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Money18

I wrote a statute barred letter to Cabot Financial regarding a non-secured loan debt more than 6 years old.

They replied saying that as legal proceedings were initiated, even though a CCJ was not obtained, that the debt is no longer subject to the Limitations Act 1980 and so is not statute barred.

Court documents were apparently sent out by them to obtain a CCJ but were sent back as I don't live there. The last couple of letters were forwarded to me by my parents' tenants.

They said as the loan is no longer statute barred, they will hold the account for 21 days for me to contact them to arrange repayment, otherwise if they do not hear from me they will return the account to the collections process.. which I assume to mean they will try legal action to reapply for CCJ?

Dates of last payment, Default notice, any acknowledgment of debt, and their initiation of legal proceedings - were all more than 6 years ago.

They started court action before the limitations period was up and say "..court documents were sent back to their solicitors and stamped "does not live here". As such, no CCJ was obtained."

nationaldebtline.org states:
"Once a creditor has a county court judgment (CCJ) for a debt, the Limitation Act does not put any time limits on how long they have to enforce that judgment."

citizensadvice.org.uk states:
"If you’ve already been given a court order for a debt, there’s no time limit for the creditor to enforce the order.
If the court order was made more than 6 years ago, the creditor has to get court permission before they can use bailiffs."

A National Debtline advisor said that they may have a case that it's not statute barred, and in theory, you cannot be taken to court for the same debt twice, but as they never obtained a CCJ last time, this may be a possibility.

Citizen's Advice Bureau advisor said:
"They would have needed to obtain a CCJ to stop the debt becoming statute-barred. Simply issuing a money claim and then dropping the claim doesn't stop a debt from becoming statute-barred - they would have needed to get a CCJ."

They went on to say: "If they did take legal action to reapply for a CCJ, they would need to make a money claim at court - you would get a claim pack in the post. You would need to defend the debt within 14 days on the grounds that it is statute-barred."

These advisors have clearly contradicted each other.

Is there anyone in your team who is a solicitor who can answer the following?

Is it true that though they initiated legal proceedings, the fact a CCJ was not obtained within the 6 year period, means the debt is in fact statute barred? Or is it true that as legal proceedings were initiated, even though a CCJ was not obtained, that the debt is no longer subject to the Limitations Act 1980 and so is not statute barred?

Re: "you cannot be taken to court for the same debt twice, but as they never obtained a CCJ last time, this may be a possibility."
- Is this true?

What is my best course of action?

Thank you

shez1987

Hello,
I recently went through a budget plan with yourselves and realised that some of the budget seemed slightly wrong.

We are a family of 5 and I put down that we spend 80 a week but now I know that this is not enough for shopping I usually spend more which includes toiletries, cleaning etc how much should I be spending.
Secondly, I didn't put any costs down for hairdressing/barbers and I think I need to add this in what is the allowable expense?
Thirdly, i am a student and get a set amount of budget through student loan so at present my costs of childcare is low but in 18 weeks time i am responsible for paying full amount how do I start my dmp to incorporate the cost initially
Thank you

shez1987

What happens on dmp if my husband doesnt get his bonus? What happens if we earn more than we said one month?
On a hamster wheel at the min and got things spinning round my head need to sleep, cant sleep coz of money worries, crying coz I'm emotional, stressed coz I'm tired round and round with no stop at the end as of yet

StepChange_Rachael

Hi

Thank for posting.

It’s my understanding that only once a CCJ has been obtained the debt can no longer be statute barred. The creditor only has to send the paperwork to the last known recorded address. It’s up to the debtor to keep the creditor up to date in any change of address. If the claim is issued and not responded to within 14 days, the debt should then be registered as a CCJ. This would then be recorded on your credit file. If this hasn’t been registered on your credit file, then I’d assume the CCJ hasn’t been obtained and the limitations period can still be followed.

As a debt advisor I often speak to clients whose debts have gone to a CCJ, but they hadn’t received paperwork because it had gone to a previous address, so I wouldn’t see how this would stop the CCJ from being made. To make sure the debt hasn’t been registered as a CCJ you could check the Registry Trust online to make sure.

We can’t offer legal advice at StepChange, if you wanted to explore the legalities, you’d have to seek specialist legal advice.

Thanks
Rachael

Money18 wrote: »

I wrote a statute barred letter to Cabot Financial regarding a non-secured loan debt more than 6 years old.

They replied saying that as legal proceedings were initiated, even though a CCJ was not obtained, that the debt is no longer subject to the Limitations Act 1980 and so is not statute barred.

Court documents were apparently sent out by them to obtain a CCJ but were sent back as I don't live there. The last couple of letters were forwarded to me by my parents' tenants.

They said as the loan is no longer statute barred, they will hold the account for 21 days for me to contact them to arrange repayment, otherwise if they do not hear from me they will return the account to the collections process.. which I assume to mean they will try legal action to reapply for CCJ?

Dates of last payment, Default notice, any acknowledgment of debt, and their initiation of legal proceedings - were all more than 6 years ago.

They started court action before the limitations period was up and say "..court documents were sent back to their solicitors and stamped "does not live here". As such, no CCJ was obtained."

nationaldebtline.org states:
"Once a creditor has a county court judgment (CCJ) for a debt, the Limitation Act does not put any time limits on how long they have to enforce that judgment."

citizensadvice.org.uk states:
"If you’ve already been given a court order for a debt, there’s no time limit for the creditor to enforce the order.
If the court order was made more than 6 years ago, the creditor has to get court permission before they can use bailiffs."

A National Debtline advisor said that they may have a case that it's not statute barred, and in theory, you cannot be taken to court for the same debt twice, but as they never obtained a CCJ last time, this may be a possibility.

Citizen's Advice Bureau advisor said:
"They would have needed to obtain a CCJ to stop the debt becoming statute-barred. Simply issuing a money claim and then dropping the claim doesn't stop a debt from becoming statute-barred - they would have needed to get a CCJ."

They went on to say: "If they did take legal action to reapply for a CCJ, they would need to make a money claim at court - you would get a claim pack in the post. You would need to defend the debt within 14 days on the grounds that it is statute-barred."

These advisors have clearly contradicted each other.

Is there anyone in your team who is a solicitor who can answer the following?

Is it true that though they initiated legal proceedings, the fact a CCJ was not obtained within the 6 year period, means the debt is in fact statute barred? Or is it true that as legal proceedings were initiated, even though a CCJ was not obtained, that the debt is no longer subject to the Limitations Act 1980 and so is not statute barred?

Re: "you cannot be taken to court for the same debt twice, but as they never obtained a CCJ last time, this may be a possibility."
- Is this true?

What is my best course of action?

Thank you

StepChange_Rachael

Hi

Thanks for posting.

Not to worry, we can amend the financial budget you’ve completed with us, it’s important the budget is as accurate as possible, so our advice also is. In any correspondence we’ve sent you there should be the direct contact details for the team that is dealing with your plan. However, if you follow this link you’ll find the contact details for our departments.

Thanks
Rachael

shez1987 wrote: »

Hello,
I recently went through a budget plan with yourselves and realised that some of the budget seemed slightly wrong.

We are a family of 5 and I put down that we spend 80 a week but now I know that this is not enough for shopping I usually spend more which includes toiletries, cleaning etc how much should I be spending.
Secondly, I didn't put any costs down for hairdressing/barbers and I think I need to add this in what is the allowable expense?
Thirdly, i am a student and get a set amount of budget through student loan so at present my costs of childcare is low but in 18 weeks time i am responsible for paying full amount how do I start my dmp to incorporate the cost initially
Thank you

StepChange_Rachael

Hi

I just saw that there was a second post after posting the first.

As I mentioned in the previous post if you contact us directly, an advisor can discuss the financial budget you’ve created with us in more detail. If income or expenditure varies from month to month, an advisor will help discuss this with you and work out a good average. Debt management plans (DMP) are flexible, we’d only want to set a payment based on affordability, we know paying more than you can afford isn’t going to help you get debt free.

Here is the link to our departments again so you can contact us as soon as possible and we can hopefully help ease your concerns and anxieties.

Thanks
Rachael

shez1987 wrote: »

What happens on dmp if my husband doesnt get his bonus? What happens if we earn more than we said one month?
On a hamster wheel at the min and got things spinning round my head need to sleep, cant sleep coz of money worries, crying coz I'm emotional, stressed coz I'm tired round and round with no stop at the end as of yet

Hellofromoverhere

Hi there, I am after some advice if you can help. I am hoping to find a way to clear our debts. I have a joint account with my husband which is £2000 overdrawn, a personal bank account which is £2000 overdrawn, a credit card with £1000 debt, and we are coming to the end of a PCP (in my name) and facing a balloon payment of £4000. My problem is that whilst my husband has a good salary (£40k) and no previous credit issues, for some reason his identity can't be verified on Experian, Equifax or Credit karma. We have been at our current property (rented) for three years and he has been on the electoral role for all that time. I have an excellent credit history but am currently a housewife so no income as such. I was hoping we might be able to get a debt consolidation loan to pay off the balloon payment for the car, the two overdrafts and the credit card, but this seems impossible now I am not working and my husband has no credit file as such? Do you have any advice? He has recently taken out a credit builder credit card to hopefully get some kind of good credit, but we don't understand why his identity can't be verified. Thank you very much for your help.

StepChange_Allen

Hellofromoverhere wrote: »

Hi there, I am after some advice if you can help. I am hoping to find a way to clear our debts. I have a joint account with my husband which is £2000 overdrawn, a personal bank account which is £2000 overdrawn, a credit card with £1000 debt, and we are coming to the end of a PCP (in my name) and facing a balloon payment of £4000. My problem is that whilst my husband has a good salary (£40k) and no previous credit issues, for some reason his identity can't be verified on Experian, Equifax or Credit karma. We have been at our current property (rented) for three years and he has been on the electoral role for all that time. I have an excellent credit history but am currently a housewife so no income as such. I was hoping we might be able to get a debt consolidation loan to pay off the balloon payment for the car, the two overdrafts and the credit card, but this seems impossible now I am not working and my husband has no credit file as such? Do you have any advice? He has recently taken out a credit builder credit card to hopefully get some kind of good credit, but we don't understand why his identity can't be verified. Thank you very much for your help.

Hi there

Welcome to the forum and thanks for posting.

To be honest I'm not really sure what to advise here; everyone has a credit file, so it sounds like access to those sites that's proving troublesome.

If he's on the electoral roll then I'd have thought he'd be found when trying to open an account. My understanding is that you usually have to enter some card details, ideally a debit card, to confirm identity, as well as the usual questions on address etc. Has he tried doing that?

My recommendation would be to contact the credit reference agencies to try and find out what the issue is.

I hope you managed to get it resolved.

Best wishes

Allen

skintdaddy79

Hi,

I have posted on the debt-free wannabe forum before , and have received some great advice. But, I’m still worried about my situation .
Long story short I’ve accrued approximately 11k of credit card debt bad have had my ‘lightbulb moment’ a few months ago and tackle the debt.
I’ve spread the debt over 3 credit cards (all 0% balance transfer and was no mean feat!) to get paid off as much as possible on the 0% rates.
Unfortunately I’m always in my overdraft as well just to keep afloat monthly with everything going out. I’m paying over minimum payments on all 3 cards as well just to try and clear
them quicker but just worried that I’m relying on my OD too much to get by. I’ve heard of IVA’s and DMP’s would any of them help my situation at all? Or am I best carrying on as I am?
I’m a homeowner, with 2 kids.
Thank-you.

StepChange_Allen

skintdaddy79 wrote: »

Hi,

I have posted on the debt-free wannabe forum before , and have received some great advice. But, I’m still worried about my situation .
Long story short I’ve accrued approximately 11k of credit card debt bad have had my ‘lightbulb moment’ a few months ago and tackle the debt.
I’ve spread the debt over 3 credit cards (all 0% balance transfer and was no mean feat!) to get paid off as much as possible on the 0% rates.
Unfortunately I’m always in my overdraft as well just to keep afloat monthly with everything going out. I’m paying over minimum payments on all 3 cards as well just to try and clear
them quicker but just worried that I’m relying on my OD too much to get by. I’ve heard of IVA’s and DMP’s would any of them help my situation at all? Or am I best carrying on as I am?
I’m a homeowner, with 2 kids.
Thank-you.

Hi skintdaddy

Thanks for posting.

I can tell that you're trying really hard to get the debts under control the best you can, which is an encouraging start. I can see why the overdraft situation could be holding you back though.

The only way to be sure what steps will help you the most would be to put a budget together with us, so that we have a full understanding of your situation. There's no obligation to do anything with it after if you decide to carry on as you are, and no cost for doing so. Please have a look on our website for ways to get started: www.stepchange.org/contact-us

I hope this helps.

Allen