HELP! - Re: The 6 year rule....

BWZN93

delboypass wrote:

you said your last payment was mid 1999. its only mid 2005 now so still within 6 years...

And the other advice about not payint - That was over a £75 pound debt where tehe firm probably said it would cost more to go to court than to recover it. I dont think they would think twice about £2700

I agree with what you are saying in principle, but did you read the USA article?? At almost or maybe even past 6 years, then the debt is essentially already written off by Barclays, and the money is going to a high pressure debt collector who paid a few pence for it. I dont think that is exactly fair tbh, as all its cost them is a few pounds in labour and materials to try and chase it - when the debt isnt really legitimately theirs to chase since they were not instructed by the true owner of the debt.

Jo xx

Xbigman

You need to carefully check the dates of everything and check it is 6 years or more. They may have sent you letters at an old address less than six years ago and try to give you a more recent date, be sure to get the date of the last thing they have that you sent them. If its under 6 years they've got you and the six years starts again now. If you are sure it is over six years tell them your last contact was more than six years ago and you consider the debt unenforcable because it is time expired.

I don't think applying for a Barclaycard would constitute a contact in connaction with an old debt.

However, as per other posts you should refuse to discuss this with whoever is trying to collect it with out all the paperwork including proof that you owe the debt. IE a signed credit agreement.
Regards


X

Dammam

Every time a company writes off a bad debt, somebody somewhere has to pay for it. Usually it's the good payers paying extra bank charges. I'm not preaching - I've done it myself - but it shows why some people get quite anti these posts.

Yes, it's right that the debt companies pay a small amount for these written of debts and then push for as much as they can get. Whether it's morally right or not is open to debate - is it any more morally incorrect to buy and chase a debt for profit than it is to run up the debt and not pay it in the first place? This is a forum to SAVE money and get the best value for your £'s, not a place to find the best way of not having to pay your debts. Again, I emphasise, I have myself been down this road so I'm not preaching.

On to your problem, you need to look at just two questions:

1. Did I have the money?
2. Can I afford to pay it back? (this doesn't mean "can I afford to pay it back but keep up with my luxuries in life", it means "can I adjust my income/outgoings to accomodate my debt").

If you have savings, then you should pay from these.
If you are truly struggling, then talk to the collection company. They can agree terms with you, whether it be weekly/monthly payments or a one off settlement. I dealt with Thames Credit myself and found them to be one of the less threatening and more helpful agencies. I think they would drop to £1890 without bbatting an eyelid (70% of original debt). You are still getting a result if they agree to this - a 30% reduction on the debt you willingly took on. Perhaps they would drop further with some persuasion. After all, they probably bought the debt for something like £300 max - the collector will take a %age and then the overheads etc need to be paid, but still a decent profit for them.

I hope you choose both the morally acceptable and financially beneficial option.

Just need to edit this as I comitted the cardinal sin of not reading the past posts completely. Obviously, you ARE having difficulty in paying so please regards some of the posts above as a suggestion for other people. I still say that you should talk to these people though - give them an income/outgoings statement and see what payments they suggest - there may need to be a bit of to'ing and fro'ing after this. You may also need to speak to other creditors who you are currently making payments to in order to ask them to drop the payments a little in light of this previously overlooked debt.

Good luck.

tinalives

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Dammam

Tough one isn't it? Sometimes it can cause more problems by hiding things in order to protect others. That has to be your call, as only you can guess the possible implications.
It certainly is a good idea to ask for the details if you're unsure if it's your debt. Have you got your Equifax & Experian files? They're definately worth the few £'s in order to give you a better view of your situation.
From my experience, Thames are pretty reasonable as long as they know you're doing your best. They went for the "matey" approach with me, which made a refreshing change from some of the more threatening companies - probably made me drop my guard and pay more than I needed to lol.

Once you have got the information you need, and feel confident that you can weather the storm, then would perhaps be a good time to speak to OH about it. Tell him what you've already sorted and then tell him that the best way you can get everything cleared is with his input. His self esteem has probably taken a hell o a battering - knowing that you still need him and value his input would do wonders for this.

All the best.

Xbigman

My personal opinion on the moral side of this argument is 'do unto them all the law allows because they will certainly do it to you'.
I do not advocate evasion so anyone who borrows money planning to do a runner is morally and legally in the wrong. Someone like the OP who has a lot of debts that have been around for 6 years plus and who can legally write one off should do so. Anyone who still feels this is wrong consider this, the creditors will have been banging charges on for years so the OP will certainly pay back more than they actually borrowed overall, even after writing this off.

EDIT. That said, this board should be non judgemental anyway. If someone wants advice on the six year rule we should give it. Likewise, I haven't seen anyone trying to talk people out of stoozing on the grounds they haven't morally earnt the money.
Regards




X

tinalives

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delboypass

Hmmm. The interest you pay back is to cover the risk of the lender and also inflationary pressures. You also chose to take on the debt (signature) so telling the OP it is right to rebuke paying the debt i wouldnt say is too legal.

tinalives

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Xbigman

delboypass wrote:

Hmmm. The interest you pay back is to cover the risk of the lender and also inflationary pressures. You also chose to take on the debt (signature) so telling the OP it is right to rebuke paying the debt i wouldnt say is too legal.

I think you have the wrong idea about money. Lenders charge interest to make a profit. They might charge more interest where they consider the risk is higher but this is only to protect their profit margin.

You also don't appear to know what the word legal means. Something is legal if it is within the law. Writing a debt off under the 6 year rule is clearly a lawfull and therefore a legal route to reducing debts.
Regards



X