Debt letter from Lantern - Possibly statute barred - next steps?

[Deleted User]

I have received a letter today from Latern (formerly Motor Mile Finance) about some old short term loans from around 2012. This really is out of the blue, I've heard nothing from them for as long as I can recall and this letter was actually sent to my previous address but was re-directed.

It is quite a jovial letter, it reads "So, dust off the BBQ, enjoy the sun and take this opportunity to clear your debts before winter approaches".:rotfl: They're offering up to 60% reduction.

This is a summary of the debts:
Quick Quid £512 - Last payment date: not shown
Northway £838.88 - Last payment date: not shown
Think Finance (UK) Ltd t/a 1 MONTH LOAN: £350 - Last payment date 19/06/2012

At least one of the debts (probably all) are 6 years since last payment / taking out the credit so are possible statute barred. None of these debts appear on any of my credit records (Experian / Equifax / Noddle / MSE credit club)

1. What is the best approach with these to avoid acknowledging but ensuring it doesn't escalate to CCJ for example?

2. The address on the letter is my previous address (moved 1 month ago) and the debts relate to an address before that one. Should I do anything about this? I have a postal redirect in place for next 6 months but don't want a door knock at old address because the new tenants know me and my new address.

Note that since these bad days of pay day loans in 2012, I have taken responsibility for my finances. I'm a long time YNAB user and have my finances under microscopic control. I have no CCJ's but I do have a some defaults from 3 years ago that are now either satisfied or in a steady arrangement. I'm on the way to cleaning myself up so I don't want to make an error and set myself back.

Any advice is welcome.

fatbelly

I didn't know they'd changed their name so thanks for the info.

The fact that they're making an opening bid at 40 p in the £, indicates they know the score and court action is unlikely - also doorstep debt collectors are unlikely. Even MMF don't want to throw good money after bad.

At this stage it sounds like a prove-it, followed in due course by a statute barred letter, should kill it off. A lower settlement deal is another possibility.

I wouldn't worry about giving them your present address.

My suggestion is to send the prove-it.

Edit: if the payment on 19 June 2012 was a contractual payment then the debt is not quite statute barred yet

poppasmurf_bewdley

I agree with Fatbelly. It sounds as though the DCA has bought the debts fully aware they are statute barred and are chancing their arm you are not aware.

As you don't want anyone at your old address, why not send the statute barred letter from your new address?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=34906257&postcount=5

sourcrates

fatbelly wrote: »

I didn't know they'd changed their name so thanks for the info.

Yes,

Motor-mile finance had too much bad press associated with it, after its most recent canning by the FCA, the last redress scheme they implemented cost them a fair few quid, so hey presto from :

Status Effective Date :

25/08/2016

They materialized into Lantern, a much more enlightening name dont you think !!


As Motormile, they were operating under a temporary license, but i see that Lantern has been fully authorized since the above date.

[Deleted User]

Thanks for taking the time to read my post and reply.

fatbelly: Thanks, I've read the link and it seems the "prove-it" letter is for when I know nothing about the debt. For now I'm going to ignore Latern.

poppasmurf_bewdley: The SB route is the desired outcome and looking more likely now I have found some more information.

I've done some digging and actually found I have a lot of information. I had 6 pay day lenders on the go totalling £3300 in 2010. I've managed to find some old spreadsheets, letters and partial downloads of bank statements. It appears I had a meltdown in April 2010 and wrote a letter to all 6 payday lenders stating I was in a financial crisis and put in a formal CCA Request. I also switched bank accounts to stop any further payments to these lenders.

What I have found is:
Quick quid - last payment 26/03/2010
Northway was Pounds Til Payday (The Maltese based one) - last payment 26/03/2010
1 Month Loan - last payment 30/03/2010 however Lantern say 19/06/2012 so I may have made a later payment to stall or prevent action.

I think the reason I didn't pay any of the above was because they ignored my CCA Request at the time or didn't engage with me.

I was also with Wonga in this era but cleared that debt and actually got a refund when they had the FCA investigation. Another lender was Cash Choice and that was cleared in full around 2010 as well.

PRA group also caught up with me about a month ago for the 6th pay day loan from that era with MEM Finance. I immediately issued a CCA request and I have had an acknowledgement with collections put on hold and my £1 returned. The difference with that one is that I did make some payments as recently as 2015 so it is not in the SB league but I'm hoping they can't find the CCA.

I've decided to put a SAR into the 3 original creditors to get some hard facts about the debts and dates so I can pursue the SB route. In the meantime I will ignore Latern.

Thanks again for your advice, I will update when I next get some correspondence.