As I said before I will keep you all up to date on this matter. Once again Many Thanks for all your replies and reassuring words.

Hi UncleBulgaria67 Thanks for taking the time to reply on a Saturday night. Much a appreciated.

I think this Dubin Bank are going to try and pull a fast one and say they couldn't get hold of my friend for 12 years. But she isn't Jason Bourne. No one could stay under cover for that long and besides she's been in the BT telephone book and in the electoral roll and and has a credit file with Experian so she was hardly hiding.

What's an SB Defence?

I'm 'babysitting' my friend over the weekend in case she does anything stupid because of this bloody Dublin Bank business. 13 years of nothing from them and now this.

To dx100uk Many thanks for your replies.

She thinks she knows what triggered it. Something to do with a passport application that she needed for ID purposes.

They don't seem to be letting it go.

Bad news. My friend had another letter this morning from the Dublin Bank. They hadn't started any legal action in nearly 13 years but have now passed the matter to a firm of Dublin solicitors. They don't have a judgement against her. They didn't start legal action until now probably because they didn't know where she was until now. These three letters during the past 3 weeks are the only contact she has had with them in nearly 13 years. They are looking for €15,000 plus interest. The debt isn't secured (UNSECURED). This is the third letter. They say it's now in the hands of their Dublin solicitors. She hasn't heard from the Dublin solicitors. She hasn't replied to any of them. The Dublin Bank also threatening her with somethings called the Irish Credit Bureau and Stubbs Gazette. What are these companies? She has no money, savings or assets and is receiving mental health treatment. How would any judgement in Dublin that affect her credit rating in England if they get a judgement against her in Dublin with her English address? I told her that all this was finished but the woman is shaking so much at the moment. I can't speak with her. What should she do? What can I do to help her? As always. Many thanks

This is an update as at Monday the 8 September 2014. My friend has been advised by CAB (England), StepChange (England) and MABs (Southern Ireland) to sit tight and ignore the Irish Bank debt chasing letters because after failing to have any contact or payments (AFTER 13 YEARS) the issue is 'time-barred' and 'statute-barred'. Both terms 'time-barred' and 'statute-barred'seem to mean the same thing that because the bank or creditor didn't get a judgement they can't enforce the debt after 12 years. That's all we know for now. If I hear anymore I will let you know. Once again many thanks to all the people above who took the time to write, advise and re-assure my friend. X

Many thanks for all your replies so far. Very much appreciated.

So far they've sent two letters and the bank is saying "they may take action" which suggests to me that they haven't taken any legal action in 13 years against my friend. They haven't said that they've got a judgement against her. So it looks like the debt is time-barred. The problem is the legal situation is in Dublin, Ireland and no-one in the Liverpool area seems to know much about how the Dublin, Irish debt situation seems to work from a time-barred situation. I think it's that uncertainty that's getting to my friend. As I say, she's kind of old-stock and is having a hard time dealing with this. She's worried sick about getting a visit from any debt collectors. I need to get two things sorted for her: 1) A definite "Yes" or "No" that the debt time-barred because the Dublin bank hasn't legal actioned the debt in 13 years and they haven't got any judgement against her. Furthermore she hasn't been in contact with the Dublin bank or made payments to them during the past 13 years. 2) A template letter to send to the Dublin bank on her behalf to tell them to leave her alone because the matter is time-barred. I'm worried about the effect this is having on my friends mental health the doctor has increased her depression / stress medication.

I've said this to her and said that the Bank doesn't appear to have much of a case after 13 years but's kind of "old school" and get's very worked up about these things. She's crying and upset and worried that people will come to her door and neighbours doors (including the next door druggies) making inquiries about her and suggesting that she owes people money. She's a bit older in mindset then her late 50s years. She's practically dying of shame as it is. What kind of letter could she send to the bank? The Dublin bank are looking for a reply and repayment proposals and some money.

Thanks for all your replies so far. I've seen the two letters they've sent her and as far as I can see, they haven't taken any legal action yet in Dublin and are threatening legal action if she doesn't start making payments.

Hi This Is Urgent Ref: Dublin Bank starts legal proceedings against a former client after 13 years who has lived in England for 13 years Sorry about the length of this letter - I'm writing it for a friend and it's a bit complicated so please stick with me. Any advice and help will be much appreciated. My friend left Dublin, Ireland 13 years ago and hasn't been back since. She's in her late 50s so she's no spring chicken. She left in a hurry ( an abusive partner) and wasn't in a position to do the nice stuff like tell the bank that she was leaving Dublin or where she was going. At the time she didn't know where she was going herself. She had an unsecured bank loan (It wasn't a mortgage) of about €15,000 euro and she'd only had it a few months. At the time when she took out the loan she was in a bit of financial difficulty anyway and the the bank knew that - but they still gave her the loan. She made the first few payments but her ex-partner was hassling her and he forced her to decide to leave Dublin and move to Liverpool. She moved around England for the first few year and such was here state of mind that she forgot about the loan. She eventually got a council place in Liverpool and tried to rebuild her life but she was in and out of work with mental health problems as a result of the abuse. She has been at the same address for 12 years. She is on the Liverpool voting register and could easily be found by anyone looking even though she has a common Irish surname. She got tired of running and figure if her ex-partner was going to kill her so be it. She hadn't kept contact with any of her friends or family in Dublin for fear of being followed by her ex-partner. Then out of the blue she started to get letters from the bank demanding that she start repaying the loan because she hadn't made any payments for a while. It frightened her because suddenly all the stuff that she thought she had left behind 13 years ago was back. She hasn't made any payments or been in any contact with the bank since she left Dublin 13 years ago. My friend doesn't have any property or savings so couldn't make any payments other than a very small payment. She works in a place that pays minimum wage but she has got herself a credit card a few years ago and she now owes a about £950 and a bit. She used to be able to pay her card but she fell ill a few years ago and too out the card to make ends meet. She used to be able to pay off here credit card in full but these days the number of hours and pay that she gets is just enough for her to pay the minimum monthly credit card bill. What is the situation? Can a bank from Dublin, Ireland sue her in Liverpool, England for a loan that is now over 13 years old? The bank said in their letter that they would be starting legal proceedings so that suggests that they haven't done anything during the past 13 years - is there some statue of limitations? What should my friend do? She can't afford a solicitor and is gets frightened easily by forms and people in authority. Should she reply to the bank debt chasing letters? What should she say in the letter if she does reply? The bank mentioned something about the Irish Credit Bureau what is that and how could that affect her in England? Could the Dublin bank get a a CCJ against her in Liverpool, England? Could she be brought back to Dublin to attend any court or bankruptcy proceedings? If they start to bankrupt her in Liverpool or Dublin what would be her situation? The most she could afford to repay would only be a £5 against a €15,000 debt - would this be acceptable. She's thinking of moving from her council home to rent a place from a private landlord because the council have moved in a bunch of druggies next to her but she won't be able to move house if she has a bad credit record if the Dublin bank get a judgement against her? Any suggestions from anyone to help sorting out this mess. She doesn't want to run anymore from her ex-partner or anyone else. She says that she wants to sort her life out what's left of it. Many thanks to you all for reading this and sorry that it's so long. Thank You Patricia12