Letter regarding a home visit

dobbollah

I had a loan from over 10 years which is statute barred, Ive made no payment, no had any contact for well over 6 years.

Its not on my credit file, no CCJs, I thought it was the end of it.

Its been passed to a new debt collectors ACI,  who after a few letters have now said they are going to send a company called Verify to visit me at home.

I obviously don't want this.

Having done a little reading I could send a cease and desist letter. Ill put a suggested template at the end.

Should I send this letter or just do nothing abd if someone does show shut the door on them.

My concern would be if they come when im not home and one of kids answers the door.

Appreciate the advice. 

Dear Sir/Madam,

Re: [Reference number if shown on their letter]

I do not acknowledge any debt to your company or to any company you claim to represent.

This debt is statute barred under the Limitation Act 1980, as more than six years have passed since any payment was made or the debt was acknowledged in writing. As such, the debt is unenforceable in court, and I will not be making any payment towards it.

Furthermore, I require you to cease all threats of a “home visit”. Any such visit would be considered harassment, and I will report this to the Financial Ombudsman Service and the Financial Conduct Authority. Should any representative of your company attend my property, they will be asked to leave immediately. If they refuse, I will contact the police.

Please confirm in writing that you will not pursue this matter further.

Yours faithfully,

MattMattMattUK

Just ignore them unless you get anything from the court. 

dobbollah

I just dont want a home visit, I thought a cease and desist letter may get them to back off given its statute barred and they cant enforce anythjng

Grumpelstiltskin

Home visit - you just ignore them, tell children if they answer the door to anyone when you are not at home tell the caller you are not at home and shut the door. 

dobbollah

Thanks, I did have a quick chat with the national debt helpline who advised sending a statue barred letter...

ManyWays

If National Debline think this is probably statute barred then sending a statute barred letter is a very good idea. It normally stops everything dead in its tracks, and if the creditor wants to dispute whether it is statute barred then its better to have the argument now rather than in court.

(The only exception is if it only just statute barred and the dates arent certain, then I would just try to ignore them for another 6 months or a year until this is cut and dried.)  

sourcrates

ACI have form for this kind of thing, I`ve dealt with them myself for a debt they were chasing which was included in an insolvency, over 12 years ago now.

You must first be certain of your position, if you are going to challenge this debt on the basis that its statute barred, you`d better be 100% certain of your facts.

If that`s the case, then you send a written complaint to ACI, you tell them the debt is statute barred under sec 5, limitation act 1980, advise them it is against FCA fair debt collection practice to pursue a debt whose status is in question, after being informed by the debtor.

They then have 8 weeks to reply, and issue a final response, if they don`t, or if you disagree with their reply, you can then escalate the matter to the FOS, who will deal with the matter on your behalf.

That is the correct way to challenge this, as you might get £50 quid thrown in for your trouble.

Pay no attention whatsoever to "verify" they are simply a tracing company who will advise you to contact ACI as they need to speak to you about a "personal matter", they are nothing to worry about, simply ignore or ask them to leave, think Jehovah's witness type scenario, you don`t have to speak to them and they can`t force you too.

dobbollah

I wrote to the original loan company years ago (at least 9) and from that point never made a payment or did not acknowledge the debt.  Looking back it was 2014/2015.

Its well over the 6 years and has gone through a few collection agencies all of which I ignored.

Its 100% over 6 years so am confident its statue barred so ill send thier template they provided me.

A thank you to those who commented,  im grateful.

This was the advised letter....

You have contacted me about the account with the above reference number, which you claim I owe. I do not admit any liability for your claim.

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.”

Also, the Financial Conduct Authority’s Consumer Credit sourcebook states the following.

“…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

Unless you can provide evidence of payment or written contact from me in the relevant period under Section 5 of the Limitation Act, you are no longer able to take any court action against me to recover the amount you allege I owe.

Please confirm in writing that you will not make any further contact about the above claim and confirm that this matter is now closed.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully