A question about statute barred debts.

FrankelZermelo

Hi,

4 years ago I lost my job, ran out of money, and had to stop paying my balances on 2 credit cards and 1 loan, all together £15,000.

my financial situation has not improved and i'm still unable to pay my debts. I have read on this forum that apparently the Limitation Act 1980 states how long a creditor can chase you for an unpaid debt, 6 years in England for usecured debts.

Don't get me wrong. If my situation improves, I will try to pay off these debts, but if things went bad and I couldn't pay the debts, how this Limitation Act 1980 would affect me ?

In particular I would like to know:

1. Would all creditors stop chasing me and when ? 6 years after the first default on my debts ?

2. Would the defaults still show on my credit file ? Until when ? At the moment I'm getting a red default mark every month on my three accounts.

Again, I'm not trying to get away with not repaying my debts, I'm just thinking what would happen in the worst of the scenarios where I couldn't be able to pay back.

Thank you.

sourcrates

The statute of limitations states that a debt cant legally be chased after a period of six years has elapsed, this however does not stop DCA`s "trying it on", the clock runs from the last time you actually made any payment to each account, after six yrs the debt becomes statute barred and cant be enforced in a court, the debt will still exist, it just means a creditor cant take legal action against you to recover the debt, they can still chase you for it though, and do so, although you do not have to pay them, also after six yrs it will all drop off your credit file, but defaults will be registered up until that point.

happy_bunny_2

Section in here about collecting SB debts:
http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/consultations/OFT664Rev_Debt_collection_g1.pdf

Have they all issued defaults?

Defaults drop off 6 years from default date. They can get a CCJ up til SB if they have their paperwork in order.

What year the accounts taken out?

iolanthe07

Statute Barred won't apply if they have obtained a CCJ against you.

FrankelZermelo

happy_bunny wrote: »

Have they all issued defaults?

Defaults drop off 6 years from default date. They can get a CCJ up til SB if they have their paperwork in order.

What year the accounts taken out?

The accounts were opened on January 2008. On January 2009 I started to default on all three accounts, and since then a default mark is added monthly to my credit file for each one of these accounts.

So does that mean the credit file will be clear in 12 years time from the date of the first default ? i.e. 6 years for the Statute Bar to kick in, and then another 6 years from the last default mark ? (Suposing that the default marks will stop being added to the file once the debts have been Statuted Barred)

[Deleted User]

sourcrates wrote: »

the clock runs from the last time you actually made any payment to each account

Or acknowledged the debt.

nicp60

FrankelZermelo wrote: »

So does that mean the credit file will be clear in 12 years time from the date of the first default ? i.e. 6 years for the Statute Bar to kick in, and then another 6 years from the last default mark ? (Suposing that the default marks will stop being added to the file once the debts have been Statuted Barred)

No; the Statute Barred issue and the defaults are separate issues.

The debt will be statute barred 6 years from the last time you acknowledged the debt (either by paying something towards it, or correspondance). So check your paperwork and statements to find out when this is. If they obtain a CCJ before the 6 years, then it won't become statute barred.

It will drop off your credit report 6 years from the default date. This is an entry on your credit report - it will literally say 'default date: 12th March 2011' or something similar.

Potential issues - as sourcrates said, DCAs often try it on by getting you to acknowledge the debt, or by trying to get payment even when they know it's SB.
Default dates can often be incorrect (or not correctly filed), and you can't rectify this unless you acknowledge the debt.

Hope this helps.

nicp60

Entry C4 on this sample report shows you what to look for on the report for the default date: http://www.experian.co.uk/downloads/consumer/mock-report.pdf