Statute Barred?

seph_2

I have been searching the web for a while trying to get information but my situation does not seem to match any I can find. I got a contract mobile phone in 2006 but after several problems with my bills, which my mobile phone service provider failed to resolve or even acknowledge, I tried to return the phone and cancel the contract but was refused. After sending numerous written complaints to the phone company over the course of a couple of months I eventually gave up and cancelled the direct debit at my bank. I informed the phone company, by letter, that this was the action I was going to take if they continued to ignore my complaints. (I also attempted to contact them by phone and was promised a call back which I never received). I soon received a bill from them with a £300 cancellation fee on it which I took to my local trading standards office, they attempted to contact the phone company by phone but never received their promised call back either. I got back in touch with trading standards a couple of times over the following weeks but they had still not heard anything back. Then the letters stopped and I heard nothing for months, I foolishly assumed the situation had been dealt with rather than getting back in touch with trading standards to make sure. However after several months (I think it was around 6 months to a year later) I started getting letters from debt collection agencies trying to collect a debt of nearly £500. I stupidly ignored these at first and the debt was swapped from one agency to the next, when I was contacted by phone I explained the situation and that I did not acknowledge that I owed the debt and each time I would hear nothing for several months and then yet another agency would begin sending me bills. It has now been over 5 years since I originally tried to cancel the contract and I am still receiving demands for payment every few months. I have read that in Scotland (where I live, by the way) a debt is Statute Barred after 5 years but I am struggling to understand if that applies to my situation as, though I have not acknowledged the debt or made any payments, I have been receiving letters from various debt collection agencies on a fairly regular basis. Any information/advice would be greatly appreciated.

fermi

Only acknowledgement in writing by you, or a payment by you, stops the 5 years running.

- Creditors or debt collectors writing to you does not stop the time running
- Phone calls do not stop the time running. Not even if recorded. Here you never acknowledged the debt anyway, so doubly so.

So by the sound of it this may well be statute barred by now.

If you are not sure then I would perhaps give National Debtine a call freephone on 0808 808 4000

They wrote this: http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/scotland/factsheet.php?page=23_prescription_and_limitation_act

seph_2

Thank you for your very swift response.
I was actually logging back in to update my post as I have been to my local trading standards office to get some advice. They have told me that if I have been receiving letters from debt collection agencies over the past 5 years then the debt probably isn't statute barred.

I followed the link you provided and based on the following it does sound as though the debt is statute barred:
"[You can argue the debt is extinguished if] the creditor has not already obtained a decree against you", which they have not yet done,
"you or anyone else owing the money (on a debt in joint names) have not made a payment on the debt during the last five years", which I haven't,
"you have not written to the creditor admitting you owe the debt during the last five years", which I haven't.

However I am still concerned as it goes on to say that:
"it is unfair to pursue the debt if you have heard nothing from the creditor for five years", which I have,
"the OFT thinks it is fair to keep trying to recover the debt if the creditor has been in regular contact with you during this time", which they have.
So it would appear from that as if it isn't statute barred. I am further concerned that the sample letter at the end of the page is designed only to help people dispute liablity for a debt where a creditor has not made contact for over five years.

The information I am finding elsewhere seems to be equally contradictory. I don't know if I'm just being overwhelmingly dim but I really can't seem to get my head around what does and what doesn't apply to me.
What makes it all the more annoying is that I spent a considerable amount of effort trying to get this sorted out with the original company but was point blank ignored.

Thanks once again for your response, it really is very much appreciated. I only hope you're right. I will now try giving the National Debtline a call, hopefully they can clear things up for me.

fermi

Statute barred mean they cannot take court action. No more than that.

The bit about being "unfair to pursue" is nothing to do with going to court. It means pursuing by asking politely for you to pay it.

Plus in Scotland the debt is legally "extinguished" when it becomes statue barred. It not longer exists. So any attempt to get you to pay it would be frowned upon.

The slightly odd situation is the one that applies to people in England. There it can be statute barred and enforceable via the courts, but the debt can still technically exist and they can ask you to pay nicely.

I'm many trading standards departments won't know their something from their elbow when it comes to statute barred debts, so I wouldn't depend on what they say.

Yes. Instead I would give the people I mentioned earlier a call if you are not sure.

0808 808 4000

They do generally know the ins and out of this.

seph_2

Thanks again for your response, I called the number you provided and they were extremely helpful, as were you. Obviously you were right, my debt is statute barred and therefore extinguished. To be honest I think the ultimate simplicity of it was making it hard to fully accept!
It seems to be the complexities of English law causing the difficulty of finding consistent information on line.
Once the current debt collection agency gets my letter it should all be resolved.
Thank you once again, I will definitely be recommending this website to others seeking similar advice.