I am suddenly being chased for really old debt

[nutcracker]

Basically in June 2001 the house I lived in with Xp was reposessed as he gave up his job, and we left.

At the time I owed money to a couple of catloges and 1 credit card.

Basically, I never informed them of change of address etc which yes was wrong but we had much bigger higher priority debts to pay off and couldn't cope with them all.

Anyway, fast forward 6 and a half years later and now suddenly they all want their money. I have had 2 letters from debt companies saying I owe money, one for £533.36 and one for £397.30.

I rang one of the companies asking when the debt was from and he said 4 years ago. I said i think you will find it has been over 6 yrs and under the debt limitations act you are not allowed to chase me for this money. He said no thats incorrect. Apparently if they have tried to contact me over the past 6 years, wether i recieved the letters or not then that means that it hasn't been 6 yrs since the last contact and so the debt limitations act won't apply.

The company I just spoke to have said they will send me copies of all of the lettes I have been sent.

So now what ?? I am in a wose financial position now than I was all those years ago so there is no way I can pay any of it, I am struggling as it is.

I have just had enough of this. I know I borrowed the money etc but it wasn't just stuff for me, it was mainly stuff for our home but obviously as it was all in my name only I will be chased for it and xp won't have to pay a jot.

I am sick of never being able to get straight. If I have to pay this off there will be no point in me looking for a job anymore because if I get any extra money I will end up paying it out.

Sorry, meant to add that I did contact CAB and explained and they said that i'd done the right thing sending the letters and to wait and see what happened. They didn't say what to do if they carry on asking for the money though.

I recently sent that letter to an old creditor I had no idea of the debt. I got a letter back saying that they had closed their case and was handing it back to the original creditor. Although in my case I did have a bankruptcy order to go with it. I went Bankrupt in 2006.

Nutcracker - My dp has a debt management plan through the CCCS. You work out all your incomings and outgoings with cccs and they give you an idea of what you can allow for pocket money, hobbies etc. Whats left you offer as payment and afaik you dont need to be working as its not an IVA or anything like that, just an agreement between you and the bank.
DP had a bank account with the same bank his loan was with so was advised to open a basic account with another bank. He went with Halifax. It is as I say a very basic account, no debit card or cheque book just a cash card and iirc they are legally required to let anyone open the account - they cannot refuse you. And after a few months they offered dp a debit card anyway!

I think it really would be worth you contacting CCCS wrt your Barclays loan as it sounds like they're charging you an extortionate amount of interest.

Quick update : Had a letter from the debt agency that wrote the other day with the offer.
Basically it says that due to my recent correspndence, my account is now frozen for 28 days whilst they investigate my account.

They are so crafty though because it says at the bottom 'Please send us any proof of payments, or corresondence you have from us from previous years'.

Yeah like i am going to do that, if i even had any.

nutcracker
sorry for your situation
as you say you do owe the money but contacted debt counseller as suggested would it not help limit the interest owed at least
and peace of mind for you

and sharing the worry with someone who can help in practical way should go towards some peace of mind
good luck

For the Barclay loan do you mean ??

At the moment my plan is that in june when I have paid off alot of my smaller debts I will hopefully be in a position to slightly increase the repayments and pay it off quicker than the 10 years.

I know I am being shafted by them as far as the interest goes, but I am not really sure what a debt company could do about that without it just meaning that loan is dragged out for even longer.

maybe they could get the interest part frozen for you epsecially if it was extortionate .

I don't actually know what the interest rate is on it tbh. I have lost the original paperwork somehow.

Will ring them and find out.

Might be worth getting a full statement of the loan from start while you're at it , showing the advance, all repayments and recalculations of interest and balance etc. Or you may be able to draft it up on pc from bank statements. That way if you wanted to show it to someone (ie CAB) and ask them to negotiate for you, the history would be clear.

Good idea.

It does really annoy me that for nearly 2 years I paid the correct amount every month and yet the way they have worked it all, I still owe the same amount that I borrowed, it hasn't gone down at all. I think is because they restructured it, but i'm not sure.

Who are the debt agencies chasing you on this? There are certain charming organisations who specialise in buying up statue barred debt, then putting the frighteners on...

They pay about 3-5% the value of the debt, so if 10% of recipients fall for it it's a profitable business. Nasty little scumbags.

They operate right on the edge of the law.

I've got a couple of them after me atm, for loans I have no knowledge of, allegedly taken out 10 years ago. (Strongly suspect late dh of taking them out behind my back. Can't prove it either way.)

The thing is, when I started getting letters, my immediate reaction was to pay up - I've had money problems, & credit problems, in the past, & I just felt sick & wanted it to go away...exactly the reaction they rely on.

Stick to your guns! They're taking the piss. Try bank action group website for more template letters/advice if they don't give up straight away.