Hi cheerykel.

How long ago was the repossession?

Has there been any contact since? If so, when was the last contact!

I think the bank resold the house in 2001, no contact since but I don't think he had any forwarding address at this point.

Hi cheerykel

Prescription would apply ie the cant pursue debts after 5 years if there's been no contact/legal action.

The bank would carry out their normal credit checks, so I'm not sure if they would or would not open an account. I've found Nationwide to be good and have had no negative feedback re. opening and running accounts.

Mark

thanks Mark, that is reassuring.

He would be accepted with cashplus and I'm sure there are others. Cashplus do a prepaid mastercard account, accepted most places mastercard is. Some features are not offered immediately and need to be requested such as using at the pump for petrol, car hire. Another downside is no cashback facility but I find that minor, just need to be more organised in using hole in the wall ATMs

Hi cheerykel.

I have extracted the details held in the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 for your perusal.

Unsecured credit debts
This includes credit cards, store cards, bank and building society personal loans, catalogues, old fuel bills, finance company loans etc. You may have had a debt with an ordinary unsecured creditor that you have not heard about for a very long time. You may have moved address or thought that the debt had been written off.
Out of the blue a letter arrives from the original creditor or a debt collection agency asking you to make a payment.
You need to think carefully about any action that either you or the creditor has taken over the last five years: if
ÔÇó the creditor has not already obtained a decree against you; and
ÔÇó you or anyone else owing the money (on a debt in joint names) have not made a payment on the debt during the last five years; and
ÔÇó you have not written to the creditor admitting you owe the debt during the last five years.
You can argue that the debt is ÔÇÿextinguished', This means that it no longer exists and there is no debt for the creditor to pursue.
What should I do next?
You can use the sample letter at the end of this fact sheet to write back to the creditor telling them about The Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act and disputing that you owe the debt.
Remember
Keep copies of any letters you send.
You are entitled to a copy of any file the creditor has containing the history of your account under the Data Protection Act 1998. A request for the file would not mean you are admitting the debt.
Remember
If the creditor can prove that you wrote to them admitting the debt, or you or anyone else owing the debt made a payment, then the five year prescription/limitation period would start running from the date you last made contact or made a payment.
If you have started to make payments on a debt after the five year limitation period has run out, your payments will not have revived the debt. The debt is still ÔÇÿextinguished' and legally no longer exists. You could even argue that the creditor should pay back the money that you have paid because there was no debt to be paid off.

Office of Fair Trading Debt Collection Guidance
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has issued Debt Collection Guidance which looks at whether a debt is being collected fairly. They say:
ÔÇó it is unfair to pursue the debt if you have heard nothing from the creditor for five years;
ÔÇó the OFT thinks it is fair to keep trying to recover the debt if the creditor has been in regular contact with you during this time;
ÔÇó it is unfair to mislead you by saying the debt is still legally recoverable when it is not;
ÔÇó it is unfair to keep pressing for payment after you have told them you won't be paying the debt because the creditor is out of time to collect it.
Information
The OFT guidance is written from the point of view of the law in England and Wales, where the law on collecting debt that is out of time is different. We understand from the OFT that they expect creditors and debt collectors in Scotland to follow ÔÇÿthe spirit' of the guidance. The OFT is in the processes of changing its guidance so that it sets out clearly the standards of behaviour it expects from creditors and debt collectors when collecting Scottish debts.
If you think that a creditor or debt collector is ignoring the OFT guidance then you can complain to your local trading standards department in the council. They may take up your case for you. You may also complain to the OFT. Their address is at the end of the fact sheet. The OFT does not usually take up individual cases but their Debt Collection Licensing Enforcement Team collects information that can be used to take action against problem creditors, who can even lose their consumer credit licence.

Miscellaneous time limits
In Scotland there is a time limit of five years or 20 years (depending upon the type of debt) on taking legal action to claim money owed. Debts owed to the Department of Work and Pensions are unusual because the time limit for them is six years (see below for more information).
Sheriff court decrees
If the creditor has been to court they will usually have up to 20 years to start ÔÇÿenforcing' the decree and you cannot use the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act to dispute you owe the debt.
The debt is likely to have been included in your credit reference file. A default will stay on your credit file for six years.
Overpayment of social security benefits
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has six years to take action through the courts to recover benefit overpayments. The time starts running from the date of the decision that the overpayment was recoverable. However, if more than six years have gone by, it may still be possible to recover the overpayment from another benefit you receive as the DWP do not have to go through the courts to do this.
The usual time limit of five years applies to overpayments of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit. Phone us for advice.
Council Tax/Community Charge
Arrears of Council Tax and Community Charge can be recovered for up to 20 years. This time limit runs from the date of the final demand, or from the last time that the debt was acknowledged by you (or an agent acting on your behalf). If there was a ÔÇÿprolonged and unexplained delay' in recovery, it may be possible to challenge any new recovery action. Phone us for advice.
There is a two year rule for new liabilities for Community Charge. This means that if you had not been on the Community Charge register but it was later found that you should have been, you can argue that you only owe up to two years Community Charge before your name was put on the register. Phone us for advice.
Income tax and VAT
There are no time limits which stop HM Revenue and Customs from collecting tax once the initial assessment has been made.

Mortgage shortfalls
If your mortgage lender is chasing you for a debt left over when your house was repossessed or sold, there are time limits on claiming money owed, which vary according to the nature of the debt.
When the money owed is a mixture of the ÔÇÿcapital' part of the mortgage and the ÔÇÿinterest' part, the time limits for each are different. There is a 20 year limit to recover the capital part and a five year limit to recover the interest part.

Hope this helps

Chris

thanks very much Chris, it helps and it complicates! Theoretically my hubby should still owe after his repossession although we do not know how much pr from whaen except approx 10 yrs ago, depite being on voting roll they have not contacted him since we have lived together, 2003. And to boot Bank of scotland who the mortgage was with have opened a current account for him! Is it wise to go ahead with this account I wonder?

Hi cheerykel.

From the information that Chris has provided I'm not sure anyone could say that's 100% safe. Probably very low risk, but not 100%.

Agree TDA

Chris