advice re debt collectors

aol313

in 2004 i borrowed 8k from the halifax, i was paying it back for around 18months and then i lost my job, i paid bits and bats where i could but that soon fizzled out as i couldnt afford the repayments ,my marriage broke down in 2008 but i didnt inform the bank of my new address but my ex wife still collects my post at our marital address, i kept geting the odd letter from various debt collecting agencys but i have been ignoring them for the last few yrs, around 18months ago i rang the bank with an offer to pay them a settlement fee and was told i would be rung back with a decision, they never rang me back,
i have no assets, a car worth £500 and i still own half our marital house which does have quite a bit off equity (100k),
today ,my ex wife rang me to say a debt collector has been knocking , this is the 1st time they have been to the house, they have left a letter which says i have been served with a statuary demand,

i still cant afford to pay the debt which is just short of 7k, and really cant afford to repay anything like what they will accept,

any advice will be greatly accepted, also i think my debt maybe statue barred but i dont know for sure, i definately havent acknowledged the debt in writing in the last 6 years and dont think ive paid it in the last 6 yrs, ive just had one telephone call where i made the settlement figure offer but as i said i didnt hear back from them,

thanks in advance

Tixy

Hi

Are you aware if they have ever taken court action in regard to this debt? Do they have a CCJ against you?

Who was the debt collector who visited/left the SD?

The more usual course of action would be a CCJ and then an attempt to put a charge against your property but obviously you shouldn't just ignore the statutory demand. Are you able to check back on bank statements etc to see when you did make any payment towards the debt?

aol313

no, there is no ccj against me, the collector are bw legal and there client are lowell portfolio1 ltd,
i havent used the bank account since i got the loan and have never recieved any statements, im self employed which is a cash business so ive never really needed to use a bank account for the last ten yrs , i would say the last time i paid towards the debt will be 4 or maybe 5 yrs ago, infact perhaps even 6 yrs but i dont know the exact amount of time ago for definate

i live in a shared house now so all my bills etc are paid in cash

RAS

Do you understand that a statutory demand is the first step towards making you bankrupt?

If you have made any payments within the last 6 years the debt is not statute barred.

Did you take put PPI on the loan by the way?

aol313

i genuinely dont think ive made a payement within the last 6 yrs, im not to worried about been bancrupt apart from i still own half a house, ive been wanting my ex wife to buy me out so i can pay my debts but noone will lend her the money as she only works part time, what will happen if im bancrupt but still own half a house which by the way ive not payed towards the house for the last 5 yrs

aol313

no i dont think i did take ppi out on the loan

RAS

aol313 wrote: »

i genuinely dont think ive made a payement within the last 6 yrs, im not to worried about been bancrupt apart from i still own half a house, ive been wanting my ex wife to buy me out so i can pay my debts but noone will lend her the money as she only works part time, what will happen if im bancrupt but still own half a house which by the way ive not payed towards the house for the last 5 yrs

The OR could insist that she re-mortgages to cover the costs of the bankruptcy; which would include his fees up to £6K. or sell up. You would be better asking on the BR forum.

If you do not think you have paid anything in the last 6 years, you need to do two things.

1. Write to lowell and tell them that the debt is statute barred.

2. Write separately to Lowell making a Data Protection request - cost is £10. This requires them to give you a copy of everything that they have on your account.

2 copies first class post, from separate Post Offices with free certs of posting.

aol313

i know she cant remortgage as they wont allow it as she doesnt earn enough money in thier eyes, her current boyfriend helps her sometimes to make the payements, would they make her sell even tho ive been left over 5 yrs and we also have to young children,

if i write saying its statute barred and it actually isnt does that mean because ive wrote to them in reference of the loan it will start again from 6 yrs before it does become statute barred

aol313

ive just checked the default date and its 6th of dec 2007, so its about 6 weeks from becoming barred

Tixy

Hi

The default date isn't the relevant date for statute barred purposes, it needs to be an action by you (and that is an action by them).

The relevant date is when you last paid them, which could be before or after the date a default was entered on your file.

Even if it was soon to be statute barred they only have to commence court action before that date to stop it becoming SB.

If you are pretty confident that its been more than 6years since you last paid then I would follow the advice in RAS's post.