Advice on Getting Legal Advice (re Debt)?

[clairus99]

I consider myself a bit of a layman expert on this subject as I've been through it all a million times (almost).

 

I'm a good girl these days though, pay everything off on time, etc, manage my finances okay (if not a little beyond my means).

 

Consequently my credit rating is pretty poor, but that's okay, it's on the mend.

 

Aaaaanyway. Still being v poor, out of the blue I have had an old debt from just under 6 years ago (CCJ Aug 2000) rear its ugly head.

 

It was a gym membership; at some point the company went into receivership, but prior to that I had let the payments and my attendance slide. At some point they wanted the whole £1555 inc various charges.

 

Soon I moved but I contacted them to arrange repayments and mustve given them my address bcos I have a letter from Sept 2001 from them to my current address (moved here in July 2000).

 

Right. Out of the blue I've received an "application for order that debtor attend court for questioning" - which I've never heard of before. I've googled it but have mostly found only business-related stuff.

 

Here's the thing. Does anyone know what they can or can't do or where I can find my rights?

 

The main thing I'm interested in (sorry to make this so long, but this is the short version!!) is the fact that although they've had my address since Sept 2001 at the latest, why have they taken almost 5 years to contact me?

 

I know there is some legal thing where if you don't make contact with the "debtor" for six months or more the issue is dead - I've used it before, I've heard of it before and I've been hired as a temp at companies before (usually parking tickets) because they need to move through their backlogs.

 

I don't know what this thing is called so I don't know how to google it. Or even if it counts now, ie. if this is counted as fresh because it's a different (debt collector) company?

 

All I know at this stage is that they can take my car (which frankly isn't worth half of the debt and anyway, I'm still paying way overdue payments on that for the damned Yes Car Credit....that's another story!).

 

Hopefully you get the gist of that, I'm kind of in a state of panic about this, as it's obviously a lot of money and I think they're trying it on because their timing is dubious.

 

Does anyone have experience of this??

 

I may try the CAB but in my experience I've found I know a lot more about debt than they do and that they just say, "well pay it off" or "they'll sell your stuff" or whatever.

 

Thanks in desperate anticipation!

[clairus99]

I don't know if this should've gone elsewhere, sorry....

[colour-me-happy]

Hi I think you may be looking for the Statute Limitation Act .... http://www.swarb.co.uk/acts/1980LimitationAct.shtml

 

Hope that helps.

[sequenci]

when did you last make a payment?

 

whatever you do please don't admit liability of the debt!!

 

the reason they are chasing it now is due to the fact that it will be very near the end of the 6 year period before it becomes statue barred!

[Guest Mumofthreeboys]

I would suggest that you copy and paste your post onto moneysavingexpert.com in the Debt Free Wannabe forum.

 

They are very knowledgeable and I'm sure they will be able to help you out - can't hurt to cover all your bases.

[sam1]

Dear Clairus,

 

Sorry to read about the problem you are experiencing!

 

You are in all likelihood being pursued because time is running out for them to enforce the debt. I help people with consumer and contract law problems and many contracts contain terms and conditions which are unfair to the consumer. This may mean in your particular situation that some, or possibly all of the original charges levied by the gym are legally unenforceable. It's obviously difficult for me to provide conclusive advice, without knowing the full details, but believe me, most contracts are put together with the consumer's rights being of little or no importance!

 

I can appreciate that challenging the legality of the agreement you entered into, is probably the last thing you want to do, but if you are unable to delay any proceedings until after the six years, through certificated ill health for example;) it might be the best way to absolve yourself of the debt. You have legal rights under The Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 and/or The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999, which gives consumers wide ranging protection in their contractual dealings with companies, so there is something you can do!

 

I hope this is helpful. If you require further advice, I have made my email address available for members.

 

Kind regards,

 

Sam.

[clairus99]

Thanks for your replies. Sorry I've not been online for a week or so...

 

The situation now is this (and thank you Sam I will email you on Weds)...

 

I discovered that apparently CCJ's aren't subject to the statute of limitations and sent what I consider a well put together letter explaining my current situation, their unfairness in expecting me to find £1555 just like that and offering to make a realistic minimum payment of £10 per month. It's a tiny amount but I argued that that would be the minimum - one month it might be £100, another £50, another £15, another £10 - always a minimum of £10.

 

They thought they were smart and tried to piece together their own picture using Experian (or whoever), and I wrote back telling them where they were wrong and how dare they pigeonhole me based on Experian. I told them I didn't want to go to Court, however, was quite prepared to do so and prove my case in front of a judge (or whover does it in these cases!). I basically accused them of unnecessarily underhand tactics and said I didn't trust them, and assumed that this was a movement by them towards making me bankrupt (which, in light of this CCJ information, which is news to me, I don't mind because I have £11k of past debt.... I don't mind paying my current debts but without a significant lottery win I don't want the mistakes of my past hanging over my head now!). I reiterated £10pm.

 

I got a letter from them this morning saying NO, the minimum they will expect is £30pm and if it's any more than 15 days late then they'll, "proceed".

 

I say proceed and let's get it over with. Good luck to them if they can find anything belonging to me that's worth £1555. I think they'll have trouble getting more than £15. I'm not worried about the credit score thing - I've had a bad credit rating for years now, what's another six? At least these old debts won't jump out at me - which I really don't need on top of a student loan, thanks!

 

What do you think? I'm being told left right and centre to speak to debt counsellors but I don't know if this is really going to be in my best interests now. I really think, just bite the bullet, hope they pay for my bankruptcy and start afresh.

[sequenci]

yup no limitation defence can beused on a ccj

 

they can go for attachment of earnings, a charging order or a third party debt order.

 

they can't go down the bailiffs route UNLESS they get leave of court.

 

my gut feeling is that they are trying to use scare tactics., but will not "proceed" - however this is just my gut feeling and shouldn't be taken into consideration when you decide what to do

 

bear in mind that to make yourself bankrupt costs £475, i think it costs even more for a firm to make YOU bankrupt. i think they wont do it at all!

[alanfromderby]

Just a suggestion, and always worth trying. Send a request under the Consumer Credit Act for a copy of the original agreement, and details of payments etc. It will cost £1, and you will find the letter in the thread "Debt Collection Agencies".

 

If they fail to meet the 1-month deadline for supplying this information, you would then be in a position to threaten them with Trading Standards - and possibly be able to get the CCJ set aside if they try to enforce it, although this has not been tested yet with a CCJ this old.

 

With the company going bankrupt, it is possible that the original documents have been archived, and may not be easily available. It is a long-shot, but worth a try for a £1!

 

One thing to remember is that the more hassle you put them to, the less viable it becomes for them to enforce the debt. They are not going to spend large amounts in legal expenses, if the chances are they are going to get back a tenner a month - or less!

 

Whilst all this is going on, send them £1 a month - my bet is that they will not complain too much.

[powelll]

Hiya, just a quick note about your situation in general - National Debtline are also really good ( www.nationaldebtline.co.uk ) for anything debt related including queries about Statute of Limitations, CCJs etc. They're not legally trained but are very knowledgeable indeed. May be worth contacting them if you did get concerned about other debts or were seriously considering bankruptcy as they can go through all relevant options and potential pros/cons of each...

 

Best of luck anyway!

[Glenn UK]

FWIW

 

I ran up 24Ks worht of debt beofre realisng i couldnt pay it back, sad but true.

 

i used payplan for debt advice, they are a free charity and will help you to deal with your creditors.

 

For six month or so whilst we set up my payment plan we sent my creditors a fiver a month, all the snotty letters were sent st8 to payplan and the dealt with them for me.

 

A year later i managed to find some cash when i remotrgaged and settled all my debts for 65% of their orignal worth.

 

It cost me nothing no fees, jst some time and work with payplan.

 

I suspect if i had tried harder i could have settled for less but for reasons i wont go into this was satisfactory to me.

 

Id give payplan a call they have a website and dont chagre for their services. Its not [problem] they dont take a percantage or anything like that, theyre a charity funded partyl by the likes of Barclays, MBNA .

 

HTH

 

Glenn

 

PS i realise this is a bit late but hope its of interest to somoene.

[clairus99]

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