Please help Me Issued legal action from Lombard

[vishakha82]

Hi,

 

I was wondering if anyone would be able to help me?

 

We have been back and forward with Lombard with regards to a loan we took out 5 years ago. The short version is that about 3 years ago we couldn't afford the monthly payments of £300 to asked if we could reduce them to £150 which they agreed to. Unfortunately, I forgot to make a couple of payments (stupid i know!!) when they informed me the payments hadn't been made i promptly made the £300 payment to catch up but they passed me account to their solicitors (Spratt Endicott) a few months ago. The arrears at that time were £5500 on a £12500 balance. We tried to pay £5000 last month but the credit card we used declined (we didn't know the credit limit had been reduced).

 

We then offered £500 a month to clear the arrears and then £250 a month thereafter which they declined and sent us the blue form from the courts saying they were taking legal action against the full balance.

 

A relative has now stepped forward and offered to lend us £7000 (the arrears are now £6500). I called the solicitors today and told them we would pay the £7k and then £300 a month thereafter until the while £12k was paid off. They advised that even if we paid the £7k they would still be going for the legal action. Can they do this?

 

I understand that there will still be £5k remaining on the loan, but we would have paid the arrears and then agree to pay a substantial amount thereafter. The loan will be cleared in 16 months....possibly less if we are able to get more money before then. We don't want to run away from this debt but at the same time we don't want a charge on our property or a CCJ against our name.

 

Please tell me what I need to do.

 

Regards

 

V

[r&b]

hi V,

have you made any documentation requests at all Credit Agreement/SAR or anything of that sort?

have you received any default notice with a date and an amount to remedy the account?

are there any charges on the account that u know of/have proof of?

it appears from what u say that they are pushing their luck trying to get u to settle the complete debt (interest and all). in normal circumstances they would take your arm off for any paymt and chase the balance.

[vishakha82]

HI,

 

Thanks for your response. No we didn't make any requests as we know that this loan is due i.e. the 12.5k. We're not disputing the loan amount we just don't want a CCJ!

 

The other thing i didn't mention, after the payment for 5k declined we asked them about the possibility of a voluntary charge to avoid a CCJ. WE simply enquired about costs. We then offered the £500 a month to clear the arrears and then £250 thereafter. They then sent me a letter saying "thank you for your request for us to obtain a charge on your property please provide us with the following info!".

 

I sent them a letter telling them that no offer of voluntary charge was made it was just an enquiry and the offer we made was, we felt, quite fair.

 

They sent me a letter dated the 07/09/09 saying that the did not accept our offer and then on 09/09/09 issued the claim against us at the county court. I just feel like all of this is moving so fast and they're not even giving me an opportunity to redeem myself.

 

Regards

 

V

[r&b]

hi V,

regardless of whether the loan is 'due' or not, getting them to provide some paperwork regarding this may make them think a little about accepting any offers, should you wish to make them, rather than bullying you into a corner. the more u back down the more they will push!!!!!

can u post up the Particulars of Claim on the claim form. which court is it from?

you have 14 days to do Acknowledgment of Service, if its Northampton CC you can do this online using the MCOL password on the claim form.

personally i would send a CCA rqst and a SAR both to Lombard (if they are the original creditor?) at their regstd address. u need to enclose £1 with the CCA rqst and £10 with the SAR. print ur name, do not sign anth and send them recd del, keeping a copy for yourself.

have u ever received any documentation (CA, ststements with charges on, default notice, letters threatening legal action, etc) regarding the default on this loan? if so and u still have them can u post them up as there are strict guidelines they MUST follow to legally enforce this debt.

the point of all this, as i see it, is to take the fight back to them a bit and see if it changes their attitude to your offers if thats the way you want to play it.

just my view of course.