When Is Personal Debt Written Off

mickmeads

Help please,

In 2001 I arranged for an unsecured personal loan, not long after I was in a car accident were my insurance didn't cover me for the personal injuries the other party sustained. This is were everything started going wrong I was ordered to pay £6,000 on a ccj which meant I struggled to repay the loan I had not long taken out.

One thing lead to another were I ended up just getting credit to pay debt after debt until I eventually ended up owing in excess of £20,000 and no matter what I paid the it all just ended up being swallowed in interest and charges and creditors were on to me day and night at home and work.

At this point I went for an IVA as a solution to the issue but, the hounding never stopped, I contacted my IVA people who just said give them our details to which they would either continue to send letters or call or simply sell the debt to another agency and then I would have to go though it all over again.

A couple of years into my IVA a couple of times I couldn't even meet my IVA payments then they were onto me saying I had to pay double the month after to catch up at this point I give up and they cancelled my IVA.

Initially a couple of the creditors came on again chasing payments saying they had not even had a single payment from my IVA and I still owed the full amount until they stopped calling and writing for 18 months, I had hoped they had simply just written the debts off as bad debts.

However its started again a creditor has been back harassing me, I still owe more than I started and simple do not know what to do. Is this creditor just trying their luck or can they just keep passing the debt until the end of time. What can they do, could I still have to go to court and get CCJ's for this debt after seven years, are they all going to start up again. I am at my wits end with it all is my only solution to go bankrupt to get these people off my back, do they have any legal rights still after all this time or is there a time scale that after which the debts must be written off.

Sorry to go on but, I no longer know what to do, any advice would be welcomed with open arms.

Yours Hopefully,
Mick

10past6

Hello Mick

Welcome to the forum.

First and foremost, just to confirm with you, a debt is NEVER WRITTEN OFF, unless it's been paid.

There are a couple of thisgs you can do, firstly, send this letter to each of your creditors, this will confirm the debt is enforceable:

Your Address

Date
DCA / Creditor
Address

Dear Sir/Madam

Re:− Account/Reference Number: XXXXXXXXX

With reference to the above agreement, we would be grateful if you would send us a copy of this credit agreement.

We understand that under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (Sections 77−79), we are entitled to receive a copy of our credit agreement on request.

We enclose a £1.00 postal order which represents the fee payable under the Consumer Credit Act.

We understand a copy of our credit agreement should be supplied within 12 working days.

We understand that under the Consumer Credit Act creditors are unable to enforce an agreement if they fail to comply with a request for a copy of the agreement under these sections of the Act.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully

Next, if you have a debt, which YOU ARE CERTAIN IS OVER 6 YEARS SINCE YOU LAST MADE CONTACT / PAYMENT send the creditor / DCA this letter:

Your Address
Date

Companies Address

Dear Sir/Madam

Ref: XXXX

You have contacted me/us regarding the account with the above reference number, which you claim is owed by me/ourselves.

I would point out that I/we have no knowledge of any such debt being owed to (insert company name).

I would also point out that under the Limitation Act 1980 Section 5 “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.”

We would also point out that the OFT say under their Debt Collection Guidance on statute barred debt that “it is unfair to pursue the debt if the debtor has heard nothing from the creditor during the relevant limitation period”.

The last payment of this alleged debt was made over six years ago and no further acknowledgement or payment has been made since that time.

Unless you can provide evidence of payment or written contact from us in the relevant period under Section 5 of the Limitation Act, we suggest that you are no longer able to take any court action against us to recover the alleged amount claimed.

The OFT Debt Collection Guidance states further that “continuing to press for payment after a debtor has stated that they will not be paying a debt because it is statute barred could amount to harassment contrary to section 40 (1) of the Administration of Justice Act 1970”.

I refuse to communicate with your company any further, without you taking leave of the court.

I remind you once again of the OFT guidelines: Continuing to press for payment after a debtor has stated that they will not be paying a debt because it is statute barred could amount to harassment contrary to section 40 (1) of the Administration of Justice Act 1970”.

Should you continue to harass me for this debt, without taking leave of the court, I will raise a complaint with the relevant authorities.

I await your written confirmation that this matter is now closed and that no further contact will be made concerning the above account regarding your previous letter.

I trust I have made my position absolutely clear regarding this issue.

We look forward to your reply.

Yours faithfully

ONLY INITIAL THE LETTER, NEVER SIGN, AND send by recorded delivery.

Good luck

mickmeads

Hello 10past6,

Firstly let me start by thanking you for your response, could I run a couple of questions by you then reference you reply.

If I send the first letter would this constitute as contacting the creditor as per the second below.

What does this part mean,

Next, if you have a debt, which YOU ARE CERTAIN IS OVER 6 YEARS SINCE YOU LAST MADE CONTACT / PAYMENT send the creditor / DCA this letter:

The original debt / creditor was with the funding corperation back in 2001 but over the years they have sold it on to other creditors who have all written to me chasing it before again selling the debt on, is this based solely on the original creditor. If so who do I send this letter the people chasing now or the original one.

back on the first one, upon reply what does this mean either way if it is enforceable or not can the still chase me and blacklist + CCJ me.

Once again thanks for all your help with this.

Mick

10past6

Hello Mick

Let's deal with the first letter.

Do you accept this / these debts?

If so, by requesting your CCA, this will NOT wipe your debt off, but it will confirm the company have a legitimate right to pursue for the balance.

The next letter, you say it's been 2001 since you last made contact / payment re a debt to a creditor. DAC, is this correct?

Edit: Who did you do your IVA through?

iloveshoes_2

Mick,
Never acknowledge any debt when dealing with a DCA. If you send any of these letters please put at the top in bold letters 'I DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE ANY DEBT TO YOUR COMPANY OR ANY COMPANY THAT YOU ARE ACTING ON BEHALF OF'

By writing to request the CCA you are asking THEM to provide proof that you owe the debt. They are legally obliged to send a true copy of your original signed credit agreement. If they can't provide this, the debt is unenforceable.

Please contact your local Citizen's Advice Bureau for free debt help as soon as possible. They will be very supportive and help ease some of your worries.

mickmeads

Thanks for all your help on this, both of you.

I do Acknowledge the debts so will start with the first letter as previously supplied with the recommended suggestion of iloveshoes on the top to see if firstly as you say the debt is enforcable. Who do I send the letter to the original creditors or the latest DCA chasing.

The next letter is rather more confusing the original debt in question was a loan from the funding corp back in 2001 since then the debt have been passed onto other DCA's over the years including whilst it was in the IVA. I probably have spoken to one or two of the DCA's in the past to tell them it has been in an IVA before the have then sold the debt on again does this constitute as contacting them and/or the IVA people may have made payments during the time I was in it however, the last time I did speak to a DCA about this debt they had apparently not received anything from my IVA people.

The IVA people I used were Debt Matters who I am lead to believe have now been taken over and all the money I had paid off they kept.

Again thanks for any advice you can give

RAS

Mick

This situation is much more complicated than suggested here. If you have a failed IVA, these options do not apply. As I understand it, your OR should have made you bankrupt when the IVA failed and these debts would have been inclued in the Bankruptcy.

You need to talk to one of the debt charities or the Insolvency helpline and your old OR to sort out what your situation really is. I can think of at least one where the IVA turned out never to have been formally arranged by the company.

here is the link for the debt charities http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/debt-help-plan#help