Statute barred but CCJ from debt collection agency

michael1983l

Statute barred is a complete defence of a debt. Find the template letter in Fermi's template list and transpose the legal mumbo jumbo about statute barred into the court claim.

I would point out that under the Limitation Act 1980 Section 5:

“An action founded on simple contract shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued.”

I would point out that in their Consumer Credit sourcebook, the Financial Conduct Authority states the following rules:

"...a firm must not attempt to recover a statute barred debt in England, Wales or Northern Ireland if the lender or owner has not been in contact with the customer during the limitation period." 7.15.4

"A firm must not continue to demand payment from a customer after the customer has stated that he will not be paying the debt because it is statute barred." 7.15.8

The last payment or acknowledgement of this debt was made over six years ago and no further acknowledgement or payment has been made since that time. Unless you can provide evidence of payment or written contact from me in the relevant period under Section 5 of the Limitation Act, I suggest that you are no longer able to take any court action against me to recover the alleged amount claimed.

I'd suggest rewording the above for your defence

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2606811

solentsusie

Nasqueron wrote: »

solentsusie - sign up with Noddle (the front end for Call Credit) - it's free and you can access the account almost immediately - they're one of the 3 CRA in the UK so it should give you some info there

Signed up for Noddle a few months ago, it only shows my credit file in my maiden name which I reverted back to. Nothing at all in my married name, which any old debts would be under.

solentsusie

Claim form submitted today. Thanks for the help.

I still have had no contact from the credit reference agency regarding my pin details to get into my credit file. It would be really nice to be able to view it.

I do wonder how reliable Noddle is, nothing on there in my married name at all...

solentsusie

Well that was quick.

I have just received in the post a response from HM Courts & Tribunal Service Northampton stating:

I acknowledge receipt of your defence. A copy is being served on the claimant (or the claimant's solicitor). The claimant may contact you direct to attempt to resolve any dispute. If the dispute cannot be resolved informally, the claimant will inform the court that he wishes to proceed. The court will then inform you of what will happen.

Does this mean they are expected to contact me before taking further action or do they not necessarily have to?

Where he wishes to proceed, the claimant must contact the court within 28 days after receiving a copy of your defence. After that period has elapsed, the claim will be stayed. The only action the claimant can then take will be to apply to a judge for an order of lifting the stay.

I presume if I receive any direct contact from Cabot then I should send them a letter asking them to prove the debt is not stature barred?

Thrugelmir

The Court would expect the claimant to respond to the particulars of your defence. Prior to any further action.

Fingers crossed.

magpiecottage

I also suggest you send the following:

Mr Kenneth Stannard
Chief Executive Officer
Cabot Financial (UK) Limited
1 Kings Hill Avenue
Kings Hill
West Malling
Kent
ME19 4UA


Dear Mr Stannard

Account Number #
Formal Complaint against Cabot Financial (UK) Limited

I have received notice of a claim by your company in the Northampton County Court in respect of an alleged debt in favour of X Bank.

As you know, or ought to know, FCA rule CONC 7.3.14R says,
"(1) A firm must not take disproportionate action against a customer in arrears or default.

(2) In accordance with (1) a firm must not, in particular, apply to court for an order for sale or submit a bankruptcy petition, without first having fully explored any more proportionate options."

Please explain why you have allowed your company to deliberately ignore this legally binding rule and commence legal action against me without first exploring more proportionate options.


As you also know, or ought to know, FCA rule CONC 7.15.4R says, Notwithstanding that a debt may be recoverable, a firm must not attempt to recover a statute barred debt in England, Wales or Northern Ireland if the lender or owner has not been in contact with the customer during the limitation period."

I have neither made nor received any communication from you or the bank cited in the claim in the last six years in respect of the alleged debt within the last six years and you are therefore also in breach of this rule.

If the debt ever did exist it is now statute barred and therefore continuance of your action against me will amount to a an additional breach of FCA rule CONC 7.15.8R which says, "A firm must not continue to demand payment from a customer after the customer has stated that he will not be paying the debt because it is statute barred."

Your breach of the regulations by which you are bound has caused me considerable distress and inconvenience and I therefore expect you to compensate me for this and to confirm that you have withdrawn your action against me. Failure to do so will result in a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service in addition to reporting your misconduct to the Financial Conduct Authority.

Yours sincerely

solentsusie

OK, I have now FINALLY got access to my Experian report and see some interesting behaviour on there. One of which I am going to put in a separate post as it is a separate issue.

I have a default registered from CABOT FINANCIAL (which this post refers to) the date of the default is registered as 09/12/08. The default balance is only £2131 additional charges/interest have been added on since that date to bring a total of £3050.

The original credit card account that the debt refers to is not showing on my credit report at all... I presume I would have something, showing the original debt if it was within the six year period, but there is no trace of it at all.

Would I be correct in assuming that the original account and default has dropped off my file (being over six years old) and the Cabot date is when they purchased the account?

Not sure how it all works with these debt collection agencies!

solentsusie

Hi

So, just a quick update on this matter....

As I previously posted I received a letter from the court dated 5th August saying that the claimant (Cabot Financial) must contact the court within 28 days of receiving a copy of my defence if he wishes to proceed.

I then received a letter from Mortimer Clarke Solicitors dated 15th August stating the following:

We have received your defence.
We are taking our client's instructions in relation to your defence and will come back to you as soon as we can.
We will place the matter on hold until we hear from them

Now.... I presume I should have heard something by now as it is 11th September if they had any evidence that their claim was still valid and they had evidence to prove this?

Should I expect to hear anything more from the court or does it just automatically become stayed? It says in the previous court letter:

Where he wishes to proceed, the claimant must contact the court within 28 days after receiving a copy of your defence. After that period has elapsed, the claim will be stayed. The only action the claimant can then take will be to apply to a judge for an order lifting the stay.

[Deleted User]

cheops2006 wrote: »

What is the default date on the account?

The default date is irrelevant to it being SB.

solentsusie

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

The default date is irrelevant to it being SB.

The default is 2008 and will drop off my file in a couple of months.

But the query I have is this. Neither Cabot or their solicitor Mortimer Clarke have contacted me (or the court from the sounds of things) as they haven't contacted me again with any response to my defence. Am I therefore right in assuming that after their 28 days is up (which is tomorrow from the date on Mortimer Clarke's letter to me) that the request for the CCJ will be stayed? And will I receive any confirmation of this?