debt of 7 year!!!

sallywoo

after 7 years of living in my present house i have had a letter from a private investogater looking for me so i rang them up to find out what the wanted. in turn they told me a debt collection agency was looking for me so i left them my number. about a couple of hours later a nice fella from global debt recovery rang informing my they were casing a debt from lloyds tsb barcley card. now this debt i last heard of was in the year 2000 before i left that accomidation leaving a forwarding address to this present address. this debt is about £1600

now they are chasing this debt. what can i do????

all this i feel is because myself and husband are claiming our charges from lloyds tsb this is about £4000

note i have always held 2 account with lloyds since 1991

ps. i have checked my credit reports with all 3 companies ie experion call credit etc and nothing of this debt is on them

any help most welcome

djdave

They can't do much if you've not acknowledged the debt or made any payments since 2000.

AFter 6 years (5 in Scotland) the debt becomes Statute Barred and is unenforcable.

Tell them to back off, they're trying their luck. They probably bought the debt for a pittance as part of a bulk and are now trying to make something out of (literally) nothing.

Don't phone them, put everything in writing. Make sure you stress that you do not acknowledge the alleged debt.

gozza

hi sallywoo. had an apology from a debt company today for nagging me about an old debt from over 9 years ago. djdave's right, they're trying it on. they sent me two demands and then with a couple of informative letters saying that they did'nt have a hope in hell getting ther'e money in court, they gave up. lloyds have passed this on and washed they're hands of it, i would have thought they would have got in touch with you if they cared after 2000.i think you should still reclaim and try not to worry.hard though i know.

philwiththepill

If you owe them money, just pay it. Remeber if you are a muslim you cannot enter paradise when you die if you have an unpaid debt.

piglet6

Hi Sally

You don't say how much this debt is for (or how much you are hoping to claim in bank charges...:p) but I guess only you can decide how comfortable you feel with the situation. :rolleyes: If you know that you really do still owe the debt, you might feel more comfortable paying it if it is small, and knowing that it is paid off and finished - drawing a line underneath it and making it final!

On the other hand, you might not want to pay it - in which case, make sure that you don't acknowledge it in any way and continue to ignore it...after a certain amount of time it becomes un-chaseable.

Only you can make the decision on whether to deal with it or ignore it...

Piglet

sallywoo

well im not muslum and my hope when i die is to give the devil a run for his money

fermi

From another forum:

Statute Barred Debts

If you have not acknowledged the debt in writing for 6 years or over then the Statute of Limitation Act 1980 comes into force.

http://www.lawcom.gov.uk/docs/cp151apa.pdf

In which section 5 clearly states
Quote:
Time limit for actions founded on simple contract
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.


Many many DCA's will ignore this little fact and try and scare you into paying up, relying on the fact very few people know about it.

They will try and tell you that any telephone calls made count as acknowledgement, they DO NOT the law is clear, they will even try and claim that they have written to you and that even classes as acknowledgement – it does NOT!

I also recommend that you head each letter to them as follows:

I DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE ANY DEBT TO YOU OR ANY OTHER ORGANISATION OR COMPANY YOU CLAIM TO REPRESENT.

DO NOT just use ‘Without Prejudice’ as there has been a recent test case on this matter, and ‘Without Prejudice’ is no longer sufficient!

What you need to do now is send the letter (by recorded delivery) to them, which can be found here:

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/temp/6330_92061.pdf

If the DCA is working on behalf of the original creditor then send both the DCA and the original creditor one!

The good thing is you then have the evidence that they are trying to pursue a barred debt so if they were stupid enough to try and go to court, then that is you immediate defence, which stands up in court.

However, as with all statute barred debts they can’t take you to court but they can continue to hassle you!!

I hope this helps....

fermi

Sorry, but the letter link seems dead. So:

1 High Street,
Newtown,
Kent
R21 4RH

May 3, 2007

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


I DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE ANY DEBT TO YOU OR ANY OTHER ORGANISATION OR COMPANY YOU CLAIM TO REPRESENT.

Dear Sir/Madam

Acc/Ref No ********************

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

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.”

We 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”.

The last payment of this debt was made over six years ago and no further acknowledgement or payment has been made since that time. Unless you can provide evidence of payment or written contact from us in the relevant period under Section 5 of the Limitation Act, we suggest that you are no longer able to take any court action against us to recover the alleged amount claimed.

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 statue barred could amount to harassment contrary to section 40 (1) of the Administration of Justice Act 1970”.

We await your written confirmation that no further contact will be made concerning the above account and confirmation that this matter is now closed.

We look forward to your reply.

Yours faithfully

Mr A N Other

bookemdano

philwiththepill wrote: »

If you owe them money, just pay it. Remeber if you are a muslim you cannot enter paradise when you die if you have an unpaid debt.

Do you have actually have anything useful to say.