Do you have to pay money back after 7 years, I thought it was null and void after that time?

Question

UK and owe DWP

Answer 1

You do with certain things. My brother applied for an IVA but was told that although they could help him write off most of his debt, he would still have to pay the full amount he owes the CSA. I believe the DWP would fall into that catergory.

Answer 2

No sorry they will hound you, it is after all DWP.

I too have an unsettled debt I forgot about from my last address and they still caught up with me after being in this house 5 years.

Answer 3

You are not filing bankruptcy!!! You just didn't pay the bills! LOL! Sorry! but DWP has a long memory!! I don't know about the UK, if you are living in the USA, I don't think they are going to cross the pond and demand you pay up, that's unless it was a large amount owing! But, if by some small chance, they come alooking for you! pay the d**n money and get it over with! Good luck!

Answer 4

Yes, you have to pay it back. Plus, since it's been so long, you will need to submit to 10 lashes and be placed in stocks for three weeks in the public square.

Answer 5

It works like this: Almost all types of indebtedness do have limitations statutes which govern their enforceability, not their merit. There is a huge difference between enforceability and merit. Enforceability is not to be confused with execution, that being a completely separate matter apart from both enforceability and merit.

However some forms of indebtedness are not governed by limitations statutes at all. Further, limitations may not be absolute in that some, and in many cases all, forms of indebtedness may be reactivated by something known as legal acknowledgement. That turns the clock back to day one, and starts the limitation clock ticking all over again.

Legal acknowledgement may take the form of a partial payment on the debt by the debtor. It may take the form of verbal or written confession of the validity of the debt. It may also take other forms too numerous to list. You can research legal acknowledgement if you need to know all its permutations.

Limitations statutes, such as are alluded to above, are strictly procedural statutes. They do not eliminate debt in any way whatsoever. No procedural statute can override a substantive matter such as a debt.

Procedural statutes (such as limitation statutes) simply provide a defence referred to as laches, for debts that have crossed the limitation threshold, absent legal acknowledgement.

Therefore, if a creditor sues on a debt after 10 years (and the limitation period is say, 7 years), the debtor pleads laches in their defence. Providing that the creditor cannot show legal acknowledgment within 7 years of the date of filing suit, laches will succeed in defence of the claim.  

Laches creates a legal estoppel that disallows the creditor from obtaining judgment on the debt. However, as the defence is procedural in nature (just as, say, a defence based on an evidentiary document which was not served on the other side within a given time frame, would be), it does not examine the merits of the underlying claim before the court. It it thus commonly said that such a proceeding is 'not on the merits'.  

The only question for the court in a laches-defended action is: "Does laches pose an estoppel to the continuation of these proceedings by the creditor?" If yes, the creditor's proceedings are stayed. If no, the creditor may proceed to argue his or her case 'on the merits' and if no defence is given on the merits (laches being a procedural defence, not a substantive one), the creditor merely needs to prove, on a balance of probablities, that the debt is valid in order to obtain judgment.

It's that simple. Although it might sound a little technical, this is your  complete answer.

Answer 6

Its governmental....They never let go Sera...They are like dogs with bones and elephatine memories too.

Hopefully you will be able to sort it out ..Plead ignorance if needs be I would

Answer 7

I always thought it did stop after 6 years, that is how IVAs work. I would see you local Citizens Advice and they will let you know how you stand.

Good luck