Historic Debt pre 2006 'statute barred'

nicola_81

Hello there,

I have come home from work today to a letter, which contained 2 letters. 1 from a company called Intrum and the other called Resolvecall.
Now I have never heard from either of these companies.
On opening this letter it regarding a Debt for £4643.21 regarding a Halifax account, no account number just a reference number.

Now I'm currently 42 years old, turning 43 in May. I got into a little bit of Debt when i was younger, in my very early 20 when I was made redundant. I tried to claim on the insurance which I had taken out, which they refused to activate.
I asked for my payments to be reimbursed for the payment protection I had paid if they was not prepared to access the policy which they refused.
Never had PPi Back or anything like this. They took my card and closed the account. 

We went to n fro them asking for the money me asking for the payment protection policy payments to be reimbursed. Then they stopped.

In 2006 I had to open a bank account with Nationwide. A basic bank I believe this was to receive benefits June 2006. 

A few years later a Natwest account also. I still have both to this day.

Once I got back non my feet I contact my creditors and arranged payment plans.

Never had anything to do with or correspondence with the Halifax since.

I will have been at my current property for 6 years in July 2024, previous property 2 years, previous property 2 years, previous property 11 years. No other addresses no alternative names.

Today February 13th 2024 came home to a letter demanding I contact then for a Halifax debt of £4643.21

I have tried as hard as I can to recall that amount and I don't, not anything of that value. 
I did have 1 large credit card (vanquis) which I have a payment plan in place and pay by standing order once a month.

Where do I start?
There has been no correspondence whatsoever ever, I don't even know where to begin?
It's almost 20 years since I had a Halifax account.

Any advice, anyone?
Nicola

Grumpelstiltskin

Advice, ignore them. They are hoping you will fall for their B*******.

If you have had no contact for 6 years it is statute barred.

sourcrates

Intrum are a debt purchasing company, and Resolvecall are a debt collection agency who specialise in door to door debt collection.

Intrum will have bought this debt, as that`s what they do, buy up old accounts that are usually unenforceable due to either lack of paperwork or as in this case, age, the limitation period has run out.

They have appointed Resolvecall to chase this up, now they are just a bottom feeder debt collector, nothing special about them, but I guess you don`t really want them knocking on your door, so to put this to bed, send the statute barred letter to them, I think we have a hybrid version that basically says I don`t recognise the debt, and it would be statute barred anyway.




This is the letter you want, copy and paste and edit to your circumstances -

Hybrid letter stating that you have no knowledge of the debt AND that it would be statute barred regardless.

Quote:
I do not acknowledge any debt to you or any other company or organisation that you claim to be representing.

Dear Sir/Madam

Reference number :

You have contacted me regarding the account with the above reference number, which you claim is owed by myself.

I would point out that we have no knowledge of any such debt being owed to <creditor>.

I am familiar with the Consumer Credit sourcebook of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) which states the following rules.

"A firm must not ignore or disregard a customer's claim that a debt has been settled or is disputed and must not continue to make demands for payment without providing clear justification and/or evidence as to why the customer's claim is not valid." 7.5.3

"A firm must suspend any steps it takes or its agent takes in the recovery of a debt from a customer where the customer disputes the debt on valid grounds or what may be valid grounds." 7.14.1

"Where a customer disputes a debt on valid grounds or what may be valid grounds, the firm must investigate the dispute and provide details of the debt to the customer in a timely manner." 7.14.3

In not ceasing collection activity whilst investigating a reasonably queried or disputed debt you are using deceptive/and or unfair methods.

Furthermore, ignoring and/or disregarding claims that debts have been settled or are disputed and continuing to make unjustified demands for payment amounts to physical/psychological harassment.

We would further note that based on the information you have supplied, this account would also be statute barred under the Limitation Act 1980

Under the Limitation Act 1980 Section 5 "an action founded on simple contract shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued".

I would also point out that in their Consumer Credit sourcebook, the Financial Conduct Authority states the following rules:

"...a firm must not attempt to recover a statute barred debt in England, Wales or Northern Ireland if the lender or owner has not been in contact with the customer during the limitation period." 7.15.4

"A firm must not continue to demand payment from a customer after the customer has stated that he will not be paying the debt because it is statute barred." 7.15.8

We would ask that no further contact be made concerning the above accounts unless you can provide evidence of :


(1) proof of my liability regarding this debt.

and

(2) proof that the relevant limitation period under Section 5 of the Limitation Act, did not accrue.

We await your written confirmation that this matter is now closed.

Otherwise we will have no option but to make a complaint to the trading standards department and consider informing the FCA of your actions.

YOU MUST ALSO TREAT THIS AS A FORMAL COMPLAINT, AND AS SUCH I REQUIRE A COPY OF YOUR COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE AND A RESPONSE TO TAKE TO THE FINANCIAL OMBUDSMAN.

I look forward to your reply.

Yours faithfully




Mrs A N Other

fatbelly

Just to add that there is a distinct possibility that this just isn't your debt. People rack their brains when they get a letter like this trying to make it match something that has happened in their lives.

It's quite possible that intrum have bought something for peanuts, with minimal information and are desperately trying to pin it on someone.

Let us know what happens

nicola_81

Thank you so much everyone.

I've pretty much been pulling my hair out all evening, trying to work out what this is.
I've got tomorrow booked off work, thank you so much for the template. I'll be putting something together and getting it off to them tomorrow.
I will.update once I get a response.

EssexHebridean

I'm with fatbelly in leaning towards the likelihood that this is just a fishing trip letter to be honest. 

When sending the letter Nicola, don't be tempted to add any additional detail that you feel might be "helpful" - as there is a strong likelihood that it might indeed help... to complicate things!  Just add the essential bits like the reference number they have quoted you, change "we" to "I" where needed, and leave it at that. When putting your name on it, don't give any more info than they already have - so if they have written to you as "Mrs N. C Bloggs" then that is what you use - don't sign off as "Nicola Claire Bloggs (Miss) for example as this is giving them information that they do not already have. 

fatbelly

Absolutely. It's surprising how little information is given to these debt buyers when debts change hands. Don't help them to fill in a mostly blank template - with your details!

spidermanmsy

Has there been any update on this situation? Have received similar letters and will begin own thread.

Many thanks