Time limit on debts?

[multilingual]

Here's an interesting question that came up in conversation last night:

Let's say someone has a £20,000 debt with a bank, but the bank decide that it is not worth taking them to court because they don't have the money anyway. Can they come back in say ten years time (When you have got some money) and say "Remember us?. You still owe us that money, plus all the interest"

Is that possible or is there a time limit on when you can chase up bad debts?

JB

[bwglaw]

The Limitation Act 1980 states that contractual debts are generally statute-barred after 6 years. This means creditors have 6 years to commence legal action to recover a debt.

See a layman's website at:

Clear Your Debt - Limitation Act 1980 (http://www.clear-your-debt.co.uk/limitation-act-1980.htm)

Hope this answers your question


Jonathan

[multilingual]

You learn something new every day!

Thanks Jonathan, interesting article. We were debating this last night and I was under the impression that a knock on the door could come at any time in the future. Thanks for settling the argument.

It seems to me that if you have a debt then lying low is the best option. Writing to the bank and asking them 'what is the situation with regards my debt' would turn the clock back and give them a further six years.

Best to hide out in the woods when things go wrong!

JB

[bwglaw]

Writing to the bank and asking them 'what is the situation with regards my debt' would turn the clock back and give them a further six years.
JB

Not necessarily. The six year period commences from the last payment date, and not from the date of taking a loan (as an example). You are entitled to write to the creditor, correctly worded, it does not automatically admit any liability.

A creditor could find you through 'tracing' and once you are found, and served upon a County Court claim then the creditor will have come within the six year limitation period.

[multilingual]

All interesting stuff. Let's hope I never need to call upon it!

Don't fancy the thought of looking over my shoulder for six years. :?

How are things in Tblisi? We just flew back in from Yerevan (missing the snow luckily)

My wife is Armenian so we go down there a couple of times each year to visit the family. We spent some time down in Kharabach last summer, which is an interesting place (politically and geographically) as it doesn't officially exist.

Did all the usual siteseeing whilst there: ie drove past a few abandoned tanks and the odd bombed out town.

JB

[bwglaw]

Tbilisi is covered in 6 inch snow! I love the snow. However, the evenings are FREEZING! I have constant gas but lose out on electricity two-hours a day. Where I am living at the moment is where Government Ministers live hence having constant gas. Rather unfortunate for those who cannot afford to live in this 'posh' area.

Other districts look like a bomb has hit it but where we are there are many new buildings and old buildings have been improved. The roads are outdated and need improving.

No tanks or sign of military here, thankfully!

President announced electricity will return to normal on Monday.

Jonathan

[multilingual]

Sounds familiar :)

When I first went there back in 2000, I was sitting in the flat trying my best to talk to my new family in what little Russian I knew, when there was a rumbling noise coming from the pipework and the whole family lept up and started filling bottles with water.

They used to turn the water on about 4 times each week and they never knew when or for how long!

The other thing that was a bit of a culture shock was the clouds of black smoke rising up from the flat above. He used to burn old car tyres to keep warm in the winter.

I came home quite humbled by it all, but things are a lot better there now.

:)

Jonathan (another one)

[lyndonw]

Just so happened that about 3 weeks ago a letter arrived from a debt collection agency at my mothers address (haven't lived there in 10 years!) claiming that I owed some finance company £85 as a final payment had been missed.

I had no recollection of either missing or making the last payment and the guy on the phone was quite aggressive so I simply said the debt is too old to be chased - he umm'd and ahh'd and eventually after trying for nearly 30 minutes to get my current address or phone number out of me he said that they would be issuing court proceedings against me at my mothers address for the default and that they could chase debt no matter how old.

I haven't heard anything else yet but Im now glad that I can actually refer them to something legal should they bother me again.

If I had made a mistake then I would have had no problem paying but this was totally out of the blue so Im happy I stuck to my guns.

Lyndon