Equidebt/wescot - chasing card not paid for +6yrs

[Halibutt]

All good advice as far as I can see.

 

But dp77 - in your initial post, you say that this is with regards to a very old credit card debt. Presumably, if this card was taken out before April 2007, then the original creditor or and subsequent DCA would be obliged to produce the original and fully enforceable agreement in order to be able to proceed with any court action to recover amounts they claim to be due.

 

Without that, it's just bluster and you can, as advised above, send the SB letter. Correctly worded, that shouldn't restart any SB clock.

 

By the time they've muddled through it all, more than likely, the whole thing will be past the SB date anyway. Problem solved.

 

Good luck!

 

H. x

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

I would say an SB letter is the way forward here.

 

If the following is correct the debt statute barred: 6 clear years with no payment or written acknowledgment of the debt,send this it DOES NOT AKNOWLEDGE THE DEBT SO DOES NOT RESTART THE YEAR CLOCK.

 

To the Compliance Manager

XXXXXXXX DCA

 

Ref: use theirs.

 

Sir/Madam,

 

I refer to recent correspondence regarding an alleged debt for £xxxx.xxx which you claim is owed by me, please take note I do not acknowledge any debt to xxxxx or any company it may claim to represent.

 

I have taken the opportunity to review my credit history and have concluded that any such alleged debt is statute barred, therefore I will NOT now or at any time make any payment or offer of payment in regard to the alleged debt.

 

I remind you that if xxxxxxxx disputes the status of the alleged debt the onus of providing unequivocal proof that the alleged debt is not statute barred lies entirely with your company, statements that ''mystery''payments were made at any time are not acceptable as proof that any such payment was indeed made.

 

I am fully aware of the OFT Guidance on Debt Collection 2003/2012 and the sections regarding the pursuit of statute barred debt.

 

XXXXX will now cease to process all data relating to me and remove it from its records.

 

This is my FINAL RESPONSE.

 

Send by RM Recorded Delivery.

[dp77]

Hi (Halibutt)- That is correct, the agreement would have been from pre 2007 and I know for a fact they don't have the original agreement, or even a scan of it. They could possibly reconstitute one, but it wouldn't hold up in any due process. I learned the hard way not to take these things personally and that firing off letters and spouting consumer law can get you into trouble, so I'm inclined to let it go.

 

I managed to negotiate my way out of a truly dire debt mountain a few years ago and the only creditor I couldn't reach agreement with was the one I choose to argue with. I got totally stitched up, fake agreements, scans posing as originals, offer letters "lost" in the post, court papers mislaid, outright lies on witness statements, lost payments, fake charges, just about everything you can think of, from a high street 'name' lender as well. If I'd had a decent lawyer I could have nailed them but I couldn't afford one and they knew it. Relying on the Judges mercy at a hearing after a plea of "I've been stitched up" was not an option.

 

I won't send a letter or enter into communication of any kind unless it's absolutely necessary and even then I try to avoid the template stuff, simple, impersonal and don't pretend to be a lawyer.

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Well it's your choice of course, but if you want to be rid of this one and for all the letter drafted is NOT a template and is desingned for your situation.

One way of establishing if a debt is statute barred is, is it on your credit files? If it is not the entry was removed on the 6th anniversary of the defaut date, so as the cause of action ie the date a payment was due and not made after which no further payment was ever made is often 5-6 months before the default date one can conclude the debt is statute barred..

[dp77]

I've noticed a large number of searches by a company I have no connection to; Lowell Portfolio. These are listed as 'unrecorded searches' , which I understand means only I can see them but does the Data Protection Act not offer any protection in terms of who can search my file?

 

This is a company I owe nothing to, I have never been contacted by them, I have never had any dealings with them yet they have searched my file multiple times. I understand a would be lender can access my file but this is not the case here.

 

Should I write and ask them what right they have to access my personal financial data? Or is that simply awaste of time?

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

The searches are for tracing an identification purposes and you are correct they are seen only by you.

As to ''protection'' regarding who may search your files the following is what authorises such searches

is to be found in the terms and condition of an agreement regulated under the Consumer Credit Act 1974

(as amended 2006/20120) where when a ''customer'' signs the agreement he/she accepts that the creditor

may at any time report to CRAs on the conduct of the account, therefore if a debt purchase company such

as the Lowell Group has acquired an account from one of the debtors creditors the rights and obligations and

the ''benefits'' of the original agreement pass to the debt purchaser.

 

These searches may be challenged on the number and frequency of the searches.

 

Any complaint should be made to the Data Controller of the company making the searches, and should contain this statement: ''I do not acknowledge any debt/liability to Lowell''.

 

The letter should be sent by recorded delivery and its receipt should be checked.

 

For info. DO NOT use a PO BOX No. Just 1 Apex View, Leeds LS11 9BH.