A catalogue account he'd forgotten from his early twenties. Sold to a debt purchaser. Then sold again. Then a threatening letter demanding £1,340 arrived one Tuesday morning, out of the blue.
The debt was legitimately owed at one point. But he'd made no payments and given no written acknowledgement for over six years. That's the trigger for the Limitation Act 1980: consumer debts in England and Wales become statute-barred after six years of no payment or written acknowledgement. Once barred, no court will enforce them.
The letter did two things. It asked the collector to prove the debt under FCA CONC 7.5 (produce the original credit agreement, statements and assignment paperwork), and it flagged the statute-barred position with the specific dates.
Five weeks later the collector confirmed the debt was closed and the case wouldn't be pursued. He also wrote to the three credit reference agencies and asked for the entry to be removed.