gah debt collection

[Nitefly]

Similar thing happened to me, they sign you up without pointing out the t&c - a fair few people arnt careful enough to read the small print and its irritating but we are in the wrong for signing the form !

You may be interested to know that just because something is 'in the small print' doesn't mean you necessarily are bound by it. Laws exist to regulate onerous and otherwise 'unfair' terms, some of which you see alarmingly regularly.

"We reserve the right to change all terms of the contract unconditionally at any time" is a personal favourite

 

[Rroff]

Explain?

I've had 3 debts (amounting to over £3,500 grand) from my Uni days and I've lost count of the amount of times over the years I was told a debt collector was calling. They never showed up, ever.

They try harassing you for a few months, then you get a letter from a different firm after the previous one gave up and sold it on.

As long as you make no contact with them, after 10 years you can apply for the debt to become 'Statue Barred'. This means the debt still exist but the debt collectors can not contact you or make any effort to get you to pay it.

That's the situation with me. I'll pay it off one day (when I earn a decent wage) but for me it was the principle (I was a young naive 18 year olf who asked the bank for a £50 overdraft and ended up being given a £3,000 credit card).

AFAIK for a debt to be statute barred it takes 6 years and it requires that the entity that the debt is owed to hasn't made an attempt to recover it during that 6 years - if at any point during the last 6 years they have made a legally recognised and documented attempt to recover it (i.e. small claims action) then it generally can't be statute barred.

You can't just ignore a debt for 10 years and it goes away (tho sometimes companies do stop bothering if it goes on that long).

 

[estebanrey]

The debt becomes statue barred after 6 years of no payment or contact. The debt DOES still exist and a collection agency can do everything in there power to collect on the debt however they CAN NOT take any legal action.

I said the debt still exists, just they can't do anything to pursue it.

As for them still being to do "everything in their power" well if it's statute barred that amounts to no power at all, other than phoning you saying "pwetty pwease pay it".

 

[[FnG]magnolia]

I said the debt still exists, just they can't do anything to pursue it.

As for them still being to do "everything in their power" well if it's statute barred that amounts to no power at all, other than phoning you saying "pwetty pwease pay it".

The 6 years is from attempt at collection, not from when the debt arose. On day 364 of the 5th year they could attempt to claim it and you'd be back to square one. The only way it'll go away is if they actually give up and no one attempts to claim during any 6 year period from last claim.

 

[EdGey]

Makes me laugh how much people pay for gym memberships...

 

[estebanrey]

AFAIK for a debt to be statute barred it takes 6 years and it requires that the entity that the debt is owed to hasn't made an attempt to recover it during that 6 years - if at any point during the last 6 years they have made a legally recognised and documented attempt to recover it (i.e. small claims action) then it generally can't be statute barred.

The 6 years is from attempt at collection, not from when the debt arose. On day 364 of the 5th year they could attempt to claim it and you'd be back to square one. The only way it'll go away is if they actually give up and no one attempts to claim during any 6 year period from last claim.

Nope. It's 6 years from the "DEBTOR'S" last contact/payment, not the creditors.

IHTM28384 - Law relating to debts: statute-barred debts
If a lender allows time to pass without receiving any payment an action for recovery may become barred.

Under the Limitations Act 1980 the time limits are

in simple contracts, 6 years
in contracts under seal, 12 years.
If the debtor acknowledges the debt in writing or makes a part payment within the original limitation period, then the time limits start to run again from the date of acknowledgement or the date of payment.

Even though the lender may be barred from pursuing recovery, a debtor may decide to pay the debt after the expiry of the time limits. Because of this you should allow a debt which is otherwise statute-barred if the personal representatives pay the debt and you receive evidence that the payment has been made.

These instructions do not apply to debts in Scotland. Under Scottish law, if a lender allows time to pass without receiving any payment an action for recovery may become barred under the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973. (For details of this Act see Gloag and Henderson 12th edition at Chapter4.). These debts are completely extinguished and cannot be enforced. Once the prescriptive period expires the debt cannot be allowed as a deduction.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/ihtmanual/ihtm28384.htm

 

[gigeorge]

You may be interested to know that just because something is 'in the small print' doesn't mean you necessarily are bound by it. Laws exist to regulate onerous and otherwise 'unfair' terms, some of which you see alarmingly regularly.

"We reserve the right to change all terms of the contract unconditionally at any time" is a personal favourite

Well i had Ashbourne Management Services onto me pretty quickly when i cancelled the DD. I stopped going because it came too busy, it was clear the people in there didnt know their stuff, they werent open Saturdays after 12pm etc etc - it all became a bit much !

 

[Rroff]

@estebanrey - you (and its not an uncommon thing) are mis-understanding what it actually says, if the debtor acknowledges a debt within the previous 6 years it can't be statute barred but failing to acknowledge the debt has no meaning within the context of the act.

Regardless of whether you respond to them or not if they make any recognised attempt to collect the debt during the last 6 years it can't normally be statute barred, responding to them just concretes the inability to have it statute barred.

 

[estebanrey]

@estebanrey - you (and its not an uncommon thing) are mis-understanding what it actually says, if the debtor acknowledges a debt within the previous 6 years it can't be statute barred but failing to acknowledge the debt has no meaning within the context of the act.

Regardless of whether you respond to them or not if they make any recognised attempt to collect the debt during the last 6 years it can't normally be statute barred, responding to them just concretes the inability to have it statute barred.

So you're saying the Government's own advice on this is wrong, or at best misleading?

 

[Rroff]

So you're saying the Government's own advice on this is wrong, or at best misleading?

No I'm saying that the act of doing nothing in the context of this act is frequently mis-understood.

 

[Tute]

I have sympathy OP but you went about this totally the wrong way. After not getting anywhere with the store you then try the area office, head office, CAB, etc.

Simply cancelling the DD and hoping it will go away will not work. You might get lucky and after a while the debt agency will give up, but there's no guarantee of that, and you might end with the CCJ for your troubles.

If I was you i'd start by getting in contact with the head office of the gym and explaining it to them, but by leaving it this long you're already at a disadvantage.

 

[Westyfield2]

I would argue the gym terminated the contract by failing to provide a satisfactory service.

If you wanted to claim the gym were in breach of the contract, then that's what your solicitor should have been telling them before the DD was cancelled.
Or the other way to escape gym contracts is normally on medical grounds.

But now that the debt has been passed on to a debt collection agency, it is too late for all that!

 

[manic111]

What does your contract say? And does the gym have a signed copy of it?

Is there anything in there regarding what will happen if the service changes?

 

[beachBOYken]

good god ,its only a gym and you have debt collectors after you , what is this world coming too.

 

[LOAM]

If you wanted to claim the gym were in breach of the contract, then that's what your solicitor should have been telling them before the DD was cancelled.
Or the other way to escape gym contracts is normally on medical grounds.

But now that the debt has been passed on to a debt collection agency, it is too late for all that!

Seriously why would you instruct a solicitor to relax a gym membership contract, their fees would be greater than just paying out the remainder of the contract. Granted OP has shot himself in the foot by not dealing with the situation appropriately at the time of grievance but it didn't need dealing with by a solicitor.

If he had written to the place highlighting the facts and his issue with over subscription along with how he felt that the service had been sufficiently degraded to be of little use to him at the time then it would never have got to this point. If he had stated a time frame within that letter for them to rectify his issue they would have had to respond to him, if they didn't, then was the time to assume the contract was terminated. You don't just cancel a DD and hope for the best, you've signed it and unless there are unfair clauses in there you don't really have a leg to stand on.

The issue here is that little or no thought has gone into dealing with the original issue, and as far as the gym is concerned there was no issue, OP is just someone who decided they no longer wanted to pay.

 

[Amp34]

This seems the most logical response in the thread so far.
This is something I deal with quite regularly (own my own gym with 12/24mth contracts).
You'd be amazed at the **** people come up with trying to get out of something they don't want to pay for anymore.

So question for you... Why do you have 12/24 month contracts? Do your clients have the option of rolling contracts or PAYG?

Or is it that you make far more money out of the ones not coming than the ones that do come...?

 

[Mat]

I joined a gym in Cambridge, when it first opened years ago. The contract stated that I could only cancel if:

a)I moved 25 or more miles away from the gym.
b)I was able to transfer the contract to someone else.
c)I died.

Luckily I was able to do b) but it was the last time I joined a gym. I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole now.

I think you're just going to have to bite the bullet and pay up on this one. It's going to leave a bitter taste for a while but chalk it down to experience and get on with your life.

 

[Nexus]

So question for you... Why do you have 12/24 month contracts? Do your clients have the option of rolling contracts or PAYG?

Or is it that you make far more money out of the ones not coming than the ones that do come...?

While the question wasn't aimed at me....

When I joined a large chain gym, it was cheaper to go for a two year contract, over that of a monthly or yearly one. I didn't see my circumstances changing, so it was fine by me.

Its different to say something like a mobile phone contract where you may have no option but to take a 24 month one.

There are also a good number of low cost gyms which have boomed in recent years which have rolling monthly contracts and allow you to leave whenever you want. So there are certainly options out there for people now.

I joined a gym in Cambridge, when it first opened years ago. The contract stated that I could only cancel if:

a)I moved 25 or more miles away from the gym.
b)I was able to transfer the contract to someone else.
c)I died.

Luckily I was able to do b) but it was the last time I joined a gym. I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole now.

I think you're just going to have to bite the bullet and pay up on this one. It's going to leave a bitter taste for a while but chalk it down to experience and get on with your life.

With the contract I have.... as a chain gym, that distance thing is also based on whether they have another nearby.

The other clause was a serious injury and proper medical documentation to support it. You can also do things like suspend your membership a few months if you broke your leg for example.

 

[ubersonic]

So to sum up, you entered a contract, they failed to deliver their end, you requested the contract be cancelled due to their failure, they refused, you cancelled payment.

To be honest you have done everything that could be expected of you, they won't have a leg to stand on if they try to push it.

 

[Nexus]

So to sum up, you entered a contract, they failed to deliver their end, you requested the contract be cancelled due to their failure, they refused, you cancelled payment.

To be honest you have done everything that could be expected of you, they won't have a leg to stand on if they try to push it.

Hate to point out the obvious, if you read through the thread, the OP has done far from everything expected of him. There is no record whatsoever that the OP was disgruntled.