You’ll be responsible for a debt if it’s something that the law says you have to pay, like council tax or water charges.

You’ll also probably have to pay a debt if you’ve signed a contract to say you agree to give money to someone. This could be something like a:

• credit agreement, for example if you’ve bought a washing machine or taken out a credit card

• tenancy agreement, if you rent

If you’re responsible for a debt it’s called ‘being liable’. It means you’ll have a legal duty to pay it. If you’re not liable you should be able to challenge the creditor. A creditor is any person or organisation you owe money to.

Debts you’re not responsible for

You might not have to pay a debt if:

• it’s been six years or more since you made a payment or were in contact with the creditor

• there was a problem when you signed the agreement, for example if you were pressured into signing it or the agreement wasn’t clear

• the creditor didn’t check properly that you could afford the repayments when you signed the agreement

If you were an additional cardholder 

If you were an authorised additional cardholder on someone else’s credit card account, for example a spouse or partner, the credit card company can’t ask you to repay any debts on the card. These are always the responsibility of the main cardholder.  

Debt if you’re under 18

If you’re under 18 you can only be responsible for a debt if it’s for something you need day-to-day. This could include a mobile phone contract, clothes or food. If you’re under 18 and not sure if you’re liable for a debt.

Check if your debt is covered by Payment Protection Insurance

If you have a mortgage, loan or credit debt, you might have Payment Protection Insurance (PPI). If you do, the insurance company might cover your debt repayments if you fall ill, become unemployed or have an accident. Check your credit agreement or mortgage documents to see if you have PPI.

PPI will only cover your payments for a fixed amount of time. Your PPI policy will tell you what you’re covered for and how and when you should make a claim.

Check if the time limit on a debt has passed

For most debts, if you’re liable your creditor has to take action against you within a certain time limit. Taking action means they send you court papers telling you they’re going to take you to court.

The time limit is sometimes called the limitation period. 

For most debts, the time limit is 6 years since you last wrote to them or made a payment.

The time limit is longer for mortgage debts. If your home is repossessed and you still owe money on your mortgage, the time limit is 6 years for the interest on the mortgage and 12 years on the main amount.

After the time limit has passed, the debt might be ‘statute barred’ – this means you don’t have to pay it. 

Your debt could be statute barred if, during the time limit:

• you (or if it’s a joint debt, anyone you owe the money with), haven’t made any payments towards the debt

• you, or someone representing you, haven’t written to the creditor saying the debt’s yours

• the creditor hasn’t gone to court for the debt

Check the date that you last made a payment to find out if your debt is within the time limit.

If your debt is in joint names

Check if the other person has admitted in writing that the debt is theirs and when they last made a payment.

The 6 year time limit is reset just for that person if one of you writes to the creditor. The time limit is reset for both of you if one of you makes a payment.

If the time limit has passed and your creditors are still contacting you

If you know your debt is statute barred, you can write to the creditor to stop them contacting you about it. Include a statement saying, ‘I don’t admit any liability for your claim’. Don’t say that you’re not sure what you owe, or that you think the amount is wrong. 

You can use National Debtline’s sample letter to write to your creditor. 

Ask the Post Office for free proof of postage – you might need to show when you sent the letter to your creditor.

You could also send the letter by recorded delivery – you’ll have to pay if you do this.