Another Thread re help regarding Link Financial

[Christena]

11 years ago, we received a CCJ for arrears over an agreement with First National Bank, as we were sold an Insurance that we did not qualify for, as my husband was self employed. So when he lost work, we found ourselves unable to pay.

 

( We can no longer find the original paperwork, so have not followed the miss sold insurance route)

 

The court awarded a payment from us of £1 per month, which we have paid without missing a single payment.

 

Then in March a letter arrived from Link Financial Services, who had purchased the debt, and now wanted a statement of earnings etc., to which my husband wrote back and said we would continue paying the £1 as per the courts instructions, and heard no more from them.

 

Today they have been on the phone, and I refused to discuss giving them a statement of earnings, which they wanted to discuss on the phone, and referred them back to the CCJ which they implied was now too old and no longer binding. Sorry I cant recall the exact words they said. So I told them to refer it back to court, and they asked was I refusing to talk to them, to which I said, I am refussing to discuss this via the phone.

 

No doubt a letter is on its way to us, what do I do ?

 

This really has me quite concerned, and I would be grateful for any advice you can give me.

[victoria_siempre]

Hi Christena

 

Welcome to CAG and you'll get better advice than mine here.

 

Link are unpleasant and buy up debts that were previously agreed as interest and charges frozen and then apply same without notification.

 

Do nothing for now and do not discuss on the 'phone.

 

Seek further advice here when they write.

 

And don't worry: they have no legal powers as long as you continue to comply with the CCjJ.

 

love

 

vic

[FORMISTER]

Don't panic. You were right not to talk to them, let them know that you will only communicate with them in writing. This is your right and they have to abide by this. Send them this letter , recorded delivery if they persist http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/content.php?493-Harassment-by-telephone-response-letter

 

As regards to the statement of earnings situation, only a court can make you provide these, so politely tell them they have no right and you will not be providing them.

 

I suggest that you now send them a prove it letter and obtain the relevant paperwork for the debt. It is their job to prove that it exists and is still enforcable and that they have the right to collect it.

 

Have you received a Notice of Assignment from them? If not, then they shouldn't be asking you for anything yet

 

When a CCJ is granted it does not become statute barred like other debts. If however a CCJ is more than 6 years old, they would need to reapply to the court for permission to enforce the debt again. At this time the judge would enquire as to why the debt was not paid and you could enter your defence

Edited January 18, 2011 by FORMISTER

[Christena]

Thank you for your speedy replies..

 

We think that a letter arrived years ago to say that they had taken over the debt, in fact we must have, as we changed who we paid the £1 to.

 

Since the beginning we have not defaulted on the payment once, but as the debt grew to over £10,000 to comply with the court, the debt will never be paid in our lifetimes.

 

So the Judge would have realised that when he granted the £1 per month payment, which I think means if it went back to Court, they would see that we had stuck with the agreement, without a single default.

 

We will of course try to locate all the original paperwork, hubby is routing about as I write...

 

He found it ! the letter was dated May 2005, so that was the last communication we had with them before the letter arrived last March.

 

thanks again..

[FORMISTER]

What was the origional agreement with the bank? Was it for a loan or credit card?

 

Where I do not advocate avoiding or not paying debts, it may be worth sending a subject access request to the origional creditor and seeing what they come up with. There could be a number of possibities and angles that could be looked at to help you reduce the debt, it could be worth a try if you think you are never going to pay this off.

 

What do the other Caggers think?

[Bazooka Boo]

You need to get back in touch with the court that awarded you with the CCJ, and make them aware that Link farcical are attempting to go against the courts judgement, contempt of court I believe?

 

Ignore Link farcical, you already have a CCJ which you are fully complying with, you are not at fault here, it is these greedy vultures who will find themselves answering to the court for their actions, not you.

If they ring, laugh at them and hang up, of they persist, keep a diary of events with a view of reporting them to your local Police station for the criminal offence of harassment. What these DCA's fail to realise is that debtors have far more rights than these fools realise, Protection from harassment act, CPUTR regs, communications act, s40 admin of justice act. ALL of which can be used against them, but rarely are unfortunately.

 

If you do send these fools anything, it does not have to be recorded delivery, send it 2nd class and obtain proof of posting, that is all you would need to legally prove they received your letters.

However there is no need to be sending them anything, you are complying with the CCJ, if there are now new owners, then these new owners will need to go back to court and have a redetermination of the original order, something which they are foolishly ignoring to do.

Complain to the court.

Then complain to the OFT&TS via http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/contact

[Bazooka Boo]

What do the other Caggers think?

Not necessary, there is already a CCJ in place, SAR's CCA's all irrelavent.

The OP has been paying the CCJ as ordered by the court, it is now this DCA who needs to check their paperwork before they themselves find themselves in contempt of court.

[FORMISTER]

Thats sound advice. I was probably looking further into it than I should be. The fact of the matter is , as BB says in the last post, you are complying with CCJ and thats all you need to worry about

[Christena]

WOW... thank you !!

 

We are going to do as you recommend, starting with hunting out the original CCJ paperwork, and will contact the court as you say.

 

FORMISTER the original debt was for a kitchen financed by First National, which I remember only cost £6,500 and then grew...

 

you never know.. we may also come across the Insurance Certificate that proved a waste of time and money...lol

 

THANK YOU.. and I purposely use capitals, as I want to shout it from the rooftops, we will sleep tonight knowing we are in control of what happens here !

[FORMISTER]

These DCA's make peoples life hell, unfortunetly not everyone realises they have rights. Luckily , like you I stumbled across the CAG website, and was able to take control of my situation.

Keep your thread updated if or when anything else happens

[Christena]

Dont worry Formister, I will keep you all updated, and do my bit in return to help others in a similar position.

[Christena]

Just a quick update.

 

I had a letter from Link, who have demanded proof of income, meantime they have suspended our payment. And they have asked us to send the letter back along with our proof of income, no way are we complying with this. We shall continue the payment by cheque in order to retain proof.

 

I have found the original court documents, which went back to 2000. On them they state the debt is £6,500, so it appears that Link have added interest to the sum of double the original amount.

 

So today I am busying myself with photocopying the information and drafting a letter to the court, including a full synopsis of all contact from Link.

 

It amazes me that our Government allows people to make money out of others who are paying their debts and have already been punished once by being marked as a debtor on credit reports.

[FORMISTER]

Carry on making your payments and keep proof.

They have no right to an I&E, only a judge can make you provide that information, so if you don't want to then don't.

 

Write and tell them that you are continuing with your agreement and to make payments. Tell them that you are not legally obliged to send them an I&E and that you are refusing their request.

Inform them that they are not entitled to be adding their interest and you will not be paying it.

 

I'll have a look for some relevant template letters on the site that may be of help

[FORMISTER]

You need to get back in touch with the court that awarded you with the CCJ, and make them aware that Link farcical are attempting to go against the courts judgement, contempt of court I believe?

 

Ignore Link farcical, you already have a CCJ which you are fully complying with, you are not at fault here, it is these greedy vultures who will find themselves answering to the court for their actions, not you.

If they ring, laugh at them and hang up, of they persist, keep a diary of events with a view of reporting them to your local Police station for the criminal offence of harassment. What these DCA's fail to realise is that debtors have far more rights than these fools realise, Protection from harassment act, CPUTR regs, communications act, s40 admin of justice act. ALL of which can be used against them, but rarely are unfortunately.

 

If you do send these fools anything, it does not have to be recorded delivery, send it 2nd class and obtain proof of posting, that is all you would need to legally prove they received your letters.

However there is no need to be sending them anything, you are complying with the CCJ, if there are now new owners, then these new owners will need to go back to court and have a redetermination of the original order, something which they are foolishly ignoring to do.

Complain to the court.

Then complain to the OFT&TS via http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/contact

 

Refer back to Bazooka Boo's post above

[harrassed senior]

OK - As you have found the original Court papers, this is the situation.

 

The Court awarded the Judgement to the Original Creditor and payment would have been awarded to be made to them, and them only.

 

You have been making payment as ordered by the Court.

 

This CCJ CANNOT be altered in any way unless by Order of the Court - by this I mean that if the OC wanted to 'sell on' their interest in this case including the CCJ as awarded, they would have to go to the Court , open the case and present their Request before a Judge. Only then can a 'third party' become the beneficiary of your payments.

 

Therefore if the CCJ has been sold or any other Agreement entered into by the OC without Court permission then they, the OC are in Contempt of Court. This is a reportable Offence, and the originating Court should be told.

 

You therefore need to speak with the originating Court Office to see if this has been done.

 

If not, cease all contact with all third parties and continue to pay only the company that was named on the original Court Judgement. If they then tell you they no longer handle the Account, in writing, then IMO you can cease all further payments.

[FORMISTER]

Have you received anything like Harrassed Seniors post above about the debt, regarding the sale from the court?

[Christena]

No, all we received was a letter from Link to say the debt was now payable to them, which we complied with.

 

They then sent a statement after a year or so, showing that the original debt had been doubled. Which we did not question as the amount was the same as the amount would have been had we paid the original debt to First National Bank.

 

We have now sent a copy of all correspondence to the original court.

[jimbo45]

Hi there

this sort of stuff MAKES MY BLOOD BOIL. I think most of us can agree the buying and selling of debts is hugely immoral and plays into hands of greedy companies just attempting to make money by dealing in Human Misery.

 

The COURT awared you 1 GBP a month to pay. Short of LINK going back to court there is NOTHING - REPEAT NOTHING these greedy Barstewards can do.

 

Query also HOW can the debt be doubled -- you are complying with the CCJ.

 

DO not give them statement of earnings or anything else.

 

Just write back to the original court you got the CCJ from stating you have complied with their judgement but you are now getting HASSLED by these parasites.

 

Also complain to FOS, OFT, BBC etc etc.

 

YOU are in control since YOU are complying with a judgement of the Court.

 

In fact this might be a good time to offer them a Full and Final settlement of something fairly small --give them the choice of say 1 GBP a month for the next 3,000 years or say a 12% offer over whatever period you can afford and you might get a better deal.

 

NEVER EVER let these PARASITES control YOU.

 

Why is it that horrendous interest charges and other amounts are always added to debts payable by people LEAST EQUIPPED to handle this stuff anyway.

 

This whole buying / selling on of debts should be OUTLAWED -- come on Coalition -- please get THIS in order --it won't cost YOU any money and the relief it will give to millions might actually help economic recovery. This won't cost ANY money unlike bailing out the Banks.

 

Also query them on how a CCJ is no longer Binding. I think the COURT might have something to say about this too.

 

OK I also understand that creditors are entitled to attempt to make recoveries for debt but why is THIS WHOLE ROTTEN BUSINESS SO STINKING, VILE, EVIL and full of LIES and TOTAL BOVINE SCATOLOGY.

 

A more humane and compassionate way of collecting debt might actually reap better results anyway.

 

However it really does look like the end for a lot of DCA's as they really are dealing with the most uncollectable debts now.

 

Banks etc are much tighter in lending so the income DCA's can expect is liukely to fall very significantly this and next year - and GOOD RIDDANCE to the WHOLE LOT OF THEM too.

 

Cheers

jimbo

Edited January 24, 2011 by jimbo45

[Christena]

Thanks Jimbo... yes my blood is kinda boiling too..

 

My husband wasnt in control of his clients, and when businesses went under due to the recession, his followed suit, so we went from him working 5 days a week, to only one day, and being disabled, there was little I could do to assist.

 

So we undertook the process of writing to everyone we owed money to, and negotiate lower payments etc., which the majority complied with, two unfortunately took us to court, and since that time my hubby has made sure all got paid on a regular basis, and when recently we were down to just two, he made an agreed lower settlement with one, leaving the LINK one as it stood, as we just couldnt afford to clear that one.

 

I feel certain the LINK were made aware that we had done this, hence the harrassment now.

 

I agree with you that our Government should not allow this kind of business to thrive, nor should they be allowing all the advertising that consolidation loan companies are doing under the pretence of helping people get rid of debt.

 

I am just thankful I found you all, as this site has truly given me the determination to fight..

[PGH7447]

you could sar link and demand all info for this account including payments made and interest added, see if they hang themselves by showing that they have added interest that they are not entitled to

[Christena]

another good idea, thanks PGH..

 

At the moment, Im going to sit tight and await the courts response.

[Christena]

Received a statement dated 28/03/11 now stating debt allmost £13000 after adding on latest interest @ 23.30%!!

 

Having had no reply to the letter I sent to the court, I phoned the court and was told Link had registered their name in January this year as being the owner of the debt and could add interest if they so wished, this allmost six years after buying it. I believed that the max. was 8%.

 

At this rate I may well find a debt of £100,000 after another 10 years! but I will keep on making my £1.00 per month payment.

 

Does anyone have a notion when Link will attempt to redetermine the monthly payment by taking us back to court.

 

Many Thanks

Husband of Christena

[stoney47]

hello christena

if you look for a thread by beachcomber60 in the legal issues forum ,it might be of some help. he was in court a few months back against link,and won his case.as far as i know he won it on missold ppi and the fact he was self-employed.have you got your original judgement?does it say about FNB reserving the right to apply for subsequent interest

[beachcomber60]

Oh - someone mentioned my name

 

Hello Christina, sorry to hear your troubles.

 

As Stoney mentioned, we had a FNB/GE agreement 'sold' off to Stink - they truly are evil. We initially tried to defend it ourselves but due to links tactics soon found we were out of our depth so we had solicitors represented us who did a fantastic job.

 

Link lost bigtime, and not only over mis selling of ppi.

 

This was a major victory, however, six months down the road STINK have reassigned it back to FNB/GE who are now harrassing us for this debt which the courts have passed judgement as Irredeemably Unenforceable.

 

FNB/GE have sent arrears letters & new default notices and are updating the CRA's with inaccruate (and I think unlawful) data since the trial. FNB/GE are just as bad as stink, all letters ignored ours, our solicitors & TS.

 

I sadly couldnt possibly give advice as there is a ccj in place, by any chance were you told ppi would cover both of you?

 

We also found out that Secret Commissions were paid for the sale of ppi by both FNB/GE & Pinnacle.

 

Beachy

[Christena]

Thanks Stoney & Beachcomer.

 

I Have been reading up on your misfortunes with Stink.

 

My head is spinning just reading a couple of pages!

 

Yes, the CCJ does state "The claimant may be entitled to further interest" but at todays rates 23.30% seems a tad OTT !

 

I have been led to believe they could not do this, but it appears they can.

 

I will read the rest of story over the weekend - think it will take at least that to even take a little in !

 

I think I was the only person insured as I was the only person working (my wife is disabled) but as the initial loan was in 1977 we can't find the paperwork, only remember FNB refusing to pay out on insurance because I did not have an employer to confirm loss of earnings even though I stated initially that I was self employed.

 

Hey Ho

 

Thanks for your help

 

I Guess my weekend has been spoken for......

 

Husband of Christena