Overdales Solicitors

LostLadHelp

Hi all.

I’ve today received an email from overdales solicitors stating I owe a debt to Lowell. Now I remember the debt in question, however this is no longer on my credit file, which would indicate it has had no payments within the last 6 years. 

Am I right in thinking this will of been wrote off and that the debt they’re chasing is no longer an active debt? 

Platespinner123

Hi there

The fact it's fallen off your credit file means that it defaulted more than 6 years ago. That's not a record of whether there have been any payments, however. Even if you'd made payments every month, all information about the debt falls off your credit report six years after it defaults.

If there has never been a CCJ for this debt, and there has been a six-year period since the debt defaulted in which you have:

1. Not made a payment
2. Not acknowledged the debt in writing

it will be statute-barred. It's not written off (it still exists), but there's not much Lowell can do except send you letters/emails asking you to pay. They *might* chance their arm and try to get a CCJ, but you can defend this by explaining that the debt is statute-barred (don't ignore any court letters!).

If you're confident that this is the case, you can send them a letter to explain this: https://www.nationaldebtline.org/sample-letters/time-has-run-out-recover-debt-ew/?

sourcrates

A recent appeal court decision has now deemed the "cause of action" date to be the date of default.

So slightly different terminology, but with the same result.

LostLadHelp

Platespinner123 said:

Hi there

The fact it's fallen off your credit file means that it defaulted more than 6 years ago. That's not a record of whether there have been any payments, however. Even if you'd made payments every month, all information about the debt falls off your credit report six years after it defaults.

If there has never been a CCJ for this debt, and there has been a six-year period since the debt defaulted in which you have:

1. Not made a payment
2. Not acknowledged the debt in writing

it will be statute-barred. It's not written off (it still exists), but there's not much Lowell can do except send you letters/emails asking you to pay. They *might* chance their arm and try to get a CCJ, but you can defend this by explaining that the debt is statute-barred (don't ignore any court letters!).

If you're confident that this is the case, you can send them a letter to explain this:

Ok this makes sense, I do believe it’s an old credit card from when I was younger. It’s not a large default <£500 so I can pay it off, but as it’s not causing me any detriment, I feel like paying it off is a waste of time. 

I know I didn’t make any payments from the default date, and the default date would of been over 6 years ago. I am curious as to wether to send them a letter asking for proof of the debt, as I don’t remember the full circumstances, I just seen the balance on the letter they sent. 

Would you recommend asking for information regarding the account or would this seem a pointless task? 

LostLadHelp

sourcrates said:

A recent appeal court decision has now deemed the "cause of action" date to be the date of default.

So slightly different terminology, but with the same result.

Thank you for your help

fatbelly

LostLadHelp said:

Hi all.

I’ve today received an email from overdales solicitors stating I owe a debt to Lowell. Now I remember the debt in question, however this is no longer on my credit file, which would indicate it has had no payments within the last 6 years. 

Am I right in thinking this will of been wrote off and that the debt they’re chasing is no longer an active debt? 

Do they have your present address?

I'm curious why Overdales (Lowell's solicitors) are emailing rather than writing.

If they are thinking of court action they first have to send a pre-action letter with standard reply form and a 30-day return time.

My general policy is not to reply to emails but respond to letters, and always reply to a pre-action letter.