CCA request help

kinkadoodoo

Hi, first post here in a long time!

I currently have 5 debts totalling £25122 (that hurts to write).  On a self managed DMP for the following:

- Sainsburys - owe £6552 and paying £30 a month.  Defaulted 06/01/2020

- Barclays (now PRA) - owe £7108 and paying £30 a month.  Defaulted 07/03/2019

- MBNA (now PRA) - owe £5993 and paying £30 a month.  Defaulted 04/06/2019

- Virgin (now Capquest) - owe £4273 and paying £25 a month.  Defaulted 16/08/2019

- HSBC overdraft - owe £1186 and paying £10 a month.  Defaulted 02/10/2019

The payments are comfortable and I am also managing to save a little now to build up a pot with the hope of trying to negotiate some settlements down the line.

I just wondered if it is worth requested the CCA agreements at this stage?  

The last of the defaults should have fallen off in 3 years, but if I was to request the agreements and it turned out some of the debts were not enforceable, then will the defaults still fall off the account after 6 years?

Rob5342

How old are they? The chance of them not being able to find it is higher for older debts and for those that have been sold to debt collectors. I have a Virgin one taken out in 2010 and they still haven't produced the CCA after a year.

The accounts will fall off 6 years from the default date whatever happens, if they can't produce the CCA then they can't take court acation against you, but everything else stays the same. If they produce the CCA later they can still take you to court, but after six years of not acknowleding the debt it will become statute barred.

sourcrates

Requests for information about your credit agreements under sec 77/79 CCA, are statutory rights given to you under the consumer credit act.

There is no penalty for exercising them.

Defaults drop off your credit file automatically after the expiration of 6 years, regardless of any other matter.

One has no effect on the other.

Failure to produce compliant paperwork in response to a request made under the above sections of the act, remove the creditors right to take legal action to recover the debt, but nothing else changes, they can still ask you to pay, send collection letters, and report to your credit file.

They can, for instance, comply with the act by producing a re-constituted version of your agreement, put together with information already held on their systems, they cannot however, just make it up.

Hope that helps.

kinkadoodoo

Hi, thankyou all for your replies.

I note you say the default falls off after 6 years but they can still chase for payment and report to the credit agency.
If the default is off the record, then what is it reported as on the credit file?

As i'm paying then I dont think they will take court action anyways so not sure its worth requesting the CCA's.

THanks

Rob5342

There are three things:

Accounts drop off your credit repoert six years after the default date.

If you haven't acknowledged the debt for 6 years it becomes statute barred, which is a defence for any legal action.

Lenders have to produce a CCA for any legal action to be taken.

These things are all independent of each other. In your case they will all drop off your credit report after 6 years, legal action can be taken if they can produce the CCA, but if after 6 years of not acknowging a debt it becomes statute barred and you can use that as a defence for any legal action. As you say they are unlikely to take any court action becuase you are paying them.

I'd suggest making CCA requests so you know where you stand, then you can decide what to do once you have the information. If any can't produce the CCA then one option would be to stop paying those debts and put the money towards the others instead to put yourself in a more secure position. You might then decide to never pay them, or to make a settlement offer (they may be more likely to accept a settlement offer if they can see you haven't been paying them).   

SusieT

kinkadoodoo said:

Hi, thankyou all for your replies.

I note you say the default falls off after 6 years but they can still chase for payment and report to the credit agency.
If the default is off the record, then what is it reported as on the credit file?

As i'm paying then I dont think they will take court action anyways so not sure its worth requesting the CCA's.

THanks

When the default drops offafter its 6 years, the whole account goes with it and will no longer show on the credit report, regardless of it being paid, part paid, or unpaid. Once it has gone the account cannot be added back later. 
They can chase you for it, but since you are paying it you just carry on with the payments and eventually there will be a nil balance, it makes no difference to the default and account disappearing . As the default also stops interest, the balance outstanding also goes down faster.

fatbelly

Accounts drop off your credit repoert three years after the default date.

Lenders have to produce a CCA for any legal action to be taken.

Six years

It's more the other way around with the cca. Under s77-79 of the consumer credit act (CCA) if you make a valid request (with statutory £1 payment) for a copy of your agreement and the lender does not  comply, then the account is unenforceable until they do. A reconstructed copy does count.

It's always worth doing one.

I was a bit concerned about your first post for another reason. That is a very long period for a debt management plan. Is there a reason why you aren't considering insolvency?

Rob5342

I'm not sure why I typed three years when I know it's six. I've edited my post now.

kinkadoodoo

fatbelly said:

Accounts drop off your credit repoert three years after the default date.

Lenders have to produce a CCA for any legal action to be taken.

Six years

It's more the other way around with the cca. Under s77-79 of the consumer credit act (CCA) if you make a valid request (with statutory £1 payment) for a copy of your agreement and the lender does not  comply, then the account is unenforceable until they do. A reconstructed copy does count.

It's always worth doing one.

I was a bit concerned about your first post for another reason. That is a very long period for a debt management plan. Is there a reason why you aren't considering insolvency?

Its such a long time, I see no end to it to be honest and it causes me a great amount of stress.

I own my home (not outright) and so didn't consider bankrupcy to be an option.  

The aim was to try and save some money to build up a pot so i could make some offers of settlement but given the amounts involved, this will still likely require me to have thousands saved up.  

Are there any other options you could recommend?

fatbelly

You're right. If you own your home this may be the least bad option.

sourcrates

I would say start on a DMP, at a reasonably low figure, making sure I can save up as good an emergency fund as possible.

Then as time goes bye, your debts will be sold, and after having had your account on their books for a while, the settlement offers will start to emerge.

Realistically after 4/5 years, you should be able to partially settle most of what you owe, that`s the easiest way to do things, also the longer a DMP may last, with only small payments, the greater the chance the creditor will cut their losses and write accounts off.