Link Financial

[MarianG]

My Partner put his debts with a debt management company called Spectrum including a debt for Halifax, which was then taken over by MBNA. He then received a letter from Link Financial saying they had purchased the debt, so when my Partner made an offer for payment to Spectrum he asked them to leave Link for him to deal with himself, after I had dealings in the past with them myself. He sent a CCA letter in early April to which he received a letter dated 17 April saying they would put his account on hold for 14 days as they had requested a copy of the CCA from MBNA. Nothing was forthcoming so he rang them, but they said they weren't in breach and he then sent a non compliance letter. To date, they have not complied, but he did receive the following:

 

"Thank you for your recent letter. As I advised you in our conversation on the 17th June 2008 the information you requested has been ordered from MBNA Europe Bank Limited and we hope to provide this to you as soon as it is received. Unfortunately this is taking longer than previously anticipated. I can confirm we are holding your account until this situation can be resolved.

I refer to your notice under the Data Protection Act 1998. Your MBNA Europe Bank Limited account was assigned to Link Financial in February 2008. The responsibility to manage the information placed with the Credit Reference Agencies by MBNA Europe Bank Limited was also passed at the time of purchase and the decision to process your information to the Credit Reference Agencies is not based solely on automatic means. Therefore we no not believe we are in breach of our repsonsibilities under the Act with regards to your details.

If you have any questions or queries in relation to this letter please feel free to contact me directly on 0207 793 2650 (ext 3058).

Yours sincerely

Ms J Pearcey"

 

 

They have had since April to provide the details. Are they still in breach? Are they likely to come up with the CCA? My partner was thinking of offering them a nominal sum of about £100 (the original debt was £11,000 - Specrum have been paying £1 per month). as they can't provide paperwork. Any thoughts out there?

[jumpjet]

It maybe useful for you to contact the CCCs.

They will administer a DMP at no cost. However they will not with hold payments to creditors for reasons of dispute. If you cannot afford to send the amount you suggest then send only a token payment (if you wish to show a willingness to pay) but only as a voluntary measure as the debt is legally disputed until an agreement is produced. Sometimes paying a token amount may help to keep them off your back...but not always!

[babybear39]

The account is now in serious dispute, send them this:

 

Account In Dispute

 

Ref:

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Thank you for your letter of xx/xx/xx, the contents of which have been noted.

 

You have failed to respond to my legal request to supply me a true copy of the original Consumer Credit Agreement for the above account.

 

On the **DATE** I wrote to you requesting a copy of the credit agreement and other information under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (Sections 77-79).

 

On **DATE** a member of your staff signed for delivery of my written request and I have an electronic proof of delivery showing their signature and the date.

 

To date you have failed to comply with these requests in any way, whether by confirmation of receipt of the request or by supplying the requested documents.

 

These documents I requested should be readily available as proof of your legal right to collect this account under the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

 

In my letter of the **DATE** I made a formal request for a copy of the signed, executed credit agreement for the above account under section 77(1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. In addition a full statement of this account should have been sent to me detailing all debits and credits to the account.

 

Furthermore

 

 

You are aware that the Consumer Credit Act allows 12 working days for a request for a true copy of a credit agreement to be carried out before your client enters into a default situation.

 

If that request is not satisfied after a further 30 calendar days your client commits a summary criminal offence.

 

These limits have expired.

 

As you are no doubt aware section 78(6) states:

 

If the creditor fails to comply with Subsection (1)

 

(a) He is not entitled , while the default continues, to enforce the agreement.

 

And

 

(b) If the default continues for one month he commits an offence.

 

Therefore this account has become unenforceable at law.

 

As you have Failed to comply with a lawful request for a true, signed copy of the said agreement and other relevant documents mentioned in it, Failed to send a full statement of the account and Failed to provide any of the documentation requested.

 

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

 

Furthermore I shall counterclaim that any such action constitutes unlawful harassment.

 

Please note you may also consider this letter as a statutory notice under section 10 of the Data Protection Act to cease processing any data in relation to this account with immediate effect.

 

This means you must remove all information regarding this account from your own internal records and from my records with any credit reference agencies.

 

Should you refuse to comply, you must within 21 days provide me with a detailed breakdown of your reasoning behind continuing to process my data.

 

It is not sufficient to simply state that you have a ‘legal right’; You must outline your reasoning in this matter and state upon which legislation this reasoning depends.

 

Should you not respond within 14 days I expect that this means you agree to remove all such data.

 

Furthermore you should be aware that a creditor is not permitted to take ANY

Action against an account whilst it remains in dispute.

 

The lack of a credit agreement is a very clear dispute and as such the following applies.

 

* You may not demand any payment on the account, nor am I obliged to offer any payment to you.

* You may not add further interest or any charges to the account.

* You may not pass the account to a third party.

* You may not register any information in respect of the account with any credit reference agency.

* You may not issue a default notice related to the account.

 

 

I reserve the right to report your actions to any such regulatory authorities as I see fit.

You have 14 days from receiving this letter to contact me with your intentions to resolve this matter which is now a formal complaint.

 

I would appreciate your due diligence in this matter.

 

I look forward to hearing from you in writing.

 

Yours faithfully

 

Amend to suit, send recorded, DO NOT SIGN, print your name and keep copies of everything.

[MarianG]

Thanks Babybear. Have already sent the letter you suggest and they have come back saying that they are not in breach and they are holding the account until the situation is resolved - ie. getting a CCA from MBNA 3 months after I requested it.

[babybear39]

Well they can p**s in the wind 'til they produce then. If they hasstle you report them to Trading Standards.

 

Are you paying your DMP? There are free ones about such as CCCS and payplan.

[manchester1]

Marian G , I would wait and see what link will try and dig up. They are already in breach,and committed a offence, would,nt be surprised if there is no copy of original cca and link are playing a game of poker.

 

Manc1

 

[MarianG]

Thanks for your thoughts everyone. Much appreciated.