Sb'd Natwest credit card

[sabby1978]

Several weeks ago i recieved a letter from a company called pace forward saying that i owed them money but they did not say what the money was for and so following suggestions on here i ignored the letter and waited to see what happened. I then recieved a letter from Rockwell Debt collection agency (who i believe are the same organisation).

 

Following suggestions on here i sent a request for the original credit agreement. They have now sent a letter back saying that they cannot comply with my request to provide the original credit agreement and they acknowlwdge that they cannot enforce this debts through the courts but that the debt is still valid under section 77(4) CCA and cited te recent case of McGuffick v Royal Bank of Scotland. The letter states that they have the right to register any default with credit reference agencies and says that i need to make realistic payments within 7 days to avoid recovery action.

 

This debt is nearly 10 years old and was incurred when the bank decided they wanted to give a student a credit card with a 3 1/2 thousand credit limit. I am just starting to sort my finances out and am not in a position to pay any more money out as i am a single mum working part time hours and am already struggling. What does all this mean and is there anything else that i can do?

 

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[FORMISTER]

If you haven't paid or acknowledge this debt in the last six years then the debt is statute Barred and unenforcable in court, plus they have no agreement. This means that they cannot take you to court.

 

Furthermore, if it was defaulted 10 years ago then it already has come off of your credit report. They cannot add another default to your report, it has to be added within 6 months of the account being in default.

 

So game over for them really, if what your saying is correct

[FORMISTER]

When you say the debt is ten years old, was this the last time you paid it?

[FORMISTER]

The letter states that they have the right to register any default with credit reference agencies and says that i need to make realistic payments within 7 days to avoid recovery action.

 

They can't register a default 10 years after, this would of been done by the origional creditor. recovery action? There is nothing they can do .

 

I would report them to the OFT for their letter, it is designed to panic you and worry you into paying them money, when they know you don't have to. It is a breach of the rules.

 

Also send them the statute barred letter in the CAG library, if you are sure you haven't paid anything for ten years. But don't if you unsure or you have made token payments

Edited January 30, 2011 by FORMISTER

[DonkeyB]

Subbing

[sabby1978]

Hi there thankyou all for your advice. Just to confirm no payment has been made on this debt for nearly 10 years. I initially tried to contact them (nearly 10 years ago) to come to an arrangement to repay as i was unwell and not able to work but they refused to accept the offer that i made, so i just stopped paying.

 

Again thankyou for the advice i shall send the letter tomorrow:-):-)

[FORMISTER]

Not a problem

[DonkeyB]

I’m wondering what ‘recovery action’ they are going to take when they have admitted they cannot enforce the debt through the courts?

[FORMISTER]

I know DB, this is missleading to the OP. Absolutely nothing they can do other than say "please please please pay us the money".

[Bazooka Boo]

I Lurrrrvvve it when DCA's are as foolish and inept as this!! COMPLAINT CENTRAL!!

 

Firstly to the OFT&TS via http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/contact

 

Then you local MP http://www.writetothem.com/

 

I see they are not members of the CSA, so that will be indicative of their uneducated company!

[sabby1978]

Thank you all again, i am just about to write to them and will put in a complaint about them later this week.

 

I was wondering what recovery action could be taken by them, so thank you for clarifying that there is none, I had visions of them sending bailifs to my home.

 

This site is amazing.

THANK YOU:-):-)

[FORMISTER]

Only a judge can order bailifs to your home, and thats only after a ccj is awarded and then enforcement is granted. A DCA has no powers

[alipepper]

In August last year I received a letter from Pace Forward and then subsequently Rockwell and following advice sent them the letter requesting confirmation etc. I have had no reply to this. Today I received another letter from Rockwell for another completely different debt with a different bank that I have never dealt with and diferent ref numbers. Should I send the same letter as last time or go straight to the OFT? I don't want this to be ongoing with new threats every few months.

[Bazooka Boo]

Straight to the OFT&TS via http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/contact

 

Ignore them, if you contact them, they will simply continue to harass you, so ignore them, there is nothing they can do.

[sabby1978]

Hi all, i was on here a few weeks ago asking advice about a debt that Rockwell is trying to collect on behalf of natwest. Initially, I sent them a letter for the original credit agreement which they could not provide but still demanding that I paid. I then sent a statute barred letter from one of the templates on this website. I thought that the matter was over but to my surprise this morning I recieved a letter from them saying the following:

 

" We acknowledge that your account is statute barred. However, this does not make the agreement void.

 

Whilst we are currently unable to take legal action toenforce the blance this does nt affect the validity ofthe debt: therefore as the debt still does exist we are entitled to carry out any actions that do not amount to enforcing the agreement including the following:

• Demanding payment
  
• Charging interest
  
• Transferring the debt to a third party
  
• Registering the debt with a credit reference agencyand issuing a default notice.
  

In respect of any claim made that this debt is in 'dispute', we agree that the Agreement is unenforceable in a court of law as explained above however the money lent to youhas not been repaid. As neither of these facts is in dispute, we consider the matter resolved.

 

However, our client is willing to consider a significant reduction to the outstanding balance, in order to bring this matter to an early amicable conclusion. We can consider any offer.

 

( here they talk about reducing the debt to just over £1000)

 

If no further contact is recieved in the next 14 days further collection activity will continue,

 

Yours sincerely

Rockwell debt collection agency.

 

Prior to recieving this letter I thought the matter was over and I am now unsure how to proceed. In my last letter I spoke about the fact that the original lender would have registered the default notice so what they have said above has confused me. They also do not have the original credit agreement and the debt is statute barred, I have made them aware of this but still they keep writing to me.

 

I have recently re-started medication for a long term mental health condition and am feeling very fragile and am not sure I can handle this at the moment, any advice that could be offered would be greatly appreciated.

 

Kind regards:|

[harrassed senior]

There are 'guidelines' on this, I will try and find them, or another cagger will, don't worry too much they will get sick and tired in the long run, just ignore them. I had 2 statements of Account today, both accounts are well SB and they have been told, but it does provide fuel for the fire on these cold nights

[cerberusalert]

Whilst we are currently unable to take legal action toenforce the blance this does nt affect the validity ofthe debt:

 

If they continue to pursue they are in breach of OFT guidelines and you should make a complaint to your local Trading Standards.

[cerberusalert]

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/oft664.pdf

 

2.14 In the past we have dealt with a number of statute barred debt cases governed by

the Limitation Act 1980, which applies to England and Wales. Based on that

experience our position with regard to England and Wales remains:

a. we accept legally the debt exists

b. it is the methods by which the debt is collected that can be

unfair as follows:

• it is unfair to pursue the debt if the debtor has heard nothing from

the creditor during the relevant limitation period

• if a creditor has been in regular contact with a debtor before the debt

is statute barred, then we do not consider it unfair to continue to

attempt to recover the debt

• it is unfair to mislead debtors as to their rights and obligations, for

example, falsely stating or implying that the debt is still legally

recoverable and relying on consumers not knowing the relevant legal

provisions, and

• 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.