Link Financial - advice please

[blueangel]

Hi,

 

this is my first post here and I hope some kind person could offer some advice on what I should do next. I apologise in advance if this is a long winded.

 

In January Link Financial wrote to me stating that they were going to take legal action to recover a debt. (I admit that up until this time I had buried my head in the sand and ignored their letters) At the time I was in hospital and my husband wrote to them explaining the situation. They agreed to allow me extra time to contact them before taking any further action. (my husband rightly or wrongly sent them copies of my sick note, which they have passed on to the court, this document contains sensitive personal information including my NI number).

 

On 19th February I wrote to Link explaining I was only able to offer them a token payment and sent financial statements prepared by the CCCS. (A cheque for the token amount was sent and cashed). They wrote back stating that my offer was not acceptable but that if I were to sign a Tomlin Order admitting the full debt and agreeing to pay an increased monthly sum they would drop the court action. I wrote back and explained that the financial statement clearly showed that the amount they were asking for would be impossible to meet and again sent them another cheque for the token payment.

 

On 23 March they responded and stated that "financial difficulties were not a valid defence to breach of contract" and they would be referring the the matter to the court.

 

On 30th March I received an Allocation Questionnaire from the court which had to be completed and returned within 14 days. It was at this stage that I found this site and sent Link a CCA request (this was sent on the 28th March and signed by them on 2nd April (I could find nothing on their correspondence to state who the "original" creditor was and how the outstanding amount had been arrived at).

 

On 4th April Link sent me a photo copy of An application form to open an account with GE Capital Bank (it also states at the top of the form Credit Agreement regulated under the Consumer Credit Act 1974). The application form refers to the "terms out out below and overleaf". The terms set out overleaf have not been included, should they have been sent and have Link failed to fulfill my request? I also requested a statement of account, Link have stated they have requested this from the original creditor and it is to follow. I find it amazing that this company can issue court action when they can provide no statements to back up their claim.

 

Also on the papers Link filed with the courts they are claiming against me under the terms of an agreement dated 28/11/1997, the copy application form they sent, which I admit is signed by me is actually dated 29/11/1997. Does this technically mean they have failed to produce the document to which the court action relates to? (GE Capital have not dated the section where they have signed and some of the account number details at the top of the form are crossed out and have been rewritten in a different order outside the account number box)

 

I have now completed and returned the Allocation Questionnaire to the court enclosing a copy of the CCA request letter sent to Link, should I write to the court explaining about the lack of statement, terms and conditions and application date discrepancy?

 

I would appreciate any help regarding this matter.

[payingonlyencouragesthem]

You want to stall this as long as possible as it's so nearly Statute Barred. That's why they are rushing it into court and not entertaining any payment proposals. I would immediately request an adjournment on the grounds that you are awaiting documents that you intend to rely upon for your defence (I do hope you are defending the claim in full). That will buy you another four months. And yes it's not adequate to provide an agreement without T+C's so write back and tell them they are in default (and tell the court this in your adjournment plea). You might be able to successfully defend on the grounds of their lack of paperwork but otherwise it will be necessary by hook or by crook to keep this out of court until December - you might just get a second adjournment on the same grounds if they fail to come up with something you are entitled to see (you may need to SAR for something nearer the hearing).

[payingonlyencouragesthem]

OOOPs just read your posting properly - this debt is probably way Statue Barred already. Have you acknowledged it in the last 6 years?

[blueangel]

Hi,

 

Thanks for the reply, yes the debt has been acknowledged, the account was paid monthly without fail until I got into financial difficulties last year.

 

Do you think the best thing would be for me to write to the court and explain the situation regarding the agreement date and lack of terms and conditions and statement? Do Link have to supply the statements within the 12 day period and do I have to discount the Easter dates when calculating when this period is up.

 

Thanks in advance for any help.

[payingonlyencouragesthem]

"Thanks for the reply, yes the debt has been acknowledged, the account was paid monthly without fail until I got into financial difficulties last year. "

 

In that case it's not barred.

 

"Do you think the best thing would be for me to write to the court and explain the situation regarding the agreement date and lack of terms and conditions and statement?"

 

No I wouldn't do that. Send Link this modified letter I posted earlier for someone else (obviously you will need to tweak it a bit to suit your own case):

 

 

Date

 

Dear Sir

 

In the XXXX County Court

Link Financial -v- (YOUR NAME)

Claim Number: (CLAIM NUMBER)

 

REQUEST FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

 

I have today filed the Acknowledgement of Service (copy attached) in order that I may file my Defence to these proceedings in due course. By my calculations this must be filed and served no later than 4.00pm on (28 days from the date you received the court claim). However, before doing so, I take the view that your pleadings are not entirely clear and as such, do not appear to disclose any reasonable cause of action against myself. Although this matter may be suitable for the Small Claims Track the purpose of this letter is to make a request for some additional information in order to fully understand your claim and how it is calculated.

 

I note in your pleadings that you are claiming (alleging) that an amount of £AMOUNT is ‘part of a debt due under an agreement number (AGREEMENT NUMBER)’, and also that I ‘agreed to pay the Claimant £(TOTAL)’ – however you do not provide details of how you have reached these amounts, nor any information, or a full copy of this ‘agreement number (AGREEMENT NUMBER)’ you refer to.

 

In light of this, can you please provide me with the following:

 

* A true copy of the alleged agreement you refer to, including its terms and conditions .

* How you calculate the sum of £(AMOUNT)

* How you calculate the sum of £(TOTAL)

 

I would be grateful if you would respond within 21 days of the above date.

 

In the event that I do not hear from you at the end of this period, I may apply for your Claim to be struck out on the grounds that it does not disclose any reasonable cause of action against me, together with an Order for Costs in the Defendant’s favour. I trust that you will note this particular point.

 

In any event, kindly acknowledge safe receipt of this letter.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

YOUR NAME

[blueangel]

thank you for your help, it is very much appreciated. I will send them the letter recorded.

[payingonlyencouragesthem]

thank you for your help, it is very much appreciated. I will send them the letter recorded.

 

Good luck! Please let us know how you get on. Quite a few of us here have had a lot of fun with that letter:wink:.

[blueangel]

I'll be sure to keep you up to date on progress.

 

Thanks again.

[daviddd]

GOOD NEWS.

 

I got an email from the Link Business Support unit saying they had instructed EOS to close their accounts in Slovakia (with the proviso that they can be reopened).

I think when they found out I was renting an apartment (I scanned the rental agreement) they probably realized they couldn't get a juicy charging order, or the equivalent.

 

Coincidentally, this morning I sent a CCA and complaint to Link by DHL...if they had replied sooner I could've saved £35!.

I emailed back saying that I wasn't paying Link anything, but that as a sign of good faith I would continue paying the original creditors directly, MBNA and Marbles. The Kafkaesque nightmare of the Slovak legal system getting involved has been lifted.

 

The Business support section had said that another dept. of Link will be getting in touch (prob. the dept. that so goads many other posters on here). I don;t think I'll lose much sleep.