Help with Red please - **SUCCESSFUL OUTCOME**

[cerberusalert]

Until you send the SB letter they are entitled to keep nagging for payment. Once you do inform them they must desist until such time as they can prove the contrary.

 

If they do continue without proving it isn't SB they will be in breach of OFT guidelines.

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Please send the following to Lowell/Red to their compliance manager by recorded delivery.

 

Ref: use the one on their letter:

 

Sir,

 

I am in receipt of your letter dated xx xx xxxx in regard to an alleged debt for £xxx .xx please note I do not acknowledge any debt to any memeber of the Lowell Group, and I have concluded that any such alleged debt is statute barred therefore I will not make any payment or offer of payment.

 

You will now cease processing all data relating to me and remove it from your records, I have been made aware of the OFT Guidance on debt Collection 2003/2012 and the sections regarding the pursuit of statute barred debts,and further contact by Lowell will be considered harassment.

 

Should Lowell wish to dispute the status of this alleged debt I remind you that the onus of proof that it is not statute barred lies entirely with Lowell it is not for me to prove that it is statute barred.

 

get that sent tomorrow.

[viking99]

If I don't send the letter will it progress beyond simple nagging ie- doorstep visits? It's just that with a new baby and so much on the last thing I need is a protracted exhange of legalities. Are they just banking on my ignrance? How far do they actually go wrt to statute barred debts? How do I find out what date it was SB from? Like I said, it was probably 95-96 last time I acknowledged this debt. Am I right in thinking if they actually thought they could get the money off me they'd have already gone for the jugular, as opposed to the gentle offers of reduced payment for immediate settlement etc?

 

Thanks.

[cerberusalert]

They will just continue with their normal debt collection activities which could include a doorstep visit or even an application for a CCJ & if the debt is over £750 bankruptcy.

[viking99]

Thanks brigadier. Would the wording of that letter not imply acknowledgement though? How could I know it was statute barred whilst not acknowledging a debt? Sorry if that's a bone question!

[viking99]

Can they apply for a CCJ for a statute barred debt? If I did get a doorstep visit could I just play the statute barred card then? I think I will send the letter but I'm just weighing up my options.

 

Thanks for the advice!

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

If you want this to stop send the letter tomorrow,did you not send it when advised last year?

 

Statute Barred == No Payment or wriiten acknowledgment of the debt in six clear years, no more no less.

 

So if you havn't paid or acnowledged the debt since 1995 then it's statute barred!!

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Thanks brigadier. Would the wording of that letter not imply acknowledgement though? How could I know it was statute barred whilst not acknowledging a debt? Sorry if that's a bone question!

 

The time scale you have given show that the debt is stat barred.

 

The letter I have drafted does NOT affect the status of the debt in any way!!!!!!!

[viking99]

I don't have the letter now but they previously sent a reference to an unspecified default on a cca in 2008 - which is simply impossible! Where could they have puled that from? Do they actually make things up?

I will send the letter on Monday. What response can I realistically expect? I have definately not acknowleged this debt to either Lombard or any dca since 95-96. Will they just fold straight away or try different tactics? Will I have to take remedial action on my credit record after this? I have not dabbled with the experian thing yet.

[citizenB]

I think you are worrying for the sake of worrying..

 

Unless you tell them that it is statute barred and you will NOT be contributing to their profit margins then you will continue to keep receiving the letters.

 

Red is part of Lowells as is Hampton Legal.

 

If you dont send that letter and PDQ, it is likely you will end up receivint a Stat Demand that you will then have to phaff around getting set aside..

 

Send the letter on Monday, send it either Special or Recorded delivery keep a copy of the receipt/proof of posting and check online around Thursday to ensure htat it has been delivered.

 

If they do send someone to collect your doorstep - tell them to go away - they have no power of entry - you do not have to speak to them at all. If they become a nuisance you can call the police.

 

From what you say the Debt is statute barred - it can never become unbarred. But you can worry yourself into an early grave if you dont send that letter off.

[cerberusalert]

They have to irrefutably prove that a debt is not statute barred by producing evidence that a payment or written acknowledgment was made & that there is no clear period of six years (five in Scotland).

 

Once the required period has elapsed you could bare your derrière in Harrods window with an admission of the debt tattooed on it & it would still make no difference. Once a debt becomes SB nothing can unbar it.

[citizenB]

They have to irrefutably prove that a debt is not statute barred by producing evidence that a payment or written acknowledgment was made & that there is no clear period of six years (five in Scotland).

 

Once the required period has elapsed you could bare your derrière in Harrods window with an admission of the debt tattooed on it & it would still make no difference. Once a debt becomes SB nothing can unbar it.

 

Yeukk.. that is gross

[viking99]

Thanks, I'll send it Monday.

[KaptRoger]

Send the letter! Otherwise they will just continue to harass. It appears that the law allows them to continue to persecute until someone say "Statute Barred!". Their own (CSA) rules allow them to do this. They can continue because the can claim "ignorance" of the SB (!). In a court you would need a friendly judge to not ask "why didn't you say that it was SB before".....

 

Send the letter,

 

Doorstep visits can be discouraged by a simple letter telling them that they must make appointments first - which of course you will not agree to. So uninvited visits would be trespass.

 

Its a game of threats and intimidation - only ever sorted out by a court - and most of them will never go there. The clue would normally be the offers of a large discount......get one of those and it shows that they are uncertain of being able to succeed in court.

 

Chin up - YOU have dealt with worse.

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Viking99, three members of the site team have advised the same course of action two of them very experienced members, if you want this to stop please act on the advice given, with a debt of this age the Lowell threats are meaningless.

[citizenB]

Stat barred debt[1].pdf

 

 

Whilst the OFT accepts that the debt still exists, the OFT considers that it can be unfair to pursue the debt in

the circumstances set out in their Debt Collection Guidance (section 2.13 and 2.14a and b), and it is the

methods in which the debt is attempted to be collected that can cause concern to the OFT.

 

In essence, providing you work within legislation and guidance, collection of statute barred accounts is a

legitimate activity. However, if your debtor has stated that they will not be paying a debt because it is statute

barred, these accounts should be closed and your records updated appropriately. This will reduce the

number of accounts that could be placed back out for collection or sale, which in turn could lead to complaint

and create further issues for the industry in this area.

[viking99]

Thanks everyone. I will definately take the advice and send the letter. I would have expected the latest letter off them to state a time limit such as "If payment is not made within x days etc etc" but there was no timescale. I'm confused by their apparent lack of aggression.

 

Is there a timescale they have to reply to the sb letter? Do they reply regardless or will they just go quiet? Sorry about all the questions - this is most worrying!

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

They may not bother to reply at all!!!

[cerberusalert]

They will be more than aware that is SB but until you tell them they can and will pursue. They specialise in buying such debts at a greatly reduced face value in the hope that they can BS people in coughing up.

 

The next letter you receive after sending the SB one to them should be one stating they have closed the a/c.

[viking99]

Letter has been sent recorded delivery. Have also signed up to credit expert and awaiting my pin to be sent.

[viking99]

I'm expecting them to say it's not SB as in a previous letter, which I no longer have, they mentioned a default in 2008. As I have stated, I have not acknowledged anything to do with this since the mid nineties. I suspect they may have invented it or class when they aquired it as a default. What action should I take if this is the case? Does this happen a lot?

[cerberusalert]

The onus is on them to prove that it is not statute barred not you that it is. They would have to provide irrefutable evidence that you made a written admission or a payment. If they say you made a payment they would have to produce evidence i.e details of payment, when & by whom.

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Slipping in a new default date when files are updated after purchase is becoming a familiar happening.

[viking99]

If that has happened what do I do?

[cerberusalert]

If that has happened what do I do?

 

It can be challenged with the credit reference agencies & a complaint made to the ICO etc.