Advice please? I would be so grateful

Applemint

Hello everyone I am a new poster and was wondering if you could give me some advice please?

I have an old debt - a First Direct overdraft (£420.00 outstanding) from about ten years or so ago. I have been paying Cabot £5.00 a month for about the last three years.
Over the past two or three months they have started asking me to fill out forms showing my income and outgoings and are pressuring me to set up a payment plan with them. I was of the understanding that the £5.00 a month was the payment plan - they have certainly never minded before.

Today I have received a letter from FIRE Financial Investigations and Recoveries saying that after all their attempts to contact me without success that they are now going to review my account by reviewing public information about me to understand my financial position. Based on these findings they will then either:
(a) Instruct a debt collection company to contact me directly.
(b) Consider if my account should be prepared for referral to their litigation partners. This could result in them contacting me directly with regards to understanding my full situation.

Their letter ends with "we would still prefer to talk to you and help you so please do contact us on...."

I don't really know what to do. I have drafted a letter saying that I do pay monthly and thought that was an existing payment plan and I do not appreciate their threatening letters and have asked them to suggest a payment plan. I just have a feeling I might be shooting myself in the foot.


Any advice to my next move will be greatly appreciated.

Also, I don't know if relevant but the debt is in my maiden name, and I haven't been called it for 9 years.
Many thanks in advance!

fatbelly

Are FIRE acting on behalf of Cabot? And can you see from the balance they quote that your payments are being applied?

If yes and yes, then I think you are OK just to keep paying and not give FIRE the chance to harass you further.

I would not want to fill out their form. You could do your own statement of affairs as long as it doesn't give them any useful information that they do not already have. But TBH any contact is just going to encourage them.

Further thoughts: It sounds like there was a long period when you did not pay anything. Are you in England/Wales? And could that period have been 6 years?

Applemint

Thank you so much for responding.

I think Cabot is Fire's client, yes. After a bit of googling, Cabot and Fire seem to be one of the same company. Their letters either come from West Malling or Cornwall.

Yes, it could indeed have been six years before I began paying again and yes I am in the UK. I was loathe to fill their form out too. Its not that I am unwilling to pay, I just don't want them to have any more information on me than they have to!

I don't suppose you have any idea what this "public information" is that they are going to look for is? Its really troubling me.

I have checked my bank account and the last cheque cashed by Cabot was on 13th December '13. On this latest letter it doesn't appear that this payment has been taken into account. I always send a cheque at the start of the month to them - I sent one last week, but this is not showing on my bank statement yet.

fatbelly

I think you're right about the Cabot/Fire connection. I should have known that. So it's basically just a different letterhead.

The payment discrepancy may just be general slowness to update their records.

The public information will just be a credit check, even though that is not public.

If there has been a period of six years when you did not acknowledge the debt by payment or in writing then it is statute barred, and nothing that happens subsequently can change that status.

You can still make payment and they can still write, but if they make any attempt at court action then you have a complete defence. If they get too annoying you can let them know that you will not be making further payment because it is statute barred, and under OFT rules they must cease collection activity.

The standard letters and some links are in this thread, even the Scottish ones (5 years)!

Statute barred debts and the Limitation Acts

Applemint

Thanks so much for your advice and taking the time to help.
All duly noted and much appreciated.

stevemLS

fatbelly wrote: »

I think you're right about the Cabot/Fire connection. I should have known that. So it's basically just a different letterhead.

The payment discrepancy may just be general slowness to update their records.

The public information will just be a credit check, even though that is not public.

If there has been a period of six years when you did not acknowledge the debt by payment or in writing then it is statute barred, and nothing that happens subsequently can change that status.

You can still make payment and they can still write, but if they make any attempt at court action then you have a complete defence. If they get too annoying you can let them know that you will not be making further payment because it is statute barred, and under OFT rules they must cease collection activity.

The standard letters and some links are in this thread, even the Scottish ones (5 years)!

Statute barred debts and the Limitation Acts

What are you banging on about, the last payment was last month.

FireWyrm

stevemLS wrote: »

What are you banging on about, the last payment was last month.

She is 'banging on about' the fact that a payment after a debt is statute barred does not alter the fact that it is statute barred and therefore unenforceable.

The creditor either doesnt know the law or hopes the OP doesnt. Either way, from the information provided, they can stop paying any time they see fit and tell the creditor to take a long walk off a short pier with absolutely no legally enforceable repercussions.

stevemLS

You would need much more precise dates to know whether it was statute barred, "about 10 years ago" started paying again "about three years ago".

fatbelly

Applemint wrote: »

Thanks so much for your advice and taking the time to help.
All duly noted and much appreciated.

No problem. Keep us updated.