Statute barred - Acknowledging Debt

[Capricorn1601]

Hi All

I have a couple of accounts where the clock is ticking and am now on the big count down for SB. I was reading an article on letters sent to Debt Collectors which may acknowledge the debt, hence restart the clock. I have always been careful to ensure that every letter always included I do not acknowledge any debt to your company, and have never said "I own this debt". But is this enough? Will say stating that an account is or was in dispute also acknowledge it?

Just got me worried that I am so close to closing this chapter of my life, may be further away than I first thought and need make sure that I havent made any slip ups along the way.

Caps

[Undercover Elsa]

Re: Statute barred - Acknowledging Debt

It would need to be a definite acknowledgement, which must be signed, eg making an offer of payment. You should be fine.
When was your last payment on these, and was it a final contractual payment before default or payment made after default?

Elsa x

[Capricorn1601]

Re: Statute barred - Acknowledging Debt

Thanks Elsa

I have one account which has been confirmed by Lowells as a last payment on 20 May 2009 (prior to default)
and one other which was MBNA now with AK last payment 26th Feb 2009 (prior to default)

Thanks


Caps

[Riz]

Re: Statute barred - Acknowledging Debt

A quote I saved.

An acknowledgment must be in writing and signed by the maker or his agent, but, subject to these require-
ments, need not be in any particular form. All that is necessary is that the debtor should recognise the exist-
ence of the debt or other liquidated amount outstanding and unpaid or that the person who might rely on the
statute of limitation should clearly recognise the rights against himself. Whether a document is or is not an
acknowledgment depends on what the document states.
In determining whether a document is a sufficient acknowledgment, the court will look at the circumstances in
which it was written, and will construe it in the way in which the writer intended it to be construed by the per-
son to whom it is addressed.

[julian]

Re: Statute barred - Acknowledging Debt

I found this on Debt Advisory Centre under the heading of Statute Barred. http://www.debtadvisorycentre.co.uk/...-0-3991-0.html

Lenders have a responsibility to pursue the money they've lent out. It's not just down to the borrower to make sure it's repaid.
If:

• your lender doesn't contact you about the debt, and
• you don't acknowledge the debt in writing, and
• -you don't make any payments towards it...

for six (or twelve) years, then it can become statute-barred, meaning you don't have to repay it.If your lender contacts you, or you contact them, at any point in that period, the time basically starts again on that date - another six (or twelve) years would have to pass before the debt becomes 'unenforceable'.

Is this correct or misinformation? -ie your lender doesn't contact you about the debt. As they tend to write every so often just to frighten you, it could be impossible to get SB.

[Riz]

Re: Statute barred - Acknowledging Debt

Yes, that is completely misleading and false.

Then again it's on the website of a blood sucking debt management company, part of Gregory Pennington, who would not want you to think your debts could become statute barred, as they would not get the fees for helping you repay them, or the other services they offer that depend on your debt being live for them to sort. So it's in their interest to have those lies on their website.

[julian]

Re: Statute barred - Acknowledging Debt

So sweet, aren't they?

[Riz]

Re: Statute barred - Acknowledging Debt

About as sweet as a bottle of bleach.

[Riz]

Re: Statute barred - Acknowledging Debt

Also seen this posted elsewhere from a debt advisor course materials.

An acknowledgement must be in writing. It must be signed by a person liable for the debt or an agent working on that person's behalf and must be made to the person who has the claim or that person's agent. It is not necessary that an acknowledgement is signed personally in the handwriting of the person acknowledging the debt.

In Good Challenger v Metalexportimport a debt was admitted in a telex which included the typed name of the debtor's agent. The Court of Appeal decided that 'a document is signed by the maker of it when his name or mark is attached to it in a manner which indicates, objectively, his approval of the contents'.

Regarding email it was considered in Metha v Fernandes whether the presence of an automatically generated email address constitutes a signature. However this was rejected in that 'it is not inserted by the sender of the email in any active sense'

A 2001 Law Commission report Electronic Commerce advised that statutes requiring signature could be satisfied by the test 'whether the conduct of the would-be signatory indicates an intention to authenticate the document. Digital signatures, scanned manuscript signatures, typing one's name and clicking on a website button are, in our view, all methods of signature which are generally capable of satisfying a statutory signature requirement'

[Undercover Elsa]

Re: Statute barred - Acknowledging Debt

Bring back quills and sealing wax!

[SXGuy]

Re: Statute barred - Acknowledging Debt

Bring back quills and sealing wax!

haha if you were to head over to our old friends at GOODF they would actually argue that point under bills of exchange lol idiots.

[panther12]

Re: Statute barred - Acknowledging Debt

I found this on Debt Advisory Centre under the heading of Statute Barred. http://www.debtadvisorycentre.co.uk/...-0-3991-0.html

Lenders have a responsibility to pursue the money they've lent out. It's not just down to the borrower to make sure it's repaid.
If:

• your lender doesn't contact you about the debt, and
• you don't acknowledge the debt in writing, and
• -you don't make any payments towards it...

for six (or twelve) years, then it can become statute-barred, meaning you don't have to repay it.If your lender contacts you, or you contact them, at any point in that period, the time basically starts again on that date - another six (or twelve) years would have to pass before the debt becomes 'unenforceable'.

Is this correct or misinformation? -ie your lender doesn't contact you about the debt. As they tend to write every so often just to frighten you, it could be impossible to get SB.

That's a load of tosh that they quote. If any creditor says it's not SB cos they've written to you, refer them to the relavent section of the Limitation Act.

• "29(5) . . . where any right of action has accrued to recover

• (a) any debt or other liquidated pecuniary claim; or

• (b) . . .

• and the person liable or accountable for the claim acknowledges the claim or makes any payment in respect of it the right shall be treated as having accrued on and not before the date of acknowledgment or payment."

30(1) To be effective for the purposes of section 29 of this Act, an acknowledgment must be in writing and signed by the person making it.

[julian]

Re: Statute barred - Acknowledging Debt

Just shows how easily vulnerable souls are tricked by the nasty, evil-minded, unscrupulous, money-grabbing gits.

[CleverClogs (RIP)]

Re: Statute barred - Acknowledging Debt

I found this on Debt Advisory Centre under the heading of Statute Barred. http://www.debtadvisorycentre.co.uk/...-0-3991-0.html

Lenders have a responsibility to pursue the money they've lent out. It's not just down to the borrower to make sure it's repaid.
If:

• your lender doesn't contact you about the debt, and
• you don't acknowledge the debt in writing, and
• -you don't make any payments towards it...

for six (or twelve) years, then it can become statute-barred, meaning you don't have to repay it.If your lender contacts you, or you contact them, at any point in that period, the time basically starts again on that date - another six (or twelve) years would have to pass before the debt becomes 'unenforceable'.

Is this correct or misinformation? -ie your lender doesn't contact you about the debt. As they tend to write every so often just to frighten you, it could be impossible to get SB.

Stercus bovi erat.

Not only are they utterly wrong about the matter of continued requests for payment, in Scots Law the limitation period is five years, as set by section 6 (link) and schedule 1 (link) of the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973.

Those shonky shits should be reported to the Fundamentally Clueless Authority, who might perhaps do something more than their usual bugger all.

[Riz]

Re: Statute barred - Acknowledging Debt

They've taken down the link Cloggy.