link financial

[sowerby17]

Hi all any advice gratefully recieved,

Link have bought an old debt of my husbands from gemoney for £365 the last payment from his car loan,i have offered to pay them in installments but they wont accept and want it all at once which i cant do. Where do we stand will i have to find the money and pay them all of it in one go?

[rory32]

First of all are there any charges on the account that you can claim back? Secondly they can not lawfully refuse installments. Was their refusal in writing or over the phone? How old is this debt?

[sowerby17]

Hi the debt is from 2002 when we bought the car but the payments were spread over 5 years and were due to end in may07. The refusal was over the phone and yes there are charges to claim back but these will be from ge not link.I reckon with the charges i paid ge i owe them 0 as the charges come to the amount left on the balance owing or thereabouts

[zazen.warrior]

I would SAR them today if you can afford the tenner

[sowerby17]

got the statements just who do i claim off ge or link also do i owe anyone anything? urgent reply needed as link been on the phone and say i must phone them by 8pm tonight so presume they will take me to court if i dont

[Seahorse]

Have you visited Link's website, and gone to the "customers" page?

 

Here, have a look at this extract... "We accept payment by credit card, debit card, cheque or bank transfer. Alternatively, you may wish to discuss secured loan or remortgage options with us."

 

Why don't you ask them to arrange a loan to pay it off? Oh, wait. No. They are actually in breach of OFT guidelines on debt collection there. Perhaps a complaint would be more appropriate.

 

As for their threat that you need to phone them, DON'T. ANd if THEY phone, tell them that this is now in dispute, and they WILL only contact you in writing from now on.

 

Have you worked out where you stand regarding charges? It's GE that you should really be chasing for those. It wouldn't do any harm either informing Link, in writing obviously, that you deny that there is a debt owing. Don't bother with an explanation at this point. It's important that you get this officially in dispute as soon as possible.

 

These people are trying to panic you into doing ANYTHING to get them off your back. Bullying and harrassment are only two words that pop into my head.

 

Don't forget, they CANNOT shoot you, and they CANNOT make you pregnant. So there's not much else to worry about, is there? Let's face it. YOU are in the right. So is court such a daunting prospect? There's loads of folks who will help here, so I say BOLLIX to Link.

[sowerby17]

my oh would not be very happy if we were took to court so dont know should i send them a cca

[Seahorse]

YES!!!! Chances are they WON'T take you to court. But if they DO, you need to have a solid defence. Why let them win by default, just because they have scared the crap out of you? In fact, DON'T let them scare the crap out of you.

 

In your CCA request, make sure you emphasise, I DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE ANY DEBT DUE TO YOU. And tell them the £1 statutory fee is ONLY to be used to fulfil their obligations regarding your request.

 

People on here WILL help. Posting here is the best thing you could ever have done. Now YOU are in control. NOT the Link Lunatics.

[rory32]

got the statements just who do i claim off ge or link also do i owe anyone anything?

You would claim from GE as they applied the charges. Template letter here for initially asking for them back.

urgent reply needed as link been on the phone and say i must phone them by 8pm tonight so presume they will take me to court if i dont

That's what they want you to think which is why you should not speak to them on the phone. They will tell you rubbish that they would not dare put in writing. Send link the following letter

Account in Dispute

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

I refer to your recent letter and telephone calls.

 

As holders of a Consumer Credit Licence you are obliged to comply with the Office of Fair Trading Guidelines on Debt Collection. I would therefore be obliged if you would provide me with an explanation as to why you are attempting to collect on an alleged debt which was disputed with xxxx prior to your first contact with me, and has yet to be resolved.

 

Since this is considered an unfair practice and contrary to the OFT guidelines, you should consider this letter as a formal complaint, and provide me with a copy of your complaint resolution procedure.

I also require you to confirm that you will now comply with the OFT guidelines, and will not attempt any further collection activity whilst the dispute is unresolved.

 

Should you fail to provide me with the required undertaking within 7 days, I shall report your breach of the OFT guidelines to Trading Standards and complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

 

Take notice that I will not discuss this matter on the telephone, and all further communication must be in writing. Any further telephone calls will be perceived as harassment, and dealt with accordingly.

 

After taking advice, I am of the opinion that your continued pursuit is in violation of the Administration of Justice Act 1970 section 40, Protection from harassment Act 1997 section 3 as well as breaching a number of the OFT Collection Guidelines.

 

I hope that you will enter into a sincere dialogue with me about this matter and I am writing this letter to you on the assumption that you would prefer to do this than merely respond with standard letters and leaflets.

 

 

PLEASE NOTE any legal action you pursue will be averred as both UNLAWFUL and VEXATIOUS.

 

 

I would appreciate your due diligence in this matter.

 

I look forward to hearing from you in writing.

 

Yours faithfully

 

 

Print name do not sign

[sowerby17]

Well sent them the letter along with the cca one on friday recorded delivery.!!!!

[sowerby17]

Hi all just a little update got a letter from Link today saying

Dear Mr Sowerby,

COMPLAINT ACKNOWLEDGEMENT LETTER

 

Thankyou for your recent complaint.

 

At this time we are unable to resolve your complaint but acknowledge receipt of it. Your complaint has been assigned to the Complaints Manager.Please find enclosed copy of a summary of our Complaints Procedure.We will contact you within the next 4 weeks.

 

Yours sincerely

 

for & on behalf of Link Financial.

 

What is my next step?

[ODC]

Wait for their response to your complaint.

[sowerby17]

Well i thought they only had twelve days to come up with the cca

[sowerby17]

ok the twelve days are up and no cca do i now send the next letter?

[ODC]

No need to send anything unless they send a demand for money

[sowerby17]

well they have sent the signed copy of the agreement on Friday 31st and say they have breached nothing. Also they sent statement of the account but no charges were on it. SO what do i do now pay link and continue claim for refund of charges with ge? Oh and would it be possible to transfer the car into my name from my hubbies then they cannot threaten him with reposession?

[nicklea]

HI, who sent the agreement - was it link or GE.

 

It would help if you could scan it as it may turn out that the agreement is unenforceable.

 

With the statement of account - again was this from GE or link. If it came from link then there may not be any charges from them

[sowerby17]

Hi link sent the info i think it was passed onto them by ge money i will try to scan it. Not too good with that kind of thing though!

[ODC]

I dont think you can transfer ownership of the vehicle while it is under an HP agreement. Technically it still belongs to the finance company