Am I statute barred?

mcassell1970

I have an old Barclaycard account from over 8 years ago. There are no records of this on my credit file. I have now received a letter from Robinson Way stating I need to pay them the account (less than £1k). As there has been no contact with anybody over this account for over 8 years, no letters, payments etc, it is not on my credit file, what are my options to get rid of these debt collectors? Could I go down the statute barred route and how do I go about this? Any help is gratefully received.

sourcrates

mcassell1970 wrote: »

I have an old Barclaycard account from over 8 years ago. There are no records of this on my credit file. I have now received a letter from Robinson Way stating I need to pay them the account (less than £1k). As there has been no contact with anybody over this account for over 8 years, no letters, payments etc, it is not on my credit file, what are my options to get rid of these debt collectors? Could I go down the statute barred route and how do I go about this? Any help is gratefully received.

Hi,

No payment or written acknowledgement by yourself for any period of 6 years, and the debt is likely to be statute barred, yes.

Information, and a template letter to send them, here :

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/time-limits-for-recovering-debts/statute-barred-debt.aspx

mcassell1970

The history of this account shows no payments made after May 2011, the 8 years quoted previously was innacurate. The account status on a full credit report states "Settled - account balance £0" and is dated 31/07/2012. There is a record of a search by Robinson Way on my file from 2015. If the account is showing settled with a zero balance, how can they still ask for payment from me on this? Not sure how this works so any information with options would be helpful. Many thanks.

fatbelly

It hinges on when the last payment was actually made.

If May 2011, and you are in England/Wales, then you can use a statute barred defence pretty much now.

However I wouldn't send the statute barred letter until it was 100% certain that 6 years have passed.

You could ignore RW for a couple of months, or send a prove-it to give them something to chew on for a bit.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2607247

sourcrates

mcassell1970 wrote: »

The history of this account shows no payments made after May 2011, the 8 years quoted previously was innacurate. The account status on a full credit report states "Settled - account balance £0" and is dated 31/07/2012. There is a record of a search by Robinson Way on my file from 2015. If the account is showing settled with a zero balance, how can they still ask for payment from me on this? Not sure how this works so any information with options would be helpful. Many thanks.

So it will become statute barred this month then, try and drag it out till month end, then send the letter.

It shows a zero balance because the debt was sold to Robinson way, so the original creditor was paid by them, hence the zero balance.

When Robbers way start recording on your credit file, the balance will be restored, as you now owe them the debt.

Hopefully that wont happen, as you will send the SB letter, Robbers way back down, and that will be the end of it.

Arleen

sourcrates wrote: »

So it will become statute barred this month then, try and drag it out till month end, then send the letter.

It shows a zero balance because the debt was sold to Robinson way, so the original creditor was paid by them, hence the zero balance.

When Robbers way start recording on your credit file, the balance will be restored, as you now owe them the debt.

Hopefully that wont happen, as you will send the SB letter, Robbers way back down, and that will be the end of it.

Stalling may actually not matter, it all depends on what type of debt it is. If this is classified as a loan then just putting a written demand for payment is enough to count as starting time for Section 5 of Limitation Act 1980 (which means it won't get statute barred during the stalling exchange).

So what was the original debt?

sourcrates

Arleen wrote: »

Stalling may actually not matter, it all depends on what type of debt it is. If this is classified as a loan then just putting a written demand for payment is enough to count as starting time for Section 5 of Limitation Act 1980 (which means it won't get statute barred during the stalling exchange).

So what was the original debt?

Barclaycard account apparently.

Arleen

sourcrates wrote: »

Barclaycard account apparently.

Not Sure how exactly do you go 1k over on a bank account, so was that an overdraft? I'll wait for the op to come back and clarify.

sourcrates

Arleen wrote: »

Not Sure how exactly do you go 1k over on a bank account, so was that an overdraft? I'll wait for the op to come back and clarify.

Barclaycard is a credit card, there is approx 1k still owing on it.

Pay attention LOL !!

fatbelly

It was a Barclaycard

Arleen

sourcrates wrote: »

Barclaycard is a credit card, there is approx 1k still owing on it.

Pay attention LOL !!

Oh crap, my brain stuck "barclaycard" as "barclay". Had to re-read it now couple times to unsee it. Sorry for that!

So the question is whether the credit card is under Limitations Act [1980] c.58 (6).

(1) Subject to subsection (3) below, section 5 of this Act shall not bar the right of action on a contract of loan to which this section applies.
(2) This section applies to any contract of loan which—
(a) does not provide for repayment of the debt on or before a fixed or determinable date; and
(b) does not effectively (whether or not it purports to do so) make the obligation to repay the debt conditional on a demand for repayment made by or on behalf of the creditor or on any other matter;
except where in connection with taking the loan the debtor enters into any collateral obligation to pay the amount of the debt or any part of it (as, for example, by delivering a promissory note as security for the debt) on terms which would exclude the application of this section to the contract of loan if they applied directly to repayment of the debt.
(3) Where a demand in writing for repayment of the debt under a contract of loan to which this section applies is made by or on behalf of the creditor (or, where there are joint creditors, by or on behalf of any one of them) section 5 of this Act shall thereupon apply as if the cause of action to recover the debt had accrued on the date on which the demand was made.
(4) In this section “promissory note”has the same meaning as in the Bills of Exchange Act 1882.

And I cannot find any cases which would rule credit card debt as not applicaple here and it is a simple contract debt. So if they've sent over a written demand for payment and will then follow it up by going to Court, Section 5 won't apply, so stalling is not an option. Much better way will be to try to settle it before it goes to court to save some money.