Red debt/lowell, 6+ debt, statute barred

mmp83

Hello,

I recently received a letter dated 10/09/2012 in reference to a capital one card i had at college almost 6 to 8 years ago and an outstanding debt of £550. Shocked at this letter i ordered a equifax credit report to see if there was any reference to this. I was unable to find any reference. I then looked for a credit report i ordered in 2009 and noticed a reference to lowell portfolio with a default entry saying default date: 13/09/2006.

Having browsed the forums here my question then is that is this debt now statute barred and unenforcable consider 13/09/2012 would have been 6 years. Also i have noticed the letter pasted below, would this be a suitable correspondance to send asking to not write to me anymore and what is the likely outcome based on the above scenario?

Thanks in advance.

=====

1 High Street,
Newtown,
Kent
R21 4RH
Date

The Loan Company
Company House,
Church Street,
Newtown,
Kent,
R1 7HG

I do not acknowledge any debt to you or any other company or organisation that you claim to be representing.

Dear Sir/Madam

Account No:

You have contacted me/us regarding the account with the above reference number, which you claim is owed by myself/ourselves.

I/we would point out that under the Limitation Act 1980 Section 5:

"an action founded on simple contract shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued".

I/we would point out that in their Debt Collection Guidance, the OFT regard the following unfair or improper business practice for a creditor to:

• pursue the debt under circumstances in which the debtor has heard nothing from a creditor during the relevant limitation period.
• continue to press a debtor for payment after he has stated that he will not be paying a debt because it is statute barred.

etc......................

fermi

Well, you need to think carefully about when you last made a payment or acknowledged the debt in writing.

The default date on your credit file just reflects the date they decided to register the default. Nothing more. It doesn't tell you when the 6 year period for the debt being statute barred started.

For example......

- They could have recorded the default many months after you last paid or acknowledged.

or

- You could have continued to make some sort of payments or acknowledged the debt for some time after the default was registered.

SusieT

I would be more inclined to send the prove it letter, that way they need to supply you with the information about the account.

mmp83

im certain of 2 things:

1) i have not made any payments in relation to this relevant debt since at least april or may 2006 due to having lost track of this card and account due to various things in my life at the time

2) the card was originally taken out in 2001

mmp83

is below the "prove it" letter

I do not acknowledge any debt to you or any other company or organisation that you claim to be representing.

Dear Sir/Madam

Reference number :

You have contacted me regarding the account with the above reference number, which you claim is owed by myself.

I would point out that we have no knowledge of any such debt being owed to <creditor>.

We are familiar with the ‘Office of Fair Trading Debt Collection Guidance’ which states that it is unfair to send demands for payment to an individual when it is uncertain that they are the debtor in question.

We would also point out that the OFT say under the Guidance that it is unfair to pursue third parties for payment when they are not liable. In not ceasing collection activity whilst investigating a reasonably queried or disputed debt you are using deceptive/and or unfair methods.

Furthermore, ignoring and/or disregarding claims that debts have been settled or are disputed and continuing to make unjustified demands for payment amounts to physical/psychological harassment.

We would further note that based on the information you have supplied, this account would also be statute barred under the Limitation Act 1980

Under the Limitation Act 1980 Section 5 "an action founded on simple contract shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued".

I would also point out that the OFT say under their Debt Collection Guidance on statute barred debt that "it is unfair to pursue the debt if the debtor has heard nothing from the creditor during the relevant limitation period".

Furthermore that the OFT Debt Collection Guidance states further that "continuing to press for payment after a debtor has stated that they will not be paying a debt because it is statute barred could amount to harassment contrary to section 40 (1) of the Administration of Justice Act 1970".

We would ask that no further contact be made concerning the above accounts unless you can provide evidence of both:

(1) proof of my liability regarding this debt.

and

(2) payment or written contact from me in the relevant period under Section 5 of the Limitation Act.

We await your written confirmation that this matter is now closed.

Otherwise we will have no option but to make a complaint to the trading standards department and consider informing the OFT of your actions.

I look forward to your reply.

Yours faithfully




Mrs A N Other

SusieT

Thats the one

mmp83

thank you, you guys on this forum are amazing, in that case i will send the letter above, just one more thing, shall i sign at the bottom or just print name after yours faithfullly,,

SusieT

Print it just in case

moofychops

MMP, has it not occured to you that you have had the goods/cash/services etc and as such you should start paying for them rather than trying to cheat the company out of their due monies.

Lensman_2

The Statute of Limitations exists because our legal and political system deemed it right to put a limit on when debt becomes unenforceable with certainty.

6 years is what they decided.

Yes, the debt exists and yes they can ask your estate for it when you die. (The rules in Scotland are different).

But the law states that they cannot use the courts to collect the debt.

Legally, you owe but they cannot enforce. In my mind, the moral position is the same.

It is therefore down to an individual's conscience. And not the group conscience or the voice of another individual.

mmp83

hi, to be honest, having digested all the information, i totally appreciate the service offered during my college years by having this card in the first place and the added fact that it is a relatively small amount means id be more inclined to paying it off seeing as it has been bought to my awareness after such a long time. my only concern is based around the threatening tone on the letters received as opposed to a unwillingness to pay off debts i accrued myself, all things even as said above id rather pay things off as opposed to it remaining on my conscience as consumed but unpaid...