Help With First Credit Debt Advice Needed

[jayturner08]

Hi all I hope someone can give me some advice I started to receive phone calls from first credit at all hours of the day from extremely rude people they even rang my work god knows how they got the number ????. I denied owing any debt to them and would not give them any of my details I changed my phone number in the end as it cost me nothing. I have received various letters from them offering me various discounts I think the last one was 50% they claim I owe them £9000 for a Halifax loan that I have defaulted on the default has never been on my credit file until first credit placed it there around 5 months ago now and the default date is the 8/11/2007. I would like to know if any one thinks this debt is statute barred and wonder if any one would know why its never been on my credit report until now ? I have not had any correspondence from them for a couple of months now nor have I had any threats of court action at present but I would like to be prepared. Any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated.

[ODC]

Re: Help With First Credit Debt Advice Needed

If its not already statute barred it very soon will be. That would explain why they are being apparently so generous in their discount offer. After all 50% of nothing is still nothing. The choice is yours, A CCA request or a Stat Barred letter

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Help With First Credit Debt Advice Needed

Hi and welcome!

You say "they claim" you owe them £9000 for a Halifax loan, did you have such a loan in that amount in the first place? :noidea: You also say the default date is 8/11/2007, is that what shows on your credit file? If so, it should be dropping off in a couple of months regardless of whether you saw it there before or not.

We can't tell you whether it's SBd or not because we don't know the history of this account. Have you any idea when you last made a payement? Even a £1 token is enough to reset the clock. Normally defaults should be recorded 3 to 6 months after your first missed contractual payment, which means this *could* be SBd but we can't tell for sure. :noidea:

What has happened over the past 6 years? Did you get a default notice from the Halifax? A notice of assignment to 1st Crud? £9000 is quite a sizeable amount not to be pursued by either the Halifax or a DCA acting on their behalf, did you receive any previous communication about this? :confused2:

Offering substantial discounts is a common ruse to get people to acknowledge the debt (and reset the clock :clock, which is why you shouldn't respond to such offers. :nono:

[jayturner08]

Re: Help With First Credit Debt Advice Needed

Thank you for the quick responses I did have the loan I got in trouble around the time of the date stated on my credit file for the default I got made redundant and had to sell my house at the time I just compleateley ignored any non esential debt and have moved around a lot up untill settling where I am now and being lucky enough to get back on my feet I have been trying to tidy up my credit report recently by paying old debts off this is the only one left now and a ccj that drops off my report in december I suppose what I realy want to know is if there would be any chance of them trying to take me to cort for the money. As far as I am aware I have had no contact with halifax or any one acting on there behalf since I last made a payment this would have been way before the date stated on my credit report 8/11/2007

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Help With First Credit Debt Advice Needed

Thank you for the quick responses I did have the loan I got in trouble around the time of the date stated on my credit file for the default I got made redundant and had to sell my house at the time I just compleateley ignored any non esential debt and have moved around a lot up untill settling where I am now and being lucky enough to get back on my feet I have been trying to tidy up my credit report recently by paying old debts off

Even when you pay them off, the default still remains for 6 years.

this is the only one left now and a ccj that drops off my report in december I suppose what I realy want to know is if there would be any chance of them trying to take me to cort for the money. As far as I am aware I have had no contact with halifax or any one acting on there behalf since I last made a payment this would have been way before the date stated on my credit report 8/11/2007

In that case, you could send them the letter below. If they want to argue against it being SBd, will be up to them to prove that you made a payment less than 6 years ago.

Send the letter recorded delivery and sign using a computer font rather than your actual signature to be on the safe side. :thumb:

Dear Sirs

Statute Barred Account No xyz

You have contacted me regarding the account with the above reference number, which you claim is owed by myself. I would point out that under the Limitation Act 1980 Section 5 "an action founded on simple contract shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued".

I would also point out that the OFT say under their Debt Collection Guidance on statute barred debt that "it is unfair to pursue the debt if the debtor has heard nothing from the creditor during the relevant limitation period". The last acknowledgement to this debt was made over six years ago and no further acknowledgement or payment has been made since that time. Unless you can provide evidence of payment or written contact from me in the relevant period under Section 5 of the Limitation Act, I suggest that you are no longer able to take any action against me to recover the alleged amount claimed.

The OFT Debt Collection Guidance states further that "continuing to press for payment after a debtor has stated that they will not be paying a debt because it is statue barred could amount to harassment". I await your written confirmation that no further contact will be made concerning the above account and confirmation that this matter is now closed.I look forward to your reply.

Yours faithfully,

[Nibbler]

Re: Help With First Credit Debt Advice Needed

I would like to know if any one thinks this debt is statute barred and wonder if any one would know why its never been on my credit report until now ? I have not had any correspondence from them for a couple of months now nor have I had any threats of court action at present but I would like to be prepared. Any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated.

A default could have been registered by the original creditor, but as you had moved and not been traced until recently then that default record may not have been linked to your CRA file until now. You don't have a single file, but instead a series of linked records. If a link between past and present hasn't been made properly, then items can simply fail to show, despite the CRA having a record of them somewhere, as they don't have enough info to connect it to your current report.

At some point between then and now, 1st Credit would have had the default record changed to show their name. When you were traced to your current address, the missing links fell in to place and up pops the old default on your report as if by magic.

As for whether it is SB? It sounds as if you in a period where that may be on the cusp of being so, depending on precise date?

Considering that you haven't had any letters for "a couple of months" and that to date you have had no threats of court action, then I might hesitate to send the statute barred letter at this stage? Or anything at all for that matter?

There's no hard and fast rule on that. You have to make your own judgement call.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Help With First Credit Debt Advice Needed

As for whether it is SB? It sounds as if you in a period where that may be on the cusp of being so, depending on precise date?

Considering that you haven't had any letters for "a couple of months" and that to date you have had no threats of court action, then I might hesitate to send the statute barred letter at this stage? Or anything at all for that matter?

There's no hard and fast rule on that. You have to make your own judgement call.

Indeed you have, and only you know the history of this and when you stopped paying, defaults on credit files are not a good indication of SBd status.

Do bear in mind 1st Crud are no strangers to serving Statutory Demands out of the blue! :scared: :scared: scared: I recall that happening to people on other forums. Cel here :yo: has an excellent track record of getting SDs set aside, :first: you may want to ask her views on this.

[jayturner08]

Re: Help With First Credit Debt Advice Needed

I am pretty sure that I have not made any contact with Halifax or any one acting on their behalf but I cant be sure of the dates it was a long time ago if it takes 3 months for a default to be registered then hopefully I am in the clear and its statute barred. I think I am going to have to play the waiting game by the sounds of things. I did play dirty with them and I got someone to ring them to ask them to stop sending letters to my address as I was an old tenant and did not live here any more hopefully that helped. The statutory demand is a little worrying though if any one could give me some advice on what this entails and what steps to take upon receiving this that would be much appreciated. Also thank you all for your help on this matter I am very grateful

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Help With First Credit Debt Advice Needed

I am pretty sure that I have not made any contact with Halifax or any one acting on their behalf but I cant be sure of the dates it was a long time ago if it takes 3 months for a default to be registered then hopefully I am in the clear and its statute barred. I think I am going to have to play the waiting game by the sounds of things. I did play dirty with them and I got someone to ring them to ask them to stop sending letters to my address as I was an old tenant and did not live here any more hopefully that helped.

Are you saying the reason they no longer write to you is because they think that's not your address and not because they've given up? :noidea: I can see why you'd want to do that, in fact, in the past I also did something similar (returned letters addressed to me as unknown) but that was before I was fully aware of the potential implications. The problem with doing this is that creditors can issue court papers and send them to an old address they have on file, hoping to obtain default judgment when you fail to acknowledge the claim and/or defend! It's happened to a number of people and the creditor can argue they used an old address because letters were returned to them from your new address.

The statutory demand is a little worrying though if any one could give me some advice on what this entails and what steps to take upon receiving this that would be much appreciated. Also thank you all for your help on this matter I am very grateful

Sorry, I didn't mean to worry you :nono: but creditors also like to play dirty and sometimes issue a SD instead of court papers to attempt recovery through the insolvency route as opposed to the CCJ route. :mad2: If you were to receive one, you should post up here as soon as you do. I'm not saying it's very likely to happen, just that I've known 1st Crud to use this method. :rant: :rant:

[jayturner08]

Re: Help With First Credit Debt Advice Needed

I'm not sure if it is because they have given up or not because I was still receiving letters from them a few months after them being told I no longer live at my address its only been the last couple of months that all has gone quiet hopefully they have realised I am not an easy target and given up as it seems the debt is most probably statute barred fingers crossed. I will keep you all informed as to how this plays out. Would I be right to assume that when the 8/11/2013 comes round the debt is definitely statute barred as the default date on file was the 8/11/2007 ?

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Help With First Credit Debt Advice Needed

I'm not sure if it is because they have given up or not because I was still receiving letters from them a few months after them being told I no longer live at my address its only been the last couple of months that all has gone quiet hopefully they have realised I am not an easy target and given up as it seems the debt is most probably statute barred fingers crossed. I will keep you all informed as to how this plays out. Would I be right to assume that when the 8/11/2013 comes round the debt is definitely statute barred as the default date on file was the 8/11/2007 ?

It would be safe to assume so, yes, as defaults are always recorded AFTER you miss payments, not before. :thumb:

[jayturner08]

Re: Help With First Credit Debt Advice Needed

Just got in from work letter from Reigate must be first crud........

On opening the letter I find...

YOU PAY 30 %
WE PAY 70 %

1st Credit believes in helping its customers to pay off their outstanding debt whilst saving them money. We are now in a position to apply a very large discount to your account for one month only

Take up our offer this September and all you need to pay is £2760.82

OR WE CAN OFFER YOU ONE OF THE FOLLOWING DEALS
PAY IN OCTOBRE AND WE WILL WRITE OFF 30 %
PAY IN NOVEMBRE AND WE WILL WRITE OFF 20 %
PAY IN DECEMBRE AND WE WILL WRITE OFF 10 %

If you wish to take us up on any of the above offers then please call *********** or follow the instructions on the back of this letter please be aware this offer is limited and will be withdrawn when redemption limits are reached.

Gaylord Flinn Head Of Collusions.

I take it from this massive discount offer that they have no leg to stand on with regards to collecting the debt ?

[ODC]

Re: Help With First Credit Debt Advice Needed

This is from their "We know we have diddley squat but are trying to CON you into paying us some blood money'' desk


Treat as you would Andrex

[labman]

Re: Help With First Credit Debt Advice Needed

Also makes you wonder how much they actually paid for the debt if they can afford to write off 70% of it and still make a profit.

In reality, of course, it would have been bought as one of many, some good debts, some not.

[jayturner08]

Re: Help With First Credit Debt Advice Needed

2 Days to go now and still no threats of court action have also not heard from first crud since my last post fingers crossed .