Ruthbridge limited

[not so goldengirl]

These guys are persuing me for an old abby overdraft of £2020. Have recieved several letters and now they are threatening to make me bankrupt! I have not replied to any of their letters so far. They are offering a massive 10% discount if i settle before 20th August.Any one know what steps i should take?

[unclebulgaria67]

These guys are persuing me for an old abby overdraft of £2020. Have recieved several letters and now they are threatening to make me bankrupt! I have not replied to any of their letters so far. They are offering a massive 10% discount if i settle before 20th August.Any one know what steps i should take?

 

How old is the debt ?

 

Last repayment date or admission by you that you owe the money ?

 

What are they threatening ? Is this is statutory demand you have received or are they threatening to issue one?

 

What is is the history of the debt ? Did Abbey send you a letter saying that they had assigned the debt to Ruthbridge?

 

With more information, people can suggest best way forward.

[not so goldengirl]

I think the debt is about three years old. Dont know the last repayment date (dont think i made one its all charges i reckon) they threatening me with bankruptcy no abbey did not send any letter

[harrassed senior]

Do you own a house, property, a car, if not bankruptcy is a meaningless threat.

 

10% is actually quite a small discount, 70% is a better one, which may come eventually.

[unclebulgaria67]

I think the debt is about three years old. Dont know the last repayment date (dont think i made one its all charges i reckon) they threatening me with bankruptcy no abbey did not send any letter

 

Ignore them for the minute and see where this goes . They are supposed to use normal court claims to enforce repayment and not the bankruptcy process.

 

Do Abbey still own the debt or did they sell it to Ruthbridge ?

 

Abbey should have written to you, if they were going to assign the debt to an outside debt collection agency. You might want to enquire with Abbey what letters they issued, by submitting a Subject Access Request under Data Protection. It will cost you £10 to get all the paperwork they hold on you, but you might find this useful to have at some point.

[not so goldengirl]

can they make me bankrupt?

[harrassed senior]

Well, I suppose the quick answer to that is yes. I believe the minimum amount for bankruptcy is £750. If you own anything such as a house, (they will check the Land Registry), a car, (DVLA) that they think would 'bring in' the required amount it might be attractive to them. However, if you have other debts, then this is a risky action for them because any profits of the bankruptcy would have to be shared out in proportion to the amount they are claiming.

 

The usual first step is, as mentioned a Statutory Demand, so if you receive this then you need to deal with that first.

[kandcmum]

Hi

I have had dealings with ruthbridge for about a year, it was from an old debt from yorkshire bank. I found ruthbridge very rude and a bit scary. They also threatened me with bankruptcy but as i don't own land, a house or a car then i don't know if they can do that. I have been paying £50 a month to them but recently i've not been able to make the payments because of a decrease in my tax credits i've lost over £300 per month. I've had no letters from them or other contact.

Any advice you could give me about this would be most appreciated.

Many thanks

[unclebulgaria67]

How old ? Was there ever a period of 6 years where you didn't pay anything or admit to the debt?

 

They have so many accounts I suspect, that they have not realised you have stopped paying. You will get letters/phone calls, once it is picked up on their accounts reports.

 

Sit tight. Wait for them to contact you. Then send them a letter asking for the original creditors CCA and push the account into dispute. You might get some hassle, but if Ruthbridge can't provide an enforceable CCA from the original creditors, they might just put a stop on the account and sell on the debt. Eventually if a DCA can't enforce, it will become statute barred, so cannot be enforced by a court.

[kandcmum]

The debt is years old, probably before 2000. I started the current arrangment Feburary 2009.

[Blondmusic]

If you havent made a payment on the debt from before 2000 and you started paying them in 2009 then the debt is Statute Barred. Send them the Statute Barred letter. The greed of Debt Collectors never ceases to amaze me.

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Acc/Ref No

 

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

 

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.”

 

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 payment of this alleged 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 us in the relevant period under Section 5 of the Limitation Act, we suggest that you are no longer able to take any court action against 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 CPUTR2008

 

We await your written confirmation that this matter is now closed and that no further contact will be made concerning the above account after that last letter.

 

We look forward to your reply.

 

Yours faithfully

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Ruthbridge have a reputation for making threats of all sorts of horrendous action over statute barred debts, they will usually back down if you do a CCA request.

Never phone them the Emmanuel Amissah tends to use a lot of alias's such as Jason Evans who seem to be head of every department as required.

I don' think there is a lot of proof they have ever carried out their threats.

[kandcmum]

Do I wait to see if they contact me first before i send the statute barred letter ?

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Let them take the lead, if they do contact you again let us see the letter.

Don't ever deal with this mob on the phone, I know from experience they can be very abusive.

[kandcmum]

ok, many thanks, i'll keep you informed

[kandcmum]

Hi

I've finally received a letter from "Jason Evans" at Ruthbridge today, basically saying that i've defaulted and that they are going to put it forward for doorstep collection or legal action. They've asked me to call them, which following your previous advice i'm not going to do.

What is the best course of action next ?

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Send the DO No Acknowledge ant debt letter.

Use the letter templates from the library, no home visits or telephone calls deal in writing only, they have no more right to come to your home demanding money than the milkman.

 

If I were in your place I would CCA them as well.

I don't know personally of them carrying out the threats they continually make

[pmhcfc]

I've never known Ruthbridge to 'own' debts that are not Statute Barred - unless they've moved their own

goal posts in the last three months that is...Well known fact that most (if not all) of debts they own are actually

statute barred.

[Huff&Puff]

Jason Evans is a figment of their imagination. As are the threats of "doorstep collection". You can safely ignore these muppets and they'll go away before long.

[kandcmum]

Does anyone know what other company names Ruthbridge trade under, maybe Hillesden Securities for example.

Regards

[unclebulgaria67]

Yes I think Ruthbridge and Hilsden securities are the same people. Also Direct Legal & collections.

 

What is the latest on this. Thought it was statute barred. If it is and they are still hassling you, there is another letter in the library to act as a follow up.

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

As far as I can find out they are on their own and it does seem that they usually

take on only the absolute bottom of the pond in regards to debt stuff every other DCA

has failed to collect SB etc.

They are strong on tracing services though for other DCA's looking for one last chance at a debt.

[kandcmum]

I sent the no acknowledge letter and cca request at the beginning of october and didn't hear anything till the other day when i got a letter saying the debt was owned now by hillesden securities, what other letter do i send them ?

regards

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Send as before do not acknowledge letter,with CCA request. £1 postal order unsigned for the fee. Send RD

[kandcmum]

Hi all

I didn't actually get round to sending any letters to Hillesden Securities ( i've not been too well). Today a letter has come from a company called Zinc Recoveries, i presume these are also some part of Ruthbridge. So i presume i need to send the do not acknowledge letter and cca request with £1 postal order.

Regards

Alison