Statute Barred and Monies Paid

[Duffers Mum]

Have posed previously re Mackenzie Hall <grrr>, however would appreciate advise on a specific point. If the debt is my hubby and his ex's names and neither of them has made a payment or communicated with MH or previous DCA's in over 7 years, but I have made token payments (£10) from my bank account. Hubby has had NO dealing with them and made no payments from his account. Will the account be classed as statute barred or not? Any advice gratefully received! Thanks

[Glenn UK]

Since the debt is theirs and not yours then i don't see how your payments could be construed as their acknowledgement.

however, if the money comes out of a joint account then it may not be the case.

It would be interesting to see if any of the forum members who knows more about DCAs and debt than me can confirm or deny my thoughts.

HTH

Glenn

PS don't worry comments are like buses, once one comes along others have to chip in too.

[sequenci]

under s29(5) of the act, a payment by a third party is not a payment by a "person liable" UNLESS that person is acting as an "agent" of the debtor.

An "ex gratia" payment, i.e. voluntary payment which is made without any admission of liability, is not a payment "in respect" of the debt. It's a bit of a grey area and i'm not sure that if the debt would be stat barred.

[Duffers Mum]

Sequenci - Many thanks for that, its exactly what I thought, they have to prove that my other half made the payment, which they can't do, whereas I can prove I made it from my bank account (in my sole name) if need be. Just replied on another thread that no letters received from MH now for at least a month, am wondering if they are in the process of returning it, no doubt something will materialise from one muppet or another shortly! Daft thing is they could have been receiving a tenner a month from me which is surely better than nothing, but they refused it, so they'll get diddly squat now!

[sequenci]

it will be argued VERY strongly that a partner IS an agent, keep us up to date with this one

[kennyparkroad]

simply say you paid it without his permission and or knowledge

[Duffers Mum]

Kennyparkroad - of course, goes without saying, he has no idea I was paying it as he wasn't living with me at the time I do get really cross when these DCA's try it on, ok it would have taken a while to repay at £10 per month, but at least they were getting something, and previous DCA's were happy enough with that amount its only Mackenzie Hall <spit> who refused it, they also broke the Data Protection Act by speaking to me about a debt which isn't in my name <tut tut>.

Sequenci - I will post further when/if anything else arrives from them. Out of interest if a debt is already statute barred and then you make a token repayment does that start the clock ticking again, even if you haven't admitted the debt?

[kennyparkroad]

if youve done nothing in 6 years, its statute barred regardless if ou make a token payment, because it was statute barred they should have chased it, thats my understanding of it anyway, someone will correct me if im wrong.

[gizmo111]

Once a debt is statute bared it reamins so, any payments cannot change it's status. It can still be chased as it is still owed but cannot be enforced. There is somethign about they must stop chasing you once you ahve told them you are not going to pay it - check out NAtional Debtline as the inof I beleive is on there.

[Duffers Mum]

Gizmo - Many thanks for that, i'm going to pop over to them and check it out