Old debt

juloe

So back in the late 90s early 00s I had a bank acc and loan with Abbey National, the acc went overdrawn by about £600 and I defaulted on the loan when I still owed about £700. I ended up in some financial difficulty which resulted in me going into a debt management. Unfortunately on checking it turns out Abbey National for some reason wasn't taken into the Dm. I last had contact regarding this matter back in 2004 at the very latest! So fast forward to 2018 I've had a mortgage with Santander for a couple of years. Last week I rang them for a balance on my mortgage and they enquired as to whether I'd ever lived 2 of my previous addresses (where they last chased for the debt). I panicked and just said no. Do you think this is Santander clutching at straws, or will it cause them to take away our mortgage? Thanks

[Deleted User]

If it's been 6 years since you last paid or acknowledged that debt then it will be statute barred and unenforceable.

However, what you have just done is technically lied to Santander when they made enquiries about you.

They could look this up and see if you did indeed live there

National_Debtline

Hi Juloe and welcome to MSE,


Under the Limitations Act 1980 it states that if there has been a 6 year block of time since the debt fell due, with no written acknowledgement or payment to the debt and no county court action started, then the debt may no longer be enforceable through the county court and becomes known as Statute Barred. That would seem to be the case here from what you have said.

The creditor cannot withdraw your mortgage due to a statute barred debt, they are two separate issues. However, the information you gave on the phone about the addresses may be different to what you gave on your mortgage application. If they believe you lied on your mortgage application it is possible that is a breach of the terms and conditions of the mortgage, so it may be best to call them back and say you made a mistake. If they then contact you about the loan, you can argue limitations.


Lastly, I would suggest that you don't bank with Santander, because although they cannot take county court action for a statute barred debt, they can still take money directly out of your account under their right of set off.


Laura
@natdebtline

juloe

They only asked for 6 years worth of addresses when I got the mortgage beginning of 2017. The addresses in question are from 2002 and 2003. Thanks guys for your replies