debt letter from a social loan i got years ago!

nicki2610

My partner has received a letter from a debt company which asked him to contact them straight away. The letter didn’t say what it was about so my partner rang them and they said that it was regarding a crisis loan that he got years ago when we were on benefits. They said that we need to pay this and asked him to agree a payment plan, he said that he couldn’t do that as he would need to speak to me first and get back to them. I know that certain debts cant be chased if it has been longer than 6 years without a payment but would this be the same?

Also, i cant remember exactly when he got the loan, i know that we have had a mortgage for 5 years in July and that he had to be working for a minimum of a year before he could get a mortgage so he has definitely been working for 6 years in July, however i cant remember when he started working at his old employment and that company has now gone bust so we cant even ask them. I could look through payslips etc but he always got paid weekly and worked with the same company for 3 years so that could be extremely hard work.

Is there another way i can find out when the debt is from without actually asking this debt company? When he got the loan they said they would start taking money from his jobseekers, however it wasn’t long after that someone offered him a job so he came off the jobseekers and we were never contacted by them.

Any help would be appreciated please.

McKneff

Was this a crisis loan from the DWP (i presume from your post that it was.

If the DWP, as far as I am aware and from what I have learned on here then these boards that loans from DWP never get statute barred and will be deducted from benefits when you apply for them. Even if its donkeys years down the line. Maybe the best thing to do is ask them to prove the debt, pay it and if you are ever on benefits again, money will be tight anyway without them deducting this old loan

More people with experience of this will be along to shed more light
on it.

ticktack_2

Was it a debt collection agency or was it the DWP who called your husband? I didn't think these debts were ever sold on to collection agencies. You're better off dealing directly with the DWP, so you can make sure it's all cleared up and won't affect your future eligibility for benefits.

fermi

McKneff wrote: »

If the DWP, as far as I am aware and from what I have learned on here then these boards that loans from DWP never get statute barred

Wrong. They can be.

McKneff wrote: »

and will be deducted from benefits when you apply for them. Even if its donkeys years down the line.

Correct.

fermi

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=25_liability_for_debts_and_the_limitation_act

Benefit overpayments and social fund loans

The Limitation Act says that the limitation period for benefit overpayments and social fund loans is six years.

The cause of action (when the limitation period starts running) for benefit overpayments, is when a final decision is made on the overpayment. This is most likely to be a final decision by a local authority, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) or a tribunal.

For social fund loans, the cause of action is when the loan becomes due for repayment.

Information: To recover overpaid benefits, the DWP and local authorities can use the normal county court route. There is also a fast-track process of registering the debt in the county court, as if it were payable under a county court order. If this happens, phone us for advice.

If the local authority or DWP tries to issue a county court claim against you for an overpayment of benefit, and you think it is statute-barred, you can put in a defence.

However, if you are getting ongoing benefits, the DWP or local authority can take money directly from your benefit to repay overpayments. This is a complicated area, and the law may soon change.

nicki2610

it was a debt agency not the DWP, they just sent a letter to us. the DWP have never been in touch regarding it even when i was on benefits so to be honest this many years down the line i had completely forgot about it

fermi

iQor?

They have been passed a lot of old DWP debts to chase.

It won't have been sold to them. Just passed to them to collect on DWPs behalf.

Means that most of the time you can tell the debt collector to naff off, and that you will only deal with DWP direct. Especially true if the debt is statute bared or otherwise disputed.

McKneff

Just out of curiosity Ferni, so I dont make the same mistake again, under what circs can DWP loans be statute barred. Not critising, I genuinely dont know

fermi

McKneff wrote: »

Just out of curiosity Ferni, so I dont make the same mistake again, under what circs can DWP loans be statute barred. Not critising, I genuinely dont know

Same as any other debt.

6 years from the initial cause of action, or any payment or acknowlegement that followed it.

It explains in the nationaldebtline link when the "cause of action" can be said to accrue depending on the type.

The confusion comes when people misunderstand what the term "statute barred" means.

It means that the debt is barred from enforcement via legal action through the courts. It has no more legal meaning than that.

As such, DWP debts can be statute barred like any other.

But they can deduct from benefits as that does not require legal action for them to do.

But people think that because they can be recovered like that, then it must mean they are not statute barred. Wrong, as they have misunderstood what being statute bared means.

What then adds to the confusion is that the OFT has rules in place to say that debt collectors should not pursue statute barred debts once they have been told they won't be paid. That applies to debt collectors, even ones working for DWP, but doesn't apply to DWP themselves as they don't require a license from the OFT and so don't have to play by their rules.

McKneff

I understand, common sense when you think about it.

Thanks for that.

fatbelly

ticktack wrote: »

Was it a debt collection agency or was it the DWP who called your husband? I didn't think these debts were ever sold on to collection agencies. You're better off dealing directly with the DWP, so you can make sure it's all cleared up and won't affect your future eligibility for benefits.

From

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/other-specialists/debt-management/

Debt collection using private sector organisations

Debt Management also use, where appropriate, recovery services provided by the private sector.

The approved private sector organisations are:
Commercial Collection Services Ltd (CCS)
Fairfax Solicitors Ltd
Credit Solutions Ltd
iQor

As Fermi says, most of the approaches seem to come from iQor at the moment.