Debt from previous marriage

[Lollyly]

Hi, my husband and I have been married for 7 years, and been together for 10 years. Today he has received a letter from a debt recovery agency, of which he knows nothing about. When he telephoned them he said it was for an address he lived at more than 12 years ago. He has never taken out any loans himself, but his ex wife did this whilst they were married. We are unsure what to do, as he knew nothing about this at all. Could you please advise on what we should do? Thanks L

[themas]

If the debt was not in his name then he has no liability for it at all. If it was in his name then, provided no payment or acknowledgement has been made in the last 6 years it is statute barred, which means the creditor can't take Court action to enforce the debt.

A lot of old statute barred debts are being sold on by companies & the debt collectors who buy them are often none to particular in who they chase or the tactics they use. They have been known to chase someone who is not the debtor at all, simply because the name is the same or similar.

He should deny all knowledge of the debt, refuse to pay anything and tell them that if they still think he has any liability they must provide full details - including the documents showing he incurred the debt and documents showing it is not statute barred.

[Lollyly]

Hi Themas, Thank you so much for replying. I have been sick with worry. I rang this debt recovery agency this evening on my husband's behalf, can't believe they spoke to me!! Anyway, I said they had the wrong person. But the address they have is where my husband lived more than 17 years ago with his ex wife. The debt must be in his name, and we don't know if she has been paying it and suddenly stopped and this is now why they are chasing him or whether its just taken this long for them to find him. Which I find unlikely. His ex wife has forged his signature on a previous occasion for a tax rebate for almost �1000, we let that go on the condition she gave the money back, which she did (well almost all of it). So I would not be surprised if this is what has happened again. But we will ignore and see what happens. Thank you so so much for replying, you have certainly put our minds at ease. L