Chased for old debts in England? Get them written off easily!
MY BACKGROUND STORY:
In 2001 I lived in a flat with a mortgage that was paid for by my £24K a year job. Unfortunately I was made redundant and I suddenly found myself on just £55 a week receiving Job Seekers Allowance benefit (it’s increased with inflation since 2001). My mortgage alone was far more than my entire income and the council wouldn’t pay any housing benefit. I didn’t have any insurance on my mortgage and was in real trouble. At the time I had credit cards and a couple of loans that I was paying while in employment, but obviously paying these was totally impossible and I was told that they were low priority debts. I eventually lost my flat and ended up in awful temporary accommodation, leaving behind loads of debt that I simply couldn’t pay on benefits. My bank account was closed due to debts and I was hounded and threatened for debts I couldn’t possibly afford.
8 years later my life has moved on completely. I’m living in a new flat near the centre of Birmingham and things are getting better. A few years ago a few creditors started threatening me again and my debt advisor wrote to them asking them for proof of acknowledgement of the debt within 6 years and they didn’t reply leaving them off my back ever since. I even managed to get a current account again recently as my credit history appears to be on the way back to normal again.
In August 2009, I suddenly received a letter asking me to contact a number urgently using a reference number. I found it was for a very old debt dating back to 2001 that I couldn’t possibly pay at the time. I only owed around £200 as I’d been paying it in instalments until I lost my job, but they said I owed over £1000 which was ridiculous. No correspondence had been received for this debt in any way what-so-ever for at least 7 years and I’d made no payments or acknowledgement. This debt is legally totally unenforcible although the debt collectors will often do anything to trick you otherwise.
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HOW TO GET 6+ YEAR OLD DEBTS WRITTEN OFF EASILY IN ENGLAND:
Firstly my advice is DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THE DEBT! If you receive any debt letter, I advise you contact a trained debt advisor ASAP before calling them or getting into any correspondence. If you must contact them or if you are tricked into calling them or if they call you, the first thing one should clearly say is, “This is without prejudice” and don’t let them trick you into admitting the debt or making a payment as this will start the 6 year period again even if over 6 years have already gone by. From my personal experience, most debt collection organisations will use all sorts of scare tactics to make out that the situation is much worse than it really is to frighten you to pay and admit the debt. For instance, I’ve even been told that they will contact the police and have me arrested for fraud if I don’t pay when it’s a standard unsecured debt that’s well over 6 years old that I couldn’t pay at the time simply because I was made redundant. In this situation there’s most certainly no fraud committed as my correct details were given when taking out the loan originally and it was my intention to pay it, but the debt collectors still tried this on. I’ve been told that bailiffs will be coming on a debt over 6 years when without any County Court Judgement (CCJ), bailiffs can’t possibly attend and there wasn’t any CCJ registered against the debt. The creditor can be really nasty, threatening and often very unpleasant, don’t be tricked into thinking you have to pay a debt that you don’t!
If it’s an unsecured debt and it’s over 6 years old and you haven’t made a written acknowledgement or payment of the debt for over 6 years, then as long as there’s no County Court Judgement outstanding on the debt, it’s extremely easy to get the debt written off and the creditors off your back permanently as English law is on your side. An unsecured debt is a debt taken out without any security backing it up, E.g. your home or your car, it includes all major credit cards, overdrafts, store cards, standard bank loans Etc.
If the above is true, there exists an act called The Limitation Act 1980 and under 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”. These debts are NOT enforceable in an English court of law unless you are silly enough to slip up by either admitting the debt or if you decide to make a payment.
If you point out that the debt is over 6 years old and that you refuse to pay under The Limitation Act 1980, then it’s up to the creditor to produce evidence of payment or a written acknowledgement within the 6 year period. If after bringing this to the creditors attention, they cannot produce this evidence, then they have to stop contacting yourself on request. If they don’t stop harassing, sending threatening letters and/or phone calls for instance, they are breaking the law and which could amount to harassment contrary to section 40 (1) of the Administration of Justice Act 1970. See “PRE-WRITTEN LETTER & FURTHER INFORMATION” towards the bottom of this article. I suggest you send this letter initially to your creditor.
HOW TO CHECK YOUR CREDIT FILE INCLUDING ANY POSSIBLE CCJs:
You can check if there’s a CCJ (County Court Judgement) against your name for FREE by visiting http://www.annualcreditreport.co.uk/ and signing up. It is a totally free basic service, but you have to wait for a pin number to be sent through the post. Paid services are instant however and you get even more information although the free service provides enough information for most situations including CCJ, defaults Etc. Alternatively you can contact Equifax and/or Experian who are the 2 largest credit reference agencies in the UK.
If you have a CCJ on the debt in question, then if it’s over 6 years old, the creditor needs special permission from the court to pursue the debt. If there’s a CCJ on the debt that was registered against the debt after the 6 year limitation period, one can ask the court to “set aside” or remove the county court judgement so you can put in a Limitation Act defence. If you are in this situation, I strongly advise you seek professional advice ASAP.
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PRE-WRITTEN LETTER & FURTHER INFORMATION:
The above link also includes a letter to send to your creditor or debt collection organisation if you’re being chased for an unsecured debt without any acknowledgement for over 6 years as described earlier in this article. There’s some invaluable contact details for professional help and advice regarding debts. Read about how you can report the creditor to The Office Of Fair Trading if they continue to harass even after the limitation period has expired when they’ve been informed using the letter provided or similar.
If you’re suffering harassment because of any debt including debts after the limitation period has expired, please click here for important advice.
USEFUL CONTACTS & NUMBERS:
I am NOT a trained debt advisor!
For advice and guidance about debts, please contact your local Citizens Advice Bureau or The UK Insolvency Helpline on 0800 074 6918 or The National Debt Helpline on 0808 808 4000 or any other trained debt advisor. You’re not alone, there’s loads of brilliant totally free help and advice out there and remember, there’s no need to pay!
Here’s another link to a site named, “Yes debt free” for very useful advice on all debt problems in the UK, see http://www.yesdebtfree.co.uk for more details.
LEGAL DISCLAIMER:
As stated above, I’m certainly NOT a trained debt advisor and I therefore strongly advise you contact a professional trained debt advisor for help if you have any problem with debts. The information in this article is supplied as is, we don’t guarantee it’s correctness and we therefore don’t accept responsibility for any mistakes made no mater what circumstances are involved. If you choose to take the advice of my article, you do so entirely at your own risk and we don’t accept any liability as a consequence of following this unqualified advice. Some of this article includes my own personal opinions that shouldn’t be treated as definite fact. This article is without prejudice to any debt collection organisations or any other organisation in the UK. The information given is aimed at residents living in England in the UK, the law varies in Scotland and other parts of the UK. The card image at the top of this document was advertised as a royalty free image, if this is incorrect, please advise and I will remove it immediately. My full legal disclaimer applies to this articles and all other articles on this website.
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Comments:
Comment from admin
Time August 20, 2009 at 7:30 am 
RUTHBRIDGE LIMITED – NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS
Ruthbridge Limited (debt collectors) apparently specialise in Statute Barred Debts (older than 6 years without acknowledgement) and these debts are unenforceable although Ruthbridge Limited will allegedly lie and scare telling you anything to bully you into paying. They have a bad reputation for using scare tactics across the Internet and I’ve had personal experience of them lying saying they’re getting the police for fraud when it’s a simple unsecured debt from 8 years ago that was being paid over 6 year ago before I lost my job. Other people report them saying they are bailiffs when they aren’t threatening a locksmith and police to break in which is highly illegal even to threaten. They’re in serious breach of The Office of Fair Trading guidelines and shouldn’t be operating as a debt collector. Don’t fall for their tactics, don’t acknowledge any debt and send the letter off linked in the article above. If they continue to pursue, complain to The Office Of Fair Trading.
Comment from loobielicious
Time August 28, 2009 at 3:34 pm
R.E RUTHBRIDGE LIMITED.. ive just recieved a letter from these people stating that i have been traced and someone may call to my address, they tried tricking me into ringing them by sending me a letter addressed to “The Occupier” it was a blank piece of paper with just a number on saying “please call”, the number matches the number that is on the letter i have just recieved , there has been no contact with me and the creditors for over 3 years and has increased by £1500 so now it totals £2991, this debt has been passed to 2 or 3 companies now, shall i not acknowledge the letter, can they take me to court over this.
Comment from admin
Time August 29, 2009 at 4:49 am
Loobielicious, I firstly assume it’s an unsecured debt. If the last time you acknowledged the debt in writing or when you last made a payment was over 6 years ago, then unless there’s a County Court Judgement already, they can’t win in court over this and you should send them the letter as on this link. If your unsure whether it’s 6 years old or if it’s not 6 years old, then you can still write to them demanding proof of acknowledgement within the 6 years as often if it’s been passed around and they won’t be-able to produce this, but always title correspondence as, “without prejudice”. If they can’t produce this proof they have no option but to leave you alone or risk being prosecuted for harassment.
If they can prove you owe the debt within 6 years, then I suggest you seek help in setting up an IVA as they can only take off you what you can comfortably afford. The Citizens Advice are very good and have their own solicitors who can help you with debt problems, but there’s many other organisations that can also offer free help. DON’T PAY FOR HELP AS IT’S NOT NECESSARY! Paid debt advisor organisations will often negotiate regular payments with your creditors and will take a large cut out of your payments, E.g. You pay £100 a month, but only £60 is paying off your debts. If you want to negotiate regular affordable payments, free debt help organisations will also do this for you and are more likely to do a better job. They can even arrange to freeze the interest or even get the total debt reduced. Talk to them also about the unfair charges that have been added to the debt as they can’t just add ridiculous amounts. If you took a loan however, they can add the Interest that you would have paid throughout the loan term.
REMEMBER, IF YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THE DEBT IN WRITING OR IF YOU MAKE A PAYMENT, THE 6 YEARS STARTS AGAIN, EVEN IF 6 YEARS HAVE ALREADY GONE! So don’t just acknowledge the debt without considering your options very carefully first.
WHAT IF I IGNORE DEBT COLLECTION LETTERS, CAN DEBTS GO AWAY ON THEIR OWN?
In short, you might be surprised that sometimes the answer is in fact “YES”, they will in some circumstances eventually be written off in the case of unsecured debts only, E.g. credit cards, unsecured bank loans, store cards, overdrafts, store credit, low priority bills.
If you don’t do anything at all after receiving a letter from a debt collector, they will most likely start sending you increasingly threatening letters telling you that you will be taken to county court and the potential consequences given as a worst case scenario to attempt to frighten you. Occasionally they might even send you a reduced settlement offer if you pay in full within a certain time. Debt collectors will also often try to call you if you are on the phone if they manage to find out your number, but there’s nothing stopping you hanging up on them every time until they get fed up. They still can’t legally call you during antisocial hours and there’s a limit on the number of times they can legally call in a given time. If you speak to them they will often make out that the situation is far worse than reality and sometimes rogue collectors will even lie and tell you that they will have you prosecuted for fraud or that they have powers to seize goods even when this is illegal. Sometimes unpaid debts will be eventually passed to their own solicitors in the hope you will be frightened into finally paying when seeing a solicitors letter. Often letters will threaten debt collection visits, but this rarely happens and if they do visit, they have no more right of entry than Joe Bloggs on the street and if they won’t go away you can call the police.
If you still don’t respond after receiving various threatening letters and possibly phone calls, they will consider if it’s really worth taking you to county court as they have to put up the initial costs. Small debts are rarely taken to county court and sometimes even large debts are eventually just written off. If taken to county court, you become liable for the court costs when you lose, but they have to weigh up amount of the debt with the likelihood that they can enforce the County Court Judgement (CCJ) and even with a CCJ, you can only pay what you can comfortably afford and if on benefits or low income, this could be just £1 a month which wouldn’t be seen as worth their while enforcing.
In reality many county court judgements aren’t ever enforced as even county court bailiffs haven’t got the right to forcibly gain entry to your property by causing any damage unless you’ve chosen to let them in on at least one occasion to mark up your goods against the debt, so even if it gets to the bailiff stage, always keep your doors and windows locked securely. Don’t answer the door to bailiffs and watch out when entering and leaving your property as once they have crossed your threshold they have the right of entry to remove goods for auction. If you have a car, avoiding bailiffs seizing it can be more difficult, ensure you hide it carefully and don’t park it close to your property or place of employment, ideally keep it locked securely in your garage. If you don’t let bailiffs in and don’t listen to their repeated threats which they will use, even they will eventually give up. Of course if you’re in employment the county court can apply for an attachment to your earnings that your employer has to agree to or if you own a property they can even apply for an order on this in rare circumstances. In the worst case and very rare scenario they could apply for bankruptcy, but this will only happen when you have masses of debts and when you own property that would be split amongst your creditors. If they do decide to take you to county court you will receive official documents with the date of the hearing, you must fill them in stating your income and outgoings. If you don’t fill out the court documents as requested, the court could order that you pay more than you can feasibly afford, in this situation you have to pay to apply to the court to get this corrected. I advise you seek professional advice if you do receive official county court paperwork as they can help you fill out the paperwork in such a way as to minimise your payments. It’s optional whether you attend county court, but with a CCJ I recommend you make payments to avoid all the hassle above. As long as you fill in the court paperwork properly, the court won’t ask for more than you can comfortably afford no matter how much you owe. Unfortunately registered CCJs aren’t bound by the same 6 year rule of limitation of normal debts, although CCJs this old are rarely pursued if there’s been no contact for this period and special court permission has to be granted to continue pursuing these old CCJs.
If the debt collector doesn’t consider it’s worth paying to take you to county court which will be the case in the majority of circumstances despite threats to the contrary, the debt will most likely be sold onto another debt collector and eventually the whole process will start again. Each time the debt is passed on it’s sold for less and eventually the debt won’t be worth buying at all or this will happen until the debt is over 6 years old when the debt either gets dropped or forcibly dropped when the person challenges it under the limitation law.
If you happen to move home during the 6 year period, there’s no law stating that you have to inform your unsecured creditors, it often takes more than 6 months for them to eventually track you down and sometimes much longer, this helps one get closer to the 6 year limitation period. In some situations, especially for some smaller debts, the creditor might even decide to write off the debt instead of spending time and money tracking you down. You can unofficially sometimes slow down and make it harder for creditors to track you to your new address by keeping the services you’ve signed up to at your new address to an absolute minimum and if you register on the electoral role, ensure you opt for the edited list so organisations can’t publicly see your personal information, but unfortunately if a creditor is determined enough to find you, they will eventually catch up with you no matter what you do.
If the debt has already been passed on to more than one debt collector, then it’s quite unlikely that the current debt collector will really take you to county court unless they have new information that you have come into money or property that will increase the chances of them successfully enforcing a county court judgement. It may not be nice receiving all these threats, but many people are told that debts will never go away on their own, well from my personal experience when I lost my job years ago, many debts will and certainly do go away eventually. After 6 years they’re even removed from your credit history.
High Priority Debts:
High priority debts are Mortgage arrears (on your home), rent arrears (you’re still living in the rented property), council tax arrears or magistrates court fines. These are a much more serious matter than standard unsecured debts and must be addressed very urgently, in this situation I suggest you seek professional advice immediately. With a high priority debt you can either lose your home or can be sent to prison if you fail to pay or keep to an agreed payment plan. These debts take priority over any unsecured debts. You should make arrangements to pay what you can afford urgently as these debts won’t go away. If you can’t afford to pay, you must seek professional advise immediately as they can do a lot to help you, please don’t bury your head in the sand.
Medium priority debts are utility bills like your electricity and water bills which still take priority over unsecured low priority debts. Incidentally, if you’re in arrears with your electricity supplier, you can legally request a prepayment meter that allows you to pay off the debt slowly instead of having your supply cut off.
Comment from admin
Time January 10, 2010 at 6:09 am
Cabot Financial Complaints
Cabot financial is another debt collection company that has been reported to use Ruthbridge Limited (please see previous comments) to attempt to collect statute barred debts as well as chasing some themselves using what’s been referred to in complaints as “bullying” techniques. In fact there’s been numerous complaints about Cabot financial and their threatening methods of collection. Please remember you don’t have to pay stature barred unsecured debts despite what the debt collection companies often try to tell you using sometimes quite threatening techniques, but DON’T ACKNOWLEDGE THE DEBT OR PAY ANYTHING in this situation or it can restart the 6 year period all over again! For more information regarding complaints about Cabot Financial, please click here.
(Disclaimer Addition: We are also without prejudice to Cabot Financial.)
Comment from admin
Time January 25, 2010 at 6:03 am
McKenzie Hall Chasing Statute Barred Debts
McKenzie Hall have been recently chasing a friend of mine for a statute barred debt that’s over 7 years old without any acknowledgement. He’s sent a standard pre-written letter to them (see article above) explaining this fact and I will update if he hears any more. Because of numerous complaints, this debt collection company has recently in April 2009 had formal conditions imposed against chasing statute barred debts by The Office of Fair Trading (OFT), please click here to see the full article, so if they continue to illegal chase this debt after sending this letter, he will report them as they risk losing their credit licence or being fined £50,000.
(Disclaimer addition: We are also without prejudice to McKenzie Hall.)
Possible Credit File Default For Statute Barred Debt
Another friend has noticed that he’s suddenly not getting accepted for credit after being chased recently for a statute barred debt despite successfully obtaining credit 6 months ago while keeping a 100% perfect record for well over 6 years. Defaulting someone’s credit file with details of a statue barred debt is against The Office of Fair Trading’s regulations and is very unfair, so if you suspect you’re in a similar situation, I suggest checking your credit file and if there is a problem you can get it corrected. I will also update after my friend checks his credit file for the suspected incorrect default.
Comment from admin
Time April 27, 2010 at 4:41 pm
Red Debt Collection Services Chasing Statute Barred Debts
(UPDATE: 10/05/10 – Debt now officially written off, please see comment 2 down for full details)
Red Debt Collection Services is a trading name of Lowell Financial Ltd (debt collectors). They have recently started chasing my friend for a debt that’s almost 8 years old without acknowledgement and it’s therefore statute barred. As usual he’s sent the standard pre-written letter to them (see article above) explaining this fact and I will update if he hears any more. Like McKenzie Hall, there’s various complaints about Red / Lowell for chasing statute barred debts that are not enforceable. If they continue we will be writing to The Office of Fair Trading as they are also breaching their guidelines by wrongfully stating that the debt must be paid and that it won’t go away.
(Disclaimer addition: We are also without prejudice to Red Debt Collection Services and Lowell Financial Ltd.)
Comment from admin
Time April 27, 2010 at 5:20 pm
An Even More Forceful Approach To Debt Collection Companies
If you’re chased for debts, one might be very interested in the way a particular person dealt with Lowell Portfolio (also Lowell Finance Ltd) / Red Debt Collection Services. He sent a letter demanding a copy of the credit agreement under his right under the legislation contained within section 77 (1) and section 78 (1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, where the creditor has to respond within 12 working days of the letter which he sent recorded delivery.
He also asked for a statement of his account and included a postal order for £1 for the statutory fee under the Consumer Credit Act.
Additionally he demanded a signed true copy of the executed deed of assignment for the above referenced agreement. He stated, “This is an obligation, whether you are the original creditor or not, under section 189 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.”
A similar letter can be sent for both stature barred debts and also debts within the 6 year limitation period as many debt collection agencies can’t comply and will be forced to stop chasing the debt, but always write, “WITHOUT PREJUDICE” at the top of any correspondence or similar to state that you’re NOT acknowledging the debt.
PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR FULL DETAILS – Scroll down to the bottom of the page and work upwards.
Comment from admin
Time May 10, 2010 at 10:37 am
Red Debt Collection Services – Debt Successfully Written Off,
…and other debtors have stopped further contact!
After my friend sent the standard statute barred letter to Red Debt Collection Services (also see the main article above), they have officially written off the debt with a letter quoted as follows:
“I am writing to inform you that after further examination of your account it has become apparent that it is now subject to Section (5) of the Limitation Act 1980 and such we have now closed the account and can confirm no further correspondence will be sent to you.
Please accept my apologies for any inconvenience caused by this matter.”
Wow, actually receiving an apology from a debt collection company is quite rare these days as they don’t like admitting they’re wrong, especially in writing, but it’s an excellent result that proves that the 6 year limitation law really does stand up to scrutiny. Anyway, full credit to Red Debt Collection Services where it’s due for sending this final letter.
Instead of admitting they’ve written the debt off in writing, debt collection companies usually simply stop contacting you completely when they’re unable to produce the mandatory paperwork within the 12 working day deadline. This is what’s happened with other creditors that have been sent the standard statute barred letter, but even is a good result. One should however always keep copies of all correspondence sent and received, plus remember to send letters by “signed for” delivery so you’ve got proof that they’ve received it. This is to prove that they haven’t produced the mandatory paperwork within the time period on formal request, which means the debt is now legally not enforceable whether it’s statute barred or not, and The Office of Fair Trading regulations states that they should NOT continue to chase unenforceable debts! If any debt collection company continues to ignores the law and/or regulations on this matter, you need to complain higher to The Office of Fair Trading themselves, but this is hardly ever necessary as both my friend and myself have never yet needed to take the matter this far at the time of writing.
Comment from debtor99
Time September 7, 2010 at 4:47 am
I have had letter about 9 year old debt (defaulted 2001) Threatening to register as default with crf’s
Can they do this? should I send statute barred letter?
Comment from admin
Time September 16, 2010 at 1:40 pm
Hello debtor99, sorry for the slow reply. Yes, definitely send them a statute barred letter as they’re just trying it on. DON’T ACKNOWLEDGE THE DEBT OR PAY ANYTHING as even if it’s over 6 years old since the last acknowledgement, it will restart the 6 years, they’re hoping you will slip up! Always clearly mark any correspondence with “WITHOUT PREJUDICE” or similar. Don’t phone them, if you already have, it’s still no an acknowledgement unless you make a payment over the phone, but from past experience, phoning them isn’t a good idea as you’ll get no-where and they can be extremely persistent, if not threatening. If they still persist after sending the letter, make a complaint to the Office of Fair Trading as they’re breaking the law.
Comment from uhoh
Time November 4, 2010 at 10:54 am
Hi there, I’ve recently been pursued by Lowell/ mckenzie hall with regards to a contract phone bill, said phone company wants the rest of the money for a contract that I stopped paying. Saying this the phone bill was from 3 years ago, I seem to remember a couple of letters from a different debt collection agency at my previous address but now two years later they have caught up with me, the first letter I have recorded from Mackenzie hall states that if u don’t get back to them by the 23rd of September then my case had been passed to nerit
Comment from uhoh
Time November 4, 2010 at 11:00 am
Hi there, I’ve recently been pursued by Lowell/ mckenzie hall with regards to a contract phone bill, said phone company wants the rest of the money for a contract that I stopped paying. Saying this the phone bill was from 3 years ago, I seem to remember a couple of letters from a different debt collection agency at my previous address but now two years later they have caught up with me, the first letter I have recorded from Mackenzie hall states that if i don’t get back to them by the 28th of october then my case had been passed to meritforce the doorstop collections agency and that they would be round to the house since Im living with my step mother at the moment that’s the last thing I need so I stupidely phoned them and demanded to know why I hadn’t received any correspondence until this threatening letter. The guy I spoke to was polite enough but demanding that I pay the amount in full for a discounted price but I can’t afford that and I would pay it off if they’d even let me pay if in 3 or 4 lump sums. I’m just really worried about them sending someone round to this house, does anyone have any advice about what I should do please?
Thankyou xxx
Comment from admin
Time November 27, 2010 at 2:17 pm
Not A Stutute Barred Debt – Demand a True Copy of the Credit Agreement
They often can’t do this and the debt is then void!
Sorry for the slow reply to uhuh, if the debt isn’t statuary barred as you suggest being only 3 year ago, then I suggest you firstly demand a copy of your credit agreement as if they cannot produce within 12 days, the can no longer chase the debt. You will need to send a £1 postal order making it clear that this is the fee required in exchange for the document request under the consumer credit act 1974 and always ensure you mark the letter clearly “I do NOT acknowledge ANY debt to your company”! This procedure is good to follow for other people in this situation as often debt collection agencies can’t get hold of the document required within the 12 day period which makes the debt null and void. If they do produce, then nothing is lost and you’re in the same situation as before where there are other options.
Example letter demanding Credit Agreement (I suggest you use the 2nd letter down):
http://www.penaltychargesforum.co.uk/showthread.php?21152-letter-requesting-credit-agreement
(2nd letter down)
If they do produce the credit agreement, then you have a choice to either to make an IVA (Individual Voluntary Arrangement) where you will pay what you can afford even if it’s only a couple of pounds a month (it doesn’t matter how large the debt is) or to ignore letters, but there is a chance they could eventually go-to county court if you ignore them completely. Whether they choose to take legal action depends how much the debt is for and the circumstances as they have to pay legal fees up front hoping that you’ll pay them eventually. They will finally consider you’re individual case and the likeness of you eventually paying if they do take you to court, but they will threaten this action whether they really intend legal action or not to attempt to frighten you into paying. If they don’t take you to court, often the debt is sold on again and it all starts over again. I suggest in the situation of them producing the credit agreement that you seek free legal advise from The Citizens Advice or similar as they are excellent as negotiating with such companies on your behalf, but don’t pay for this service to anyone as it’s not necessary. I don’t recommend that you call debt collection agencies under any circumstances unless a professional does this on your behalf as they can be quite forceful and unpleasant, plus they often try to get you to slip up and admit or agree something you don’t really want to.
Comment from Macgirl
Time January 17, 2011 at 2:24 pm
I used to live in the UK, and moved away in 2004 leaving behind creditcard debt. I am unsure of the amounts and have not been contacted by any debt collectors (to my knowledge)
I am currently going through to be a police officer and need to ensure my credit is clear, but am having trouble getting any information from outside the UK. Once I get a credit report, who can I contact to discuss my next course of action should there be outstanding debt?
I’m pretty sure it would be statute barred by now though, wouldn’t it? It has been 6 years — but what if it is still on my credit report?
Comment from gww
Time February 13, 2011 at 11:01 am
Hi
Just joined the site. I have a question regarding a debt I am being chased for by Lowell Financial. Is this the right place to ask it ?
Thanks
Comment from admin
Time February 18, 2011 at 7:34 pm
Hello Macgirl, I wouldn’t worry if an unsecured debt is older than 6 years old and you haven’t been contacted as it’s statute barred meaning that they cannot take legal action to reclaim the debt, plus it’s against the Office of Fair Trading’s guidelines to continue chasing statute barred debts once the debtors refuses to pay because of this. In other words, I’d only deal with these debts if you do get contacted where you’ll then be-able to easily get them off your back by sending a standard stature barred letter as detailed above. Any unsecured debt older than 6 years shouldn’t be on your credit file, but if it is, contact the relevant credit reference agency as you can file a notice of correction.
If you have a debt less than 6 years old, then it’s really up to you what you do, you can either wait for them to find you before the 6 years is up (they sometimes won’t or can’t, especially if you’re outside the country) or if you really want to you can choose to contact the creditor to arrange a payment plan based on what you can afford, but remember that once you make any offer of payment you’ve acknowledged the debt which starts off the 6 year period of liability again before becoming stature barred, this is the case even if you choose to acknowledge a debt that was stature barred, so be careful not to be tricked! If you live outside the UK, I doubt very much if they’ll be-able to force you to pay an unsecured debt in the UK anyway and I doubt if they’ll even try or find you.
Hello gww, you’re welcome to ask questions here or on the public shoutbox, I know Lowell Financial very well, don’t acknowledge the debt until you have decided on all your options available and it doesn’t matter how much or how little you can afford to pay it, there’s always options that won’t leave you financially in trouble no matter what threats Lowell or other debt collection companys throw at you, so please try not to worry.
Comment from nobucks
Time May 8, 2011 at 7:22 pm
Hiya newbie here, I have been dodging debt chasers for @ 3 years I have gone through 4 debt collectors, I have managed to get out of them with the “Unable to supply a copy of the credit agreement and up to date statements ” BUT now the loophole concerning the original credit agreement has been plugged is it true that the company has only to supply a true facsimile of the original credit agreement and NOT a copy of the original if its unavailable, if that is the case then most credit companies change their agreements regularly and a true copy of the original one will still be unavailable most companies dont keep them. (this is true in my case)
Comment from boomclart
Time September 3, 2011 at 5:11 pm
If a debt of 3 years or so is written off due to inability to provide a ‘true’ copy of the original credit agreement or as in the last post a facsimilie of the ‘original’ credit agreement then does this also get removed from your credit report or does it just remain on there for the full 6 years as defaulted account?
Comment from goldeneagle32
Time November 26, 2011 at 10:32 pm
Hi I am a newbee here and I have found some interesting comments here,
Forgive me for asking this but what you are actually saying is that if a debtor can not provide you with a copy of the original credit agreement not any repayment agreement with the collection company within 12 days that the debt is null and void?
If this is the case could you please advise me how best to do this?
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Comment from admin
Time August 20, 2009 at 6:38 am
3 IMPORTANT TIPS THAT COULD SAVE YOU £1000’s!
1) It’s often worth sending the letter in the article above requesting proof of the debt even if it’s not 6 years since the debt was last acknowledged as often the debt collectors don’t have the acknowledgement proof they need and then they have to drop the matter and this loophole could potentially save you thousands of pounds! This happens even more often if the debt has been passed on more than more to different debt collectors.
2) If a debt is proven by the creditor with a written credit agreement, acknowledgement or payment within 6 years, it’s NOT the end of the world as they can only take off you what you can reasonably afford, even a county court won’t take any more than you can afford in instalments even if this is only a few pounds a month off your benefits. If you receive an official stamped county court document, always seek advice and don’t ignore it or they can order you to pay more than you can actually afford if you don’t advise them how much you’re earning and spending on bills. You can also seek advice and draw up a IVA with your creditors (Individual Voluntary Arrangement), see http://www.iva.co.uk for some very useful help. It’s much better if a debt advisor draws up the IVA with you as creditors have to take notice then as they will know there’s no point taking you to county court as they won’t get any more money from you. Remember there’s loads of excellent totally free debt advisers.
3) If you have lots of debt(s), don’t just hide and bury your head in the sand, in the UK IT’S NOT THAT BAD as the government sympathise with debtors more than ever, meaning you have lots of legal rights! I know how depressing it is to keep receiving debt threatening letters that you simply can’t pay. Go-to a qualified free debt advisor as even if you owe £50,000+ and you are on UK benefits, things can honestly be done and a debt advisor can get the creditors off your back even if it’s at the bailiffs stage. Sometimes debts can even be written off. I was pleasantly relieved after my visit to Citizens Advice after seeing their qualified debt advisor (there’s loads of free advice and help from various organisations). They wrote to all my creditors and worked out everything for me at the time. Creditors have to listen to a qualified debt advisor and they are forced to leave you alone. DON’T WAIT – DO IT TODAY – YOU WILL FEEL MUCH BETTER!