Are Link Financial outsourcing scarmongering me?

[ninoraisys]

Hello to all

 

I have recieved a letter form link financial outsourcing this week over my outstanding student loan.

i have had no contact with anyone ove the loan in almost 5 years due to my dire financail situation and i have been constantly moving around.

 

The letter states that i must pay the full amount of almost £7k in full imediatley or face litigation.

 

i called them staright away and told them and told them of my current situation which is that i am on jobseekers allowance,

i have no savings and am currently living of the graces of my girlfriend while i look for full time work.

 

i asked if there was anyway i could set up a payment plan as there is no way i could pay the full amount.

their response was no and that i had 21 days to come up with the money they suggested i try borrowing the money from family or friends as this is what other people have done.

what would do they live in where people have £7 to spare to loan someone.

 

after a sleepless night and talk to my girlfriend

i called tham back the next day to reitterate that i dont know how to get the full amonut to them.

i also asked if i could pay them £1k now (which my girlfriend was able to scatch together for me to borrow) to show that i do want to get this resolved.

and they still refused saying paying that money now is fine but i was still expected to pay the rest in 21days.

i asked what would happen if i couldn't and they told me it would go to litigation.

 

i said but im trying to come to arrange ment and surely going to court is going to cost you more money, they said quite blunty that i would have to pay all legal fees.

 

so my quetion is are Link being unreasonable when i can prove my financial situation cannot allow me to pay this in full and i am willing to pay 15% of the debt now

and set up a payment plan for the rest?

 

i really fell like they are scare mongerng me into taking on another debt like a loan to pay thid one.

 

Any advice would be appreciated, thanks......

[Bazooka Boo]

Stay off the phone

These clowns are nothing but immature fools.

They bully and intimidate you on the phone and come out with all sorts of garbage in an attempt to frighten people into paying money they don't owe. I am very very pleased they didn't take that grand off you, more fool them, but it goes in your favour.

 

When did you take this loan out?

[ninoraisys]

the student loan was started in 1994-1998 when i was in uni. started derments but over they years i moved around alot and forgot about it then was scared about calling them to (foolishly) just started to get my self back on track starting a new job in the next 2 months and i am meking good on the other debts i have incurred over the years. but link are not helping at all.

[Bazooka Boo]

So your on an old style SL?

 

When did you last pay anything towards it?

[ninoraisys]

i have never made a payment to anyone on this loan. there is another loan account at the same time that i have made payments on in the last 6 years but i spoke the the student loans company and have deferred until november on that. but yeah the one link is chasing i have paid nothing.

[dx100uk]

if its pre 98 which it is

it will be statute barred

 

end of!

 

dx

[dx100uk]

they are trying to fleece you

sadly thats how link make 90% of their money

 

 

you owe nowt

 

dx

[Bazooka Boo]

Have you checked your credit file? Is this on there??

[ninoraisys]

no im waiting for pin number from experian to come thorugh hopefully today.. i am look for this statue barred template letter on this site cant see it do you have a link?

[Bazooka Boo]

Here it is;

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/content.php?408-Letter-sent-when-debt-is-statute-barred

[ninoraisys]

thanks to all. lots of help today will keep you posted. this site will be reccommended always.

[Bazooka Boo]

Don't be at all surprised if they come back with some random fictitious payment you didn't make to reset the the clock...

[dx100uk]

typically march 2007

 

dx

[ninoraisys]

hi guys

so i have finally got a reply back from Link today. and yes they have put that the last payment credited to the account was on 15 march 2007 to the amount of £119.87. i have checked my account and no money was paid out to that amount on that date or any date. they have also attached a deferment form i filled in on 26-09-2006 and sent to them which stated i was jobseekers and had also recieved £700 personal loan they have said that this was incomplete as the letter my brother signed saying how much cash he had given me was not dated.

so am i back to square one where i have to pay this money and before i contact them again can they refuse to set up a payment plan as i have offered before which was to pay £1000 up front and a payment plan for the rest?

 

 

N

[Bazooka Boo]

Do not be conned into paying anything, they are the ones who are committing a criminal offence of fraud here, it is SB, end of, you have told them so, they have come back with a fabricated figment of their imagination to con you into thinking it isn't SB, it is, ignore them, or write back to them with all the dates you will be available to attend court and show the judge your watertight defence, then hit them for damages.

 

I would love to knock up one of my flippant responses to them for you, but I need to brush my teeth and get to the dentist for three, but in a nutshell, their letter is written evidence that they intend to commit fraud, thank them for it, and say you will only be too happy to produce this evidence to him when you submit your defence if they ever scrape enough funds together to progress to court, idiots idiots idiots, childish foolish idiots.!!!

 

You MUST make a formal complaint to the OFT&TS via http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Dl1/Directories/UsefulContactsByCategory/Governmentcitizensandrightscontacts/DG_195948

Keep a copy of that letter safe.

[dx100uk]

hehe..... why do link ALWAYS say a 'phantom' payment was made in march 2007!!?!

 

dx

[Bazooka Boo]

It might well move to March 2008 next year?? Muppets!

[BanditQueen]

You do not have to pay them anything.

 

If it is more than 6 years ago tell them to go to hell and do not speak to them on the phone.

 

Get the CAB to send them a statute barred letter and even if it is not,

they legally cannot force you to pay any more than you can comfortably afford.

 

It is also a none priority debt and if it is a student loan you should have it deferred or written off.

 

if they take you to court, let them and tell the court the full story.

 

Tell them your circumstances and you will find the court will sympathize and you can fill a form in and offer them £1.00 a month and they have to accept it.

 

You could even get it written off and make sure they show you all the statements and the original agreements.

 

In any event if it is that old, there is nothing they can do!

[Bazooka Boo]

This has already been sorted?

[ninoraisys]

Hello all.

 

i really dont think i can go down the statue barred path as their is definatly a payment made from my account 5 1/2 years ago. i wrote asking if it was possible to make arrangement and explained my financial situation again and this is what they sent me:

 

This letter is final notification thatany agreement you had to repay your debt has been cancelled for non payment.

without further reference to you we will be immediately recovery of the full sum £6934.32 by one of the following options. you will be held liable for any and all costs associated with collection:

1. your data may be passed to our internalreview investigation department

2.your account may be approved for recovery by way of a judgement secured in your local county court

3. this debt may be transferred to an external frr charging debt collection agent who may call at your home

we are extremely disappointed that we have not been able to resolve this amicably with you. As always our team of account officers remain on call to take your call blah blah blah.........

 

so how should i reply to this. and whats the likelyhood of them passing this to a baliff?

 

help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

thanks

[daverules]

So 6 months to go before SB and you wrote offering to make arrangement to pay.

 

Does this reset the SB clock?

 

May have been best to let them go through their motions of investigating and received more advice that surely

would have been on its way.

[dx100uk]

what part of ignore did you not understand...

 

sorry but you appear NOT to be understanding things.

 

where has this bailiff come from?

 

no dca nor doorstepper are bailliffs and never ever will be!

 

you've fallen for the oldest trick in the book that link pull

 

cleverly well worded letters

 

if.may.might.could,instructed.............FLEECED!

 

dx

[BanditQueen]

What happens next depends on a variety of factors, including your present financial circumstances.

 

But I can tell you now: these are debt collectors and not bailiffs and they can do nothing without it first having a hearing that you attend in court,

but you do not want it to go that far if you can avoid it .

 

You are unsure about this debt so get more information.

 

DO NOT CALL THEM DO IT ALL IN WRITING AND DO NOT GET LEGAL HELP FROM THIS SITE,

GO TO SOMEONE LOCAL AND INDEPENDENT LIKE THE CAB DEBT SPECIALISTS OR THE CLS ON THE PHONE OR NATIONAL DEBT PEOPLE.

 

A JUDGEMENT CAN ONLY BE GOT IN YOUR LOCAL COUNTY COURT IF THE JUDGE IN THE CASE THINKS THEIR CASE HAS MERIT AND YOU HAVE THE MONEY TO PAY IT.

 

IF YOU DO NOT ATTEND THE HEARING THEY WILL GET A JUDGEMENT BY DEFAULT SO IT IS ADVISED

THAT WHEN THE PAPERS COME THAT YOU FIRST OF ALL TICK THE PART THAT SAYS YOU INTEND TO DEFEND

THE CLAIM AND ASKS FOR EXTRA TIME AND THAT GIVES YOU AN EXTRA TWO WEEKS.

 

Take the letter that you have now to someone to respond for you and ask them to get more information about the loan.

 

The first thing to do is always to ask for more information, statements and a full explanation and tell them you are not sure what they are talking about.

This at least will gain more time.

 

Take the information that you get to the people that you get to represent you and let them take it from there.

If you do owe the money; you should not have to pay it all at once;

you should be able to make them or any other lender an offer, even if it is only £1.00 a week.

 

If you are on a low income or benefits then you may be able to get legal assistance to pay for your costs and that includes if you go to small claims court.

Take your representative with you or someone for moral support and tell the court you cannot afford to pay it all at once.

The court has an obligation to take your personal circumstances into consideration and if you go to the CAB they will do an income and expenditure form to send off to these goons.

 

They do not have the authority to pass it on to a bailiff.

It is a loan that is not secured on your property and it is also a loan that is not likely to be.

It is also a none priority loan which means that you have other things to pay first: gas, electric, council tax, TV licence, phone and mortgage

and to eat as well and you are allowed certain other things and the goons get a bit of what is left on a pro rata basis

meaning that they get a small bit of what is left if you owe other people money.

 

To get any of the things above, there needs to be a judgement and you need to have not filled the judgement.

That is how I understand it but I may be wrong, so get proper advice first.

 

However, they should have to go to court first and have some sort of hearing.

 

I have heard that they do fast track things through Lambert court, but they should only hear the case in your local court so make sure that is the case and it is moved here.

They can get it put on your property if you own a house, but that is normally a last resort and you will not have to repay it until the house is sold.

You should also have a hearing about this. This however, need not happen and will be a long time off,if you get help now.

 

The first thing to recall is they are debt collectors and power = O

The courts have to be involved before any of the things that they claim and there is a long process before that happens.

You should ask for more time in writing and full explanation and play daft about the loan.

You want statements and more information and then you can follow on from there.

 

On their website is a complaint form and an email.

Fill it out and get them to contact you in writing and tell them you are going to the CAB and they will only contact you through them.

The CAB will fill out an I and E form and will take it a step at a time and they will send them the details and authority to act.

 

If you cannot make them an offer then hard luck;

they may have to consider writing it off and there are other things that the CAB can do as well, so stop worrying and go and see an expert.

 

That is the best advice.

They do not have the authority to pass it on to a bailiff and you have a complaint if they do.

 

Good luck

 

 

C

[dx100uk]

bit OTT!!

 

dx

[Bazooka Boo]

And some very dubious advice!