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Legend, myth or fact???

Firstly, hello to all the boarders here...

This is my first post here on MSE, but I have read through a few of the threads and can tell already that I will fit right in here... I have plenty of questions to ask and will do my best to answer a few too...

Today I'd like to open a debate and call upon you all to either prove to be fact, or dispell as pure myth, something that I have been hearing time and again for a few years now...

I have heard it said that someone can run up debts and when these are passed onto a debt collection agency, if the agency can make no form of contact with the person in debt (no contact at all) for a period of two years, that the debt is then just scrapped and deemed un-collectable and no further action taken...


To put it simply, is there a cut-off point or time limit that a debt collection agency has to make contact and serve CCJ's on a person, before a debt then has to be deemed null and void and no longer payable... Could someone simply go into hiding until the whole thing blows over in a couple of years and never have to pay anything back...
Of course, this kind of action would not be seen as favourable by the big credit-check houses for any future loan or credit applications, but could you actually get away with it by just going missing for a couple of years...


I look forward to hearing as many versions of this as possible, as I've already heard a few, but ultimately I want to have the facts at hand when I hear this next...

Thanks...

Comments

  • My husband had a CCJ against him he knew nothing of. He was never contacted when the CCJ was registered- never was 'found' and invited to court or anything. First thing he heard of it was about 3 yrs later when a letter from the court re: Attachment of Earnings was delivered to our address.
  • jonesMUFCforever
    jonesMUFCforever Posts: 28,898 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I think this is a minimum of six years and in certain cases up to 12.If they can prove that they have attempted to contact you (letter to last known address that has not been returned 'gone away' or not known at this address', is sufficent for them to be able to persue you for any debts.
    Of course companies do sell on debt to debt collection agencies to get them off their books. They do not always have to apply for CCJ's just an arrears note on your Experian file is sufficent to warn other lenders.
    Eric
  • I guess they can just keep sending letters to whichever was your last known address and call that 'contact'.
  • Debt_Free_Chick
    Debt_Free_Chick Posts: 13,276 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    This is governed by the Limitation Act 1980, which sets out time limits for pursuing all sorts of claims. In relation to debts, the facts are here

    http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_factsheets/factsheet_25.php3
    Warning ..... I'm a peri-menopausal axe-wielding maniac ;)
  • As far as I am aware all records for non payment stay on your credit reference files for a minimum of 6 years! I am sure if it was so easy to walk away from debt many more would. Saying that, I do know of someone who did that very thing! They simply sold their house before it would have been re-posessed, then moved several hundred miles away and rented a house in a new place. Everything was going well for the 2 years they had been 'in hiding' as such, but then they had to open a basic bank account to get Incapacity Benefit paid to them and low-and-behold it all started to catch up with them! So beware before you 'run away' I am not entirely sure 'anyone' can achieve it!

    PinkLipstickBabe
    An English Girl who Loves
    SCOTLAND!
    :p
  • jen_jen_2
    jen_jen_2 Posts: 1,032 Forumite
    6 yrs from last awknoledgement (?) of the debt, either payment or in writing.
    Ready to Go Go!
  • Spendless
    Spendless Posts: 24,390 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    AFAIK - it's 6 years, but some years ago I remember reading an article about in the case of a mortgage (ie a house being re-possessed) it was 12.

    The article was saying that this was unfair and should be reduced to 6 also.

    I'm not sure if this has since been reduced to 6 years.
  • Debt_Free_Chick
    Debt_Free_Chick Posts: 13,276 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Yes the time limit is different for different types of debt. The time limit for unsecured personal debt is explained in the National Debtline factsheet, though it doesn't list the time limits for other types of debt.

    Also, even though payment of the debt may be unenforceable, due to it being statute barred, it does not prevent the default being listed on your credit record.
    Warning ..... I'm a peri-menopausal axe-wielding maniac ;)
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