Hello. I'm new to CAG forum. I'm hoping someone can offer some advice. I've been living in New Zealand for some 12 years. I've recently received a letter from Link Financial Outsourcing via the Mauritius Postal Service, headed "Notice of Sum in Arrears" stating I have arrears on balance of over £10,000 and accruing £30 (give or take) interest monthly. The letter does not state what the debt is for, but I'm assuming it's a student loan from 1994-98 that I took out. I also think the size of the debt has been greatly inflated although I don't have any paper work to prove otherwise. I haven't received any other letters. I would have expected to have received some sort of notification, but since my address is partially incorrect, perhaps it never arrived. My brother in the UK recalls giving my address to a girl over the phone who claimed to be a long lost friend several months ago. This probably would account for the incorrect address that they are using. I am in a quandary on how I should proceed. I haven't yet called either Link or SLC as I'm worried that I would hastily agree something I would later regret. I'm also concerned that if they had my contact details here, they would be calling in the middle of the night. I am in full-time employment earning a modest wage, but we recently had a new baby and I am currently supporting my family as the sole income earner. £10,000 is roughly $20,000 and it's money I just don't have nor hope to have any time soon. I am considering making an offer for half the amount as I could just about scrape that together from the little savings that we have, or negotiate some sort of payment plan with either Link or the SLC. After reading about the cavalier attitude of Link here, I'm beginning to think this might be an unwise course of action. I haven't contacted or been contacted by the Student Loan Company, for at least 10 if not 12 years. Am I right in assuming that since more than 6 years has passed the debt is statute barred and no further action can be taken by Link? We are hoping to return to the UK at some point in the future and so would like to have this resolved. Any advice on a course of action would be greatly appreciated. Offending article attached. By the way, there was no page 2, just an Office for Fair Trade advice sheet... [ATTACH=CONFIG]46476[/ATTACH]

Hi everyone, hope you can give me some advice. To cut a long story short until a couple of months ago I was paying Churchwood Financial £80 to pay off a 4 credit card debt. I could not afford this as I am currently not working and my partner was kindly paying them from her part time wages. Upon speaking with the CAB I discovered I was eligible for a DRO(Debt Relief Order). I cancelled the account with Churchwood. Upon further chats I decided to use the self help pack and offer each creditor £1. Our disposable income was £7!. I sent each a very nice letter informing them that although I qualified for a DRO I would willingly pay them £1 a month until my circumstances change (which I hope they do, hence the reluctance to try a DRO). I sent the letter, complete with other creditors and amounts and also a budget sheet clearly showing out budget. The creditors were Cabot, Capital One, Moorcroft and Link Financial. Moorcroft have already agreed the amount. Cabot and Link have yet to respond, even though I know they got the letters on 28/08/2013 as I have a signed for receipt. Now the unusual thing. My father has recently gone into a nursing home so does not live at my former address. I also do not live there, as my brother and I are sorting things out there to sell the house for dad. I still check the post there every day. Last week there was a letter from Capital One saying they had passed over to Fredrickson International and I should deal with them. Well, I ignored it (my new address since August of last year was clearly stated on the letter to them on 28th August!). I went down again today and find a letter addressed to me again from Fredrickson International saying they want the full amount to avoid "further debt recovery". Now my question is, do I let them know I have the letters? (even though they are to the wrong address and Capital One have a letter with my new address on anyway!) and do I pay Moorcroft as they agreed, and contact the other two to find out if they want to continue?. Or do I just wait it out?. Would appreciate any help on this. Thanks very much Andy

Hi Can any one help. I had a default notice issued to me in about 2004 after I could not keep up payments on a credit card after a bad accident left me out of work. The dept was for an MBNA Credit Card and was passed to Link. I filled in expenditure forms and aggreed to pay a fixed amount each month The original debt was for about £5500 and I pay £30 a month. I have never heard from link since then. I contacted them last year to see who much was outstanding. I thought I might be able to ay it off. But it was more then I could afford. I have not missed a payment since the arangment date. I have just started receiving phone calls from them but am reluctant to discuss any thing with them having gone through all that before. I sold my house in the UK 8 years ago and they do not have any address for me. I have honered all my payment agreements with my creditors after the accident and link are the only ones left. How do you thing I should handle this.

I would appreciate some advice with regards to Link. I have been paying a debt they have taken on from Barclaycard for approx 18mths now. I have it set up on a standing order so I have full control on how much I pay. Over the last couple of weeks or so, I have been receiving 'withheld' calls on my home phone. I knew for well that it was more than likely them, so I never answer them, if they want to leave a message on the answer machine (which they don't) they are more than welcome, but I still will not call them. Saying that they have left 2 messages in the last week asking me to call them, and they even phoned me at work last week. I had no choice but to speak to them on that occasion, but I told them in no uncertain terms that are not to phone me and all communication has to be written. She said she would remove the numbers they have (yeah we'll see) and would write to me. I received a letter from them yesterday and it's basically saying that even though I have been making payments on my account which has reduced the outstanding balance (really, I never realised that was what happened lol), my account is now due for a review. So can I complete the I&E, and send it along with the next instalment (which is a bit difficult as it's a standing order). It goes on to say that 'If you do not compete the review we reserve the right to request the immediate repayment of the outstanding balance' Now I have never completed an I&E for any creditors - and I am not going to send them one now. However, do I need to acknowledge this letter and if so what should I write? or shall I ignore it and just carry on making payments as I have been for the past 18mths, as I am not in a position to increase these anyway. Many thanks in advance.

Hello, my 1st post on here. Some time ago I was contacted by Link Financial regarding "debts" they had been given by MBNA in my name. This was regarding a couple of credit cards I'd had & after some rather unpleasant dealings, including constant phone calls & even one made to my place of work I relented & entered into a payment schedule. A couple of years or so later I was advised by a friend that I could go with the CCA route so I did. All I have received in reply to my requests have been photocopies of application forms & what I'm told are "reconstituted" agreements so I told them to go away & they have done 'til now. I have now received letters threatening doorstep collection & court action. I've seen this all before of course but I've been made aware that things have changed whereas Link not providing the original credit agreement is now not the defence it used to be. Will I now have to do business with these people? Thanks.

Split out from http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?396381-Observations-please-on-how-I-hope-to-deal-with-a-number-of-debts , addressing a group of debts. CCA letters sent to most, posting individual cases separately now as each progresses: ************** I have received a reply from Link Financial Outsourcing acknowledging my CCA request and stating that a copy of the Agreement and most recent T&Cs has been requested from the original holder of the debt, and that this can take up to 30 days. Whilst this appears to be a reasonable statement, does it actually alter matters as far as their obligation under s.77/78 is concerned? Do I allow them the extra time to take those external steps, or adhere to 12+2 days and send failure to comply letter if nothing has by then been provided?

In another thread there appears the following statement regarding CCA agreement defaults: "You have not replied to this request within the statutory period and therefore, under s78(6) of the Act, you may not enforce any agreement you may suppose to exist between us. That means, you may not 1) request payment on the account 2) add any charges or interest to the account 3) communicate any details regarding the account to any third parties. This inludes but is not limited to Credit Reference Agencies." Is item 3 really true? I have a dispute with Link over an invalidly assigned MBNA debt, which has been in default for several years due to Link persistently failing to send the Consumer Credit Agreement. They eventually sent me somebody else's CCA and I have reported this to the Information Commissioner. So it remains in default. They have continued to supply adverse data to Equifax and Experian, probably CallCredit too. If item 3 above is correct, how can I get the information deleted please? I already have a Notice of Dispute filed with both main CRAs, who said (when I first mentioned the situation) that they cannot remove it without Link's agreement. TIA

Morning all, I've had a letter from Link regarding an MBNA debt (who I am in the process of taking to court as over half of the amount owing is unlawful charges and interest gained because of them) saying that unless I contact them in 7 days they will instruct Instant Silver (whom I'm sure have about as much power as instant coffee) to take over management of the account. I've had a little look around the site and it seems that I.S are link in a different frock, but everything I've found has been over a year old - does anybody know if this is this still the case? I am not sure what I should do? I am thinking to ignore and see what I.S write with or should I write to Link informing them that I am taking MBNA to court? Any advice appreciated. Up2

Thanks for reading! Briefly: - I developed serious chronic incurable illness over last few years and got deep into unsecured debt on various - I acquired 5 figure balances on 3 MBNA cards - haven't used the cards for years - got to stage where couldn't make payments - cards originally taken out during 1996 - 1998 - LINK taken over 2 of the three cards from MBNA - CCA requests sent to MBNA (1 card) and Link (2 cards) on 22/05/13 -re 1 card: Link reply 30/5/13 saying IDR FINANCE UK purchased debt from MBNA EUROPE in August 2012 and have requested copy documentation. - re other 2 cards - no response from link or MBNA - the claimed amounts do appear on my credit file Questions: 1. Will MBNA e documents going back to 1996 -1998? 2. Is there any point in sending a SAR to either MBNA OR LINK? 3. Would it be best to let sleeping dogs lie re charges etc whilst they can't enforce? 4. Should I chase link and MBNA re 2 cards where no response to CCA REQUEST. 5. CCA request was to MBNA EUROPE, but I think that company is now called MBNA BANK. Should I make a new CCA REQUEST using. tthe correct compsny name just to be certain? Many thanks in advance.

Hi - could someone direct me to get help with charging order against my home please - need help asap

Hi, I have an on going dispute with Link Financial. Link say they assigned the debt from GE Money Home Lending but have to date not shown any proof of assignment. They have however provided me with a copy of the Application form and a copy of the CCA from GE Money Home Lending. The main problem I have with Link is that they are recording adverse data at the CRA's yet the CCA and conditions do not allow for any recording at CRA's. Link have today written to me and said that the application form states that they can report to the CRA's yet this document does not form part of the CCA and is not headed "Regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974". The CCA is signed by both parties and the Apllciation is only signed be me. My question is can Link Financial assuming they have a valid assignment record any data at credit reference agencies. I would appreciate any help you can give.

Hi, I'm sorry if this has been asked and answered before, but I've had a good scout through the masses of Link/SLC threads and although helpful, I can't find the answer to my situation so thought I'd just ask... I have a student loan taken out in 1995, which I had always deferred until my last deferrment in 2006 (I have the letter advising I need to defer before October 2007 to continue not having to pay). I heard nothing from them until June last year when I got a random letter which advised that Link now had the debt and they wanted it all in 21 days. I spoke to some nasty piece of work on the phone a few days later to advise I couldn't pay, and then wrote to the company to complain as the woman had tried to advise me to take out a credit card or loan to pay off the debt, and I knew that was illegal. I acknowledged the debt in writing at that point (dammit) and I'm pretty sure that I was just under the 6 years SB limit, meaning that I'm now liable. I have checked my credit file (thanks for the link to Noddle!) and there's nothing on there, I've never made any payments at all. I did make an offer to pay £30 a month but they refused that and said I could pay £120 a month instead as they thought that was 'fair'! I refused and upped my offer to £50 per month but they're still saying no. I just want to make sure that yes, it isn't SB'd so I am liable, and I'd like some advice on how I can get them to accept what I'm offering. I might be able to make a full & final settlement but have no idea how to work out what they're likely to accept. What I really need is someone to give me some sensible advice and clarity on this - especially as they're such devious ****s, before their incessant calls (which I now ignore!), letters and emails drive me mad! Sorry to ramble, and thanks so much for any help you can give, it really is appreciated

Hi, im getting trouble from Link Financial, from a debt from 8 years ago. didnt no what it was, so sent a CCA request, come back, its from a double glazing company, Coldseal. I dont no if this company is still operating. At the time i had a break up with my then partner so my mind wasn't very clear, and to be honest i dont even remember if we went ahead with the finance. I have not paid link or as far as i no, coldeal a penny, as this so called debt is over 6 years, is the staute barred. What should my next step be? thanks for any help that follows

Hi, I hope someone can give a little advice on this; I defaulted on a credit card (£1500) back in 2001, at which point link financial took over the account. I paid some monies up until April 2007. Fast forward to jan 2011 and I was sent an allocation questionnaire from Northampton court, with Link claiming £6400. I filed a defence, and the case was stayed. All went quiet until last month when I found out the stay was lifted, and I have filed another defence on the 18th of feb (failed to comply with my CCA 78/79 request). Now, if you notice the dates, this is due to be statute barred in around 4 weeks. My question is: if any hearing or trial date was to be set after the 6th anniversary of any payment I made to link, would this make the debt statute barred? Or is that irrelevant because court proceedings have already started against me? Any help would be fantastic - flam

Hi I hope somebody can help me. I have a debt of c £2,700 which I presume Link bought from MBNA. I have been paying £15 per month for over 10 years and they have now all of a sudden started telephoning me. I dont know how they have my number as it is ex directory and in a different name to the debt. I no longer work and am disabled and really cannot afford the £15 but keep paying just to try to pay the debt off. I owe over £30k in total as I had to give up work due to ill health and I have two very small children also. I have MS and this is making me ill with worry. Please can somebody help and give me some advice. I have sent the letter asking them to confirm that they own the debt but I am now frightened to answer the phone in case its them. Help help help please. Thank you Charlie Do you think I would be better declaring bankruptcy?

Hi I have been in a DMP with StepChange for about 4 months now and it seems to be going fine - the threats/chasing letters are drying up. Most of my debts were defaulted in 2011/12 and have been passed to DCAs. My account with Barclaycard was initially passed to Mercers (who I believe are part of Barclays) and I received a default notice in December 2011. The debt was then assigned to IDR Finance and is run by Link Financial. When I check my equifax report (yet to do experian), the account does not show as a default - rather a series of status '6' since April 2012 (it is showing as Link Financial, not Barclaycard). I know this isn't a good situation and need to get it changed to a default (at least then the clock is ticking towards the 6 years). Surely if a default has been issued it should be reported? What is the best way to get this rectified? Do I write to Barclaycard, Mercers, Link or Equifax or all 4? Are there any templates or is it a straightforward letter describing what has happened and requesting the status be changed to default with a date of Dec. 11? I have seen a number of other threads re: defaults and CRAs but they do not quite address my questions... Thanks

right then guys, where do i begin with these un-helpful people. My partner and i got into alot of debt about 7-8 years ago. We have 5 creditors at present and one of them being link financial. We have been in a so called debt management program for six years with (unfortunatly) spectrum financial services, although they are known with many different names. Our original plan was five years and our creditors will accept a reduced settlement for us to be debt free. The five years came and went and when i contacted spectrum to challenge them, they say there was never a five year plan between us, i disputed with them , but hey where do i stand eh ! I then told spectrum to go away and contacted stepchange who are now helping me free of charge to manage my debts. This management is to include paying my debts with s/o at the rate of £1 per month, all creditors have accepted this offer accept these idiots link financial, who are demanding a minimum of at least £5 a month, which they say is their policy (which i have read time and time again on these forums), unless i claim jsa and am not a homeowner, and then they will accept the £1 i have offered. The original debt is with GE money for double glazing that i was pressured into buying with safestyle uk, The amount was for £1000, during the time i was with spectrum this amount was the same until last year when all of a sudden they have increased the total amount we owe to more than £2000. After sending them a statement of affairs and offering £1 a month, they refuse to accept it and they demand more, which i am not prepared to accept. I am more than prepered to take these clowns on in a court of law, but i need your advice on what to do next,, with your help we can get one over on these money making [problem]s and put them to bed so who is prepared to help me all the way ? I can't do this without you, so please help yours sincerely

Hello, I hope someone can offer me some advice. I had a 10 year loan through GE money to pay for double glazing windows on a previous address. I had only two years to go with the loan, about £1700, when we moved to Scotland. On moving, we paid most of our loans off and I changed bank. I did not pay off the GE money loan and I overlooked the direct debit when we moved banks. I was unaware that we were now missing payments and GE Money sent letters to my old address and then a default letter, which I obviously never got. A credit check search highlighted the problem, I phoned GE money to explain and they advised me the loan had been sold to Link Financial. I spoke with Link and they told me the loan was now £3,845 because of charges added. They told me the default on my credit file will be lifted on full payment and offered a reduced amount to clear it. I was unable to make any sort of reduced payment and agreed a monthly payment plan of £110. I asked that they send me details of the loan and charges but they never appeared. They call every six months to try and clear the amount with a reduced figure of what I owe, which does not sound right. My job requires me to be vetted and the default causes me difficulty every year. When GE money sell the loan, do the charges get sold too? How can I make them send me details of the loan sold to them and the charges. Steve

Hi, i have recently sent my CCA and SAR to link financial enclosing my postal orders off £10 + £1. They have replied back to my SAR with alot of info with telephone calls logs, Payplan correspondence, CCJ which they registered against my property relating to the credit card default. They have not responded to my CCA or acknowledged it. Also They have charged £10 to my account even though i sent a postal order to cover costs. Is there any docuemntation you would like me to post, so yo can check details. What would be my next step? [ATTACH=CONFIG]40993[/ATTACH]

Dear sir/madam, My husband and I had quite large debts with mbna, we choose (stupidly) to borrow on 0% credit cards instead of borrowing on a loan with a fixed rate and an end date. (we all live and learn). We ran into difficulties reducing the balance because the cards went form charging 0% - 29.9%, paying £700.00 per month and reducing balance by about £30.00 per month, you probably don't need me to tell you that we could not keep this up, we wrote to mbna who were quite helpful and put the accounts on 0% and reduced payments, we were paying £460.00 per month and made great strides in reducing the debt. Then out of the blue, we got a letter saying that the debt was being transfered. This is where the real troubles started. (by the way we have experienced cards being transfered before and nothing has changed with regards to paying). People have been ringing us night and day for huge amounts of money. Plus sending the odd letter. Now my husband has received a claim form for an CCJ. I have filled out the request for more time on moneyclaim site. I have been getting advise from payplan who are really saying we need an IVA. This is not what we want. Surely there is another way. We are in our late 40's and have always paid back what we have borrowed plus interest. Really don't know where to go with this? We have all the paperwork etc. hope someone can help or point us in the right direction? Many thanks for your time regards

As ridiculous as this sounds - I think it's true. I'll try to be brief - basically I had a parcel to send to an associate (someone I only know through Facebook and a group I am a member of). I arranged through Parcel Monkey for the parcel to be collected from my home on the 28th November by City Link and delivered down to Kent the next day. I had to go out of the house for a few hours on the 28th and, typically, the driver came while I was out. He left a card saying 'parcel collected' in my postbox. I thought this was a courtesy card to let me know he had been and gone, as the parcel was in my kitchen so unavailable for collection. I assumed I would have to pay again for the collection of the parcel as I had missed my slot. When I contacted City link to rearrange collection they told me they had attempted to deliver the parcel that morning (the 29th) but had been unsuccessful. "I'm fairly confident that that is not my parcel, as my parcel is still on the kitchen side" I told them. "Oh dear, I'll try to get hold of the driver and try and find out what is going on, I'll call back and let you know" they said. I called back the next day to be told the parcel had been delivered that morning (the 30th) - I then them that wasn't the correct parcel, and that I needed them to collect the right parcel and deliver it be the weekend as it was time critical - I was told someone would collect and deliver the next day before 12. This didn't happen. During this time I had contacted the lady due to receive the parcel to see if she had indeed received a parcel she wasn't expecting. I also contacted Next because I was expecting the delivery of a mirror and it was showing as delivered online but I didn't have it. (Can you see where this is going...?) The lady replied to say that she had received a mirror from Next. So, it turns out that the City Link driver came to my house while I was out, saw a brown box outside the door and decided to take this for delivery, even thought it was not marked as delivery to Kent, but was in fact marked for delivery to me at my house - hence that being where it was. In what I can only assume an attempt to be helpful, he created a label back at the depot and sent my mirror on it's merry way. This mirror is worth £110 by the way (who knows why the other delivery driver left an expensive parcel without a signature but that's another story). Anyway, they came to pick up the correct parcel once I informed them of the situation but said they would keep the correct parcel ransom until the mirror had been collected. Both parcels have now gone missing and City Link are telling me to raise it with Parcel Monkey. I accept the correct missing parcel is to be raised with Parcel Monkey, as it was insured, however what to do about the missing mirror which has been stolen from outside my house. I have written confirmation that it was delivered from the lady who received the mirror but now I don't know what to do. Surely the fact they have been unable to retrieve the mirror is nothing to do with me? The only thing I can think is to report it to the police but that seems a bit extreme to me. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

Hi all. This is the first time I have posted here but am now at my wits end with LINK /IDR Finance. After a number of months struggling to deal with my credit card debts I decided to go on a debt management plan through CCCS ( now step change). LINK /IDR had accepted the amount that was aggreed ie a monthly payment of 43 pounds for a debt of £3,415.14. They didn't receive money because of mis-communication between cccs and link/idr. I wasn't aware of the problem until I recieved a letter saying that I have incurred a Litigation Charge of £102. I received a ccj claim form a day after. On speaking to cccs and link it turns out that because there was a discrepancy between them about the account number the payments were not recieved and after a couple of months of non payment they have now gone down the ccj route. I accept now that I will have to go through the ccj process(which I am gutted about . I began the debt management plan to avoid this in the first place!) but I am wondering would there be any point in trying to go down the route of a cca? Or is it too late for that? Any advice or help would be very much welcomed. Just to add briefly. I spoke to MBNA about the account they said that the account was sent to LINK/IDR for collection. I cannot remember if it had merely been transferred or sold to them. Seeing as the service dept department is closed weekends I will have to wait till Monday to pursue that.

Some good advice. If you get a parking ticket relating to a company called Linkparking Mangement, DO NOT PAY IT. A friend of mine was clamped back in September and despite letter writing, phonecalls and even a County Court claim against them has not received any response from them. Their appeals process is a spoof with messages like 'Due to a computer error we have lost all appeals for the last 14 days, please re send'. The ticket will only give you a choice of paying by Paypal, not credit card, as these guys realy don't want to be found! Link parking Managements listed address is a car breakers. Nothing to do with Link parking Ltd which is in an indutrial unit where a different company is based (In Somerset) The phone number ususlly goes straight to an answerphone but on the rare occasions it has been answered ,the guy claimed to be just an answering service. She has now made a complaint through companies house to see if that gets her anywhere. Do not pay these guys, they are a rogue trader just trying to [problem] an easy buck off of unsuspecting victims!

Hi, my oh has two accounts with LINK , i have been a reader of the forum i did a CCA for both accounts . I was supplied with a copy of the CCA and in my mind they may be unenforceable through reading other threads. Therefore i sent them the write off letter i found on a thread here and stated that they had not supplied me with the relevant information adn requested they both wrote off the debt and that i would receive a reply in 14 days. That was 6 weeks ago and no reply despite the recorded letters having been signed for. At this stage is there a next move i should make , currently i pay them £1 pcm Many Thanks

FAO The Brig I am having a small prob with the above, After yet another call from these muppets, they seem to be chasing a SB debt They have been told that it is SB'D, they then claimed a 'Payment was made', as per a template letter from here requesting detail's, they have not responded, having just checked all 3 CRA'S the alleged debt does not appear !!!! Can I safely ignore from now on ? Many thanks Anon55