Ruthbridge help..

[anon82]

I'll keep this concise but looking for some advice.. (not a poet)

 

- debt defaulted december 2007

 

- about 85-90% certain last contact was May/June 2008 to try and arrange payment plan but never went through with it. tried to think of anything that suggests i was in contact after this but really cant think when/why that would be.

 

- that last contact was through agency called ARC and last letter from them was July 2008.

 

- debt then passed to cabot who sent several letters to me 2009 and 2010 once they had found new address. ignored.

 

- nothing since and debt fell off credit report december 2013 as expected (6 years since default). this was the final debt - of very many - to fall off credit file so a big moment for me as this was a huge huge mess around 2007-2012.

 

- nothing since and then i moved July 2014.

 

- post recieved Jan 18th with one letter from cabot and one from ruthbridge essentially saying it has been passed to ruthbridge and they will contact within 7 days. (nothing as yet has followed)

 

- credit file with experian shows nothing but my mortgage, phone contract and bank account, no ccjs and score is 999

 

---

 

From extensive research (forums etc..), i can see that this is highly likely to be statute barred for the simple reason that ruthbridge have it - though can only be that '85-90%' certain of the no contact but that might just be paranoia at the sitiation.

 

i suffered from depression quite badly due to debt between that 2007-2012 period and have really turned my life around since. would be horrid to have to go back to all that in any way.

 

What would you guys suggest i do based on all this?

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Edited January 21, 2015 by anon82

[citizenB]

This situation has been hotly debated on CAG and elsewhere. It has always been that an unsecured loan becomes statute barred after 6 years (5 in Scotland) where the debtor has neither made any payment nor written admission of liability.

 

Some say (especially DCAs) that the account does not become statute barred until the creditor has recorded the default on credit files. This is open to abuse as a lot of creditors don't do this for up to 2 years !.

 

After one or two payments have been missed, I would think the creditor is almost certainly aware that the debtor is unlikely to be paying and from that point they can take the required steps to secure their lending.

 

IMHO, if you add at least 2 months on to the date of the first missed payment, then you are almost certainly within the statute barred zone.

 

Despite what the DCA says, it is nothing to do with making contact with you.. the debtor has to have made payment or confirmed in writing that they have a liability.

 

As you have said that the account defaulted in 2007, I would say that you could safely send the SB letter.

 

I have linked the SB letter that you can send below.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?387368-Letter-to-be-sent-when-debt-is-Statute-Barred-(update-21.04.2014)

[anon82]

Thanks for the reply

 

If it adds anything, it was showing as a red default every single month on credit report from that december 2007 date right up to disappearing.

 

Ive read that ruthbridge specialise in old SB debts more than most DCAs - so the SB letter should kill them off..?

[citizenB]

Thanks for the reply

 

If it adds anything, it was showing as a red default every single month on credit report from that december 2007 date right up to disappearing.

 

Ive read that ruthbridge specialise in old SB debts more than most DCAs - so the SB letter should kill them off..?

 

In which case, I would say yes, definitely the account is statute barred - send the letter I have linked you to.

 

I would send your letter to their Head/registered office and send it by tracked mail - either Recorded or if you can afford it, Special Delivery. It is interesting how this type of letter if sent by normal 1st class post, get lost within the postal system !!

 

Until you let them know that you are aware it is statute barred and that you are bringing this to their attention and wont be making any payments, then they are able to ask you to pay.

[anon82]

Thats a great help - thank you very much for this. Feel a lot better about it all.

I'll come back and let you know how I get on.

[citizenB]

Thats a great help - thank you very much for this. Feel a lot better about it all.

I'll come back and let you know how I get on.

 

Yes, please do let us know how things go

[oleg]

You must not rely on the fact that Ruthbridge are attempting to collect as a sole criterion for S B. I know that "they only deal with s b accounts" has been stated in the past. One poster in particular used to repeat this, presumably based on a case he had handled. It's a myth. I have handled two which were definitely not yet s b.

 

I'm not saying that yours is, nor that it isn't.

 

Ruthbridge are simply a favourite bulldog DCA which Cabot/Marlin use for more "awkward" "customers". However I believe they can, with due diligence, be sent packing . That due diligence includes not over-reacting.

[anon82]

Thanks. I know - I dont want to assume anything at all. Just want to clear it up as quickly as possible.

 

I had thought it was SB before I looked up ruthbridge. From searching on multiple forums, a huge percentage of the results for them were conversations about SB debt.

I think just by putting my sequence of events together with this I feel pretty confident that they are just trying/going to try to bully me into paying a barred debt.

 

Default date to today is 7 years and 1 month. The last know contact with them would be about 6 years 6 months. Even if there was anything after, it cant have been much later.

Even if - for some reason - it wasnt quite 6 years, they would still need to prove this and surely that would take time in itself.

[anon82]

Forgive me if Im talking nonsense but I read elsewhere that loans taken out before April 2007 - especially ones where they were taken out online - are incredibly difficult for DCAs to enforce anymore anyway. Is this right?

[anon82]

2nd letter came through today. Suggests 50% discount if I respond by start of feb. Vague threat about possible CCJ if I continue to ignore.

 

Would they send a letter like this if it wasn't statute barred....?

[anon82]

Ive got a letter to send today.. can anyone look at it for me to check im not being stupid?