I understand that an unsecured debt is statute barred six years after the last payment so long as the creditor does not obtain a CCJ during that period, and so long as the debtor does not acknowledge the debt in writing during that time. Does anyone have any reference material on what acknowledging in writing might look like? Any past examples of cases with samples of what would and would not count as an acknowledgement? I don't want to post some letters I sent here for obvious reasons, but I did send change of address letters which refer to "the account" and so on. Would like to get a better idea of how these would be treated.

Some urgent help needed please, back in 1995 i settled a county court claim and I had a judgement set against me whereby I was required to pay the plaintiffs costs of £2000 which was all legal aid and compensation of £1500 I arranged a payment plan with the legal aid board and have completely repaid them and the last correspondence from the plaintiffs solicitors was in 1995 asking how I proposed to repay the £1500. I faxed the solicitors then advising that I could pay £25 per month and since then never heard anything. Earlier this year I received a standard posted letter from a new solicitor requesting repayment of the £1500 which I ignored several months later I received another standard posted letter advising of the first letter and requesting a response again I ignored this I have now received a standard posted county court claim form requesting payment of the £1500 plus interest that makes reference to the settlement agreement to pay but does not mention judgement ? attached to it is the letter from the original solicitor asking how I proposed to repay the £1500 and a copy of my fax advising I could pay £25 on that fax and only now known by me is a handwritten note which I assume is the solicitors saying ask plaintiff to pay £1000 plus 5 x £100 payments but this was never communicated to me. Surely after 18 years this debt is now statute barred ?

Hi, Final question for today I think, what constitutes contact when considering a statute barred agreement? I've noted this in another post; "If the lender or owner has been in regular contact with the customer during the limitation period, the firm may continue to attempt to recover the debt." Surely if you write to a DCA that constitutes contact? If so how do you deal with them (other than ignoring them) or dispute anything? Or am I misunderstanding the requirement? Do you still have to admit the debt or pay something to restart the 6 year period again or is simply corresponding with them enough for them to say they are in contact? Confused ! Can anyone help? Bongo

Merry Christmas everyone. I have an outstanding debt that's been passed to cabot which I believe is statute barred. I've already fired off two statute barred letters to which they have replied that they belive it isn't. To cut a long story short, the credit card was taken out, transactions made but, no but no payment ever made as i was made redundant. the first late payment charge on the account was on the fifth of november 2007 with the account going into default in may 2008. This is the date that cabot are claiming the statute barred runs from. is this the case and if not when does it start from?

Hi, Been here a couple of times and had some good advice. I have a Statued Barred Debt from 2009 but I keep getting demands on a regular basis. I have now received a demand from a third company, the two previous ones I informed them of the situation, demanded that they remove my details from their records and assumed that they had complied. It would appear that they have sold on a LIST that still includes my details. How do I deal with this?

Hi All Can somebody tell me when does the 6 years start if no payment was ever made and no acknowledgement or any communication was made ?

Grumpyscot sent email asking the following question.. Hello. I would appreciate some advice. I am aware of thedifferences in time barring periods in Scotland & England. What I am notsure about is this. I live in Scotland but the creditor is based in England.Which time barring period applies? Thank you

Just a query really… My boyfriend is in debt and he had two big debt letters which I believe he hasn't made payment to for over 6 years (one is a definite, the other i'm not sure). I had some advice on here to send a letter requesting for the paperwork for both of these debts. I have done this and both debt companies got back to me within 12 days to say they have requested the companies for the paperwork. However it has been over a month now since I have heard anything, what should I do? Thanks in advance Sara

Hi All, In my absence as I was abroad, on 12/03/2013 IND Ltd made a claim for a credit card debt from 09/06/2006. I became aware of the claim and sent a registered letter to them on the 28/05/2013 stating I did not acknowledge the debt, asked to see the signed terms plus pointed out that it was statute barred ( which IND Ltd have ignored) with a copy going to the court to which I received a confirmation of receipt. This was after I received the Claim form on 9th April, Judgment for claimant on 02 May and Attachment of earnings order on 07 May. None of the above have been sent to me by recorded delivery so I was unaware of the proceedings. I have just been informed of another letter that was hand delivered without signature from maybe the court or IND Ltd telling me to reply in 8 days or attend court on the 30th of September. Can someone advise me on what I need to do as the initial first contact was 6 years 9 months from default date Thanks in advance

Hi Guys, I found this on the net this morning, but perhaps someone can clear something up for me. '' How long can a creditor chase a debt? This is dependent on the type of debt you have. The most common form of debt which people ask about in our forum is unsecured debts eg credit cards, personal loans, store cards, catalogues, bank loans, finance company loans etc. The Limitations Act 1980 states that when the following conditions are met then the debt cannot be pursue through the courts. The conditions are:- That the creditor has not taken court action against you, eg CCJ, AND You have not made any payments on the debt over the last 6 years,AND During the years, you haven't written to the creditor acknowledging that owe them money. As you can see all three conditions must be met in order for the debt to be "time barred". So the answer to the above question is 6 years.'' My question is, if the person who owes the debt does not contact the creditor if they move address, do these conditions still apply? When would the Statute Barred clock start, if it indeed does, if this was the case? I'm getting conflicting information on this, could do with a definitive answer Confused.com??? Buncrana

I wonder could I have some help on this one. I was served with Court papers from Restons chasing a credit card debt taken out in 2001. I returned the papers to the Court indicating I was defending the claim on the basis the debt was statute barred. Restons have now written to me with a copy of the signed credit agreement stating that I made a payment in 2008 towards this debt of £13.81 and to withdraw my Defence I know 100% that I never made this payment. I can't remember the last time I made a payment it was probably around 2003 or so. How do I respond to them? Thanks for your help x help x

Hi guys, Could do with some help. Rec'd court papers yesterday from MKDP regarding an old HSBC loan account. Have already filed my AOS and intention to defend the claim in full, but need some advice on my defence before I go any further. POC: The Claimant claims the sum of 2xxx.xx being monies due from the Defendant(s) to HSBC Bank plc under a bank account facility regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and assigned to the Claimant on xx/xx/xxxx. The Defendant(s) account number was xxxxxx/xxxxxxxx. It was a term of the bank account that any debit balance would be repayable in full on demand. The defendant(s) has failed to make payment as required by the statutory default notice served by HSBC Bank plc. The Claimant claims the sum of 2xxx.xx and costs. The Claimant has complied, as far as is necessary, with the Pre Action Conduct Practice Direction. Now there's a few things wrong here: 1. The account number provided relates to a bank account I held with HSBC. However, the alleged debt was a personal loan under a different number. This claim should be for a loan not a bank account. 2. I haven't made any payments or acknowledged this debt since sometime in 2006. It is 100% statute barred although defaults don't expire until early next year. 3. There are 2 defaults registered on my credit file for this debt. Both with different account numbers, one registered to MKDP LLP and one to HSBC, registered 5 days apart, neither account number relates to the one stated in the POC. Both defaults are for the same amount which is the amount stated in the POC. I'm quite looking forward to taking this on, but i'm unsure whether I should go down the standard statute barred defence route or if things are different because of the points I have made above. Thanks in advance for any help.

hi guys, i recently sent off a template letter to restons solicitors regarding an old o2 account telling them my o2 account that has been passed to them is now statute barred. they have responded with a letter stating the account was opened on or around 21 june 2005 and a credit in the sum of £8.50 was made on the 8th june 2008. i am 100% sure no payments were made then, i have no proof, but by the wording of their letter (the on or around 21 june 2005) neither have they. they are now asking me to complete a financial statement and return within 2 weeks or legal proceedings will commence. have i opened a can of worms here?? i am guessing i can ask for proof that the credit was made and that i made it? any help please friends and thank you for reading.

I have never heard of Statutee barred debt before. Today I read, debt can not be chased if 6 years has passed (5 years in Scotland) I have got several companies still chasing me for bank, credit card and payday loans debts all the way from, as far back in 2002. My mobile phone has got 60 different numbers on block from these people as, the companies tend to use several different numbers when calling. I also get letters daily from several companies The other thing that tends to happen is, I get a letter from a debt company for example saying "we are dealing with your Halifax debt", then after a while, the debt company sends my details on to another debt company, and then the same thing keeps happening after a while. it goes from company to company Here is an example from my noodle report: Account type Current Account Account number**********2812 0 Account start date 16/01/2002 Opening balance £ 2,343 Repayment frequency Monthly Date of default 04/03/2009 Default balance £ 2,343 So, how can they still be chasing me from 2002 if the debt is suppose to be cancelled after 5 years in Scotland? I also have about 6 others which are older than 5/6 years on my open noddle report P.S ALSO, in the closed section of my noddle report, it lists several other companies from longer than 6 years ago, but it says on noddle, they are suppose to be removed after 6 years??

good evening, i took a loan out back in 2007 in which i have never paid a penny (don't ask why i don't know). they have recently got in contact with me requesting a payment plan. someone has said this is possibly 'statute barred' due to the timescale, however the default date is 02/01/2010 so i took out the loan- 13/09/2007 defaulted- 02/01/2010 many thanks

In 2010 Lowell wrote to me demanding repayment of an overdraft from around 2006/2007. I sent a CCA request to them, and they eventually confirmed that they were unable to obtain the credit agreement from the creditor, and that they did not believe the debt was mine and would cease pursuing it, and that there would be no mark on my credit file. I heard nothing further until a week ago, when I got a letter from Lowell, not demanding any payments or anything, but just saying they wanted to 'confirm the information we hold is correct and up to date'. I have moved house since the previous letter in 2010. I did not respond to this letter. Now I have received another letter from red debt collection services (a 'trading style' of Lowell) demanding payment. I am not sure when a default notice was issued on the account or when exactly the account was closed, but nothing was paid in or withdrawn since 2007 at the latest. I think it must therefore be statute barred by now. Am I right in thinking that the CCA request does not count as acknowledgement of the debt? Should I send them a statute barred letter, or would I be better off with an SAR request at this stage? Or even another CCA request? Thanks.

I have told Lowell's that a debt is statute barred as it has been 6 and half years since last payment and they have replied that it is not statute barred because as a result of ''BMW v Hart'' limitations runs from the default date. This is for a credit card. Is there any truth to this or are they lying?

Any help with where to go from here would be greatly appreciated. Arden contacted me a few months back regarding a loan which I informed them was statute barred. After letters and phone calls pestering me, I decided to ask them for a copy of my original agreement hoping they wouldn't be able to obtain this and if they did it would let me perhaps claim the PPI on it as I remembered Lombard making this a condition of the loan. Arden produced a copy of the agreement and I have since informed them to stop calling me as the loan is statute barred, which they have so far complied with. The balance remaining on the account was £6798.50. Obviously I'd like to claim the PPI on the amount I paid but I'm not sure how to go about this as it's not as straight forward as a normal claim. I'll attach the agreement if anyone could shed a little light on the correct procedure I would be very grateful.

Last week I received a claim form from Northampton County Court from Lowells in respect of bank charges from years ago but I can't remember how long, I think it is over 6 years . This claim is for £296 the amount due under an agreement between the original creditor and the defendant to provide finance and/or services and/or goods This debt was assigned to/purchased by Lowell Portfolio Ltd on 24/6/2013 and noticed served pursuant to the law of property act 1925 Particulars HBOS Plc Please help, not sure what to do Many thanks

Hi everyone, Ive spent a fair amount if time looking through the site to try and find something to help me deal with this on my own but I became concerned that I may send the wrong letter and end up in a lot of trouble so thought it best to start a thread with my own individual case. Anyway, back in January 2008 a default was placed on my credit file by Lowell portfolio regarding a capital one debt. Since then I have matured financially and now I do not have any debts and my credit file is nice and clean, the default "fell off" in January this year due to it becoming statute barred, but I have now received a letter from Bryan Carter LLP Solicitors stating that they WILL issue court proceedings on 08/04/14 if the debt is not cleared. Can they do this? Do I need to send a letter stating that the debt is statute barred and therefore unenforceable? I'm quite concerned now as I am a homeowner and do not want this to affect my home. I have never acknowledged any debt with lowell or fredrickson international ( I have ignored them all to be honest as I knew it was due to become statute barred when they began chasing). Can anyone help please, with either a template, or do I just ignore them as I am starting to get quite anxious! Thanks in advance

Hi, I had an overdraft many years ago and I am not sure if it is statute barred. Luckily I haven't heard from anyone about it for a long time. I recently requested a SAR and it showed that the last time I made a payment was 30th August 2007, a formal demand for payment was made on 13th March 2008 saying a default will be placed in 14 days if payment isn't made. The account wasn't actually defaulted until 22nd August 2008. I've read different things and I am not sure when it becomes statute barred, 6 years after last payment or 6 years after the formal demand? But now I've seen some posts that say it's 6 years from the default date. Can anyone shed any light on this it has got me worried!!!!

Hi all; having an issue with a CCJ and wondering if anybody has any ideas? Have looked over the forums, but can't find a thread that corresponds to my issue. I've just received a Claim Form for an account that I last made any payments to/used in 2006. I was fairly certain that I had not acknowledged any debt; a friend had helped me draw up letters to any DCAs saying that the Account was disputed, and thought that I had always been careful to include the words 'alleged' and that I did not recognise any debt to whichever DCA was contacting me. This has always made any go away in the past. I was slightly worried however when I dug up an preliminary claim and letter before actions for bank charges that a friend had helped me draw up in 2009 and 2010 respectively. The amount I was claiming was slightly less than they were claiming, so I did not state 'alleged' or directly not acknowledge the accounts, but didn't directly admit to them either. The sections from each letter that I am unsure of are as follows (with particular emphasis on the parts in bold), from the Preliminary: '"I will give you 14 working days to reply to me accepting, unconditionally, my Claim in principle and letting me know a date by which you will credit this amount to my Account." from the Letter Before Action: "I require the reduction of the Amount you claim to be owing in full by the amount above (i.e. £***.**). If you do not comply fully within 14 calendar days, then I reserve the right to begin a claim against you for the full amount (as the total given above), plus the Interest accrued, plus my costs and without further notice." These were sent to the original creditor; the account was supposedly assigned to the new creditor in December 2011, despite my not receiving any paperwork to my knowledge at all from this new creditor (including any Pre-Action Conduct paperwork to me; as far as I am aware, this new creditor has not contacted me at all since the alleged assignment). I'm a bit unsure as to whether to claim that this is Statute Barred or not, as I am not sure whether or not what I have said above complicates things. Do people think I would be safe if I say that I 'believe' that this Account is Statute barred, or that it is 'to the best of my knowledge' and let them prove otherwise? Do people think this a safe/sensible thing to say on a Defence, and that this kind of langauge would cover me (as I am genuinely unsure), or would it look like I am trying to be misleading? I have just sent off my Acknowledgement of Service, so would very much appreciate anyone's input... Thanks all in advance

Hello Everyone, I am currently experiencing a few old debts coming out of the woodwork, so time to face up and sort it out. I'm receiving post at my parents old address from Lowell about a vodafone debt. Embarrassingly my parents accidentally opened one of the letters so now they are aware I have to sort it out. Now, I think this debt is statute barred. I currently have a mobile contract with voda, and have done since 2008, and have never had any communication from them about outstanding bills. I also checked my credit file and this voda/lowell debt doesn't show up at all. It could be possible that pre 2008 i had an old contract with them. I have also been through my bank statements and can see that pre March 08 (when I took out my current contract) I last paid vodafone in June 07. Now as it's not on my credit file, and this current mobile account is all fine and in good order on my credit file, i think this is really old. So should I just send SB letter? The other complication is that Lowell and Bryan carter are trying to CCJ me for another debt at the moment (you can see another thread I have posted). So a) Why aren't they writing to me at my current address like they are for this CCJ problem, and b) I'm scared that they might just hijack and try this voda debt too.Thanks everyone!

Just taking stock of all my finances and reviewing my situation I have a few debts that should be statute barred shortly. I can't find a definitive answer but say for example a debt for which the last payment was made March 2008 but the default wasn't registered until August 2008, when will the debt be statute barred and drop off my credit file? Is it 6 years from the last payment or 6 years from the date of the default? I suppose it is safer to assume the latter date?

Hi all, Really simple question (hopefully). I understand that a debt becomes statute barred 6 years after the date of the last missed due payment. If a DMC issues court proceedings one month prior to this six year limit does that mean if this goes to court then even though by that time the six years has passed, the court will see it as being within the time limit or is it the case that the court will see that as a result of the case taking over a month to get to court (by the time you've filed a defence etc) it is now over 6 years and hence statute barred? I have tried looking online and can't seem to find this distinction. Thanks for any response