7 year old ebay fees?

the_fixer

Debt collectors just sent me a letter demanding payment of a £90 bill from ebay regarding an account I closed in July 2005!

Does anyone know if they can legally chase me for this? They say they sent emails to a 7 year defunct email address, but never contacted me by mail to settle this & years later, this. Would it be reasonable to expect that in 7 years they may have written to me, in the context of having to perhaps contest this, as I simply can't prove its not the case.

I'm pretty sure that I left the account clear when I closed it, but regardless, does anyone have a pearl of wisdom?


Any help would be useful before I get back to them?


Cheers

shaun_from_Africa

Debts normally become "statute barred" 6 years from when they were incurred provided that you haven't acknowledged the debt, made any effort to repay it nor had any notification from the company that you owe the money to.

This website:
http://www.cleardebt.co.uk/debt-advice/downloadable-debt-help-guides/out-of-date-debt/
will give you a lot more info.

bod1467

Sending an email is not proof of delivery, unless a read-receipt is received or the recipient acknowledges receipt. (AFAIK)

If this is the first communication you have received of this alleged debt then I would agree that it is statute-barred. Unless someone advises otherwise, I'd suggest writing back to them to a) deny the debt and b) advise that it is statue-barred anyway.

Herongull

I'm wondering if this is one of these scam emails. Phishing.....

DVardysShadow

bod1467 wrote: »

Sending an email is not proof of delivery, unless a read-receipt is received or the recipient acknowledges receipt. (AFAIK)

If this is the first communication you have received of this alleged debt then I would agree that it is statute-barred. Unless someone advises otherwise, I'd suggest writing back to them to a) deny the debt and b) advise that it is statue-barred anyway.

Emails and correspondence from the creditor are completely irrelevant to the statute barred question. What is required is that the debtor acknowledges the debt in writing or by payment within the 6 years.

If the debt is a real debt, they can quite legally demand payment - they can even take it to court and a court can award a CCJ unless the Statute Barred defence is raised. In which case it is appropriate to respond now and say it is Statute Barred.

If the alleged debt is not yours, deny it rather than use the Statute Barred defence straight away - ask them for proof that it is yours.