Lowell, overdraft, statute barred question

[beatthasystem]

Hi all,

ive seen a similar post about a currys pc loan but here goes anyway,
i moved abroad and while there i increased my overdraft with halifax to £2000 and took out a 5k visa with halifax, i made a few payments and then stopped. i also had a £700 overdraft with lloyds.
i believe this was early 2008.
i returned last year and waited a while but the debt was passed on to debt collectors, i ignored them and then i sent off statute barred letters to the 3 debts.
i got letters back from the halifax debtors agreeing it was staute barred writing off the £7k (hooray) but i got a letter back from lowell financial saying thanks for the letter but it is still enforceable because lloyds didnt issue a default notice until 11th december 2009 and therefore you must pay. i dont know when i last had contact with lloyds but i must have been way before then. its been a couple of months, ive had a couple more letters saying i havent replied atc and the will be using debt collection agencies soon.
what should i do?
thanks in advance

[Kafka]

Re: Lowell, overdraft, statute barred question

Hello and welcome.

Firstly, never believe a word Lowell say, and only ever communicate with them in writing.

I would send a Subject Access Request to Lloyds for all the personal data they hold on you, because Lowell won't have anything and can only get it from Lloyds anyway.

It would also be helpful to know what your credit reports say about this account.

[nemesis45]

Re: Lowell, overdraft, statute barred question

Hi all,

ive seen a similar post about a currys pc loan but here goes anyway,
i moved abroad and while there i increased my overdraft with halifax to £2000 and took out a 5k visa with halifax, i made a few payments and then stopped. i also had a £700 overdraft with lloyds.
i believe this was early 2008.
i returned last year and waited a while but the debt was passed on to debt collectors, i ignored them and then i sent off statute barred letters to the 3 debts.
i got letters back from the halifax debtors agreeing it was staute barred writing off the £7k (hooray) but i got a letter back from lowell financial saying thanks for the letter but it is still enforceable because lloyds didnt issue a default notice until 11th december 2009 and therefore you must pay. i dont know when i last had contact with lloyds but i must have been way before then. its been a couple of months, ive had a couple more letters saying i havent replied atc and the will be using debt collection agencies soon.
what should i do?
thanks in advance

Hi Welcome to LB,


An overdraft is handled differently from credit cards, the 6 year limitation period starts from the date creditor recalls the OD i.e., makes a demand for immediate repayment in full of all outstanding monies / final demand for payment in full.

This period can be a little prolonged resulting in a default later than one might normally expect.

Did you receive any such demand even though your were out of the country?
Taking the default date as the start of the relevant 6 year period is a favourite of Lowell's when chasing OD's, but the fact is the date of the last payment and/or written acknowledgment can be used to challenge, as this can be stated as the trigger point where a creditor can demand payment in full.

I suggest you contact Lloyds and see if they can provide the date when they demanded payment, if they can't/wont do this then a Subject Access under the Data Protection Act 1998 is in order this obliges Lloyds to provide all the personal data it holds on you including the demand (s) for payment.

There is a £10 statutory fee for the request a cheque or postal order endorsed for statutory fee only is ideal.

This should be addressed to the Data Controller at Lloyds, there is a template in the forum library for this.

Lloyds has 40 days to comply so use signed for post.

Any PPI on any of the accounts?

nem

[beatthasystem]

Re: Lowell, overdraft, statute barred question

so if it is dec 2009 did i reset the clock sending letter to lowells?

the letter is below

Lowell Financial


PO Box 164
Leeds
LS10 9EH

WITHOUT PREJUDICE

Dear Sir/Madam

Re: Account No/Reference No: **********

No debt is acknowledged to you. You have contacted me regarding the account with the above reference number, which you claim is owed by myself.

I would point out that under the Limitation Act 1980 Section 5 “an action founded on simple contract shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued.”.

The last correspondence/payment/acknowledgement of this debt was made over six years ago and no further acknowledgement or payment has been made since that time. Unless you can provide evidence of payment or written contact from me in the relevant period under Section 5 of the Limitation Act, I suggest that you are no longer able to take any court action against me to recover the alleged amount claimed.

I await your written confirmation that no further contact will be made concerning the above account and confirmation that this matter is now closed.

I look forward to your reply.

Yours faithfully

and i signed it

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Lowell, overdraft, statute barred question

so if it is dec 2009 did i reset the clock sending letter to lowells?

the letter is below

Lowell Financial


PO Box 164
Leeds
LS10 9EH

WITHOUT PREJUDICE

Dear Sir/Madam

Re: Account No/Reference No: **********

No debt is acknowledged to you. You have contacted me regarding the account with the above reference number, which you claim is owed by myself.

I would point out that under the Limitation Act 1980 Section 5 “an action founded on simple contract shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued.”.

The last correspondence/payment/acknowledgement of this debt was made over six years ago and no further acknowledgement or payment has been made since that time. Unless you can provide evidence of payment or written contact from me in the relevant period under Section 5 of the Limitation Act, I suggest that you are no longer able to take any court action against me to recover the alleged amount claimed.

I await your written confirmation that no further contact will be made concerning the above account and confirmation that this matter is now closed.

I look forward to your reply.

Yours faithfully

and i signed it

No, it didn't reset the clock, it's a standard statute barred letter. :thumb:

As an aside, there's no point in writing 'WITHOUT PREJUDICE' on letters that are not offers of settlement, it doesn't change anything. Without Prejudice only applies to settlement offers so your communications cannot be used in court, for anything else it means nothing.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Lowell, overdraft, statute barred question

Hi all,

ive seen a similar post about a currys pc loan but here goes anyway,
i moved abroad and while there i increased my overdraft with halifax to £2000 and took out a 5k visa with halifax, i made a few payments and then stopped. i also had a £700 overdraft with lloyds.
i believe this was early 2008.
i returned last year and waited a while but the debt was passed on to debt collectors, i ignored them and then i sent off statute barred letters to the 3 debts.
i got letters back from the halifax debtors agreeing it was staute barred writing off the £7k (hooray) but i got a letter back from lowell financial saying thanks for the letter but it is still enforceable because lloyds didnt issue a default notice until 11th december 2009 and therefore you must pay. i dont know when i last had contact with lloyds but i must have been way before then. its been a couple of months, ive had a couple more letters saying i havent replied atc and the will be using debt collection agencies soon.
what should i do?
thanks in advance

Because overdrafts have no set repayment dates, they do not fall under s.5 of the Limitation Act, they fall under s.6 which means the clock starts to run from when a demand for payment was made. With low overdrawn balances, the banks often take their time before recalling the overdraft because they still expect you to start using the current account again and it may even be considered as them doing you a favour so to speak, by leaving your account live for longer. I have a business account without O/D facility that went into the red from the banks' own charges, up to nearly £400. I didn't pay anything into the account for nearly a year yet the bank never demanded payment and, four years later, I'm still using the account.

[abraphanpy]

Re: Lowell, overdraft, statute barred question

Hi Welcome to LB,




This period can be a little prolonged resulting in a default later than one might normally expect

nem

IS 8 YEARS a little too prolonged ??

[nemesis45]

Re: Lowell, overdraft, statute barred question

Yes it certainly is !

nem

[abraphanpy]

Re: Lowell, overdraft, statute barred question

section 5 of this limitations Act>>> shall thereupon apply as if the cause of action to recover the debt had accrued on the date on which the demand was made.<< dosnt that mean it would be statue barred automatically on any demand for repayment as 6 yrs have passed with no payment/contact ??

[nemesis45]

Re: Lowell, overdraft, statute barred question

section 5 of this limitations Act>>> shall thereupon apply as if the cause of action to recover the debt had accrued on the date on which the demand was made.<< dosnt that mean it would be statue barred automatically on any demand for repayment as 6 yrs have passed with no payment/contact ??

n the

No the start point of a relevant 6 year period depends on the type of debt.
e.g. for unsecured loans, bank accounts and overdrafts the date when the creditor
can Demand Immediate Repayment in Full of an outstanding balance.

HP agreements when the account is terminated ( See Appeal Court judgement in BMW Finance - v - Hart)
which some will argue applies to all credit debts.

nem

[abraphanpy]

Re: Lowell, overdraft, statute barred question

n the

No the start point of a relevant 6 year period depends on the type of debt.
e.g. for unsecured loans, bank accounts and overdrafts the date when the creditor
can Demand Immediate Repayment in Full of an outstanding balance.

HP agreements when the account is terminated ( See Appeal Court judgement in BMW Finance - v - Hart)
which some will argue applies to all credit debts.

nem

so 6 months from when the overdraft fell into un authorized overdraft ( bank could have called it in ) + 2 months notice required for demand of full payment starts the statute barred clock ??
as per terms of the banks agreement./ terms and conditions etc if so this account is very much statute barred ;-) as no payment or contact in 8 yrs