Resolve call chasing old statute barred debt

aalya

Hi. 

My husband has a £500  debt that is about a decade old. It fell off his credit file 4-5 years ago. Cabot keep chasing with letters. I called them 6 months ago to say it’s statute barred and to stop writing to him. This is the only time we have made any contact with them.  

 But they’ve now passed it to Resolve call. How can I get them to stop chasing/ contacting us please ? Is there a template letter here I can use? (I can’t seem to find one) 

Am I right in thinking they shouldn’t be chasing him for this debt any more.  

Many thanks 

sourcrates

You need to put something official in writing, as verbal conversations are seldom taken notice of.

Send the statute barred letter, you can find it here, (you need to scroll to the right template letter) -

Statute barred debts and the Limitation Act — MoneySavingExpert Forum

You can ignore Resolvecall, they are just ordinary collectors, don`t allow them access if they knock on your door, they have no more power than you or I do, you can ask them to go away, you do not have  to speak to them.

Alongside the SB letter, you can add a paragraph removing their rights of implied access to your property.

macman

If you called them then they won't take any instructions from you if the debt is solely in your husband's name; he needs to write to them.
If you want to discuss his debt further with them then he'll need to give written authority to them for them to do so, otherwise he must deal with this himself.

MattMattMattUK

aalya said:

Hi. 

My husband has a £500  debt that is about a decade old. It fell off his credit file 4-5 years ago. Cabot keep chasing with letters. I called them 6 months ago to say it’s statute barred and to stop writing to him. This is the only time we have made any contact with them.  

 But they’ve now passed it to Resolve call. How can I get them to stop chasing/ contacting us please ? Is there a template letter here I can use? (I can’t seem to find one) 

Am I right in thinking they shouldn’t be chasing him for this debt any more.  

Many thanks 

Your husband needs to write to them, rather than you. 

stewartwilliams

Is it me, or are a lot of companies suddenly trying to get people to pay towards statute barred debts? 
I've got Lowell sending me letters for things that dropped off my record months ago (after buying from Hoist, or whoever).

It bothers me that a debt collection agency can, not necessarily with any proof, target someone constantly or whenever they feel like with no consequences. "Oops, sorry" and next "victim".

sourcrates

stewartwilliams said:

Is it me, or are a lot of companies suddenly trying to get people to pay towards statute barred debts? 
I've got Lowell sending me letters for things that dropped off my record months ago (after buying from Hoist, or whoever).

It bothers me that a debt collection agency can, not necessarily with any proof, target someone constantly or whenever they feel like with no consequences. "Oops, sorry" and next "victim".

Capquest, amongst others, specialise in buying up old and dodgy debts with questionable enforceability, and get Resolvecall to chase them up in the hope of making a few quid on them.

Yes its a deliberate move to get you to pay statute barred debt in the hope you are unaware of the limitation act.

That`s how debt collectors operate, they may mostly be nice and friendly to deal with these days, but there core principles remain the same.

fatbelly

stewartwilliams said:

Is it me, or are a lot of companies suddenly trying to get people to pay towards statute barred debts? 
I've got Lowell sending me letters for things that dropped off my record months ago (after buying from Hoist, or whoever).

It bothers me that a debt collection agency can, not necessarily with any proof, target someone constantly or whenever they feel like with no consequences. "Oops, sorry" and next "victim".

There's a new FCA Consumer Duty coming in at the end of July which has quite firm views on statute barred debts so I suspect this is a last-ditch attempt to cash in.

See Appendix 4 of this letter

https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/correspondence/consumer-duty-portfolio-letter-dpca.pdf

sourcrates

fatbelly said:

stewartwilliams said:

Is it me, or are a lot of companies suddenly trying to get people to pay towards statute barred debts? 
I've got Lowell sending me letters for things that dropped off my record months ago (after buying from Hoist, or whoever).

It bothers me that a debt collection agency can, not necessarily with any proof, target someone constantly or whenever they feel like with no consequences. "Oops, sorry" and next "victim".

There's a new FCA Consumer Duty coming in at the end of July which has quite firm views on statute barred debts so I suspect this is a last-ditch attempt to cash in.

See Appendix 4 of this letter

https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/correspondence/consumer-duty-portfolio-letter-dpca.pdf

They should implement similar steps to Scottish law, once a debt is statute barred, it should be extinguished, then there would be no excuse for non compliance with the limitation act.

fatbelly

Sourcrates, I agree. It's much more straightforward in Scotland - to the point if a DCA receives payment on a statute barred debt they are required to repay it because they received payment against something that no longer exists.

Unfortunately the government in England/Wales seems to want to just walk away from statutory law and hand all the governance to the FCA - including the requirements under the Consumer Credit Act, which is something debt advisers are concerned about.

https://wearedebtadvisers.uk/news/under-the-radar-how-will-consumer-credit-act-reform-impact-debtors-rights

https://wearedebtadvisers.uk/news/wada-responds-to-proposals-to-reform-the-consumer-credit-act