cross border debt recovery

[dago49]

Hi All, have been searching around the forum and it is very interesting. In 2002 i was repaying a loan to Abbey National and had agreed with them that the interest would be frozen, at the time i was unemployed and having treatment for severe depression. That same year my wife was made redundant and we wrote to Abbey National to make an offer to clear the debt, they did not respond. Later that year we sold our house and moved to France and lathough we had a year of mail redirection with the PO we had no further letters from the Abbey. Years have gone by and I/we have forgotten all about it, until i had a call from my sister to say that a company called Link had phoned asking to speak to me, my Sister told them that I did not live there and that they only saw me from time to time, Link left them a number for me to call, i made what I think is a big mistake and made the call, I asked what the problem was and they explained about an outstanding debt with the Abbey, I told them that I have no recollection of the account and could they send the details to my sister's address in the UK, they kept asking me for a contact number and i refused but then he said " you live in France?" and I said why do you ask that and he said becaues the number you are calling from shows as the country code for France...duh! Sorry this is so long but my question is, can they pursue the claim to me here in France? The sum involved is £2300, I/we would be prepared to go back to the Abbey with an offer to settle once and for all it is after all what we had wanted in the first place back in 2002. From what i have read here LINK tries harrassment to get payment, should i ignore their calls in the future? best regards Dago

[KeefG]

The chances are Abbey wont deal with you now either as they will have sold the debt on and will have no say on the matter anymore.

 

My first port of call would be to send a CCA request to Link (letter N from this link) http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt/20758-creditors-dcas-letter-templates.html to see if they are legally allowed to chase you for this debt.

 

Also, if you dont want them to phone you then reword the letter in this link http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/37006-harassment-telephone-response-letter.html to suit your needs and send it off to them.

[djweeble]

When did you move to France, when was your last payment ??

 

If you haven't paid anything since 2002 then the debt is statute barred sometime this year.

 

Hopefully it is already, but you need those dates to be absolutely certain.

[djweeble]

One other point, while you are abroad it is very very difficult for Leech to track you down and serve papers on you, and they cannot take you to court in the UK until they have done so.

 

DO NOT WRITE to them from your address in France (postmarks are a dead giveaway to the area you live) and DO NOT TELEPHONE them again.

 

Send any letters via a relative or friend in the UK, or even more sneaky, if you live in a touristy area, get some friendly tourist to post it for you when they get home

 

Make their job as difficult as possible, because if the debt is not yet statute barred, the longer you can slow them down the more chance it will be before they get the chance to drag you into court.

 

[dago49]

Thanks for prompt replies, the last payment was me in May 2002. If they send me the paperwork via a UK postal address should I even reply to it? Is it possible to deal with these people? I would rather not spend the rest of my life waiting for a knock on the door. In May 2002 i was so depressed and in a black hole that i truly do not have any recollection of events surrounding this matter. if the Abbey sold the debt onto these people for not a lot of money why oh why would they not have accepted what i could have paid them as a once and for all payment in 2002 and why would they not respond after that, as I said we did have a year of postal redirection in place so we would have received any demands. best regards & thanks again Dago

[djweeble]

Ooops, my mistake, my maths head wasn't on right this morning, It'll be statute barred in May next year then.

 

These people are some of the lowest slime feeders there are, and they will try all sorts of dirty tricks to get the money off you. Do anything you can to make life difficult for them, and don't give them the slightest bit of help tracking you down.

 

They have to have a UK address for you in order to take you to court, and if you don't live in the UK they can't get one However, if they find out your French address there are probably other options open to them in the French courts.

 

Don't ever call them, and don't write to them unless you really have too, and by "really have too" I mean if something drastic happens like court papers landing on a relatives doormat....... they have been known to try this one

[dannyboy660]

This might be of some use to you.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collectors-debt-collection/90319-can-dca-pursue-someone.html?highlight=stuffedbynatwest

[dago49]

Thanks Dannyboy, I am now getting paranoid I think, would they (The Debt Collectors) be on here surfing around for info on members and giving out misleading advise? Hope not but who knows? best regards I will post any updates, hopefully I will have nothing to report.

[djweeble]

would they (The Debt Collectors) be on here surfing around for info on members and giving out misleading advise? Hope not but who knows?

 

They could try, but they'd soon get caught out, there are too many people on here watching out for each other, and the majority of them know a damned sight more now about how DCA's work than ever did before this site started.

 

Chin up matey, have a good read round the site, you'll get that nice warm feeling before long, and it won't be because you've wet yourself worrying

 

Long live the C.A.G.

[dago49]

LOL...I will go to bed smiling now..thanks best regards

[dannyboy660]

Hi,

 

Djweeble's right, there's really no point worrying about it.

 

They need an EEO to do anything, and they can't get an EEO unless a UK CCJ already exists. To get a CCJ they have to serve papers on you at your UK residential address, which in your case won't be possible. It's a bit of a stalemate situation if you leave UK with no CCJ's.

If in the unlikely event they find a way around the problem and somehow obtain a CCJ, you simply contest the resulting EEO on the grounds that the CCJ was wrongly issued i.e 'non resident in the member state at the time of issue on a contract governed by UK law', and the case is stayed or struck out completely. Check mate.

 

This is partly why creditors/DCA's are very quick to go to the litigation stage nowadays - because the debtor could so easily up sticks and cross the border. They need a CCJ at the earliest stage. The EEO will eventually close the loophole and make it incredibly easy for creditors to recoup their money, but as it was introduced as recently as 2005, it will be some years yet before it really kicks in.

 

To put your mind at rest, take a look at HM Courts Service website about obtaining CCJ's, and then read some of the bumpf about EEO's. It's incredibly boring long winded stuff sometimes, but if you can apply it to your own situation, which obviously you know best, then I'm sure you'll find the future might not be quite as bleak as you think.

 

All the best.

[diskmandave]

If you haven't paid anything since 2002 then the debt is statute barred sometime this year.

 

Just surfing around when I found this, don't want to open a can of worms, but, under the Limitation Act doesn't the clock start ticking at the point of discovery? Hence, that clock has just started ticking again as they have just found it...

 

Correct me if i'm wrong of course!

 

Regards, Dave.

[djweeble]

No Dave, the clock starts ticking from the date of the last payment or last acknowledgement of the debt, whichever is the shortest time.

 

BTW, you probably noticed my mistake... corrected in a later post.... it will be statute barred next year.