Credit agency has employed a solictor and I had a letter today - can they do this and why this time of year?

[HousewifeNumber1]

Some years ago I took out a credit card, spent £1k and got into trouble with it.
Back in 2007. I've since pretty much - since 2012 been a SAHM with the odd bit of freelance work. My husband is the main earner, but I am retraining and building up a business.
I've got just about enough money to pay my tax on time.
Then today I got a letter from a solictor saying they wanted me to pay the £1k - it has been on my radar to pay it but I lost 5 months work this year and I'm a start up. Why are they demanding it be paid off now? I've ignored their letters by the way. I can pay it off but it will mean I will be late paying my tax.
What do I do? I wish they'd waited till February then I could have paid it.

I'm going to have to pay all the debt off to stop court action. I've checked my bank account and I was making regular repayments until May 2015, which means there's no 6 year bar.

If that's the case, then yes you need to pay it otherwise you will have a CCJ which will screw your credit rating, although it may be very poor anyway.

You have spoken to Stepchange? Ask them to set up a payment plan, this should freeze interest and allow you to pay off gradually. You will have to fill in a schedule of all your income and expenses plus all your other debt, but it should stop the court action and give you time to pay.

Does solicitor have same initials as bank for example?

Google the name of the solicitors firm and see if it exists as a company in it’s own right or if it’s an offshoot of the bank you owe money to.
It’s a tactic sometimes used to up the ante without incurring costs.

There is so much incorrect information on this thread.

A debt is only becomes statute barred when it’s been six years or more since you made a payment or were in contact with the creditor.

Most companies will initiate court proceedings when it gets to 5 and a half years to secure a ccj to ensure the debt does not become statute barred.

It doesn’t matter if it’s the bank/credit card company, their solicitors or a company they sold the debt to,
It doesn’t matter how old the debt is,
If it hasn’t been at least six years since you made any payment or had any contact with them about the debt they can and will take you to court for it.

A family member had a debt of approx £7k on a credit card from years ago. That turned out to be statute barred as he hadn’t acknowledged it or paid anything off it in more than 6 years - I sent them a template letter from Money Saving Expert on his behalf (some very knowledgeable people on there) and the debt was cancelled.
If it’s not SB then set up a payment plan to get it sorted ASAP before they start adding fees etc.

Well if you would have paid it before they wouldn't be asking now. You borrowed the money you need to pay it back. saving a little bit a month over five years in case they asked for it would have been easy enough

Have you checked with the court that document is an actual court document?

Have you sent a SAR to see what evidence you have and your original credit agreement?

I once asked a major credit card company on behalf of a friend who had got herself into a mess, had they got her Originsl Credit Agreement.

They wrote back to say that they had destroyed it (even though it was only a couple of years before that she had signed up for the credit card)

She was willing to forego having 6 years of bad credit as even if she had been taken to court she couldn’t afford to pay it.

I told her to stop paying as they couldn’t take her to court because in order to be taken to court the company would have had to show proof of where the debt came from and the terms of the debt.
At worse they would have only been able to bill for what she spent and no interest. So any payments she would have made would have gone to what she had spent.

They never did take her to court. They sold the debt on and she had a series of debt collection agencies asking for the money but with each one she asked for the original credit agreement and then it was passed on to the next agency until they gave up.

Not too sure about nowadays but 25 years ago you would be surprised about how many companies didn’t keep paperwork

Sorry 15 years ago not 25 years ago

@gottakeeponmovin how is that useful advice now? We all know, especially after this year, how you can start something with good intentions and you end up losing your job or getting ill and becoming unable to follow through with your plan. OP didn't have anything to save. She was advised by debt advice agencies that she literally couldn't afford to pay towards it. Where on earth is the money coming from to save if they didn't have any spare money?

Do not ignore the Claim Form - it is an official court document, not merely a letter, that will require an acknowledgement of service and a defence to be filed within the time specified. If you do not, then whatever the rights and wrongs of whatever may or may not be outstanding or time barred, the Claimant will be entitled to ask for (and will be granted if you still haven't filed your documents) a judgment in default.

My marriage broke down and I was left with awful debt.

I have never been in a position to repay it and now I bin letters. All are statue barred now .

And I could t give a shite any more.

Life is hard enough.

Well there you go - you’ve answered your own question as to why now. Because you’re coming close to 6 years of not paying it. So, before they run out of time, they check if your circumstances have changed and you were hoping to pull a fast one. Which you were. As a family, you decided that you could afford to be a SAHM. As a family, you can afford to pay it. So - pay up.