Back in 2001 I applied for an Administration order from the court due to debts I had.

This was approved by the court and i was instructed to pay £5 a month for the first 12 months when it would be reviewed. 12 months later it was set at £5 per month for a further 3yrs.

The total amount was eventually paid including court fees... and the debts totalling some £4000 pounds were discharged.

One of these debts was a £2000 loan I was unable to repay due to health and being unable to work from the Alliance & Leicester.

Each creditor was notified and had the chance to object to the admin order, none did.

Each creditor would have been notified and a portion of the monies paid to the court issued to them as a final payment on the debt and all debts were then discharged.

Monday I received a letter from a debt collectors trying to collect just over £2000 on behalf of A&L

This would be the first bit of mail I have received regarding this (now discharged) debt in more than 10yrs, and I'm rather ****ed of about it.

Rather than contact them and hurl abuse I am wondering what I should to ensure they understand and never contact me again.

As the debt was discharged and A&L know this, why are they sending/selling the debt to DC agencies and can I take qction against them for that?

Should I simply ignore the DC letters as they have no legal right to be pursuing it at all?

As it's been so long since any contact about it, I am wondering if there's any kind of statute about pursuing these things... I have heard that if you acknowledge a debt it's a bad move. So I am not going to acknowledge anything at all.

Help would be most grateful on the matter... I finally after years of poor health (which continues), have managed to remain debt free (aside from a small authorised overdraft I dip into occasionally) for at least 4yrs and I would like to continue being debt free for many years to come.

Cheers

Heckler... Why dont you just "Heckle" at them ^__^

Right, if its been discharged then that itself is enough to consider the debt unenforceable. But on top of that... the administration order in 2001 and then the payments you say would take it too 2k5...

Think on top of that SB status is normally 6 year after the last payment anyway...

Id think you do good contacting them by letter (Of Course) and telling them that its been discharged...

Although we normally say wait until they send something of value, id say nip it in the bud now.

As it was finalised and discharged back in 2005, and I've moved twice since then... I don't know how they found my current address, nor do I have any details of the original admin order.

What is the legal situation of companies chasing debts that no longer exist?

What if this company simply sells it on to another DC, it's quite common for them to sell on debts they can't recover.

Obviously I want this stopped immediately, but I don't want it to come up again in a few months or a few years.

Is there a legal statute I can reference that says they cannot collect on a debt that hasn't had a payment on it, nor any attempt to collect payment in over 12yrs... Because that's the last contact I had with A&L when the Admin order was granted... They never wrote to me or chased the debt again after 2001.

What type of loan was this ? Secured/unsecured ?

I think you have two lines of attack. One that it is almost certainly statute barred. The other that it was subject to an administration order from which you have now been released. I guess you could always give them the administrator's details, would that work ?

Will ask others on the site team if they have any thoughts.

Hello there.

I would write to them explainin that it has been complete discharged buy the AOE (supply evidence if you have it). I would aslo point out that even if it wasn't discharged it would be time barred under the statute of limitations.

- Seq.

It was an unsecured loan of £3000 taken out in 98, unfortunately I became ill just a few months later and was unable to work full time for many years. I got into debt with payments and eventually applied for the admin order as I saw no way to get out of debt at the time.

Hello again,

I really like administration orders - I think they are incredibly underused. There has been signficant lobbying over the years to increase the minimum amount from £5,000 to £15,000. Perhaps one day it'll happen. Do you still have any of the paperwork?

On the face of it, I can't see there being anything tangible that these guys are going to be able to do to you.

If any forum readers are wondering what an Administration Order is, take a look here: http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/factsheet.php?page=09_administration_orders

If I recall, one of the criteria for being eligible for an administration order was having at least 1 count court judgement against you, and the total debts being under £5000.

It saved my bacon, and in my case as I was struggling with health and not working full time during all of it... Inc the court fees and so forth, I paid a total or around £300 on just over £4000 of debt... What's more is that I was able to lump in every debt I had at the time... I basically allowed me to start again with a clean slate, I waited until 2007 before I even considered getting anything on credit again... Only doing so because I desperately needed a new bed to help alleviate severe back problems.

I still don't believe in credit, I'll save up what I can and pay cash... it taught me to be far more careful with money.

Well I'm glad you're at the other end, and I hope you can guide and support the other folks we have on here with your experiences.

Oh I hear you on the back thing, a new bed works wonders.

I have good news and bad news.... this may take some explaining.

I contacted the court in my old home town for details about the admin order.... Only for them to tell me it wasn't complete and the final payment was outstanding.

Now here's where things get tricky... I was very ill back then and missed the last few payments... didn't even realise it, I wasn't keeping on top of bills or anything and it slipped under the radar... Letters from the court either didn't arrive or went unopened.

So after speaking with them back in early 2007, we filled out an application to have it reinstated, and full payment would be made. The hearing was set for April 2nd 07 and the order was reinstated and I know for a fact... 100% that full payment was made that same day.

The court have all of this on file... except the actual payment itself. So as far as they're concerned right now... incomplete.

I have contacted my bank for statements that cover the period... in the hope that I paid by cheque (they didn't accept card payments back then)... But if I paid by cash... I have no way to prove it was paid.

(Insert lots of swearing and ranting here)

I would be willing to pay the final balance again if it would make this go away, it's about £79... I'll be ****ed as hell about it, but I'd rather pay it and make it all go away that fight debt collectors over the possibility of this being statute barred now. But I have no idea if the court will allow that after so long.

It's been almost 7yrs since all this was supposed to have been resolved...

Even if the AO wasn't completed the debt would be statute barred. Rather than make the payment I would go with the limitations argument.

Use the £79 for something fun, like a meal out.

Sequenci beat me too it :-P

Agree that it would be SB, regardless if the administration order was completed or not.

I got the statements today, and I didn't pay by cheque... I asked for statements 2 months either side of when they said it was reinstated... and I am certain that it was paid the same day right after I had the hearing about it... I was pretty sure it was paid cash, now I know for certain.

Had another letter from the DC, this time they're offering a 50% reduction if I agree to pay either in full or by installments.

Are they just clutching at straws hoping that I'll acknowledge the debt?

I am completely at a loss over what to do with the local court payment that I made in April 2007, but they are saying they have no record of. As I have no receipts from back then and it was paid cash... What do I do? I was going to write a complaint to them but I'm not sure how to word it.

Discounts normally mean they know its a bad debt. They just hope you dont. see sequencis post

Discounts normally mean they know its a bad debt.

This isn't really that true. Discounts are offered generally as a commercial decision. For example, the DCA buys a debt portfolio for 20p in the pound, they'll make a decent return even with a discount. Of course, there *may* be an issue with the debt - but to say that's the key reason why a discount is offered is likely to be misinformation.

This isn't really that true. Discounts are offered generally as a commercial decision. For example, the DCA buys a debt portfolio for 20p in the pound, they'll make a decent return even with a discount. Of course, there *may* be an issue with the debt - but to say that's the key reason why a discount is offered is likely to be misinformation.

Probably so, but that rarely happens unless they know the debt isnt worth pursuing, such as a debtors finances will never allow repayment in a reasonable time period.

Have we ever seen a discount AFTER a payment plan has been set up and paid a couple of times?

It seems to be a one way street...

Probably so, but that rarely happens unless they know the debt isnt worth pursuing, such as a debtors finances will never allow repayment in a reasonable time period.

Debts are sold enmasse every day of the week, and the portfoloios are massive - as such it's not really based upon the status of individual debts. You do make a good point, though, as debts which are not getting paid back quickly would automatically be placed in a pile to be sold. The process is incredibly automated though.

I know it's been over a year since I last commented on this thread..

. In the end I haven't done anything further about it.

I never received another letter from any DCA regarding it and I never responded to them acknowledging anything.

I've not pursued the Admin Order any further either as it's simply their word against mine that it was paid..

. and I am 100% certain that it was as a remember leaving the office after meeting with the judge/magistrate to discuss it,

walking downstairs in the courts and going straight to the payment counter to pay it.

.. It was one of the reasons why the judge granted it because I was going to pay immediately.

If I ever get another one, it will go right in the bin..

. if they take me to court I can counter with the whole statute barred argument and contact the courts with an SAR.

Totally irrelevant now, however, would there not have been a record of the payment in the court's accounts ?

Totally irrelevant now, however, would there not have been a record of the payment in the court's accounts ?

As I no longer live in the same town, I am unable to go there in person... but I did speak with them on the phone last year and was told that they had no record of the final payment on their system... and unfortunately I no longer have proof that it was paid... this was 8yrs ago... I've moved twice since then and have cleared out an awful lot of old paperwork that was no longer needed as far as I was aware.

I suppose I could do a SAR to them if I really need to... But unless some one actually comes knocking on my door about it... Letters will simply be binned and they can't add a 10+yr old debt to credit reference agencies... can they?

No, they cant put a 10 year old debt back on to your credit file