Lowell threatening with 4 months until statute barred

Rob5342

It's a bit nerve wracking when you are this far down the line but it's just a case of wait and see really.

redparrot69

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82046211#Comment_82046211

if they send an lba and it gives me 30 days to reply, if they do it after the 30 day countdown what happens then?

sourcrates

They only have to start legal action within the limitation period, if they did that, then that removes sec 5, as a defence to that claim.

Look at it like this, Lowell buy these debts in bulk, they don`t usually waste time checking the credit files of their tens of 1000`s of clients, so they may not even be aware that the limitation period expires on this debt soon.

After all they were not the original creditor, and no paperwork accompanies these accounts when they are sold, so the only way they would know is if they physically checked your credit report.

redparrot69

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82046727#Comment_82046727

and surely a debt agency search would show up in my credit report, even a soft search?

sourcrates

As I said, they may or may not be aware.

I don`t suppose you still have the default notice, or can remember when it was sent can you?

Because there is sometimes quite a gap between that expiring, and the default being registered.

If you recall, the exact cause of action date is when the default notice expired, not necessarily when the default was registered, default notices require you to remedy your account breach within 14 days, or else a default will be registered with the CRA`s.

People refer to the date of default as to when the limitation clock starts, but actually its normally much earlier.

redparrot69

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82046768#Comment_82046768

I don’t remember no, but the last online statement I got from them was 6/3/20. Looking on my credit file that month was the third payment I missed

ManyWays

You have 30 days to return the LBA. I suggest doing this at about day 23.

If they send you an LBA after the first week in July, when you send the form back in August or later it should be statute barred at that point (NB I am assuming you have all your facts and dates right). So you use the reply for to (1) ask for the CCA agreement for the debt (in case it turns out not to be statute barred) and (2) assert that it is statute barred, as your last payment was in 2019 and the default on your credit record, added after you got the default notice, was 31 July 2020.

Ignore the field agent. Either do NOT open the door to them or just say you will not be discussing your debts with them and close the door. The longer this goes on, the more likely it is that the debt is statute barred.

LBA in the next couple of weeks? Ask at that point. it doe not sound that likely if they are talking about home visits.

redparrot69

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82047167#Comment_82047167

on my checkmyfile credit report it says that the default date was 31/07/20 and the record of the default will be reported on my file until the 31/07/26

sourcrates

Realistically then, the default notice would have been sent in late May/ early June, you have 14 days to act on it, then it take lenders a month or so to update records etc, so the expiry of the default notice would have been late June, so you could argue that its statute barred now, if you had too.

ManyWays

I think this is getting too caught up in minutiae of what might happen. It is going to be easier to simply deal with what does happen. You should take some comfort from the fact that no-one here is suggesting it is likely that you will have a problem.

So:
Ignore the field agent.
Keep an eye out for an LBA.