PRAC / BWLegal / British Gas

dsandoreo

Hello all, hoping you can help me.

I received a letter today from the above saying i owe £450 ish from the period March 2017 - June 2017 for a place i used to live in with an ex.

I am not sure i was living there then, i think we may have just moved out.

I have messaged ex to see if she has heard anything, we havent spoke since 2017 so i wont hold my breath.

The letter says an initial soft search was done and it doesn't affect my credit rating.

i saw there are a few post about said company on MSE, but im rubbish at stuff like this. 

What should i do? Im not sure i owe this money, however im working out when i moved out of instgram posts....

Advice please

dsando

fatbelly

You could send a prove-it.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2607247/letter-when-you-know-nothing-about-about-the-debt-aka-prove-it-letter

Unless your ex has been paying this, you've got a year before it goes statute barred.

But you want the detail of why they say you owe this

dsandoreo

fatbelly said:

You could send a prove-it.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2607247/letter-when-you-know-nothing-about-about-the-debt-aka-prove-it-letter

Unless your ex has been paying this, you've got a year before it goes statute barred.

But you want the detail of why they say you owe this

Sorry for the late reply, i didnt get a notification.

I dont understand.. what is statue barred?

Rob5342

Statue barred means that the creditor has run out of time to enforce the debt, read this for more details:

https://nationaldebtline.org/fact-sheet-library/statute-barred-debts-ew/

dsandoreo

Sorry so let me see if i am understanding this... cause i find it all very confusing.

the letter says they purchased the debt from British Gas on 26 November 2021 for an outstanding balance between march 2017 and june 2017.

So does that mean it is statue barred on November of this year.

The link you sent mentioned 6 years?

Sorry, can you explain this to me like im the idiot i evidently am!

Letter attached

dsando ?

fatbelly

That's such a general phishing letter I'd ignore it.

The Limitation Act gives them six years to enforce a debt so they would need to act before June 2023. Nine months left

dsandoreo

Thanks. That’s what I was thinking it but out of my depth. 

If I go to prison I’m blaming you 🤣🤣🤣

sourcrates

dsandoreo said:

Thanks. That’s what I was thinking it but out of my depth. 

If I go to prison I’m blaming you 🤣🤣🤣

The Debtors Act of 1869 limited the ability of the courts to sentence debtors to prison, but it did not entirely prohibit them from doing so.

Infact some were still being sent there well into the early 20th Century.

More recently, in 1963 Article 1 of the Protocol No. 4 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms stated that "No one shall be deprived of his liberty merely on the ground of inability to fulfil a contractual obligation."

The only exception to this nowadays is failure to pay Magistrates court fines, you can still be jailed for that.

fatbelly

sourcrates said:

The only exception to this nowadays is failure to pay Magistrates court fines, you can still be jailed for that.

Yes, the great crimes of not having a TV licence and getting behind with your council tax. Mind you, in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland the latter of those is not imprisonable. Just England.

If Liz Truss is reading this thread, there's a couple of policy changes there that would be popular

Though the way things are going this winter it might be nice having somewhere to keep warm and be fed for a few months

sourcrates

fatbelly said:

sourcrates said:

The only exception to this nowadays is failure to pay Magistrates court fines, you can still be jailed for that.

If Liz Truss is reading this thread, there's a couple of policy changes there that would be popular

I profusely apologise for getting political in the OP`s post, but I was hoping to give Liz Truss the benefit of the doubt, I thought surely, under such circumstances as we currently find ourselves, she will do something for the working class.

Cutting tax and NI, as far as I can see, will mostly benefit the better off, as will the lifting of the banker's bonus cap, they have done nothing more for those whose utility bills will still double next week.

Not voted Labour since 1997, but I will next time around.