or you haven't kept any paperwork for this debt, then you're never going to know. You'll just keep uhming and arring about what you should or shouldn't do. Either force their hand or put up with their correspondence.

The only golden rule you need to stick by is; never speak to them on the phone.

taffy056

belcam wrote: »

Trouble is I'm not sure that it's statute barred...

You said in the first post that you have not paid or acknowledged the debt in the last 5 years, so unless there is a judgement it must be statute barred by now as you are in Scotland .

belcam

taffy056 wrote: »

You said in the first post that you have not paid or acknowledged the debt in the last 5 years, so unless there is a judgement it must be statute barred by now as you are in Scotland .

Since then, it hit me that two guys came to my door in 2007/2008 about one of my debts(I've got several) and I'm not sure if it was this one. I can't remember if I paid them anything or signed anything that night so I'm not so sure that I'm sb'd on this one. Should I send a prove it letter or an sb one first?

RobertoMoir

Tixy wrote: »

Not necessarily. A debt only becomes statute barred if you pay nothing towards it and do not acknowledge in writing that you owe them money - but only if they don't take court action against you.

If you ignore them and they take you to court and you end up with CCJs then the debt would never become statute barred.

If you have been paying your debts up until recently then its not a good strategy of dealing with your debts to hope that you can see out the 6years without them going to court.

Indeed. I think the thing a lot of people don't realise about DCAs is that whatever else we can say about them (and god knows we can say plenty) they are a lot more experienced at collecting debt than 99% of people are at owing it.

I'd personally say that SB is almost a "happy accident" for someone who owes money, certainly not a viable long term strategy for managing one's finances.

yorkshire22

Hi, new to the board, but would like to request some advice. A few years ago I lost my job and struggled to pay anything back to Vanquis from my £250 balance. I did inform the guy on the phone that due to being made redundant (and subsequently losing my home), I could not afford to make a payment. The guy at Vanquis was not interested in my problems and said I had to pay something. After making it quite clear that I had lost my home and barely had money for food.........he still wasn't interested.
This is where everything broke down....no more communication etc. The debt was then passed around various collection agancies and now stands at around £550. I dug out the old terms and conditions and noted there is a clause allowing you a payment holiday (couple of months) if struggling to pay. This was not mentioned my the guy on the phone, who stated I had to pay something.
I do not know how to handle this now or dispute the debt, I am finally sorting my problems out and recovering from being made redundant/losing my home.
I tried calling Vanquis but they said they have passed the debt on to a collection company.
Should I write to Vanquis? Should I write to the debt collectors? I would be happy to pay the £250 original balance, as I am now working - but the whole episode at the time made me quite stressed.
Any advice kindly accepted and appreciated.
Many Thanks
Rob

Gordon_Hose

Who owns the debt now?