Being chased for a "non persauable debt"

[Caneluna]

I had a debt in 2007 with HSBC of £1700 which they agreeded and put in writing to me that they would longer persue (due to my disabilty, medical condition and finacial situation).

I have now been contacted by MKRR, a debt collection agency, who claim that they have been sold the debt and are asking me for payment.

Where do i stand on this and what if anything should I do?

[EDDIE51]

HSBC may not persue it but they can sell the debt on to get some of the cash back. Just ignore the letters , after a while MKRR will sell it on again but still ignore the letters. If you respond at all that gives them another 7 years to persue the debt so don't even acknowledge that you have recieved the letter.
I had a bill from HSBC for £7000 I had no hope of repaying, eventually they sent it to the county court and I offered £1 a month which they have accepted. Yes I know I'll be dead long before it is payed but as long as I keep to the repayments they can take no further action.

[tonywiltshire]

Good advice from Eddie.
Your situation is covered by the limitation act 1980, as long as the loan remains secured the lender has 12 years to take action to recover the debt, but only 6 years to recover non-secured debts or the interest on a secured debt, as Eddie says if you acknowledge the debt or make a payment the time limit starts again. The court of appeal and the House of Lords confirmed in 1977 that the limitation period for the principle secured sum is 12 years, prior to which there was considerable uncertainty.
If you reach the limitation period you still owe the money but the lender is unable to take action to recover the debt, it can also be known as statute barred.

[FredPuli43]

If HSBC said, in terms, that they were writing the debt off altogether and not pursuing it, rather than not do so for the time being, there's a pretty good chance that a court would hold that they are estopped from pursuing it and therefore, there being no longer any debt which can be pursued, the debt agency cannot claim it either. You will need the letter that says that, as hoped above, to support that defence.
Whatever you do, don't make any offer to pay it. Wait until the debt agency gets a final court judgment against you, the defence that it was estopped having been rejected by the court. Then pay whatever the court orders.

[Caneluna]

I have, maybe unfortunately so, already contacted MKKR to inform them that I have in writing that HSBC would no longer persue the debt. I sent them the copy of the letter from HSBC stating as such. They have written back to me with a copy of a Notice of Assignment from HSBC, addressed to me, dated 9th March 2012, (which I have never received). They continue to demand payment of this debt.

[FredPuli43]

In that case, you'll have to rely on the letter in your defence and in court, as in my previous post . It had better be earlier than the date of the assignment. Assignment replaces the original creditor and the 'assignee' has all that creditor's rights.
Don't suppose for a minute that the debt agency knows, or cares,what the significance of the letter is or may be. They just think that you haven't understood that they now own the debt and HSBC are out of the picture, and have sent a copy of the assignment to show that. But if the assignment was later than the letter, and the letter does estop any claim, there was no pursuable debt for them to buy and they have no more right than HSBC then had.

[Caneluna]

Thank you for your time and help.

The letter From HSBC dated June 28th 2007 I have in which they state:

.".we will no longer be persuing you in connection with this debt"..


I must also stress that they wrote to me with this decision after i had informed them of my disabilty, medical condition, and financial situation and the fact that it would be unlikely that I would ever be able to re-pay this debt.

[boxtops]

If I were you (and others may think otherwise) I would get my solicitor to write HSBC one stiff letter, enclosing a certified copy of the letter from HSBC, and telling them they've made a mistake and to cancel the debt.

My understanding is that only the original creditor can call off the debt, even if it's been sold to a collection agency.

[cathfromsaron]

did you keep the original agreement letter?

if so and your circs are unchanged, take it to CAB and find out if it's still binding?

[FredPuli43]

Following boxtops answer, your solicitor, or anyone acting for you, should write to both the debt agency and HSBC. It's the debt agency that owns the debt, not HSBC. That's the whole point of assignment. HMRC sold the debt and have no further interest or rights in it. But they may have influence over the debt agency, which does.

[Caneluna]

First of all thank you all for your advice and your time.

I have today contacted the banking ombudsman and outlined my case. They are writing to HSBC for me and will also be sending me a letter to forward on to MKRR which , they say, may help to keep MKKR whilst I wait for a response from HSBC. If of any interest i will keep this thread updated with any info on this matter as it proceeds.

[tonywiltshire]

Many people are not aware that debts are sold; HSBC probably sold your debt as part of a bulk sale of low chance of recovery debts for a small percentage of the original debt. The more a debt recovery company pays for the debt obviously the harder they will try to recover as much as is possible. There may be complications on your death if your estate is handed over to beneficiaries without first paying your creditors, the risk of creditors making claims after the estate has been disposed of can be eliminated by advertising in accordance with section 27 of the Trustees Act 1925 and waiting two months.
Do keep us informed of the outcome.

[themas]

I do hope you get a satisfactory result.

However, the wording you quote does not say the debt has been written off - just that HSBC will not pursue it. Clearly, ethically they should have written it off in the circumstances, but they just left it open on their books without pursuing you & then sold it. The Ombudsman ought to be able to get them to see sense.

[Caneluna]

Update: After contacting the Banking Ombudsman who wrote to HSBC on my behalf, HSBC (Metropolitan) have contacted me and have recalled the debt that they say was mistakenly sold on to the debt collection agency. The matter is now closed.

[Caneluna]

Update: After contacting the Banking Ombudsman who wrote to HSBC on my behalf, HSBC (Metropolitan) have contacted me to inform me that they are recalling the debt that they say was mistakenly sold onto to the debt recovery agency. The matter is now closed and a successful outcome has been achieved.

[ummmm]

Good news :-)