Statute Barred Debt? or Not?

Jauzman

Any help is much appreciated ðŸ‘

I took out a personal loan from BOI in 2005. Some years later I became unemployed and wasn't able to keep up payments. Solicitors in Galway have been chasing me since then. I owe under €3000, and today, I received a Notice of Intention to proceed. It's not the first time, I've received this from these Solicitors. Its been over 15 years, since the loan was taken out. Can they sue me in court, I'm still unemployed. I did try to pay them back a few times, but found it next to impossible. I think I played the Solicitors €40 last year. 15 years plus is a long time to be chasing me. Is my debit statuate barred or am I still screwed?
Thank you for any help.

Quackster

Jauzman wrote: »

Any help is much appreciated ðŸ‘

I took out a personal loan from BOI in 2005. Some years later I became unemployed and wasn't able to keep up payments. Solicitors in Galway have been chasing me since then. I owe under €3000, and today, I received a Notice of Intention to proceed. It's not the first time, I've received this from these Solicitors. Its been over 15 years, since the loan was taken out. Can they sue me in court, I'm still unemployed. I did try to pay them back a few times, but found it next to impossible. I think I played the Solicitors €40 last year. 15 years plus is a long time to be chasing me. Is my debit statuate barred or am I still screwed?
Thank you for any help.

Depends entirely on when was the last time you made a payment or otherwise acknowledged the existence of the loan.

Jauzman

I believe I made a payment via debit card last year to the Solicitors in Galway, over the phone. Will I have to go to court now? I still can't afford to pay them.

Quackster

Jauzman wrote: »

I believe I made a payment via debit card last year to the Solicitors in Galway, over the phone. Will I have to go to court now? I still can't afford to pay them.

Yeah, that would likely mean the debt is not statue-barred. But considering the amount of the debt and the cost & hassle of court proceedings to them, I think making a small monthly offer, even something like €5 or €10, would be something to consider if possible.

Also, contacting MABS is a no-brainer. They're great at dealing with this sort of stuff.

Jauzman

Thank you for your help.
Yes, ill see if they accept a weekly payment of €5. That's the best I can do for now.

HalfAndHalf

I’d maybe delete your post about the family holiday to South Africa.

As someone has said, it’s not statute barred as you’ve acknowledged it only last year so if you’re going to plead poverty to them then you don’t want evidence of a family holiday laying around on the internet.

Tzardine

The debt is not statute barred.

You should reach out to them and make an offer to start payments. You will be asked to complete a statement of means, basically outlining your income and outgoings and then making a reasonable offer based on what you have left over.

You will find that they are most likely reasonable to deal with if you are making an effort.

On the grand scale of things, €3000 is not a massive amount of money. You are best just getting stuck in and paying it off, and then putting the experience behind you.

Remember, this bad debt will follow you around for 5 years after you pay it all off. So the sooner you can get rid of it the better.

Bubbaclaus

HalfAndHalf wrote: »

I’d maybe delete your post about the family holiday to South Africa.

Oops

Tzardine

Is it Crosskerrys you are dealing with?

HalfAndHalf

HalfAndHalf wrote: »

I’d maybe delete your post about the family holiday to South Africa.

As someone has said, it’s not statute barred as you’ve acknowledged it only last year so if you’re going to plead poverty to them then you don’t want evidence of a family holiday laying around on the internet.

I guess my dig about the holiday went unnoticed...

Your original post says you’ve struggled to pay them anything due to being long term unemployed, and now you can only give them a fiver a week, yet you’ve been off on a 4 person holiday to South Africa not long ago.

Are you sure you’ve not come here asking if it’s barred because you’ve been dodging it and you were hoping it’s gone away? All seems a bit suspect.

Jim2007

Quackster wrote: »

Depends entirely on when was the last time you made a payment or otherwise acknowledged the existence of the loan.

It is only a defence in court and requires the creditor to take no legal action.

And in any case it is pretty much academic now got most people, since the creditor must continue to report such debt on the debtors CCR report. Which means if one ever want to get a loan it will still be an issue.