1st Credit chasing debt older than 6 years old

[ziggy68]

I have recently returned to the Uk after living abroad from Summer 2001 until January this year. I have had 2 letters sent to me by 1st Credit stating that I owe money with 2 separate Barclaycard accounts and that they have been assigned the full outstanding balances. The letters are dated 29/05/2008. I have just received a further 2 letters purporting to be from Barclaycard saying that on 03/06/08 my account was assigned to 1st Credit finance. I say purporting as the letter is virtually identical to the ones from 1st Credit. Also, the date that the debt was assigned is actually after the date that 1st Credit say they were assigned the debt.

As i have had no correspondence with any company with regards to any debts since I left the Uk in 2001 I have sent a letter by recorded mail to 1st Credit which was a sample letter from the National Debtline

 

 

 

SAMPLE LETTER H

 

THIS LETTER IS DESIGNED TO HELP YOU DISPUTE LIABLITY FOR A DEBT WHERE A CREDITOR HAS NOT CONTACTED YOU FOR OVER SIX YEARS AND YOU HAVE NOT MADE A PAYMENT OR WRITTEN ACKNOWLEGING THAT YOU OWE THE DEBT DURING THIS PERIOD.

 

 

 

Your Name:

Your Address:

Date

 

To:

 

WITHOUT PREJUDICE

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Account No:

 

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

 

I/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".

 

I/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 correspondence/payment/acknowledgement or payment of this 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 me/us in the relevant period under Section 5 of the Limitation Act, I/we suggest that you are no longer able to take any court action against me/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".

 

I/we await your written confirmation that no further contact will be made concerning the above account and confirmation that this matter is now closed.

 

I/we look forward to your reply.

 

Yours faithfully

 

(Your signature)

 

 

I was wondering if there is anything else I should be doing? I am still waiting for a reply from 1st Credit.

I understand from this forum that any information about bad debt on my credit reference files is removed after 6 years? Do I need to request for this to be done or is it done automatically?

Thank you for your help.

[42man]

Spot on Zig, don't sign it and send it by recorded delivery....(ah yes do as Babybear says below haha)

Edited June 6, 2008 by 42man

[babybear39]

Take out the 'without prejudice' as you won't be able to rely on it in court if it ever came to that.

 

Put instead I DO NO ACKNOWLEDGE ANY DEBT TO YOUR COMPANY

Edited June 6, 2008 by babybear39
oops spelling again

[ziggy68]

Thanks for your advice but unfortunately I had already mailed the letter so could not change the wording. I have had a reply today from 1st credit. It states ' I refer to your recent communication advising 1st Credit that you have a dispute/query in relation to this debt. We will shortly be contacting our client to advise them of your comments. We will contact you with our client's reply in due course. This process may take at least one month. '

They then go on to ask for a contact number so they can deal with this matter quickly and efficiently.

Obviously after reading numerous posts on this site my number will not be given to anyone.

I was however, under the impression that 1st credit were the 'client' in this case. Especially as they initially said that they have been assigned the full outstanding balances.

Should I just wait to hear from them again or is there something I should be doing in the meantime.

thanks again.

[Rahl]

Keep those notice of assignment safe , if it describes the wrong date it makes the notice invalid and something else to add to your defence, should it go to court .

 

W.F. Harrison & Co v Burke (1956).

[Rahl]

Email them another statute barred letter , this time with 'without prejudice' removed and ' I DO NO ACKNOWLEDGE ANY DEBT TO YOUR COMPANY' added instead. Then the email version is one you rely on in court.

[ziggy68]

I will do this. A quick question.. do the same laws apply to email harassement as they do to telephone calls? I am sure if I email them I will be flooded with emails.

[Rahl]

Well email spam is not so bad from a dca , once you have sent your SB letter you will be wanting to contact the OFT if they persist in chasing you. And email spam, as opposed to letters , do not need to be scanned etc to be forwarded to the OFT . Let them send as many as they like , all the more incriminating for them . You could use a email address you do not use often or make a hotmail / yahoo one etc if you like.

[ziggy68]

Well, I have just heard from 1st credit again. This time they thank me for my recent communication and state that the contents of my letter have been noted. they then go on to ask me to call the office as a matter of urgency to discuss the matter. I find this very strange as it doesn't really match what they said in their last letter (see above). Is there anything I need to do about this and if so I would appreciate some advice as to what.

Thanks again.

[Percival Wigglesbottom]

There is no urgency , do not contact them. All they need to do is provide the required evidence that it isn't statute barred, and this would be a communication from them to you.. in writing. There is no valid reason for you to contact them whatsoever, especially by phone.

[PGH7447]

yeah DONT CALL THEM

[JonCris]

Do NOT call them they want your no & they want to trick into making an admission. It's an old trick often tried by 1st credit who specialise in trying to recover time barred debt

 

Don't phone as even if you withhold it or are ex directory they may have a system that can bypass it. the beeb do

[ziggy68]

Thanks guys-I thought that I should ignore it but wanted to make sure. Appreciate your help.

[Percival Wigglesbottom]

Did that letter by any chance, also include their usual requests for payments etc, giro slip at the bottom ? They usually can't send a letter without including some reference to a payment somewhere ..

[ziggy68]

All it gives are the so called debt details. There is no actual request for anything other than to call

[JonCris]

No payment slip ......... Trying to lull you into a false sense of security me thinks;)

[ziggy68]

I am sure they will remember to send me one soon.

[ziggy68]

I still haven't heard from 1st Credit since the last post. Is there anything else I should be doing?

Thanks

[babybear39]

Not until they contact you again. Then post here and we can advise.

 

You never know, they may even write stating it is statute barred

[ziggy68]

Thanks for that. Doubt it will just go away but I can always hope.

[babybear39]

Remember the golden rule, they have to PROVE it isn't statute barred

[Captain Spaulding]

In the same situation - check this thread

[ziggy68]

Thanks CS. Very interesting. Now i know what to do when they finally get back to me.

[Captain Spaulding]

Currently I'm providing written complaints to trading standards, going through their complaints procedure, using CPUTR regs to complain to the Office of Fair Trading and if the complaint is not resolved in 8 weeks will forward it to the Financial Ombudsman Service

 

Hopefully somewhere along the journey 1st might get the message