HELP - How do I reply to Red Debt

user051105

I have recieved three letter's from Red Debt today,

1st - Dated 30-07-07 - States I have an account with Abbey outstanding balance of £2709.85, which has been sold to Lowell Finance, please make payment by debit or credit card within 7 days.

2nd - Dated 20-08-07 - States, our client now wishes to offer you a reduced settlement of £1368 please make payment by debit or credit card.

3rd - Dated 29-08-07 - You have ignored our previous letter's we will now arrange for a home collection offficer to come round and collect the full outstanding amount.


So here goes, unusually for me I have kept my last 2 years worth of credit reports and nowhere on any of these is there a mention of Abbey National, nothing is on my current checkmyfile page's.

My question is, could it be that this is so old, that this would be classed as "Statute Barred" and Abbey have simply left it too long to contact me. I have never heard anything from Abbey National on this.

Am I digging myself a hole by writing the following letter to them and refusing to pay.

Dear Sir,

Without Prejudice

I write with reference to your recent letter's regarding reference number 90831628. I am afraid I do not acknowledge this debt, I have looked at my current and previous credit reference agency reports and none of these have any mention of a defaulted account with relation to Abbey National.

I believe that this account if it does exist is "Statute Barred" and the legal timescale has passed for your client to take any further action. As a result of this I will not be paying the amount outstanding.

I await your reply with some anticipation.

Any help is always appreciated.

madmoney_2

Hi There if there is nothing on your credit file about this then one would assume it is statute barred. however, i think there are a few peeps on here who have template letters, why not edit the title of this thread to "template letters needed", as theres some really good ones, referencing the laws and the statute barred regulations
hth xx

madmoney_2

well done on paying capital one by the way!! xxx

rog2

Hi User - If you are SURE that the 'alleged debt' is statute barred, i.e. you have made no payments towards it, nor acknowledged the debt, in writing, for a period of six years, then send the letter that you will find on the following link:

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/temp/4407_92021.pdf


If you are unsure, then send them the following letter:

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/temp/3365_43741.pdf


To ask for a copy of the original credit agreement.

I also suggest that you preface your letters with the words:

"I do not acknowledge any debt to your company"

Good luck

fiveyearplan

If any of the letters are referring to 'Abbey National' does anyone know when they changed to just 'Abbey'? This could be a clue. Companies pay a lot of money for re-branding so would not use the National bit once they changed to Abbey.

medman

"Abbey was previously known as Abbey National, changing its name in 2003" Consumer Action Group website

user051105

Hi User - If you are SURE that the 'alleged debt' is statute barred, i.e. you have made no payments towards it, nor acknowledged the debt, in writing, for a period of six years, then send the letter that you will find on the following link:

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/en...4407_92021.pdf

Thanks, sent them this letter

rog2

user051105 wrote: »

Thanks, sent them this letter

Well done - let us know what happens. It seems to be 'in vogue' for dca's to send back replies stating that whilst you may not have a 'legal' duty to pay the loan, you still have a 'moral' duty. Don't fall for that one, user.

imoneyop

rog2 wrote: »

Well done - let us know what happens. It seems to be 'in vogue' for dca's to send back replies stating that whilst you may not have a 'legal' duty to pay the loan, you still have a 'moral' duty. Don't fall for that one, user.

A couple of good replies for the 'moral duty' line -

Sorry, but I don't have any morals so I won't be paying.

You can't take me to court for a moral duty so F off.