County Court Claim against Statute Barred Debt

teddy54

Hello, all, I know there are lots of information on here regarding Statute Barred debts, but I would prefer to start my own thread so things dont get confused........

I have this morning received a claim form from the County Court Business Centre in Northampton. This is from a solicitor acting on behalf of the claimant, Ist Credit Finance. The original debt was with HSBC. This was assigned to First Credit on 24/4/2015

Facts as stated on the County Court claim form

Loan account was opened with original creditor (HSBC) on or about 31/10/2007

On 30/12/2008 account defaulted with a balance of £xxxxxxxxx


From my point of view. I know that I have not made any payment to this debt, or acknowledged it, certainly since the default date, and probably from some time before. This debt is no longer on my credit file (although I realise that this does not mean it is necessarily Statute Barred)

Questions

a) I know the importance of replying to the court quickly, but I do not want to make any mistakes. Do I fill in the "defence" form, stating that the Debt is Statute Barred as my defence?

b) On the "acknowledgement of service" form, do I tick the "I intend to to defend all of this claim" box? (I am a little confused as there is an option to tick the "I intend to contest jurisdiction" box)

c) Is it correct that I should also contest this by writing a letter to the claimant stating this debt is statute barred? I can see that there are template letters to do this.


Those are the basic facts. I know all the nice people on here are non-judgmental, but I take no delight in having this debt, it happened because my wife died suddenly and I could no longer afford any payment. I stuck my head in the sand at the time instead of addressing it. Nothing happened for a considerable time, until I started receiving letters from Ist Credit, which I did not acknowledge. I have also seen calls from them, which I have never responded to in any way.

Can anybody please advise if they feel the debt is Statute Barred based on the facts above, and how I should reply to the court forms?

Thank you all.

teddy54

Sorry, that should have read "Statute Barred", I am really not with it this morning

fermi

a) No. You acknowledge the claim (online) saying you wish to defend. That will give you 28 days +5 from the issue date written in the claim form to file a defence, during which time you can request info and investigate.

(b) yes, "intend to defend in full" is correct. You are not contesting jurisdiction from the info you have given.

(c) yes, and no. You can do that, but it would be wise to also take some other essential steps.

See this link: http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/showthread.php?47790-Basic-first-Steps-to-take-on-receipt-of-a-Consumer-Credit-Court-Claim

What sort of debt is this? Credit Card? Loan? Current account/Overdraft?

Whatever you do, and whatever you right, do not miss deadlines for submitting defence etc.

teddy54

Thanks Fermi for the rapid reply, appreciated.
This was a personal loan from HSBC.

fermi

In that case, it should be statute barred if you have not paid or acknowledged in writing since 2008, and if a joint loan the other person hasn't made a payment.

Beware that debt collectors have a habit of:

- Making up conveniently dated payments in an attempt to bluff you out of a statute barred defence, or even sometimes hoping a judge will be taken in. Can be countered/fought, with some effort.

- They may claim the 6 years didn't start running until the original end date of the loan, even though you defaulted on it. Again, can be countered.

If I was you I would get on the forum in my previous link to get some help on how best the defend this and make sure the debt collectors don't weedle their way through the CCJ process, as they will try their best to block or deflect you.

teddy54

Thanks so much Fermi,I will do exactly that