Confused about statute barred dates

laurab_50

I'm really confused and getting worried about a letter I received today from the county court on behalf of Lowell / BW Legal, and would be really grateful if someone could definitively answer when statute barring dates from?

The issue date of the court letter is 30/9/16 and it's for about £5k on credit card. I believed it was statute barred as the last time I paid was June 06, and the default notice was Sep 06... Lowell have had the debt since 24/6/14 and I believe have sent some letters (I'm not certain, I have MS - which is why I defaulted in the first place - and find it difficult to deal with paperwork). I called National Debtline and they said it's not statute barred as that only starts when they officially called the full debt in, which was 18th Oct 06. I then called CAB and they said it's not statute barred as Lowell wrote to me during the 6 year period. Yet every forum and webpage I've seen (including National Debtline and Citizens' Advice!) states the statute bar dates to the last time I paid or the last time I acknowledged the debt in writing... So which is it? Thanks for any help anyone can offer.

National_Debtline

Hi

I’m not privy to the conversation you had with my colleague when you contacted us, but I’d like to clarify any incorrect information, or in case any wires were crossed. For a credit card debt, the six years would start running from when one or two contractual payments were missed. The debt being called in is only relevant in the case of a debt where there aren’t contractual payments, such as an overdraft debt.

Any contact made by Lowell wouldn’t affect the statute barred date.

In your post you mention that that last payment and default were in 2006, which is way over 6 years anyway. Are these dates correct or should they be in 2010?

James
@natdebtline

laurab_50

oops yes, 2010!

That is reassuring - I got very scared after that call! it was definitely on credit cards and the last payment made was by direct debit 7th June 2010, so presumably I'm right in thinking it's definitely statute barred? Should I reply to the court with copies of the statements and default notice or contact Lowell directly?

Thanks

sourcrates

What letter have you received ?

Is it a county court claim form ?

Cant believe the conflicting advice you have been getting here.

National_Debtline

I apologise if we gave you incorrect advice.

From what you’ve said it does sound like the credit card debt will be statute barred as long as you didn’t make any other payments or acknowledge the debt in writing.

If you have now received a county court claim form you should definitely respond, although you don’t need to send your evidence to the court just yet. You have 14 days from the issue date to respond, plus they allow an extra 5 days for postage. You’ll need to defend the claim if you believe it’s statute barred and you therefore shouldn’t have to pay. For now I recommend that you just respond on the Acknowledgement of Service, as it grants you an extra 14 days to take more advice.

You would then need to send the defence form to the court. We generally recommend taking some legal advice if you’re planning to defend a court claim. You can check whether you can access free legal advice through the following organisations:

www.lawcentres.org.uk
www.lawworks.org.uk

James
@natdebtline

sourcrates

Or, check out Legal Beagles website.

http://legalbeagles.info/forums/

They have lots of experience in dealing with Lowell/BW Legal/Brian Carter etc.

laurab_50

Just had a call back from a debt specialist at citizens' advice and he agrees it definitely sounds statute barred - he says it dates from the first day they could have taken legal action, and as they could have started it the day they sent me a default notice that would be the last day to count. Just don't know why I got the wrong information from both earlier, especially as both put me on hold to confer with their supervisors! I'll have a look at your links and reply to the court saying I believe it to be statute barred then see if I hear anything. Thank you so much, this has been a very scary morning but definitely feeling a lot happier now!

sourcrates

Lot to read through, but the limitations act is clearly described here :

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/58