Can Anyone Clarify Something For Me?

needtosave1977

I'm in a bit of a quandry and would like to appeal for any advice on the following, so thank you all very much in advance.

(usual story!) When i was at university i ran up some hefty debts to the tune of about £15,000 (two credit cards and an AA personal loan).

On top of that i had council tax debts, water rate debts, rent arrears and another couple of credit cards...oh and an overdraft!

The £10k AA loan turned into a debt of £17,000 with interest and charges etc which for the last 2 years or so i have been paying back through a company called Cabot Financial (who i am also paying the last of the cards off with)

I also have an arrangement with Mackenzie Hall (very aggresive - never had anything in writing - they frightened me into borrowing nearly £1,000 from my parents as an initial payment) to pay off another card which started about 6 months ago.

All my other debts have been payed off in full and i have not accrued a penny of debt for the last 7 years or so ( i have one credit card which is payed in full every month for credit score rebuilding)

I now know about 'statute barred' debt and am certain the Mackenzie hall debt falls into this category and have sent a Staute barred letter to them. I am almost certain that the debts i have with Cabot are also statute barred but it would be close! I am wary of jeopodising my current arrangement with them by sending a Statute barred letter and upsetting the applecart. What i have done though is send a letter asking for a copy of my credit agreement.

I got my statutory credit report from experian and equifax and there is nothing on there at all (only linked addresses?). Is there any way i can find out for certain if a debt is statute barred?

Sorry for the rambling but this is all new to me and just want clarification as to where I stand.

Thanks again

~Beanie~

Debts only becone statute barred when 6 years have passed since you last made a payment or acknowledged the debit in writing.

If you have been making payments to these Companies then I'm pretty sure that this is classed as acknowledging the debt and therefore they aren't statute barred.

Cleosmum

I believe you need to have not paid anything to the debts, or acknowledged them, for the last 6 years, but someone will be along to confirm or deny this and explain it better than I can.

EDIT oops cross posted with Beanie

needtosave1977

from what i understand once a debt is statute barred (6 years with no acknowedgement or payment) it is always statute barred, even if after the 6 years you make a payment.

A statute barred debt is always statute barred.

I am more than prepared to be wrong on this:o

cheers

Broken_hearted

Good because it might come back to bite you.

itsnever2lateisit?

needtosave1977 wrote: »

from what i understand once a debt is statute barred (6 years with no acknowedgement or payment) it is always statute barred, even if after the 6 years you make a payment.

A statute barred debt is always statute barred.

I am more than prepared to be wrong on this:o

cheers

Correct The OP needs to research carefully the date on which a) They first defaulted and b) when payments were resumed. If that gap is 6+ years then the OP will be within their rights to stop payments. The DCA's involved wont be happy, so dont expect them to say thanks! They will hassle you to resume with all sorts of (empty) threats. You need to be strong to resist. There is someone on this board who actually got their money back, but that is unusual, and you would have to dedicate a large part of your life to get it back.

RAS

To quote cleosmum

You need to have not paid anything to the debts, or acknowledged them, for the last 6 years.

If there was a full 6 year period (5 years in Scotland) when you did not make any payment or acknowledge the debt in writing, then the Statute of limitations applies. If you made any payment in that period it does not, and if there is a CCj, then the situation is more complicated.

The debt still exists and if you want to pay it off, fine, but if you tell the DCA that you are not going to pay, they cannot enforce the debt via the courts or regsiter anything on you credit record. Under OFT Guidelines, they are also required to stop chasing you for the debt. This applies even if you make payments after the 6 year deadline, so yes, I would expect the MH debt to be statute barred, and they have a reputation for buying this sort of debt and taking advantage of people's lack of knowledge of the rules.

Have you checked your credit record to see if the debts are marked on there?

needtosave1977

Thanks for all the replies. Its an amazing community here it really is.

I checked my credit file about a month ago and there is not a single default on there (i've never had a CCJ thankfully - i'm doubt i was far from getting one before pulling my finger out!), as i said previously the only thing on my credit file is linked addresses.

With regard to researching when i defaulted etc the difficulty is that my record keeping from that period is zero!

Thank again you lovely people

needtosave1977

Its amazing how quickly threads slip down the list! I hope i'm not wasting anyones time just wanted to bump it up a bit.

Thanks again