defend or not defend?

[professor yaffle]

Being taken to court by asset link over a joint loan that they bought from GE Money. Just about to CCA them and know that there are unfair charges within the total amount but have no idea how much. The original loan was £7438 and after paying for over two years they are claiming £7645 plus the right for subsequent interest. I need to reply to the claim but don't know whether to defend the entire debt (I'm pretty sure they'll have the credit agreement) or merely defend the charges. If I only defend the charges though what amount do I use? Any help would be gratefully appreciated.

[professor yaffle]

Well made the decision to defend the unfair charges. Just got to get the information out of them. That could be the fun part. I know I have been charged £25 every time that they have sent a default letter. Can I claim these back?

[Parkvale]

Prof.

Definately yes. This appears to be a penalty charge. Look very carefully at what other charges they have levied on your account,i.e. returned direct debits etc.

Good luck.

[professor yaffle]

I sent a letter to asset link asking for all information on the account, deed of assignment, statements, contract etc. Finally received a reply today. Says that the documents are 'stored off site' and that as soon as they get them they will forward them.

 

Problem is I need to file my defence, but don't have the information to do it!!

[Parkvale]

Pick a letter from these and send it to them to stall any further action.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt/20758-creditors-dcas-letter-templates.html

[professor yaffle]

Thanks Parkvale, but none of the letters seem to fit. Asset Link have already informed me that they will not agree to repayment plan. They told to me to return the court claim, but that they were going for a forthwith judgement so that they could apply for a charging order against my house.

 

As I know that some of the debt, although not alot, is made up of unfair charges I want to dispute the amount that they are claiming, and hopefully stop them from adding anymore interest. I filed an acknowledgement of service and my 28 days are nearly up, so I need to file the defence but they haven't supplied any information so I'm a bit stuck.

[professor yaffle]

Just sorting the defence out and have looked at it again. They've got the date wrong for the original agreement, so my defence is simple, I think!! Will say that I am not aware of the credit agreement and that until such a time as Asset can provide a copy as requested, I dispute that the debt exists!!

 

This has made me smile!!! Hace spent hours looking for a mistake on their part and couldn't find anything. It was staring me in the face all the time!!

[Parkvale]

Prof,

Under CPR rules you have a right to have your case dealt with fairly. Have a quick look at this. Might help. Good luck.PRACTICE DIRECTION – PROTOCOLS -

[professor yaffle]

Thanks Parkvale, much appreciated, having looked at that they definately aren.t playing fair.

 

I have filed my defence stating I do not acknowledge the debt as they have failed as yet to provide the agreement that they allege is in existence. (As the date they have specified is wrong I think they'll be hard pushed to show it in court!) I have also reserved the right to alter my defence when the agreement turns up, if I can't get it stopped because of the date thing, then I'll defend the unfair charges and make arrangements to pay the rest, but put in my defence that they have refused to negotiate with me before taking court action.

 

I'm kind of hoping that they'll just back down, but I don't think I'm that lucky. But I will make them work for their money.

[professor yaffle]

Received standard letter from court saying my defence has been received, and will be served on the claimants. So just got to wait the 28 days and see what they do.

[Parkvale]

Good luck and counting.

[professor yaffle]

Thanks Parkvale. Think this could be a very long 28 days, I'm sure they'll leave it till the very last moment to do anything.

[professor yaffle]

Well I was wrong, received the paperwork from them today. Bit dissappointed really, although I was right in that the contract date is wrong and they have not sent any copies of correspondance or phone calls (but no surprise there). Sent it with a nice letter to sign to withdraw our defence and allow them judgement.

 

Would the judge see it as pedantic if I didn't on the grounds that they have the dates wrong?

[gizmo111]

Are you saying that they have sent you a properly executed agreeemnt?

You should still be defending part of their claim o nthe basis that the amount is incorrect due to charges - have you counterclaimed for charges?

Have you laready sent withdrawal letter off.

[professor yaffle]

Hi Gizmo, I haven't done anything yet as literally recieved it in the post this morning. I already had my copy of the loan agreement, so I already knew that that it was executed. In fact it stiches me up like a kipper. Right to sell debt, pursue for interest after judgement, variable interest rate, the lot. However the date on the agreement is not the same date that they've put on their POC, so I'm wondering if they've realised their mistake, so I'm tempted to leave my defence in place but would it just look bad arguing over a date when they can actually prove that I owe them money.

 

The charges on the account only add up to £500, but they've also added a £240 fee which I'm not sure if I can reclaim.

[gizmo111]

I think a judge would just disregard the date as a clerical error, you can however get the amount reduced by charges, why has the balance increased since you took out loan? Have you had statements.

I think your best plan would be to reduce the balance of the CCJ as much as possible and make a reasonable offer of payment of wht you can afford.

[professor yaffle]

We've never had a statemnt for this loan, so today was the first time that we knew what the charges applied to the account are. The loan has increased as we got into financial difficulty in the middle of last year when my partner lost his job, and just couldn't afford to make any payments. When I tried to arrange a payment plan with them (we have two loans with GE the other is half the amount) they told me that they had passed the debt to their litigation department and so couldn't help me. Never heard from the litigation dept. so sent the payment offer by post. Next thing I know I got a letter from asset link telling me they had bought the debt and demanding immediate payment of the whole thing or they would take us to court in 10 days. Any way to cut a long story short, they refused to negotiate over payment, saying that they were taking us to court to get a charging order. they started their claim at the end of the 10 days, and that's where we are now.

I'm not denying that we owe this money, we just really can't afford to pay it, the interest alone is £90 a month.

[professor yaffle]

Been mulling this over, and haven't taken any action as yet. Don't think they can have told the court that they wish to proceed with the case. Having read through the threads I'm not sure that they have actually sent me a true deed of assignment, all they have sent me is a letter stating that they have bought the debt. Should I not have something more concrete than this considering that this is subject to court action. I am considering writing to them again asking for the true deed or at least some sort of verification form GE Money that the debt has indeed been sold. Any thoughts on this?