please help-is my debt satute barred???

[Dan-germouse]

Hello Forum,
I am new to this so not sure how it works.
I have an issue with rockwell debt agency, I incured a debt of nearly £6000( of which i only owe £5000 now) with RBOS in 1999 and made amends to find it and pay it back in 2001 but they had passed it to rockwell.
It was only this year they trackedme down as i thought it was over with and that it had expired but no...they have pressured me into paying £100 per month for the last 10 months of which this is a stretch. thay have tried to get me to settle it offering me a final settlement of £4500 or somehwere in that region, they do not undestand that i cannot get the money as my never ending money supply i hide in my matress is unavailable .lol
They have recently sent me a letter saying that they can offer due to the financial instability with the banks at the moment, at least a discount of £2400 yet again from the debt...this is not bad considering...however i do know they probably bought the debt for 10p or so per pound and are still making money...
...what are my options? i was considering offering them £1000 and seeing what they say to write it off.
if you have any advice i would be very grateful.
Dan-ger

[42man]

Hi Dan-germouse...and a warm welcome to the forums....Is the debt barred by statue ? If you have not made a payment or acknowledged it for 5 years or if there is a 5 year gap in payments, (6 in England) then the debt should be barred by statue of limitations....what I will do is transfer this thread to the debt collection forums where you will get some more input.....

[42man]

Has there been a 5 year gap at any stage ??

[Dan-germouse]

i had no contact with the bank since 1999 and it was in 2007 that rockwell contacted me...unforutnalty i have paid £1000 allready since Jan 2008 so i dont know if this goes against me or not. but it was cause i was threathend with action.
i am not sure about it if it is barred i dont know that is.

[Lula]

If youhave not acknowledged the debt between 1999 and 2007 then it would be Statute Barred there should have been no need to pay the DCA at all, do not pay them another penny, if fact I think that you should be looking at getting the money that you have paid back as they had absolutely no right to collect and will probably have known that

[42man]

I would send Rockwell letter 'M' from here....send it by recorded delivery and do not hand sign it..... - Creditors and DCAs - Letter Templates & Budget Planner (you might need to edit it as it is 5 years in Scotland)

If they continue to press you for payment after you have stated you will not be paying anything more to a statute barred debt, then this is regarded as harrassment as you can see from the OFT's guidelines on debt collection...

Section 2.14 -

•

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.

Keep us posted as to how they reply....

[Dan-germouse]

thanks for that...but if i have paid some of it (£1000 to date) since they threatend me (Jan2008 the got me) does this change the situation...does that mean i have acknowledged it? do i still have a right to send the letter M that was advised?? will it do any more damage??

[Lula]

Hi, no, it wont change, once a debt is statute barred ir remains statute barred, nothing can change it back again

[rory32]

I would send Rockwell letter 'M' from here....send it by recorded delivery and do not hand sign it..... - Creditors and DCAs - Letter Templates & Budget Planner (you might need to edit it as it is 5 years in Scotland)

42man this letter is not appropriate as not only is it 5 years in Scotland but it is a completely different statute that Dan-germouse would be relying on.

if fact I think that you should be looking at getting the money that you have paid back

There is no legal basis for claiming money back. The obligation to pay has been extinguished. The debt has not.

Below is a statute barred letter that is applicable to Scotland.

Dear Sir/Madam

Acc/Ref No 4563210025897412

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

I would point out that under The Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 Part 1 Section 6 "If, after the appropriate date, an obligation to which this section applies has subsisted for a continuous period of 5 years:

(a) without any relevant claim having been made in relation to the obligation, and
(b) without the subsistence of the obligation having been relevantly acknowledged,
then as from the expiration of that period the obligation shall be extinguished:"

I 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 acknowledgement of this alleged debt was made over five years ago. Unless you can provide evidence of payment or written contact from myself in the relevant period under Part 1 Section 6 of The Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 , I would respectfully suggest that you are no longer able to take any court action against myself to recover the alleged amount claimed.

Should you continue to pursue this account without providing this evidence I shall seek an interdict and damages accordingly. A formal complaint will also be made to Trading Standards along with a report to the OFT questioning your fitness to hold a consumer credit license.

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

I look forward to your reply.

Yours faithfully
Mr A N Other

[42man]

Thank you Rory....v much appreciated....!! I'll bookmark it ...

[Dan-germouse]

i am a bit stupid with financial law...so let me get it straight even if i have paid them money this year because it is longer than 5 years since the original debt they cannot do much to me? whaT about the bit in the letter that says -

(a) without any relevant claim having been made in relation to the obligation, and
(b) without the subsistence of the obligation having been relevantly acknowledged,
then as from the expiration of that period the obligation shall be extinguished:"

if i send this letter off and they contact me again saying otherwise what will happen to me? will it do more harm?...if it works i will be totally made up folks.
Dan-ger

[42man]

Send the letter Rory has kindly put up...send it by recorded delivery....if there has been a 5 year gap then it will be barred by statute....it was barred when you started paying the £1000....

[Dan-germouse]

sweet cheers folks i will give it a bash and let you know what happens,

[Dan-germouse]

to all those who gave advice on the rockwell debt last week (42man and others)
they tried to call and left a message forme to contact them...will I phone them or wait until they write to me????

[Dan-germouse]

I acctually did call them just now and they say they are sending a letter to confirm that it is not statute barred...hmmm...maybe i dont have a leg to stand on...I dont know why it has been since 2001/2002.

[Dan-germouse]

hey guys (Rory and 42man)
you guys gave me advice on the 1st oct about a debt that i queried with rockwell.
i sent a recorded delivery and gave them the letter template on statute barred debts that you gave me but they called me the following week and wrote a letter saying it isnt statue barred...they gave me a list of the payments i had made this year...but it was the previous 6 years that they had no contact that you guys said it would have been barred.

are they trying to chance there luck or are they right?
it does say a period of 5 years in the scottish law...they are an english company does it change any thing.
what should I do guys?????

Dan-germouse