Personal Loan 2002

Teen57

Can anyone help? I will proceed to giving the short version. I took out a Loan in 2002. At the time I was going through Divorce + single-handedly parenting 5 dependent children. I ran into financial difficulty. I tried very hard to liaise with the bank (Nat West) to inform them of my situation but they were not interested at all. After endless Debt Collecting Agency letters and mega stress I then resorted to Consumer Credit Counselling Services who then took charge of my case. Their Solicitors issued an application to strike out the Particulars of Claim against Nat West (not knowing what this really meant, I assumed it was all over and done with). Relief no end! What does this mean? Over the years I might receive a bank statement from them but the correspondence has been random. I received a letter from a Solicitor yesterday.


I am in a better place today and would like to deal with this myself. How can I put an end to this situation? Or, can anyone advice what I should do next.

jonesMUFCforever

When did you last make a repayment or acknowledge the debt at all?

Teen57

A repayment was made 2005 approximately but the last contact the Solicitors made was 2 years ago. I have now received a letter saying that I have to reply within 14 days. I wasn't sure what to do...any advise?


I have moved. They have managed to get my new address (which I suppose is not difficult!), but because I had not heard from them in 2 years I thought the matter was over. Many years ago, the CCCS were handling this case and applied for a Strike Out on the claim. Not understanding what this meant, I assumed there was no case to be heard.


I really don't know how to get to the bottom of this case and there is something not right about it! Again, not really understanding - there were 6 x PPI's on this case. What does this all mean? How can there be that many mis-sold policies on one account?


I am desperate to get some resolution or closure to this case. Any help is appreciated.

[Deleted User]

What does the letter from the Solicitors say?

Teen57

The first letter says: ...."that they have been attempting to contact me regarding a business matter and that they have been provided with this address (new address) as a possible residence for their customer...." - The last communication from the Solicitor is 2 years ago. No attempts have been made at all to contact me!


The second letter from the Solicitor says: "....we refer to the above matter and note that we have not received a response to our recent communication.


Please respond to us within 14 days of the date of this letter. (dated: 3rd May 16)....."

mauriphonic

I wait to be corrected, but I think if there was no contact or payment between 2005 and 2014 then it would be statute barred and therefore unenforceable. If you wish to discuss settlement with them, that that is entirely your decision and I would applaud you for doing so if you owe it, but you almost certainly have a very strong position to negotiate from, depending on if there are court judgements involved. If there is a judgement then it may well be a different matter entirely.

Teen57

I have been in contact with them trying to establish how they have amounted to £18,000. I would never have taken out a loan of that calibre. I was divorced with 5 dependent children and earning a very small living doing After School Childminding. I would have never have been able to afford the repayments. So, how has it amounted to this sum? I can only assume that Interest charges have been added over the years and that the Interest Charges were never frozen when requested.


How would I find out if there is a Court Judgement on this? Again, I wouldn't have a clue!


Obviously the rules and support regarding this kind of debt back then was different. I can remember trying to converse with Nat West to explain that I had run into financial difficulty but they were not empathetic and were quite forceful and threatening. I think quite a different story in 2016!


Who would be able to sit down with me to explain what's happened? I have kept every piece of paperwork involved.




Should I just wait till it goes to Court?

fusionx212

They cannot enforce this debt it's statute barred. Do not acknowledge the debt as yours.


What is statute barred debt?
Statute barred debt refers to a debt that’s not enforceable because the time a creditor has to chase payment has passed. This is outlined under the Limitation Act 1980.

The act is not a way for people to avoid paying debts. If your debt is not statute barred there’s no way to use the Limitations Act to avoid paying it. But non-enforceable debts are sometimes pursued by debt collection companies when they shouldn’t be, so it helps to know where you stand.

How long can a creditor chase a debt for?
Under the Limitation Act 1980 a creditor has six years to chase most unsecured unpaid debts, or twelve years for some mortgage shortfalls. This ‘limitation period’ starts from the time of your last payment or acknowledgement of the debt, not the total length of time you’ve been making payments. If a court judgment (CCJ) has been registered against you before the limitation period has passed it can be enforced at any point. There is no limitations period for a CCJ.

For Scottish debts the rules are different as statute barred debts cease to exist (and creditors aren’t allowed to ask you for payment) after five years, unless the court has issued a Decree before the five year limitation period.

The Limitation Act doesn’t apply to debts owed to the Crown such as income tax. Because the act prevents court action, some debts such as benefits overpayments and Council Tax sometimes use different collection methods that don’t involve the court, which means the debt can be collected even after six years have passed.

When can the Limitations Act 1980 be used?
The act states that when ALL of the following conditions are met a debt cannot be enforced:

The creditor has not registered a County Court judgment (CCJ) against you
You (or with joint debts, you and the other person) have not made a payment in the last six or twelve years
You have not admitted the debt in writing in the last six or twelve years
What does ‘not enforceable’ actually mean?
If a debt is statute barred it isn’t ‘written off’ and it doesn’t disappear. If a debt is not enforceable it means that if a creditor tries to take you to court, you’ll be able to defend the case and you won’t get a CCJ. Creditors aren’t allowed to keep chasing a debt that is statute barred if they haven’t been in touch with you at all during the six year limitation period, but they can keep asking you for payments if they’ve been in regular contact. If you’ve changed address without telling the creditor or not opened the letters, this doesn’t mean that creditors haven’t tried to contact you.

Some creditors, such as the DWP (Department for Work and Pensions), have legal powers which allow them to take money from wages or benefits without going to court. They can still do this even if the limitation period has passed.

What to do if you think your debt is statute barred
The thing with a statute barred debt is that the burden of proof is with the creditor to prove you do have to pay it, not for you to prove you don’t. If a creditor has contacted you and you definitely know the debt is statute barred you should write to the creditor to tell them.

- See more at: http://moneyaware.co.uk/2013/10/statute-barred-debt/#sthash.A0D1db9o.dpuf

Pixie5740

If CCCS were dealing with this then it might be best to get in touch with them again although I think they are now called Step Change.

Teen57

Thank you kindly for your reply.


Upon looking through my paperwork (I hope you can make sense of the following) -


- On the 17th May 2010, MSB Solicitors (who were acting on behalf of CCCS) became my representatives.


- On 24th May 2010, MSB Solicitors issued an application to strike out the Particulars of Claim with Nat West


- On 13th August 2010 a hearing had been listed to take place at Liverpool County Court. My attendance was not required as advised by MSB Solicitors


- On 4th August 2010, I was forwarded a copy of an Order which was received from Liverpool County Court from MSB Solicitors. The Claimant withdrew their claim and thus I was informed that matters were now concluded and that their file of papers were shortly closing by MSB Solicitors.


Looking at the information above, I can see why now that I thought the case was all finished.


There has been no contact with Nat West's Representatives: Drydensfairfax Solicitors for 2 years, even though they say they have been attempting to get in contact, which is rubbish!


I have also just been through my Personal Loan summaries and the last one I received was 11th Feb 2011 to 10th Feb 2012. I have not received anything since.


Going by all the information given above, I am not sure if this case is considered a statute-barred debt.

Teen57

I did get in contact with the Solicitors who were acting on my behalf for the CCCS but the Solicitor has since left and was not sure of what happened to the case file