Very old car finance ccj but not yet enforced

rachelheels

fatbelly said:

rachelheels said:

Hi, sorry for the length this is likely to be

i know many of you will say it’s a debt it should be repaid, those who have this stance please kindly stay quiet about it

Back in 2006 I purchased a brand new car, mix of finance and part ex. The finance was with ge money.

the payments went out by direct debit initially without issue. Then the tried to take a direct debit a day early, no money was there for it and they and my bank charged me. I told he I would bring the payments up to date once they reimbursed the charges, but they refused to do so.

I know at this point I should have acted differently, but I didn’t and I don’t have a time machine. 

The payments weren’t bought up to date but I never heard from them. I didn’t need the car as I changed jobs and got a company car, so I literally just parked it in a friends barn and forgot about it. I moved home in 2013 and wrote to ge to tell them my new address, and heard nothing. A few mk
onths later I got a letter from link financial, who were clearly chasing the debt on their behalf. 

I then heard nothing until 2017. In 2017 I decided to scrap the car (it was worthless multiple factors including space shuttle mileage and no service history) 


I phoned link and said look I have this car, do you want it back, can we agree a sensible settlement etc

they refused to even talk to me, and got a ccj for approx £8300.

this was In my 2017. Annoyingly I believe if I hadn’t done the right thing by talking to them this wouldn’t have happened, it feels like it was just forgotten. 

Since then link write to me for time to time but haven’t really tried to enforce the debt, they have until may 2023!

If they were going to enforce it surely they would have by now?

I believe it MAY have been statute barred when the ccj was granted, can that physically happen, a ccj be granted on a statute barred debt?

if so can I easily and without alerting link financial find out the date it would have become statute barred?

I would appreciate any help on this one 

A ccj can be granted on a statute barred debt if the claim is not responded to - you would just get a judgement in default.
Your dilemma here is whether t leave things as they are, knowing that Link could try to  enforce this up to 2023, or to try for set aside.

You could try to get your old bank statements to see when you last made a payment. However the relevant date is likely to be the default date and that will no longer be on your credit report as it is more than 6 years ago. Unless you kept your paperwork  or credit reports from that era it may now be difficult to get that info other than by asking Link.

One thing you could/should do is to contact the court (likely to be Northampton) with your court reference number and ask them to send the full particulars of claim as there should be useful  info there, including the date of commencement of claim

It is probable though not certain that Link would have started a claim within 6 years of the default date

 Thank you, contacting the court makes sense I’ll call them tomorrow, I’m guessing they’d charge?

[Deleted User]

You bought a new car on finance, skipped the direct debits, so parked it up in a friends barn and forgot about it until 11 years later when you decided to scrap the car! That's what I read anyway.

Was the loan secured on the car? If so why didn't you sell/hand it back when you no longer needed it and used the proceeds to help pay the debt?

All very strange.

fatbelly

rachelheels said:

 Thank you, contacting the court makes sense I’ll call them tomorrow, I’m guessing they’d charge?

No, should befree - they could probably email it to you - also ask for any history post-judgement, i.e. have they already tried to enforce it?

rachelheels

Thanks for your help

i got an email from the court with the below

THE CLAIMANT CLAIMS ALL SUMS DUE UPON THE    TERMINATION OF AN AGREEMENT MADE BETWEEN GE  CAPITAL WOODCHESTER AND THE DEFENDANT(S) IN  WRITING AND OPENED 27/11/2006. THE AGREEMENT WAS TERMINATED AFTER THE DEFENDANT(S) HAD    FAILED TO COMPLY WITH THE TERMS OF THE       AGREEMENT AND THE DEFAULT NOTICE SERVED UPON THEM ON 31/10/2009. THE AGREEMENT HAS BEEN   LEGALLY ASSIGNED TO THE CLAIMANT BY WAY OF   DEED OF ASSIGNMENT WITH AN EFFECTIVE DATE    31/12/2009 AND MADE REGULAR UPON THE         CLAIMANT SERVING A NOTICE OF ASSIGNMENT UPON THE DEFENDANT(S) SHORTLY THEREAFTER. THE     AGREEMENT IS REGULATED BY THE CONSUMER       CREDIT ACT 1974. DATE 28/04/2017                    

So the debt was passed to them in 2009, but they didn’t seek the ccj until 2017.

am I right in thinking that if I made no payments to them at all in the preceding 6 years it would have been statute barred? Is it as simple as paying the court fee and it goes away? (Probably not but please help!)                                                                                 

rachelheels

Just to add, in the gap between 2009 and 2017 I moved home, I am certain I wrote to them to tell them my new address.

would this constitute acknowledging the debt?

I just don’t understand why so far, 3 and a bit years in, they haven’t tried to enforce it at all

rachelheels

Anyone any ideas?

rachelheels

Guys does anyone have any ideas? I would really appreciate any help! Thanks 

fatbelly

OK so

DEFAULT NOTICE SERVED ON 31/10/2009.

 DATE (Of Claim presumably) 28/04/2017 

Not acknowledged between these dates?

Clearly statute barred. You can get this set aside.

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/fact-sheet-library/setting-aside-a-ccj-ew/

rachelheels

Hi, in face value I agree with you and that was my thinking.

the only issue I have is that I did write to them to say I was moving, in 2013 so could that be classed as acknowledging the debt?

there is a chance I made a payment although I would be surprised, I really don’t remember doing so 

rachelheels

If I were to phone them and ask for a breakdown of any payments I’ve made, would that be a bad call do you think?