Making a debt collector prove the debt

The section 77–79 request

Under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 you can ask the creditor for a copy of your credit agreement together with a statement of account. Section 77 covers fixed-sum credit such as a personal loan, section 78 covers running-account credit such as a credit card or catalogue, and section 79 covers hire agreements. The statutory fee is £1.

While the creditor fails to comply, the agreement is unenforceable — they cannot obtain a court judgment against you on it. That does not wipe the debt out: it still exists, it can still be reported on your credit file, and they can still write to you about it. But they cannot make you pay it through the courts unless and until they produce the paperwork.

This applies to regulated consumer credit agreements. It does not apply to council tax, rent arrears, utility bills, benefit overpayments, magistrates’ court fines or income tax, all of which work differently.

How to send it

1. Write to the firm chasing you. Give your name, address and their reference. Ask for a true copy of the credit agreement and a statement of account under the relevant section of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.
2. Enclose the £1 fee by cheque or postal order. Do not send a personal cheque with your signature on it if you would rather they did not have a specimen — a postal order avoids that.
3. Never sign the letter by hand. Type your name. Signatures have been lifted and applied to reconstructed documents.
4. Send it by a method you can prove — free proof of posting from the Post Office is enough — and keep a copy of everything.

National Debtline publishes free template letters for exactly this at nationaldebtline.org. Use theirs rather than paying anyone for a “debt challenge pack”.

What counts as complying

They do not have to produce the original signed document. A reconstituted copy can satisfy the request, provided it contains the correct terms as they stood at the time and the prescribed information. What they cannot do is send a blank specimen of their standard terms and call it your agreement.

Look at what arrives and check that it is actually yours: your name and address as they were when the account opened, the credit limit or loan amount, the interest rate, and terms that correspond to the era in which you took the credit. Also check the statement of account — the balance should be explicable from the transactions, charges and interest shown, and unexplained increases after the account defaulted are worth challenging.

If they cannot produce it

Agreements from before the mid-2000s often no longer exist, particularly where the debt has been sold on two or three times. If the firm cannot comply, write and say that the agreement is unenforceable while they remain in default of the request, and that you do not intend to make payment.

They may still write to you, and they may still report the account to credit reference agencies. If letters continue after you have made the position clear, or if they threaten court action while in default of a valid request, complain to the firm and then to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which is free to use.

And if court papers do arrive, do not ignore them. Respond within the time limit on the form and say that the agreement has not been produced. Ignoring a claim is how people end up with a judgment against them for a debt that could not have been proved.

More guides on this site

• How to check whether a debt collection agency is genuine
• When an old debt becomes statute barred
• The company that owes you money has been dissolved

See all guides