Link finance help please

[soslanza]

my husband agreed to repay a debt bought by link. The bal. was £4,700 we set up a standing order to pay £50 per month from Dec 08 which until Feb. this year has been paid. I am a student and my husband is a low wage earner and due to the current climate we had to reduce the payments for March & April to £25 and from May to £5.00 per month, we have never not paid. We received a letter from Link but not to our address but to a family address. My relative wrote to them explaining we had moved and we also wrote to them giving our new address and explaning we had taken advice from the government debt helpline and reduced our payment because we could no longer afford £50 per month. We had no reply from Link and they continued to write to the wrong address, we wrote again and they ignored us. They are still sending letters to the wrong address, technically we have not received any post from them, it just happens my relative have pass them on to us but Link don'tknow that. My relative has now received a threatening letter address to their home but in my husbands name. The letter says it is a final notification that any agreement to repay the debt has been cancelled for non payment, we have paid something every month without fail. They are commencing immediate recovery of the total debt by one of the following options 1. data will be passed to our internal investigation department 2. your account will be approved for recovery by way of judgement at county court. 3. this debt will be transferred to a fee charging debt collection agent who may call at your home (which is not our home but a relatives).

 

Please can you give me some URGENT advice as I do not know what to do. As I said Link have not been writing to our address even though we have given it to them so as far as I am concerned my husband has not received any communication from link but we do not want any one turning up at my relative who are in their 80's and one of them had a heart attack just a year ago. I am worried the stress would cause another.

[silverfox1961]

Hi,

I have put a few thoughts within your post in red

 

my husband agreed to repay a debt bought by link. The bal. was £4,700 we set up a standing order to pay £50 per month from Dec 08 which until Feb. this year has been paid. I am a student and my husband is a low wage earner and due to the current climate we had to reduce the payments for March & April to £25 and from May to £5.00 per month, we have never not paid. We received a letter from Link but not to our address but to a family address. My relative wrote to them explaining we had moved and we also wrote to them giving our new address and explaning we had taken advice from the government debt helpline and reduced our payment because we could no longer afford £50 per month. We had no reply from Link and they continued to write to the wrong address, we wrote again and they ignored us. They are still sending letters to the wrong address, technically we have not received any post from them, it just happens my relative have pass them on to us but Link don'tknow that. My relative has now received a threatening letter address to their home but in my husbands name. The letter says it is a final notification that any agreement to repay the debt has been cancelled for non payment, we have paid something every month without fail. They are commencing immediate recovery of the total debt by one of the following options

1. data will be passed to our internal investigation department OHH scary

2. your account will be approved for recovery by way of judgement at county court. OOH double scary

3. this debt will be transferred to a fee charging debt collection agent who may call at your home (which is not our home but a relatives).

HUH! link seem to think they are NOT a fee charging DCA

 

Please can you give me some URGENT advice as I do not know what to do. As I said Link have not been writing to our address even though we have given it to them so as far as I am concerned my husband has not received any communication from link but we do not want any one turning up at my relative who are in their 80's and one of them had a heart attack just a year ago. I am worried the stress would cause another.

 

Sorry, couldn't resist the sarcasm. These letters are by design intended to intimidate.

 

Firstly, I think you need to send Link a Formal Complaint about sending letters to the wrong address after you have previously informed them of the new address. You will need to send any further letters to them by Recorded Delivery. Make sure you inform them about your relatives poor health.

 

Bookmark this link as you will need it in the future:

 

http://www.consumerforums.com/resources/templates-library/86-debt-collectors.html

 

Enclose with your complaint letter 3 from the link

 

Now as they are playing silly bu**ers you could hurt them. If this debt is a loan or credit card debt, you could CCA them to see if they have the right to be collecting this debt. This costs £1 and you could enclose the request with your complaint letter.

They have 12+2 WORKING DAYS to respond to the CCA request

 

Once you get some more info, come back and I'm sure someone can help

[soslanza]

Thank you for the advice

[soslanza]

Hi again, need your help once more. After taking your advice I wrote a formal letter of complaint along with the CCA, postal order, sent recorded/sign for delivery as per your suggestion. I have now received a letter back. The letter states "you have recently made a request under section 77/78 for copies of various documents. As you are aware link purchased your debt from MBNA Europe Bank Ltd on 21st July 2004 and as such we do not always hold this documentation. We have requested a copy of the agreement and the most recent terms and conditions your account was operated under from MBNA Europe Ltd and look forward to sending this to you in the near future, however please be advised that this can take up to 30 days to provide" Ok, what do you advise now I don't have a clue where I stand with Link or what the next step should be.

[Bazooka Boo]

Not to worry, that is a standard response, it means nothing, except they know they are going to forfeit the allotted time, therefore once they have had 12 'working' days to send you the CCA, and they fail you can send them the 'Failed' letter.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/resources/templates-library/86-debt-collectors/571-failiure-to-provide-a-copy-of-the-agreement-within-the-prescribed-timescale

[soslanza]

Just to confirm is the 12 working days from the date of my CCA request, (link would have received around 15th), or from the date of their letter, (18th), claiming they have requested the agreement from MBNA? thanks

[Bazooka Boo]

No it is 12 working days from when they received your request, if you sent it RD you can view when they received it online and work it out that way.

[soslanza]

Ok folks, it looks like Link are not going to complete my request for the CCA, 12 day deadline is tomorrow. So what happens next....Can any one put me onto the next stage - thanks

[silverfox1961]

http://www.consumerforums.com/resources/templates-library/86-debt-collectors/571-failiure-to-provide-a-copy-of-the-agreement-within-the-prescribed-timescale

 

:)

[reallymadwoman]

Or you could do nothing and save yourself the cost of postage.

 

Either at some point they will get the agreement and send you a copy or they won't and will try to bluff their way out of it or they'll just pass it on to the next DCA in the chain. Whatever you write to them is unlikely to have any effect whatsoever on this process.

[soslanza]

Thanks for info, lets see what happens next after failed letter is sent:)

[Bazooka Boo]

But I would always err on the side of caution, send them the AID letter keep a copy for your records, that way then it keeps you paper trail of evidence straight, and puts them to strict proof.

[soslanza]

Can you tell me what an AID letter is? do I send this instead of a failed letter or both together? also I cannot find AID in the templates could you link me to it thanks, sorry to be a pain just never done this before.

[Bazooka Boo]

Sorry yes, AID=account in dispute, I was just being lazy, typing with one hand holding my pint glass with the other, it is the Failed letter you need to send, it tells them the account is in dispute.

[soslanza]

Sent failed letter and deadline to respond was today and have not received anything from link. I have received a letter dated 18th September which I received yesterday, I can't confirm post arrival to my house because I have been away since 15th September and returned yesterday. The letter is a response to my formal letter of complaint along with my request for CCA. The 12 day deadline for the CCA was 27/8. The letter basically is an apologie for all the errors they have made regarding postal addresses and ignoring my requests etc. plus they have attached a copy of the original signed application made for the virgin credit card dated 07/06/02. I am now confused, (perhaps this is their intention!), to what I have received. This letter does not mention the failed letter sent to them for failing to respond in time for the CCA request. I have 8 weeks to respond to this letter or they will assume I am happy with their response. They have agreed to lower payments from 50.00 to 5.00 per month which was one of may complaints, but having said this I still have no proof that link own this debit. What next please:!:

[Bazooka Boo]

Can you scan and post up what they have sent you, please remove all ID, bar codes, ref numbers etc,

The in dispute will only last for as long as they fail to provide the agreement, now that they have, we need to see if it is in fact enforceable, and where you go from here, once you can scan & post it up people will be better able to advise you, if you don't have access to a scanner, you can take a photo of it on the macro setting.

[soslanza]

This is a scan of the original agreement betweeen my husband and Virgin, sorry hope you can do something with the picture I sent, I'm not a whizz when it comes to computers - thanks

[Bazooka Boo]

The image is very small can you upload it usung tinypic or photobucket or similar?

 

It clearly looks like an application form, does it have theri signature on it also? And what reference do they make as to your right to cancel? A small box saying that they will send you this at a later date? If so did they?

[soslanza]

Thanks for replying - It is the a copy of the original application form to apply for a virgin credit card. There is a small box which staes they will send information to cancel, which I can't ever reember receiving. I am spot-on with paperwork and filling because I ran a business for some while. I would have been aware of this right to cancel if it was ever sent. There is no signature on this application form from Virgin only that of my husband. Sorry I could not get copy any bigger and I have never used tinypic or photobucket unless you can point me in the right direction.

Anyway I hope this bit info helps you further to help me, thanks once again

[stunned_monkey]

You aren't the only one dealing with Link (I'm cross-posting here - see link below):

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?277781

[soslanza]

Glad to know that I'm not the only one and it is interesting to read other peoples stores and how they have dealt with Link:-)

[hammyhound]

This is my link thread which makes interesting reading for you my case went to the wire and they still tried to lie at trial.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?219343-GE-Money-now-Link-Financial&p=3138066&highlight=

 

Link are greedy b******ds who buy debt at such low value in the hope that you don't defend. When you do, they go into shock and try and lie their way out.

 

HH

[soslanza]

Is anyone able to clarify whether link can use this original application as proof they own the debt? either way what would I do next?

[soslanza]

Is anyone able to clarify whether link can use this original application as proof they own the debt? either way what would I do next?

[Typhoon]

Is anyone able to clarify whether link can use this original application as proof they own the debt? either way what would I do next?

 

No they can not use an original application. The only way they can prove ownership of a debt is to provide you with a copy of the Deed of Assignment in which the debt was transferred to you. They almost never produce this as they buy debt in bulk and it will have many other people's details on it. The will produce it in court to prove ownership though so tread carefully on this issue.