What is a letter before action?

A letter before action (LBA) is a formal notice sent before starting court proceedings. It sets out your claim, the legal basis (e.g. Consumer Rights Act 2015, Housing Act 1988), the remedy you seek, and a deadline to respond — typically 14 days. Civil Procedure Rules require this step before most court claims, and courts take a dim view of parties who skip it.

Can I write my own legal letter?

Yes. You do not need a solicitor to write a legal letter. What matters is citing the correct legislation, stating your claim with precise dates and amounts, and giving a clear deadline. A well-drafted letter citing the right Act and section often resolves disputes without court proceedings — and costs nothing extra to send.

Does a legal letter actually work?

In many cases, yes. Most businesses, landlords, and employers respond when they receive a formally worded letter that cites specific legislation and mentions court or tribunal proceedings as the next step. It signals you know your rights and are prepared to escalate — which is often enough to get a resolution.

What UK legislation covers consumer complaints and refunds?

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 is the primary law. Section 9 requires goods to be of satisfactory quality; section 20 gives you the right to a full refund within 30 days if goods are faulty. For services, section 49 requires reasonable care and skill. For distance/online purchases, the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 give you a 14-day cooling-off period.

25 July 2026

Ask Them to Prove It: The Consumer Credit Act Request That Can Stop a Debt Being Enforced (UK)

When a debt collector or lender is chasing you for an old credit card, a personal loan or a catalogue account, one of the most powerful things you can do is also one of the simplest: ask them to prove it. Not with an angry phone call, but with a specific legal request that the law gives you an explicit right to make.

This guide covers regulated consumer credit and hire agreements in England & Wales. It is general information, not legal advice on your specific debt.

The Right You Already Have

Sections 77, 78 and 79 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 give you the right to demand a copy of your original credit agreement, plus a statement of your account, from whoever is now entitled to collect the debt. It costs a statutory fee of just £1, and the creditor has to respond within a set time. Which section applies depends on the type of agreement:

Section 77 — fixed-sum credit. Personal loans, car finance and hire-purchase, and any agreement where you borrowed a set amount.
Section 78 — running-account credit. Credit cards, store cards and catalogue accounts — where your balance goes up and down.
Section 79 — hire agreements. Genuine rental or hire of goods where you never become the owner.

This matters most when a debt has been sold on to a debt-purchase company. When accounts change hands several times, the paperwork often does not follow. The debt buyer may be chasing you based on little more than a spreadsheet — and the request forces them to put up or shut up.

What They Have to Send You

On receiving your written request and the £1 fee, the creditor must provide:

A copy of the executed agreement — the original credit agreement you signed, containing the prescribed terms — and any document referred to in it.
A statement of account showing what you have paid, what is currently owed, and what is still to become payable.

They have 12 working days from receiving the request to comply. That deadline comes from the Consumer Credit (Prescribed Periods for Giving Information) Regulations 1983 and is still current in 2026 — the classic "12 working days" figure you will see quoted online is correct.

What Happens If They Cannot Produce It

This is where the request has teeth. If the creditor fails to comply, the law says they are "not entitled to enforce the agreement" while that default continues (sections 77(4), 78(6) and 79(3)). In plain terms: they cannot take you to court to enforce the debt — no County Court Judgment, no charging order — for as long as they are unable to produce the required documents. The courts have no discretion to let them enforce it in the meantime.

The Myth That Gets People Into Trouble

"Unenforceable" does not mean the debt is written off or disappears. This is the single biggest myth around this letter, and claims-management firms exploit it. The reality:

The debt still legally exists and is still owed. The creditor is only barred from court enforcement — and only while they remain in default. The moment they find and send the documents, the agreement becomes enforceable again. They can also still ask you to pay, still report the debt to credit reference agencies, and still pass it to collectors (within the other rules that govern them). Genuinely, permanently unenforceable agreements are rare. Treat anyone promising "guaranteed debt write-off" on this basis with deep suspicion.

What This Request Does NOT Cover

The sections 77-79 right only applies to regulated consumer credit and hire agreements. It does not apply to:

Overdrafts. A common mistake — overdrafts are specifically excluded from this part of the Act, so a section 78 request does not work on them.
Mortgages. Regulated separately under different rules.
Utility bills and council tax. These were never "credit agreements" in the first place, so there is nothing to request under the Act.

One myth to drop: the old £25,000 limit. Some forum threads still claim credit agreements above £25,000 fall outside the Act. That ceiling was abolished for consumer agreements back in April 2008 — it now only survives as a threshold for business borrowing.

Don't Confuse This With a "Statute-Barred" Debt

These are two different things, and mixing them up is the second biggest trap. A debt becomes statute-barred under the Limitation Act 1980 when six years pass (five in Scotland) with no payment and no written acknowledgment — after which it can never be enforced through the courts, permanently. A CCA-unenforceable debt is a different, reversible state triggered by missing paperwork. A debt can be one, the other, both, or neither.

Important: if your debt is close to becoming statute-barred, be careful. Certain written contact — including some acknowledgments of the debt — can restart the six-year clock. If you think a debt may be near that line, get free advice from National Debtline or Citizens Advice before you write anything.

Three Different Tools — Keep Them Straight

Online templates often blur three separate things into one "prove the debt" letter. They are not the same:

A section 77-79 request is the formal statutory route above — £1 fee, 12 working days, the enforceability consequence.
A "prove it" letter is informal — useful when you do not recognise a debt at all and want the collector to demonstrate it is genuinely yours before you engage. It carries no statutory deadline of its own.
A Subject Access Request (SAR) under data protection law compels an organisation to hand over the personal data it holds about you, with a one-month response window, enforced by the ICO. Different law, different deadline, different regulator.

Reform on the Horizon

The Government is reforming the Consumer Credit Act, and the information rights in sections 77-79 may eventually be recast as Financial Conduct Authority rules. But as of 2026 that is still working its way through Parliament and is not yet law — and the plan is that these rights stay live until replacement rules are actually in place. So this remains current law you can rely on today.

Getting the Letter Right

A sections 77-79 request only works if it is done properly: the right section cited for the type of agreement, the £1 fee enclosed, the account clearly identified, and a clear record of when you sent it so you can hold them to the 12-working-day deadline. A vague or wrongly-framed letter invites a brush-off; a precise one puts the creditor on notice that you know your rights.

That is exactly what WriteMyLegalLetter does — it builds a correctly-structured, properly-worded request for your situation in minutes, so the burden of proof lands where it belongs: on the person chasing you.

Sources: Consumer Credit Act 1974, sections 77, 78 and 79; Consumer Credit (Prescribed Periods for Giving Information) Regulations 1983; FCA Handbook CONC 13; Limitation Act 1980. Current as at July 2026. This guide is general information for England & Wales, not legal advice.