Have you received threatening demands for debts older than 6 years?

[BankFodder]

Have you received threats of legal action in respect of debts older than 6 years?

Although if you are in debt, you will continue to owe the money until it is paid off, after 6 years the debt is probably statute barred which means that the creditor will have lost his right to sue for the money.

Despite this, debt collectors frequently rely on people's ignorance of the law or their fear by making threats of legal action to recover debts even though these threats are unenforceable.

The making of a threat is dishonest.

Now, the new CPUT Regulations 2008 (Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations) may make such unprofessional behaviour unlawful.

If you have received such threats, you should not respond to the debt collector but you should write a letter of complaint to the OFT who are obliged to investigate your complaint and to take enforcement action of some kind if they agree with you.

See the new explanatory notes on the 2008 CPUT regs at The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 - draft

Please do let us know if you are taking any action under CPUT as we would like to keep ourselves updated on how useful it is.

[Wills03]

Hi
can anyone let me have a link to a template, I have a firm of solicitors trying to chase a debt from 1st May 2001(judgement order) I have sent them the credit agreement letter and they sent 1 back saying contact the court direct as they didnot have one??? but they still keep chasing this debt. I believe there is a template containing the legal jargon for debt over 6 years old but cannot find it
any help would be most appreciated

[seeker27]

A Debt Collecting Agency have written to me regarding a debt from 1994, and I would appreciate any help regarding the wording of a letter to the Debt Collecting Agency and also to OFT.

Many thanks,

seeker27

[stikky62]

seeker27 Click Here

scroll down to Letter M

and write in big letters at the top

"I do not acknowledge any debt with your Company"

[daisychain111177]

Originally Posted by Wills03

Hi
can anyone let me have a link to a template, I have a firm of solicitors trying to chase a debt from 1st May 2001(judgement order) I have sent them the credit agreement letter and they sent 1 back saying contact the court direct as they didnot have one??? but they still keep chasing this debt. I believe there is a template containing the legal jargon for debt over 6 years old but cannot find it
any help would be most appreciated

can anyone tell me if this template stands for mobile phone contracts too? this would be much appreciated
thanks

[stikky62]

If you've not made a payment or admitted to the debt in the past 6 yrs,,,then yes.

( The Limitation Act 1980 )

[waroo]

Hi,
My husband has just received a court claim form for a debt he stopped paying in July 2001. He heard nothing until Feb 2006 when he received a letter from Marlin & agreed over the phone to pay £10 a week after they threatened that we could lose our house if he didn't pay (in hindsight we should have known it wasn't that simple but with a 6 week old baby you tend to panick). He made these payments for almost 2 years & stopped them after receiving a letter which had added £2000 onto the orignal amount with no explanation & then demanded £200 per month or it would go to court.
Can anyone tell me if the '6 year rule' would stand with this debt as it is now 7 years but he did make some payments.
Any help will be very welcome.
Thanks

[tiglet]

No, because he made payments within the six years, so I'm afraid the debt is not statute barred (unless, possibly, it's in Scotland where the Statute of Limitations is five years)

[tiglet]

Sorry, should have said - he should send a CCA request to ensure they have a legal right to collect the debt.

[waroo]

Hi,
Thanks for quick reply. He sent a CCA request in Jan this year & they sent a photo copy - have I read somewhere that they should have the original?
Also, he signed the agreement dated 16/02/2001 but the witness signature is dated 23/02/2001 - do we have something to go one here or am I just clutching at straws?
Thanks

[ODC]

You should post a copy of what they sent you on here (minus personal details) and we can advise you if it is Enforcable

[ostrich_70]

Hi,

I just joined this site and am a little confused at all the threads, but I think this is the one that I should be on.

As I said in a hello post, I received a demand from Connaught Collections UK Ltd on Thurs demanding a large amount of money with the ref 1st Credit Ltd and NatWest.

I last heard from NatWest in June of 2002 via a phone call. I explained that I was unemployed at the time and asked them to write to me to detail what I owed (I had a bit of a breakdown in 2001 and honestly don't remember to this day what I owed to whom). I never heard from them again and now I get this letter out of the blue.

I'm panicking! Do I respond? Is this an example of 'statute barred' as it's just over 6 years since any communication about this debt was received.

It's all such a mess. I'm really not in any position to clear this at the moment and don't know what to do.

Any help would be much appreciated!

[letitbeme]

Hi, I have an on going court case that may be statute barred, I say maybe because the cause of action date is in dispute by the claimant (Link say Default Notice Date and I say the date of missed payment)

No payment to MBNA since 1st OCT 2000 - Notice of Default (supposedly issued on 20th Aug 2001.) - Court action started on 19th Mar 2007 - is this action Statue Barred?

Regards LIBM

Click to see the thread Clarification re Statute Barred

[ODC]

Originally Posted by ostrich_70

Hi,

I just joined this site and am a little confused at all the threads, but I think this is the one that I should be on.

As I said in a hello post, I received a demand from Connaught Collections UK Ltd on Thurs demanding a large amount of money with the ref 1st Credit Ltd and NatWest.

I last heard from NatWest in June of 2002 via a phone call. I explained that I was unemployed at the time and asked them to write to me to detail what I owed (I had a bit of a breakdown in 2001 and honestly don't remember to this day what I owed to whom). I never heard from them again and now I get this letter out of the blue.

I'm panicking! Do I respond? Is this an example of 'statute barred' as it's just over 6 years since any communication about this debt was received.

It's all such a mess. I'm really not in any position to clear this at the moment and don't know what to do.

Any help would be much appreciated!

Ostrich you really need to start your own thread. Send CONnaught the Statute Barred letter below. Its up to them to prove a debt is not Statute Barred not up to you to prove it is.

Dear Cretins

Acc/Ref No

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

We would 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”.

We 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.

We look forward to your reply.

Yours faithfully


I M Wise To-You

[ODC]

Originally Posted by letitbeme

Hi, I have an on going court case that may be statute barred, I say maybe because the cause of action date is in dispute by the claimant (Link say Default Notice Date and I say the date of missed payment)

No payment to MBNA since 1st OCT 2000 - Notice of Default (supposedly issued on 20th Aug 2001.) - Court action started on 19th Mar 2007 - is this action Statue Barred?

Regards LIBM

Clarification re Statute Barred

Letitbeme You would be better starting your own thread. The Statute Barred date is six years from the last payment or written acknowledgement of the alleged date. The default date has sweet FA to do with it. Once a debt becomes Statute Barred NO enforcement action can be taken against it