Once a debt has become statute barred and you've dispensed with all the formalities of informing the creditor that the debt is no longer legally enforceable, although they are still allowed to make polite requests that you pay something... they cannot harass you.!

Under section 40 of the administration of justices act 1970 and protection from harassment act 1997 once you request that they do not make any further contact, if they persist they commit not only criminal offences but are also open to action from the OFT, including fines, suspension or revocation of their credit licences if the harassment still continues. Simply send a letter as below by recorded once you've made them aware that the debt has been struck off under the Six year statute of the limitations act 1980.

...............................................

Your name address & Date

Dear Sirs

Personal Harassment

Account Number: XXXXXXX

I am writing in relation to the response that I have received from your company, which I deem to be personally harassing. I have provided you with a letter that states this debt is considered statute barred by law, unless you can provide me with any lawful authority that overides my legal rights under these circumstances, then I consider any further contact from you as unlawful and illegal harassment

I now require no further contact of any form from your company about this matter, unless you can supply the aforementioned legal authority above.

I am of the view that your continued harassment of me puts you in breach of Section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970, and the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.

If you continue to harass me with unrequested letters unwarranted contact or telephone, you will also be in breach of the Communications Act (2003) s.127 and I will report you to OFCOM, Trading Standards and The Office of Fair Trading, meaning that you will be liable to a substantial fine and / or have action taken against your credit licence.

Be advised that any further harassing correspondence from your company about this subject which by law is now considered to be legally unenforceable, will be saved and forwarded onto the relevant statutory bodies above as a formal complaint about your unlawful conduct.

Yours faithfully,

[NAME HERE]

Hi Mallory,

The 6 year rule I believe only covers a creditor taking legal action to recover the debt. Many banks and credit card companies recoup some of their costs by selling some or all of this debt to collection agencies for anything between a few pennies and 30p in the pound

Many consumer groups argue that debt collection agencies are bound by the Limitations Act of 1980, which says a creditor has only six years to take legal action. After that, the slate should be wiped clean.

However, as you may have guessed, the Credit Services Association, which represents debt collection agencies, disagrees strongly with the consumer groups.

They say: 'If you owe me £20, the fact that I can't sue you after six years doesn't mean that you no longer owe it to me. 'It does not finish the debt, and I can go to you seven, eight or however many years later and politely ask you to pay me back that money. 'If you refuse, I can politely warn you that I will be coming back to see you next week to ask you to reconsider.'

I think we all know what that means!!!!!!!

The reality is that these debt collectors simply make a nuisance of them selves and are not usually very polite, but rather intimidator.

If you are confident that your debt was cleared, how does it go? Oh yes, politely tell them the debt was settled and stop bothering me!

Every time they contact you with this polite request, tell them the same thing, the debt was settled, don’t elaborate, this will give them a point to argue. They usually get fed up eventually.

Hi

I had a similar situation a number of years ago, won’t bore you with the details, however; suffice it to say the mobile phone companies’ opinion and mine differed.

One thing I would always recommend, never do anything over the phone, always in writing and keep copies.

In my case I responded to each and every letter with the outline of the case from my perspective and defending the claim against me. It seems these people all come from the same mould as they tend to totally ignore anything you say as they believe they cannot be wrong.

Simply state your case in writing, explaining exactly what was done, be it by letter or phone call and to whom this was made. Highlight the point that this, to the best of your knowledge and belief had been settled 8 years ago. (an exact date would be much better)

In my particular case they tried to overcharge me and went through at least 3 different solicitors in the process. Each and every one of them was told exactly the same thing; in fact I used the same letter, simply amending address details, date etc.

Eventually they gave up, which was the good news, the bad news as such was they then decided to report a default notice to a credit reference agency. As best as I can tell, all this did was to make the bank ask a few extra questions when I went for a loan.

You can get your credit report and if a default notice has been issued, you may have the right to have attached a note which explains your point of view. The default notice would normally be removed automatically after three years anyway.

Hi all.... have been reading a lot of posts concerning debts over 6 years old. Think im in a similar situation. 9/10 years ago I took out 2 phone contracts (one for me and one for my then partner). After we split (8 years ago) I cancelled the contract for his phone, and a month later called them to check if he had paid his final bill. They told me he had and I forgot all about it. Some time ago I received a letter from a debt collector (this would have been 6 1/2 years after cancellation), who I phoned and told them I would not pay as I had been told the bill was paid, and after 6 years I could not contact him for proof. After a couple of threatening letters they seemed to give up.. I have now received another letter from a different collector (it has now been 8 years).... What can I do to get these people off my back?? It isn't a great amount but hardly the point! I never hid from them and they could easily have found me straight away, as I still had the other contract with them for a further 2 years.

Any advice would be gratefully received.