How long does debt follow you?

A question about : How long does debt follow you?

Hi

My partner has significant debt. Bankruptcy and IVA are not options for various reasons. He has no hope of even being able to pay back 10% of what he owes. We are trying to plan for the future... He has not borrowed any money for 4 or 5 years. What are his options? Are any debts wiped off after a period of time? How can we check what judgments and orders are against him?

Thank you.

Best answers:

• After 6 years from the last communication/payment/etc you have with a lender the debt can become "Statute Barred" which means they can't chase it.
  Really though, if it's a substantial debt, hiding for 6 years won't be any better for his credit file than IVA/Bankruptcy
• Hi there,
  Welcome to MSE
  Assuming that your partner has credit debts then it is possible that this type of debt may have a 'shelf life', but this can be a complicated issue, and only applies in certain circumstances. What is more relevant than when a debt was taken out was when it was last paid. There is a piece of legislation called the Limitations Act 1980 which does state that if there has been a 6 year block of time since the debt fell due, with no written acknowledgement or payment to the debt and no County Court Judgement has been obtained, the debt may no longer be enforceable through the County Court and becomes known as Statute Barred. So, if your partner has been making token payments or has been writing to the debts over the years this will not apply. And/or if any of the debts have a CCJ against him then this will not apply.
  Debts can remain enforceable even if they are no longer on your credit file. Although a debt will remain on your credit file for 6 years from the date of default or judgement, it may be able to be chased for much longer. Unfortunately, just because a debt is not on your credit file does not mean it is "wiped off".
  You can check if there are any CCJ's either by obtaining one copy of each credit file (there are 3 in total). Or you can check online at the Register of Orders, Judgements and Fines - www.trustonline.org.uk and this will cost approx. Ј4 per search. If there are any CCJ's that are not currently being paid then please make sure you do take full independent advice about how to deal with these.
  If Insolvency options (such as IVA's and Bankruptcy) are unsuitable then the debts will need to be negotiated with and repaid. Informal negotiations (either done yourself or through a debt management company) will go on for as long as it is necessary to clear the debts in full. There may be further advice/ options available depending on your circumstances. It may be worth considering adding a little more information about the type of debts and why insolvency is unsuitable. I hope this helps point you in the right direction anyway,
  Laura
  @natdebtline
• Check his credit file with experian and equifax and noddle, Dont pay for the useless credit score. Its a pointless number. Lenders dont see that number.
  If they dont take him to court within 6 years then its statute barred. The debt still exists but they can only beg him to pay them. They can not take court action after that.
  The debt still exists though.
• It is unusual for neither BAnkruptcy, or IVA, to be 'suitable'....
  Both are a form of insolvency, which, from what is posted, seems to be the situation the partner is in.