Lantern

Bl00m

Hi, I'm Looking for advice please. I've been getting bombarded with emails and letters from lantern, who say the acting for perch and are going to give me a home visit to discuss payment of a loan I had with Sunny for £439 years ago, will I need to speak to them, any advice would be great...thanks

la531983

They have as much power to make you speak to them, or to enter you house, as the milkman does. If they knock,  just either dont answer, or say no thank you and close the door.

Bl00m

Thank you, just get overwhelmed by constant emails and letters.

Grumpelstiltskin

OK How long is it since you paid or acknowledged the loan?

Is it more than 6 years if you live in England or Wales or 5 years if you live in Scotland?

Bl00m

Hi, i took a £500 loan out in 2015 and was paying it back. I know the company went into administration in 2020, and i've never paid anything towards it after that. I hadn't heard anything for a few years then I got a letter last year saying the would discount 60% of what I owe, then nothing again until the past few months, now its constant...im in scotland.

Grumpelstiltskin

So if you last paid in 2020 and you are in England or Wales it won't be statute barred until 2026 so that is why they are chasing. Can you work out the actual date you made the last payment?

Bl00m

I'm in scotland, my last payment would probably have been just before they went into administration.

Grumpelstiltskin

OK so it looks as though you are probably within weeks of freedom from it.

What to do? Nothing keep your head down, under no circumstances speak to them. Ignore phone calls, texts and E ails. Open letters and come back if you get one that mentions court action.

Bl00m

Thank you for all your help, hopefully I wont need to come back 🤞

Brie

they are trying to get you to pay something, anything and or admit you owe the money before the debt is statute barred.  Don't do either and you'll be fine.  

If they continue to bother you beyond the end of the year you might need to send them a "statute barred" letter which basically tells them to take a hike and stop bothering you.  But let's see if it gets to that.

Rob5342

Bl00m said:

Thank you, just get overwhelmed by constant emails and letters.

They do it to try and panic people into paying something when it could be close to being statute barred. Anyone that turns up will have no power to do anything, it's no different to a double glazing salesman turning up and you can deal with them in much the same way. They know that a lot of people will mistakenly think they are bailiffs and get scared into paying. They know the debt will be worthless to them shortly and this is a deperate attempt to panic you into paying something or acknowleging it.

Just ignore them, don't engage with anyone that turns up, simply ask them to leave or don't answer the door in the first place. Come back for further advice if they mention court action. They often try and scare you with meaningless phrases like "further recovery action", "we want to avoid further action", "considering our next steps" etc.