reply to post by ProRipp
Thanks for the information, it makes it a lot clearer. You weren't relying on any deep-rooted law, unfortunately, but some fairly basic application
of credit-related legislation, limitations and statistics.
I'm very glad it worked for you, of course. Sometimes we find ourselves in these situations.
There is no law that says you are deemed to accept if they send three letters without reply. In fact, this particular situation is governed by
specific legislation that gives you a lot of protection. A few things to note:
1) If you ignored them completely then after 6 years from the date of breach, they lose the ability to enforce the contract.
2) If you stated anything in the letter which could be read as acknowledging that you owe the debt, or if you make a payment, the clock starts
3) What usually happens in that the bank will write you off as a lost cause and sell your debt to a third party at a loss. The third party companies
work on numbers - if they annoy enough people, enough will pay out to make it worth while. If they have no success, they will sell that debt on to
another collection company for a fraction of what they paid. It's not unheard of for a debt to pass through several companies that way before finally
disappearing. I suspect that is also why the companies at the end of the chain get so aggressive - if they get a single payment out of you, you can
then be chased for the rest.
So, what about the risk of being taken to court? Usually very slim. A credit contract is a regulated document. The company is obliged by law to keep a
copy of your signed Consumer Credit Agreement and to provide a copy of it on request. Without it, the debt is not enforceable. If it is not correct
(the law sets out requirements for how the contract is drawn up) then it is not enforceable. Banks in the past have been very sloppy with their
records and have often been unable to provide this document on request, which is probably why they sell the debts on rather than chase them directly.
Even if they DO have them, the third party might never receive a copy, or might not be able to retrieve it on request.
You have not been dealing with any grassroots movement-type law that "sticks it to the man", you've been following basic consumer credit law. I
doubt this would have worked in many other situations. I think it's better to say that you got lucky this time. I'm glad you did, of course.