Have a credit card, have a debt recovery company chasing me for a debt that is over 4 years old.

[CharlotteACavatica]

I have just been told that this debt could be unenforcable, anyone know anything about this. Total of debt is no more than £800.

No idea.

Bumping for you, though.

I am not sure how it works, but this happened to my SIL. She had a store card debt years ago that she thought she had paid off.

Last year I got a call, as did MIL (they matched our surnames from phone book) to ask for her. We passed on a message & it turns out that the people who operated the store card sold a bunch of unpaid debt to a finance company who were well within their rights to chase it for payment.

Like I said, no idea why/how (her was over 5yrs old) but it was legitimate!

4 years old is nothing.

We have lived in out house 10 years now and have constantly had debt collectors contacting us over a bank debt of someone who rented part of the house about 15 years ago. I have no doubt that if they find her they will issue legal proceedings against her.

If the debt is legitimate I would advise you to come to an arrangement to pay it off.

If it is not, you need to contest it.

OUR house, not out house!

We don't live in the shed!

If it is your debt you should pay it off IMO however old it is.

It is complicated but in your case if it's under 5 years old it is enforcable.

Do you owe the money? If so you should be ashamed of yourself to be asking if it's enforcable. If you owe it you pay it, otherwise it's stealing imo

It is only unenforceable if you haven't acknowledged it in over 6 yrs, so you are liable to pay as it is only 4yrs old.

From here, you can argue it is unenforceable if

"The creditor has not already obtained a judgment against you
and

You, or any one else owing the money (on a debt in joint names) have not made a payment on the debt during the last six years
and

You have not written to the creditor admitting you owe the debt during the last six years.

but even so they can still apply to courts to pursue it.

I think that can be unenforceable however it wont be 'cleared'- it will remain on your credit history as an unpaid debt.

You should pay it back if you had the money. I owe 4k on a credit card through racking up debt as a student- I wouldnt dream of waiting until it becomes 'unenforceable'. i spent the money- so I owe the money. Simples.

You need to write to them and ask them for a copy of the contract that you signed with the credit card company and a breakdown of the costs. The others are right, there's a statute of limitation, if you have not made an arrangement to pay or made a payment in 6 years then it's not enforcable but they can still screw up your credit rating. If you contact them about the debt and make an offer to pay after 5 years then the 6 years has to start all over again.
If you are able to, contact them and arrange to pay it all off in one go as sometimes they give a discount for this. Companies buy debts for less then the debt origionally is, this is how they make their money. Some will give a discount, some won't.

If you write to them asking for info you are potentially starting the statue barred again.

When did you last make payments on it?

The other route of unenforceable is not worth persuing for such a small amount as it well and truely messes up your credit file.

No, all you need to say is that you do not acknoweledge this debt and can they send you proof that this debt is yours. If you offer a payment or pay then this starts the 6 years again.