Ruthbridge - Debt recovery

Walfo

Hi there,

I have received 2 letters, one 17th of May and one 24th of May asking me to contact this company regarding a "personal matter" - The most recent saying they'll phone me over the next 5 days If I don't reply, i'm unsure how they've got my phone number, but i'm not sure that's relevant

Now i've looked into it and they are a debt recovery company. The debt I believe they are working on behalf of, I have not had any correspondence with for around 10 years due to me moving house etc...

Am I right in thinking that this means it is now Statute Barred? And they have no legal way of recovering the debt from me?

Also, would me phoning them to find out what they're contacting me about, count as acknowledging the debt? From reading the Statue barred page it seems that it wouldn't but I don't want to call them and find out i'm lumbered with payments that I frankly can't afford at the moment.

Also, If I did call them, would I be able to tell them I only want to pay X amount? I recently paid off a debt in full but felt forced into paying the amount they wanted per month (which was also probably statute barred, but I didn't think about it at the time)

(I was young and stupid at Uni, and paying for it now...)

Thanks,

Adam

Tixy

They may well not have you phone number, could easily just be a scare tactic. If they do call just ask them to write to you and hang up.

It could be statute barred - but if they have not had your address then its also a possibility that the creditor/debt collector has already obtained a CCJ against you.
If they don't already have a CCJ and if there has been a period of more than 6 years where you have not paid towards the debt or written to say that you agree you owe the debt then its most likely statute barred.

Calling a creditor/debt collector does not count as acknowledging the debt for statute barred purposes.

And if it is already statute barred then nothing you do now (phoning, writing, paying them something) will change the fact that its statute barred.

I wouldn't call them. Wait for them to write to you with details of this alleged debt, until they do you won't know for certain what debt they are chasing or even if it is you that they are trying to contact.

Walfo

Thanks for that, that was my intention at the moment wait for them to write to me with details of the debt.

The previous company I dealt with sent full information of the debt in letter, so I called them and got it sorted.

This one just asks me to call them, I checked my credit file on noddle and there's nothing on there, so can I assume that there's no CCJ against my name? (Managed to get a mortgage and credit card 3 years ago without much problem too...)

Forgot to mention the first letter on the 17th was asking if I was living here, the second said WE HAVE TRACED YOU TO THIS ADDRESS (not that it makes any difference, just seemed a lot more threatening in the second letter to the first!)

Tixy

A ccj issued more than 6 years ago wouldn't show on your credit file anymore. But its probably unlikely there is a CCJ. especially if your file appears to have been clean 3years ago.

You'll probably eventually get a 3rd letter from them finally providing some details of the debt.

When you do then if it is the debt you are expecting and it looks like it is statute barred then send them the template letter.

Walfo

Thanks for the advice, I have got the template saved and ready, so I'll see what happens for now I guess!

lindsloo

These guys followed same tactics with me, I emailed them asking to prove further details as I had no idea what the were chasing. It carried on back and forth until I wrote saying that if they continued to write without proving and providing details of the debt I would charge them for my time at a rate of £10 ph plus costs if they contined to write, as by doing this they were accepting my terms. Funny enough, not heard a thing from them since.