CCJ, When does the Statute Barred period begin?

robfromuk

I received a CCJ claim form with issue date 5th January 2015 earlier this month. It is for an amount of £575.26 and is owed to "Shop Direct Finance Company" for a catalogue account opened in 2008. I have managed to find an old debt letter that I had kept which states the credit agreement date was the 19th October 2008.

Shortly after taking the credit agreement out - and ordering items to the credit limit - I lost my job and as such I was unable to pay the debt back. In fact upon inspection it would appear that I made no payments whatsoever or any written communication to the debtor accepting the debt at all.

I foolishly buried my head in the sand and ignored the debt and despite the odd debt letter here & there I heard nothing until this CCJ claim form came through a few weeks ago.

I have spoken to the National Debtline / Stepchange who have both informed me that the debt could possibly be statute barred due to the fact that payment / communication hasn't been made in over six years.

However upon further reading on the internet I have since read that the six year period could actually either be from the "default" date OR somebody else told me that it could be from the date of the last order I placed with the company. If it is the "default" date, the account wasn't defaulted until the 18th of May 2009 according to my credit file.

I have submitted an acknowledgment of service to give me 14 days extra in which to decide if I wish to defend this claim.

My query is quite simply when does the statute barred period begin? Am I covered under the limitations act or does it look like I will have to accept the debt and pay up?

kindofagilr

I am no expert but I think it's the default date that is showing on the credit file, I had some CCJ's years ago (I paid the debts off but still had three CCJ's on my file) the default dates on my account were from 2002 (I took out the accounts before then) and they dropped off my credit file in 2008.

So I think yours will drop off your file in May 2015, I think you can continue to ignore it till then and then it will drop off your file. I'm not sure what happens if you acknowledge the debt now, I don't know if the date changes.

Hopefully someone else will be along to answer you, I think I'm right in my answer but I'm not 100% sure.

fermi

No. The default date on your credit file doesn't have any bearing on when the legal 'cause of action' accrued and the 6 year period started. That date on credit files is a somewhat movable date chosen by the creditor at their discretion within certain limits, rather than anything that has a legal effect on anything outside your credit file.

In other words it can be quite some time after the 6 years period for the Limitation Act started.

Both a default on your credit report, and the limitation period under the law, happen to be 6 years, but it's not the same 6 years with the same start and end point if you see what I mean.

Working out when the legal cause of action accrued can be a little complicated. Depending on the actual history of the account.

fatbelly

It is NOT the default date. Fermi is correct.

If the issue of the claim was on 5 Jan 2015, then you have a SB defence if you last acknowledged the debt (by payment or in writing) before 5 Jan 2009 (England/Wales rules).

Whichever way you go, you should have acknowledged service by 24 Jan (5+14 days) and the defence has to be in by 7 Feb (5 + 28 days), assuming this is Northampton Court.

kindofagilr

See I knew the experts would be along

Maybe my dates were the same at the time and that's why after six years after the default date on the credit file they vanished? Or maybe it's because mine had been paid off.

fermi

kindofagilr wrote: »

See I knew the experts would be along

Maybe my dates were the same at the time and that's why after six years after the default date on the credit file they vanished? Or maybe it's because mine had been paid off.

Defaults always drop off after 6 years on your credit file.

Point I was making is that being statute barred and defaults on your credit file both happen have six year limits, but they are not necessarily the same 6 years as each other.

Nelix

I have recently been through exactly the same thing. after a discussion with the National Debtline, they confirmed to me that the statute of limitation (6 year limit) starts from the date of the first missed payment.

I informed the DCA of this and they backed down and removed it from my credit file.

I hope this helps

robfromuk

I hope you don't mind me posting once more about this issue. I sent off the defense and heard nothing for 3 1/2 weeks, I finally received a letter from the claimant confirming they intend to continue with the case.

I have now received a letter from the court itself called "notice of proposed allocation to the small claims track" - it says:

TAKE NOTICE THAT

1. This is now a defended claim.

The defendant has filed a defence, a copy of which is enclosed. (This bit has been crossed out, presumably by the court)

2. It appears that this case is suitable for allocation to the small claims track.

If you believe that this track is not the appropriate track for the claim, you must complete box C1 on the Small Claims Directions Questionnaire (Form N180) and explain why.

3. You must by 2 April 2015 complete the Small Claims Directions Questionnaire (Form N180) and file it with the court office and serve copies on all other parties. (Does this mean I have to send a copy to the claimaint?)

The directions questionnaire included mentions "mediation" - whereby I can try and sort this out over the telephone with the claimaint and therefore possibly preventing a hearing - is this something that could be worthwhile? Or should I just go straight for the hearing option? Is the mediation over the phone likely to be a waste of time?

That's pretty much it - I have heard NOTHING at all from the claimaint in response to my requests for information including a request for a copy of the original credit agreement (despite sending a recorded letter about 6 weeks ago with the £1 included) - what should I do about this?

Thanks again for your help.

sourcrates

robfromuk wrote: »

I hope you don't mind me posting once more about this issue. I sent off the defense and heard nothing for 3 1/2 weeks, I finally received a letter from the claimant confirming they intend to continue with the case.

I have now received a letter from the court itself called "notice of proposed allocation to the small claims track" - it says:

TAKE NOTICE THAT

1. This is now a defended claim.

The defendant has filed a defence, a copy of which is enclosed. (This bit has been crossed out, presumably by the court)

2. It appears that this case is suitable for allocation to the small claims track.

If you believe that this track is not the appropriate track for the claim, you must complete box C1 on the Small Claims Directions Questionnaire (Form N180) and explain why.

3. You must by 2 April 2015 complete the Small Claims Directions Questionnaire (Form N180) and file it with the court office and serve copies on all other parties. (Does this mean I have to send a copy to the claimaint?)

The directions questionnaire included mentions "mediation" - whereby I can try and sort this out over the telephone with the claimaint and therefore possibly preventing a hearing - is this something that could be worthwhile? Or should I just go straight for the hearing option? Is the mediation over the phone likely to be a waste of time?

That's pretty much it - I have heard NOTHING at all from the claimaint in response to my requests for information including a request for a copy of the original credit agreement (despite sending a recorded letter about 6 weeks ago with the £1 included) - what should I do about this?

Thanks again for your help.

Hi,
So was your defence, that the debt was statute barred ?

Unsure if mediation will get you anywhere, they will be wanting some kind of payment from you, I doubt they will admit it's SB.
See what others think.

Difficult one, if that is your defence, then I would be tempted to wait and see what happens at court.

I would assume you have to provide copies to the claimant yes.