Cabot/Egg Statute barred debt

[cityzen81]

Evening everyone,

I need some help if possible? I’ll be as short as I can.

In 2007 I was in a lot of debt but was meeting minimum payments etc... then Egg sent me a letter basically asking me to pay off my card and loan within 30 days. Of course been in debt I couldnt afford to do this so I was basically forced to go into an IVA. The IVA was set up in mid 2007 and failed in late 2008, as I was in and out of work and struggled to keep up with the payments. The person who was looking after my IVA told me the creditors would start hounding me again and it would be best if I contact them. I didnt and figured if they really wanted the money they would be in touch rather sharpish but nobody ever did, until...

I received a letter last week from Cabot. They are now claiming I owe over £8500.

Thinking the debt is now Statute Barred and has been for a few years I sent them the statute barred letter last week.

However, this morning I received a call from them on my direct dial at work (no idea how they got this) they claimed they have not received my letter (even though it had been signed for) and they debt was not statute barred as I had made a payment of £1.67 in 2013 (she couldn’t give an exact date or method of payment) Of course I refuted this over the phone and I know no payment has been made to toeards the debt since the IVA failed. The girl hurriedly said she would raise a payment query and put the account on hold while they investigated. I also stated I wanted all correspondence to be done in writing but not sure they will honour my request.

I suppose my my question is now do I wait for them to get back to me or should I look at drafting them a letter asking for proof of this mysterious payment

Many thanks and sorry for the long story

[thedirtyhound]

Whenever I have dealt with these companies I have always made it my policy never to speak with them. Its always best to put things in writing so there is no dispute as to what may have been said. Presumably you kept the recorded delivery slip for your recent letter? The issue, of course, is the payment they claim you made. Put them to proof on it. Is there any chance that there could have been some residue money from your IVA that the supervisor was holding? It seems unlikely, because I'm sure that they would have taken it to cover their own fees. You need to see hard evidence of that payment before you do anything else.

[cityzen81]

Thanks for the reply.

Yes over the phone they said I had made a payment but couldn’t tell me the exact date or how it was paid. They are supposedly looking into it. I really think if they had had a case I would have been taken to court years ago after all it is supposedly for over £8500

do you think I should wait for a reply to my statute barred letter or send a prove the payment letter

[thedirtyhound]

Wait for a reply to your first letter. If you don't get one, resend it by recorded delivery again. If they come back and say that you made the payment of £1.67, then ask them to prove it. But be VERY careful what you say. Make sure you deny liability at all times. Don't just rely on the statute barred position, because it leaves you little room to maneuvre if they can show that it isn't. However, on the other hand, I suppose you effectively admitted it by putting it in your IVA. Still, they need to provide the requisite paperwork to enable them to go to court, so there is a chance they could still trip themselves up over that. Its quite a big amount, so you ought to speak with someone like Paul Tilley or Diana Mayhew, because if anyone can trip these kind of people up, they can.

[cityzen81]

Hi

Update on this, I spoke to the IVA company today who confirmed a payment of £1.67 was sent to another company (Apex) in 2013. The IVA company are looking into why a payment was made over 4 years after the IVA failed as they said it was unusual. They have also said they are willing to send me a letter to state that I had no knowledge of this payment and nor did I authorize it.

However, does this man the debt is not statute barred now even though I had no knowledge of the payment and have also had no correspondence about this debt in over 9 years?

I have sent a message to Paul Tilley via this forum but have not heard back could someone with the knowledge please help

[thedirtyhound]

This is very strange! However, it really is a job for someone like Paul, who has the specialist knowledge. There are circumstances whereby money paid under "Mistake of Fact" can be reclaimed. It was clearly an error by the company and given that you didn't make the payment yourself or authorise them to make it, you should be OK. You would be best advise to contact Paul directly via his company website.