What is classed as admission to a debt

mitsygirl79

Be a while since i posted on here and we now believe we have knowledge of all our debts.

The question is, Is contacting a company by email (i.e Lowell) asking if they could confirm any debts in NAME at ADDRESS classed as admitting anything? We've had replies of accounts held but we never replied back once it had come. They have rung us and put accounts on hold for 30 days while we got ourselves in order is that any form of admission aswell?

I only ask as were organised now with priority bills and will be looking at the non priority ones soon but some i 'believe' (not sure if and how i can find out exactly) have had no payment since November 2009 and other March 2010) and wasn't sure if they will be classed as statue barred in a few months time. I know its not the best way but if neither is classed as admission and theres some way of finding out for definate when last payment was i was going to jump from them to the more recent ones and start clearing them up.

Thanks in advance

HappyMJ

Your credit report should show when the last payment was made on an account. At least it shows the month the payment was made in. If it doesn't show on your credit report it's probably already been statute barred and in any case if the default is over six years ago not paying it isn't going to affect your future plans for credit anyway.

Personally as it's so close to being statute barred I'd just leave it out and not make any contact at all.

fermi

Always depends on the wording.

mitsygirl79

A couple do show it others just show and alteration in balance but no payment record.

National_Debtline

I think that will be a very grey area. If you are writing to a company and asking them to confirm details either on behalf of yourself or a third party that could be classed as a written acknowledgement of the debt (because you wouldn't take such action if no debt was owed).


Under the Limitations Act the onus of proof is on the creditor to show the last payment/ written acknowledgement - so you don't need to necessarily chase the debts as you are at the moment. Please be aware that if there has been less than 6 years since the last written acknowledgement or payment, they could pursue in the county court - do not ignore claim forms under any circumstances. If you get court papers you should seek independent, free advice.


Laura
@natdebtline

mitsygirl79

fermi wrote: »

Always depends on the wording.

Wording was this (by email no signature)

Dear sir/madam

Please can you confirm what accounts you have belonging to me please, as I am making an appointment with cab.

Mr Name
Address
Date of birth


Awful feeling we've made a huge mistake when some are so close to 6 years.

1 does state the following.... You should be aware that the period for recovering the debt ...A/C No...... by court action has expired, so we will not be issuing court proceedings to enforce payment. This debt defaulted in 2011.

mitsygirl79

National_Debtline wrote: »

I think that will be a very grey area. If you are writing to a company and asking them to confirm details either on behalf of yourself or a third party that could be classed as a written acknowledgement of the debt (because you wouldn't take such action if no debt was owed).


Under the Limitations Act the onus of proof is on the creditor to show the last payment/ written acknowledgement - so you don't need to necessarily chase the debts as you are at the moment. Please be aware that if there has been less than 6 years since the last written acknowledgement or payment, they could pursue in the county court - do not ignore claim forms under any circumstances. If you get court papers you should seek independent, free advice.


Laura
@natdebtline

That's my concern Laura, we may have made a mistake here but if so lesson learnt but we don't intend on having debt again once everything is cleared anyway.

fermi

mitsygirl79 wrote: »

1 does state the following.... You should be aware that the period for recovering the debt ...A/C No...... by court action has expired, so we will not be issuing court proceedings to enforce payment. This debt defaulted in 2011.

Lowell have been using that wording on letters about accounts a lot lately, many which I am very dubious if it's in fact true. So I would not rely too heavily on that. DCAs rely heavily on templated paragraphs and letters put together with no input from anyone with brain cells in double digits or more.

mitsygirl79

I did think it seemed very strange when its only approx 4 years since default/payment.

Question is now have we admitted anything :-(

sourcrates

mitsygirl79 wrote: »

I did think it seemed very strange when its only approx 4 years since default/payment.

Question is now have we admitted anything :-(

In the words of Blackadder, "deny everything Baldrick"

Letter wasn't signed, could of been anyone...........

DevCoder

It was an email, on the balance of probabilities (since it would be a civil case) then most courts would accept that an email originating from someone giving a name, address and correct DOB would be the person they are purporting to be. IP address in the email X-header could also possibly narrow down the possibilities of who sent it.