Advice on old/current debt. Out the blue.

Hullster

So i have received the letter below as 1 of 2, personal Credit card and a seperate one more or less identical for a personal loan. Looking for some solid advice on how to proceed. Just received them and do not want to leave something too late.

Background info :- IT Contractor.

• Had accident in August 2018 was ill for a long time, still not quite right.
• Was contracting for 8 years prior to that point.
• Using Ltd company for billing with same bank as my personal account. Still use personal account.
• Spoke the to bank for quite a while after illness that i can remember through summer 2019.
• Bank had the credit accounts on hold all that time, no follow up other than a 3 monthly check in type conversation.
• Last payments on the accounts would have been the same month and one of either Aug/Sep/Oct or Nov2018. Not sure which as i was in bed for 3 months after lung surgery.
  
• Been on Universal Credit since accident.
• Not heard from anyone in years.
• Company had to go dormant, was about to close it.
• Getting closer to working again as im on the mend and in preparation have had to jump through hoops with bank to get the company account unlocked and out of dormancy. Now done finally after 4 weeks i thought i would have another go at it. I miss it.
• Had to do a change of address too on accounts recently.
• Dont have the work yet, but could do soon.
• Accident now 7 years and 2 months ago
• I thought i would check my credit file to see what famage has been done through all this. I am familiar with the format of it all as i went through an excercise while contracting to get 999 top credit rating by having several loans and paying all of them off early and a credit card. There are no credit accounts at all on my credit file. 

So this has come out the blue. What should i be doing here? Many thanks for your time.

sourcrates

Moorcroft are just acting as a collection agent, as they say in the letter, which means all they can do is ask you to pay, they cannot enforce anything through the courts.

So the debt doesn't show on your credit file and the last time you acknowledged it by payment would have been 2018, in which case its likely it defaulted a little after that time and has since dropped off your credit report.

Are you familiar with the limitation act 1980?

Basically a creditor has 6 years (in England &Wales) to collect a consumer credit debt, if its not been paid or acknowledged in writing during that time, it becomes what`s known as "statute barred".

Verbal comm`s do not count.

This means that although the debt may still exist, time has run out for the lender to take action through the courts to recover the debt, and once you have told them its statute barred, they should cease all collection activity, and in this case return it to HSBC.

Now if your certain the debt is yours, and the dates are correct, go straight in with the statute barred letter, however, if there is any doubt about any of it, just send the prove-it letter first to get more information, you can always send the statute barred letter at a later date.

Grumpelstiltskin

OK First thing get  a new basic  ( no overdraft ) bank account with a banking group you don't owe any money to.

Do not contact Moorcroft under any circumstances.

Do not answer any phone calls, ignore E Mails or Texts.

fatbelly

Not much point in engaging with Moorcroft. They just run through their letters then send the debt back.

Probably is statute barred though

Hullster

They have stepped up their endeavours and called now 3 times a day for several days, then 4 times last 2 days 2 of which between 19:00 and 20:00. and 3 times so far today. I have block so it goes straight to voicemail. 

Just to confirm that the last payments were indeed in 2018 Either Aug/Sep/Oct or Nov, definately not after. The last time i did a budget sheet was with the business debtline in April 2021 as i owed £1,200 corp tax. Everything was on hold because of covid and i had lung surgery, so i was hiding away. The corp tax was cleared, no company debt exists. Thats how i remember timescales.

Hullster

A few letters came in the post today. Someone has given them my new address. Not sure but Moorcroft and PRA have both been writing and calling recently. Last payment was made to the original lender in November 2018, 7 years ago next month at the latest. PRA wrote in the summer 2019 after writing saying they had the account. I sent an Email at some point, the only thing i ever admitted was being too ill to work, and had very little income and could not afford payments. Never paid PRA a penny as everything was on hold. They used to call often but i just let it go to answer phone. There is a bit of a resurgence going on here. On the second letter in the same envelope is the "notice of assignemnt" stating it has been assigned to them as of the 30/12/2023. This has to be a lie, it wouldnt happen twice would it? Is it their way of resetting "Statute Barred" timer?

Hullster

This is, there data protection stuff;

sourcrates

Doesn't matter what date it was assigned to them, that has nothing to do with its statute barred status.

Send them this if they become annoying:



Dear PRA Group,

I refer to your recent letter with reference number: xxxxx xxxxx

                                              Without Prejudice

"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".

This debt defaulted on (insert date if known) 

or if not, go with this

This debt was last acknowledged by payment in November 2018, and would have defaulted within guidelines some 3 to 6 months later.

The debt is therefore statute barred under section 5, limitation act 1980 and I will not be paying it.

Please update your records accordingly and only contact me again to confirm this matter is now closed.

yours sincerely


Hullster.

fatbelly

Personally I'd continue to ignore. You are sending their calls to voicemail and collecting their paperwork for the recycling bin. Let them continue to waste time and money on this.

The budget planner in April 2021 could cause an issue if it was sent to them by an organisation acting as your agent