Hi,

I could do with some advice please.

My mother in law recently passed away and we are going through all the paperwork for probate.

She had an unsecured personal loan with first national for £13,750 taken out in 1993 for a conservatory.

The current paperwork is from Link Financial Outsourcing stating the debt is now for £22,667.

She was only making a payment of £6.00 per month as was on a low income.

We have little information to go on & my MIL only mentioned that they were a horrid company to deal with & refused a settlement offer to clear the debt a number of years ago.

How can we find out some information on this debt & if it was handled correctly?

Why it is such a massive amount compared to the original amount borrowed,

I appreciate they have probably added a large amount of interest.

What is the correct way for us to deal with it as we certainly don't want to be making a full settlement from the estate for that amount as it currently stands without being more informed.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Ignore link. Theyre a DCA and they definitley wont have the original finance agreement which they will need to collect anything legally.. They know it but they are that greedy they will lie, cheat and threaten you into paying. Even on a deceased persons debt.

imo ( and only mine) im pretty confident you wont have to pay them a single penny.

seems like as link do

they've been cash cowing your mother for years.

its not secured so bugger and all they can really do

ignore them

a DCA is NOT A BAILIFF

dx

It may be that Link as a DCA cannot themselves take action but if you are the Executors be cautious about distributing the estate to the beneficiaries without paying off the debt. As MIL has been paying off the debt, albeit only by a small amount, it presumably isn't statute barred so the original lender (or someone they have assigned the debt to) could take action to recover the outstanding debt from the Estate. (I'm assuming the Estate is solvent and could, in principle, pay off this debt and all other monies owing.)

Executors are not personally liable for the debts of the Estate eg if the Estate is insolvent, but if Executors distribute the Estate without settling a debt that they knew existed and was legally enforceable the debtor might be able to take legal action to recover it from the Executors personally.

Whether in practice the original lender/assignee would find out about your MiL's death, and if they did be able to pursue recovery in court, I don't know. But if I were the Executor I'm not sure I'd want to risk my own money by ignoring it.

It may not be SB but that doesnt mean its legally enforceable. CCA them.

Thanks for the replies. We fully intend to make them aware of her death. We just aren't happy to settle a debt that's so old, inflated and may not be enforceable, especially when a previous offer to settle the debt was made..

What do you mean by CCA them? What does this involve?

As ivce said, it is extremely likely you wont have to pay a penny. CCa them as they are very unlikely to ever get the original agreement for that account. No original agreement, means no payment.

Link are the biggest fleecers out there and will lie, cheat and threaten until people break down into paying. Dont be one of those.

CCA is a legal request for a copy of the original agreement for the account. This agreement is needed to enforce any payment through courts. No agreement, no payment.

HOWEVER, the first thing i would do is send the death certificate and see if they will close the account. If they dont, then hit them with the CCA request. Play nice to start , then hardball.

Ok great, thanks for your quick reply renegadeimp. Really helpful. I'll be back if I need anything further.

CCA request

they must hold the signed agreement for it to be enforceable

which if link have it it wont be!!

send the original creditor an sar too get ALL the paperwork.

I bet there was no legal remit in the agreement for fleecing link to add any interest

there never is

but its one of links favourite trick they pull when they get blindly paid by a frail OAP.

one guy some years back paid over £17K to them on a £5000 loan

this is where your MIL's money has gone

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/boss-of-a-debt-chasing-firm-link-financial-790005

http://www.homesandproperty.co.uk/property-news/news/millionaire-debt-collector-digs-deep-south-kensington

Link responded to our letter advising them of the death. The letter was sent recorded delivery.

Their letter stated "We are attempting to finalise matters and would be grateful if you could confirm whether there will be sufficient funds available from the estate to settle the account. If you are not dealing with the affairs of ........... would you please either pass our letter directly to the Executor to deal with or provide us with the relevant details."

A SAR will be sent this week.

aint going nowhere without enforceable paperwork

and until them they've no right to demand anything

ignore it

dx

Will we encounter any difficulty requesting information as we are not the individual?

Should my husband refer to the person in the letter as his late mother and then her full name or just use her full name?

Do you advise he signs the letter off as Executor or just in his name?

Sorry for the questions just want to be clear as it's different when you are not the individual making the SAR

but you are doing it on their behalf as they have passed away.

sign as exec

send proof of being exec.