reston solicitors trying to claim back ten year old debt- please help

[clarityrains]

Hi all, in my younger days i was rubbish with money and accrued a debt with egg of over three thousand pounds. I never paid and ended up with a CCJ against me. This CCJ lapsed 2 years ago due to the six years passing from it being issued. now all of a sudden Restons Solicitors has begun hassling me for the money. They caught me on the phone one day and I stupidly agreed to pay five pounds a week through direct debit (baby was crying, suffering PNdepression. I was upset and didn't know what the hell to do or what my legal rights were/are). I do believe too much time has passed now to legally force me to pay the debt but since I agreed to pay £5 a week I now do not know where i stand! I haven't made any payments whatsoever so would like some legal advice to find out what my next step should be. I am now a good person, with good credit and no real debt to speak of. I work hard to provide for my family and this has just knocked me for six. any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Amethyst]

Re: reston solicitors trying to claim back ten year old debt- please help

If the CCJ has passed 6 years then Restons would need to apply to court to be able to enforce the judgment.

Limitation
Enforcement action can be instructed for up to 6 years from the date a judgment became enforceable. Delay in enforcing affects any award of interest as recoverable interest is limited to 6 years on a judgment that is executed after the expiry of the 6 year period.
You are able to continue trying to enforce for longer than the 6 years from date of judgment but you cannot start the first enforcement action past this date. Court permission is required to enforce a judgment debt that is more than 6 years old.

[clarityrains]

Re: reston solicitors trying to claim back ten year old debt- please help

what do you mean be bale to enforce the judgement? a second CCJ?

[Amethyst]

Re: reston solicitors trying to claim back ten year old debt- please help

No, that's done with, they have no right to enforce the terms of the CCJ without applying to the court, so they couldn't apply for a warrant of execution (engage bailiffs) or apply for attachment of earnings, without going back to court.

[clarityrains]

Re: reston solicitors trying to claim back ten year old debt- please help

what should my next ourse of action be? completely ignore them? or in reply to their letter what would i say? Can I ask them to stop sending me letters and that I believe the debt is Statute Barred?

[Amethyst]

Re: reston solicitors trying to claim back ten year old debt- please help

Do you recall what the terms of the original judgment were?

What letter have they sent you ?

[FlamingParrot]

Re: reston solicitors trying to claim back ten year old debt- please help

what should my next ourse of action be? completely ignore them? or in reply to their letter what would i say? Can I ask them to stop sending me letters and that I believe the debt is Statute Barred?

Not quite, CCJs don't go Statute Barred.

What Amethyst is saying is that, if the creditor has taken no action to enforce the debt in years, they will have to explain to the court why when they go back to apply for enforcement. They cannot enforce the CCJ without a court order. That's not quite the same as a debt (without judgment) being Statute Barred, so you can't send them the SBd letter.

Hi all, in my younger days i was rubbish with money and accrued a debt with egg of over three thousand pounds. I never paid and ended up with a CCJ against me. This CCJ lapsed 2 years ago due to the six years passing from it being issued. now all of a sudden Restons Solicitors has begun hassling me for the money. They caught me on the phone one day and I stupidly agreed to pay five pounds a week through direct debit (baby was crying, suffering PNdepression. I was upset and didn't know what the hell to do or what my legal rights were/are). I do believe too much time has passed now to legally force me to pay the debt but since I agreed to pay £5 a week I now do not know where i stand!

If they have accepted your payment and are happy with it, and you can afford to pay £5 a week, then it sounds like you have done the right thing. :thumb: CCJs don't go statute barred after six years, they just drop off the record. If they are happy with your payments, they won't apply to the court to attempt to enforce the CCJ.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: reston solicitors trying to claim back ten year old debt- please help

what do you mean be bale to enforce the judgement? a second CCJ?

You can't have two CCJs for the same debt. :nono:

A CCJ can be enforced by applying for an attachment of earnings (if you are employed), a warrant of execution to send bailiffs to seize goods, a third party order or a charge on your home (if you own it).