Thread: Store Card / Credit Card Debt almost Statute Barred, BUT

I had a store card with a major chain of stores in the UK, the store card was changed into a credit card some years later, I hit hard times, moved abroad, gave up on on trying to maintain payments and defaulted on the card.

The debt has been passed from DCA to DCA and I gone into head in the sand mode, and ignored all communication, I still live out of the EU.

The debt is on the verge of being statute barred, but there is a but.

As well as having the cc with the retailer I had a personal loan them which was used to buy a car, when I left the UK my ex needed a car so I allowed her to keep my car that was being paid for from the loan and and she would carry on with the payments. We kept the loan in my name.

She carried on making the payments but overpaid the last payment by £30, the company advised me that there had been an overpayment but instead of refunding it they credited it to my, now defaulted, credit card account.

I fear that this may have re-set the statute barred clock by three years.

I am reluctant to ask them as they haven't been in touch for a year or so, and neither have their DCA's, I'm inclined to let sleeping dogs lie.

Does anyone have a view?

1. The store card being changed to a credit card may actually have invalidated any debt given a recent case in which Santander failed as plaintiff with a Harrods store card that failed to comply with the CCA when upped to a credit card. Look it up - I am on my phone.

2. You did not make the payment so while it should be fine you may find attempts to do as you fear - to pre-empt chancers it might make sense to tell the car finanace people that account is in dispute and see if they can cancel and repay it. I openly have no idea if this can be done, but am sure others will correct me if I'm wrong.