Old debt resurfaced

airportgirl

My partner received a county court judgement against him regarding a solicitors bill for his divorce 7 years ago. He had never received the paperwork as the solicitors were using an old address. He has moved 3times in last 7 years but had always kept same contact phone number. First thing he knew about ccj was when he had an angry call from his ex wifewife last year because the bailiffs had contacted her at her home( ex marital house now hers). He had been paying monthly installments during divorce process so assumed it was all paid.

He contacted the solicitors and as he had no paperwork from that time to prove he had paid he made full payment to resolve the issue. The following week they asked for a further sum for charges. He paid these and received confirmation on the phone that it was fun and final payment.

Today he had received a letter from them saying they forgot to include an invoice for £2900 from 2007 in their county court claim. They will write off £1000 but want £1900 paying.
My partner does not have that sort of money. Can they legally claim that having already said his account was clear.?
Obviously he has no records going back 7 years so has no way of proving if it has already been paid.

National_Debtline

Hi airportgirl

Just so I'm clear on this - the judgment itself was obtained 7 years ago and that sum has now been settled by way of last year's full & final payment?

Re: this "forgotten" invoice of £2900 - on the face of it, I believe this debt may well be statute barred as the solicitors have failed to launch court proceedings within 6 years of it becoming due. This would mean they are now unable to take legal action to recover this debt. See our fact sheet on time limits for more information and a letter that can be used to refute the demand for payment:

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/25%20EW%20Time%20limits%20for%20recovering%20debts/Default.aspx

Dennis
@natdebtline

sourcrates

Yes as Dennis has said, after 6 years, of no acknowledgement or payment, and as it was not included in the original court action, they are trying it on basically, the debt would be statute barred, and you should write to them explaining this.


Template letter here :


Letter to use if you live in England or Wales.


Quote:

1 High Street,
Newtown,
Kent
R21 4RH
Date

The Loan Company
Company House,
Church Street,
Newtown,
Kent,
R1 7HG

I do not acknowledge any debt to you or any other company or organisation that you claim to be representing.

Dear Sir/Madam


Account No: xxxxxxxxxxx

You have contacted me regarding the account with the above reference number, which you claim is owed by myself.

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 acknowledgement 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 await your written confirmation that no further contact will be made concerning the above account and confirmation that this matter is now closed.


I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully



Mrs A N Other

airportgirl

Thanks for the replies. We thought they were too late with their claim but just wanted to be sure. Will use letter shown to reply to them.
Once again thank you. I can put his mind at rest now.