Charging Order Debt Sold On -Think I got ripped off. Please help

[shezboy]

I wish I had found this site sooner.

 

OK, In March 2008 I sold a property that had a charging order on it

 

The Charging Order was from British Credit Trust for vehicle finance. The vehicle was reposessed and the outstanding balance was CCJ'd which very quickly went in to a Charging Order.

 

When the charging order was granted the amount was £8000. This was in March 2006 ( Roughly).

 

So the Charging Order was Granted in March 2006 for £8000 by British Credit Trust. In February 2008 I received a letter from Marlin Finacial Services stating that they had aquired the debt and all rights from Britis Credit Trust and that amount outstanding was £8000.

 

As advised by my solictitor, I contatced Marlin to get a final settlement figure and when I did they stated the debt was now £12,000 as they had excerised their right to add interest to the amount of the charging order.

 

The interest rate they used was the one on the original CCA I signed for the car with British Credit Trust and they had calclated the interest from the date the charging order was granted.

 

The guy I spoke to told me that they had the rights to do that as the charging order stated that they could recover the original amount owed plus interest and other costs.

 

I eventually managed to negotiate a lower figure by getting them to calculate the interest at just 6% instead of the original sky high one I signed for with British Credit Trust.

 

I eventually settled the debt by paying them £9,200 which was paid to them directly from the sale of the property.

 

What I would like to know is if they really had the right to charge interest on the charging order and charge it from the date when the charging order was obtained.

 

I never did see a copy of the charging order to see the specific details of whether interest could be added etc.

 

Have I been had over by Marlin Financial Services?

 

Any help is very much appreciated.

[shezboy]

I do remember calling British Credit Trust about the charging order and was told that the amount now owed was fixed and would not increase. I am wondering if that meant they would not seek to add any further interest or does it mean that interest cannot be added to a Charging Order debt?

[Brassed off]

I'm no expert Shezboy, however, when the CO was originally granted, were you making payments to British Credit Trust by order of the court?

 

Did you receive any notification from British Credit Trust to state that they had sold your debt on to Marlin?

 

I can't believe that you weren't sent any paperwork regarding the CO The only way to get all the information on the CO is to contact the issuing court quoting your case reference number and requesting copies of all paperwork. You will only have to pay a few pounds for this but it would be worth it to see if when the CO was originally granted, whether the interest was suspended or not.

 

Have you received anything in writing from Marlin to say that you have paid this off ?

Edited January 25, 2009 by Brassed off

[Brassed off]

Some useful info on Charging Orders:-

 

Paying off a charging order?

 

If you pay off the amount you owe under the charging order you can apply to the court for the order to be discharged. You would need to use a form called an N244 and include evidence of payment. It is usual for creditors to register the charging order with the Land Registry. Check with the Land Registry that the charging order nisi and absolute have been removed.

[gizmo111]

The interest charged would have been on the CCJ - it was over £5000 and they can charge either contractual or 8% county courts rate.

[shezboy]

The interest charged would have been on the CCJ - it was over £5000 and they can charge either contractual or 8% county courts rate.

 

Thank you to all who have responded to this. The above really answers the question I had which was "Can Marlin charge interest on the debt that they purchased from BCT".

 

As the debt was indeed over £5000 then I guess they can charge the interest which they did at the sky high contractual rate.

 

Maybe I got a good deal by getting them to reduce the interest rate down to 6% or 8% or what ever it was.

 

Lesson learned?

Bear in mind that when you sign a credit agreement it can end up costing you more than you could eve imagine. The original purchase price of the car was £7,300.

 

Total paid back in the end?

 

£9,200 to Marlin Financial Services

£2,000 to British Credit Trust (under the original CCA)

oh and the car was reposessed too.

 

I had the car for around 12 months before it was taken back which makes the cost of having that car around £1,000 for each month that I owned it.

 

Not the best deal really was it.