Deji,(posted 7684 days ago)As you went abroad without leaving a contact address the CML voluntary six year limit will not apply see the following taken from their website:
Following the sale of a property in possession, lenders often find it difficult to contact the former borrower to advise them of any surplus monies or shortfall debt. Lenders use a variety of measures to identify where the individual is now living. This might include using tracing agents. Situations can arise where a lender or its third party agent is trying to contact the individual (for example, by letter or telephone) to discuss repayment of the shortfall, but the individual simply chooses to ignore such contact. This is despite the fact that the contact is being made at the individual's new address. In these cases, lenders will consider that contact has been made for the purposes of the new six year limit. If an individual is unclear whether contact has been made within the six year period, the lender will be able to confirm the position.
CML website page address is:http://www.cml.org.uk/servlet/dycon/zt- cml/cml/live/en/cml/pub_info_dept
They will then have 12 years to pursue you from the date of the 2nd or 3rd missed mortgage payment (subject to what is written in the terms & conditions of your mortgage) under the 1980 Limitation Act. If a Money Judgment Order was issued they can (in theory) chase you indefinitely. I would follow the advice on this site, read it thoroughly, especially the Do's and Don'ts. Free advice is available from the CAB and NAMV amongst others. Always make it clear in any communication with the lender/debt collector that you deny liability and dispute any claim on you as otherwise you may restart the limitation period. I have noticed that any request for a credit rating often leads to the individual concerned mysteriously receiving a letter from a debt collector soon afterwards!! Good Luck.
Mark.