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Horsey_Lady

Sorry it's a long one but i'm needing some advice here please.

Husband had a large debt originally with MBNA credit card.

In 2004 we got into financial difficulty and agreed with them to make repayments of £1 per month. This ended in them selling the debt to CABOT FINANCIAL on 20/09/04. We haven't made a single payment on this debt since.

On 20/02/2009 CABOTS solicitors (BREACHERS) applied to Brighton County Court to have judgement made. We were ordered to pay full amount so applied to vary the order. This was dismissed. Another letter dated 19/06/09 arrived from BREACHERS saying although the our application to vary the order was dismissed they were prepared not to enforce the judgement if we paid £50 per month. Again we didn't respond and made no payment.

On 23/09/09 we received a letter stating that as we had failed to pay, FIRE were now instructed to collect the debt. This went between 2009-2014 from FIRE to ROBINSON WAY to CLARITY to MACKENZIE HALL back to CABOT then to RUTHBRIDGE and to MARLIN before finally to MORTIMER CLARKE SOLICITORS.

On 22/08/14 MORTIMER CLARKE SOLICITORS wrote to us stating that they had been instructed by their client (Cabot) that no County Court Judgement had been issued for this debt?? and they were going to start court proceedings against us. I have received the dreaded County Court Claim Form this weekend.

Since no payment has been made on this debt since 2004 and they didn't enforce the order in 2009, should i dispute the claim as 'Statute Barred' or is that not possible.

Please help - Thank you

Former_StepChange_Rory

Horsey_Lady wrote: »

Sorry it's a long one but i'm needing some advice here please.

Husband had a large debt originally with MBNA credit card.

In 2004 we got into financial difficulty and agreed with them to make repayments of £1 per month. This ended in them selling the debt to CABOT FINANCIAL on 20/09/04. We haven't made a single payment on this debt since.

On 20/02/2009 CABOTS solicitors (BREACHERS) applied to Brighton County Court to have judgement made. We were ordered to pay full amount so applied to vary the order. This was dismissed. Another letter dated 19/06/09 arrived from BREACHERS saying although the our application to vary the order was dismissed they were prepared not to enforce the judgement if we paid £50 per month. Again we didn't respond and made no payment.

On 23/09/09 we received a letter stating that as we had failed to pay, FIRE were now instructed to collect the debt. This went between 2009-2014 from FIRE to ROBINSON WAY to CLARITY to MACKENZIE HALL back to CABOT then to RUTHBRIDGE and to MARLIN before finally to MORTIMER CLARKE SOLICITORS.

On 22/08/14 MORTIMER CLARKE SOLICITORS wrote to us stating that they had been instructed by their client (Cabot) that no County Court Judgement had been issued for this debt?? and they were going to start court proceedings against us. I have received the dreaded County Court Claim Form this weekend.

Since no payment has been made on this debt since 2004 and they didn't enforce the order in 2009, should i dispute the claim as 'Statute Barred' or is that not possible.

Please help - Thank you

Hi there,

If a CCJ was taken back in 2009 then its unlikely the debt is statute barred as this refers to debts where no action has been taken through the court.

Even if no payments are made once a CCJ has been granted, a debt still doesn't become statute barred.

If a CCJ wasn’t granted, there’s a possibility that the debt could now be statute barred, but there seems to be some confusion on both sides as to what happened back in 2009.

Because you mentioned applying to ‘vary the order’ this sounds similar to a county court process that usually happens after a judgment has been granted.

It might be a good idea to first find out if a CCJ was ever granted, which you can do by checking your credit file at https://www.noddle.co.uk. If this doesn’t list any judgments then you can also either speak to the court directly, or search a public list of judgments at https://www.trustonline.org.uk.

Once you’ve found out more about the judgment this should help clear things up for you. A creditor can’t apply for two CCJ’s for the same debt, so you should contact the new creditor and let them know if there is already one in place.

You can read more about statute barred debts over on our blog at http://moneyaware.co.uk/2013/10/statute-barred-debt.

I hope this helps,

Rory

Horsey_Lady

Thanks Rory

I'm not sure how i reply direct to your post sorry.

A judgement was granted 03/04/09 and is registered on his credit file. The amount registered is the balance outstanding plus court and solicitors costs.

The amount on the new court papers has reverted back to the original debt without the extra court and solicitors costs.

I did contact them 21/07/14 by letter to say there was already a judgement for this debt but didn't elaborate on the amount or date of the judgement which is when they next wrote to me to say that they had checked with their client and were told that no CCJ had been issued??

I think i'm just going through a bit of wishful thinking here with the Statute Barred route but if they think there is no CCJ and the amount owing has changed back to the amount before the CCJ plus the fact we haven't made contact or a payment since 2004 then it could be worth a go at disputing.

Would you advise differently?

Thanks again

rogerlbo34

What can I do if I'm threatened with bailiffs?

Flashmanchop

I have had some great advice from stepchange previously.

There will be some funds available to pay off some debtafter selling our home and splitting proceeds.

When I have the funds am I able to make an offer for fulland final settlement to my debtors? Clearly I cannot use my other half’s halfof the funds.

Please could someone advise?

Former_StepChange_Rory

Horsey_Lady wrote: »

Thanks Rory

I'm not sure how i reply direct to your post sorry.

A judgement was granted 03/04/09 and is registered on his credit file. The amount registered is the balance outstanding plus court and solicitors costs.

The amount on the new court papers has reverted back to the original debt without the extra court and solicitors costs.

I did contact them 21/07/14 by letter to say there was already a judgement for this debt but didn't elaborate on the amount or date of the judgement which is when they next wrote to me to say that they had checked with their client and were told that no CCJ had been issued??

I think i'm just going through a bit of wishful thinking here with the Statute Barred route but if they think there is no CCJ and the amount owing has changed back to the amount before the CCJ plus the fact we haven't made contact or a payment since 2004 then it could be worth a go at disputing.

Would you advise differently?

Thanks again

Hi there,

If you'd prefer to send us an email to moneyaware@stepchange.org with your question then we'll be able to get back to you with some more information.

We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Rory

Stevep_2

Hi, not sure this is the right place but here goes, I had an rbs royalties account, it hen moved in with my partner and we set up a joint account with halifax, I filled out a form to change my wages and dd's etc over to this joint account, now 3 to 4 years on I get a letter telling me I owe rbs £1235 as the account was never closed and have gone to o/d limit due to account changes and interest, halifax are investigating but not hopeful as they say all 3 parties are responsible, rbs will not £0 the account and told me to talk to wescot dpt management to discuss with them, I spoke to them and explained and they are now going back to rbs, has anybody ever had this and what can be done, many thanks in advance

bubbles100

Last year I did an utility switch which didn't complete because my supplier offered price match plus a small discount.

The potential new supplier didn't send me a bill for the period that I was with them(maybe for two weeks only), they had already closed my online account so I couldn't do anything, and their customer service is so poor even after hours of holding, no one could help me, so I gave up and left it to that, but a year later they suddenly sent me a bill for £55!

I ignored their request for payment as I felt £55 for two weeks of energy supply is ridiculous, especially their customer service is so poor and it took them over a year to send me a bill!

After a few letters they now sent me a letter saying if I don't pay up they will take me to court with all these extra charges mounting to £300.

Part of me just want to ignore it because I don't think they would really do that over £55, but I do want some suggestion and advice on what options I have.

Thanks

Former_StepChange_Rory

rogerlbo34 wrote: »

What can I do if I'm threatened with bailiffs?

Hi there,

If you're worried about bailiffs (enforcement agents) then we have lots of useful information available on our MoneyAware blog here.

It's important that you know what your rights are as we know that bailiffs can be difficult to deal with.

If you'd like us to help, we can offer free, impartial and confidential advice on bailiffs and debts and you can get in touch with us by visiting the StepChange website or use our online Debt Remedy tool for more help.

Hope this helps, please get in touch if you're still not sure what to do.

Rory

Former_StepChange_Rory

Flashmanchop wrote: »

I have had some great advice from stepchange previously.

There will be some funds available to pay off some debtafter selling our home and splitting proceeds.

When I have the funds am I able to make an offer for fulland final settlement to my debtors? Clearly I cannot use my other half’s halfof the funds.

Please could someone advise?

Hello,

In lots of cases it's possible to agree reduced settlements but without knowing your full circumstances I couldn't say what’s likely to happen in your situation.

If you've got a lump sum available you’ll be able to get more of an idea about how willing your creditors are to accept and negotiate reduced payments.

Most creditors will consider how much they'll be prepared to accept as a reduced settlement figure but it's their decision how much they'll accept if they do offer a reduced amount.

If you've spoken to us before then it might be a good idea to talk to us again as once we've got more information about your situation we should be able to offer more detailed advice on how best to approach the situation.

You can find details of how to get in touch on the StepChange website.

I hope this helps,

Kind regards

Rory