#DebtCollection #CreditAgreement #FinancialAdvice
Hey everyone! 👋 Have any of you ever been contacted about a debt that’s over a decade old by a company you don’t recognize? I recently received a letter from a company called Intrum claiming I owe them just over £400 for a debt that was apparently taken out 11 years ago. Here are a few key points:
– The original debt was taken out in 2013 by a company called omni finance
– The debt has since been sold to another company that is now trying to collect
– I’ve been visited at my door by a company called Resolve Call asking for information
I’m a bit lost as to what to do next. Does anyone have any advice or insights on the legitimacy of this situation? Has anyone heard of these companies before? Any tips on how to handle this?
In the meantime, I’m planning to:
– Request more information from Omni Finance about the debt
– Research the companies involved to see if they have any red flags
– Consider seeking legal advice if necessary
Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Let’s help each other out 🤝💭.
All the companies you have mentioned are legitimate lenders/debt collectors.
Do you know what type of debt this is? The account may have originally been opened in 2013 but if you have continued to use it/make payments towards it this will affect any statute barred claim you might look to make.
The best way to go will be use a template letter (Martin Lewis website/CAB) to ask the creditor and debt collectors to prove the debt is yours and remains enforceable.
Please try to ignore anyone trying to tell you the debt is definitely statute barred. There isn’t enough information to confirm this and statute barred is usually a bit more complicated than whatever YouTube video they’ve watched.
Good luck!
Although the debt may have started in 2013, when was the last time you paid any money towards it or contacted the lender? That’s when the clock for the 6years starts.
If you were still paying it 2 years ago (for example) then they are well within their rights to pursue the debt even if it started 50 years ago.
Resolve do doorstep collections – don’t be intimidated if they knock on your door. The first letter will be to encourage you to call them (or Capquest, Intrum’s in-house servicer for the UK consumer debt). If they still knock on your door, all they will do is hand you a phone connected to that call centre.
Simply tell them you don’t recognise the debt and that if it yours, then it is statute barred. Use the term ‘statute barred’ and they will check the date is more than 6 years and then mark it on the system. Once it has that marker they know it’s uncollectable so will stop chasing.
The only way it wouldn’t be the case is if they managed to get a CCJ without you knowing about it. This would be on your credit file. You can check all three for free, but would probably know about it if it was there.
If it’s been ~11 years with no contact, then any debt will almost certainly be “statute barred” (the time limit is six years). Technically this doesn’t mean the debt is gone, but it does mean they can’t get a court order and without a court order, there are essentially zero means of actually enforcing the debt. So for all intents and purposes, once the debt is statute barred you can just tell anyone who comes calling to go away, and suffer no consequences.
But that doesn’t stop them (repeatedly) asking you to pay the debt, which I appreciate could get very annoying. If you want to nip this in the bud, then a “prove it” letter can be effective – I like this template but others are available if you google for “prove it letter”: [https://nationaldebtline.org/get-information/sample-letters/complaining-to-debt-collection-agencies-you-do-not-owe-debt/](https://nationaldebtline.org/get-information/sample-letters/complaining-to-debt-collection-agencies-you-do-not-owe-debt/)
Statute of limitations for ordinary debt (excluding mortgage debt) is 6 years