Does a debt disappear after six years?
Short answer
No — it becomes unenforceable, not extinguished. After six years with no payment and no written acknowledgement, most consumer debts are statute-barred under the Limitation Act 1980, so the creditor cannot use the courts. They can still ask you to pay, and a single £1 payment restarts the clock.
Six years of silence does not wipe a debt out. What it removes is the creditor's main weapon. Under section 5 of the Limitation Act 1980, most simple contract debts — credit cards, personal loans, overdrafts — cannot be enforced through the courts once six years have run from the cause of action, usually the date of your last missed payment or the lender's default. The debt still exists; it is simply unenforceable.
What restarts the clock, and what does not
Two things reset the six years to zero:
- Any payment, however small. A £1 payment made to show good faith gives the creditor a fresh six years from that date.
- A written acknowledgement signed by you, under sections 29(5) and 30. Writing "I owe this but cannot pay" is exactly the admission that revives the debt.
These do not reset it: letters from the creditor, a phone call in which you deny or query the debt, the debt being sold to a debt purchaser, or a default appearing on your credit file. Some debts run to different clocks. Mortgage shortfalls are 12 years for the capital and six for the interest. Magistrates' court fines have no limitation period at all. Council tax is six years only while no liability order has been obtained — once the council has an order, no limitation applies. On joint debts, the clock runs separately for each of you, so a debt can be barred against you but not against your ex-partner.
Answering a demand for an old debt
Pay nothing and acknowledge nothing in writing until you have checked the dates. Ask the creditor to produce the original credit agreement under sections 77 and 78 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (a £1 fee applies to most consumer credit); if they cannot produce it, the debt may be unenforceable for that reason too. If you are satisfied six years have passed, write: "I do not acknowledge this debt. It is statute-barred under section 5 of the Limitation Act 1980. Please cease all collection activity." If a claim has already been issued, file a defence raising limitation and the court should strike it out. Continued pressure after that may breach FCA CONC 7, which you can take to the Financial Ombudsman Service. In Scotland the period is five years, and a prescribed debt is extinguished outright rather than merely unenforceable.
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