MBNA - Debt sold to Link Financial

[demonlady]

Hi everyone

I have just found my debt has been sold to Link Financial. The person on the end of the phone when I politely called them, was not exactly rude but very disinterested shall we say (I guess spotty oik out of school, earning £10k per year collecting debt the size of which he could only dream about, ha, ha!).

They have demanded full repayment of my debt of £13k. A lot of money admittedly but I have a Debt Management Plan (DMP) via Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) who are a charity that I would recommend to anyone on this site suffering debt problems (it's free - hell, why pay for debt advice and management!) who are recommended by most creditors.

My debt arose out of redundancy from a much higher paid role and my eternal optimism that something better would come along - it didn't

Anyway, I have been on the DMP for 1.5 years now and every single creditor has accepted the payments, stopped interest and charges (it wasn't an easy battle to win but you can't get blood out of a stone and they tend to accept that in the end) and I've been paying regularly with my reviews via CCCS.

My question - yes I finally got there - is (1) can this new Debt Collection Agent seek interest/charges on the account - I believe the answer is no and (2) do I actually have a legal liability to pay them anything when the agreement I signed was with MBNA?

I happen to know for a fact (one of my best friends' close friends RUNS a debt collection agency and described it as 'mostly easy money' as they pay between 5% - 75% to buy the debt and everything over they collect is pure profit...nice) that it's nothing like the cost of the debt to purchase it and can I demand from them to know how much they PAID MBNA for the debt? To be fair, MBNA sold ALL my personal details to them!!

I would be very interested in responses.

I have looked at the OFT information and various other sites so am interested in fellow debtors experiences.

Kind regards to everyone

K

[clutchingatstraws]

CCA the Suckers

 

You may end up paying SFA

 

It only costs a pound.

 

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

 

Letter N for the CCA

[demonlady]

Sorry to sound stupid but was SFA?

Thanks for the link to the letters, I've seen those (and used them well!) on the National Debtline site

[jaxads]

I think another way of saying "nothing"

 

Send LINK a CCA, letter N in the templates. If they don't have the agreement, then there is no enforceable debt. The debt still exists, it's just not enforceable.

 

I've a thread re MBNA and Link Financial too. I've sent off the CCA (I have been paying via a DMP for about 6 years now) but they've not responded to it, so I've stopped payments until I get a response from them.

 

Link are a nasty bunch, so don't deal with them on the phone. Insist that all communication is in writing (they don't like that!). They have been rude, arrogant and almost had me in tears before - but that was in my pre CAG days -- now I don't give them the lickings of a dog!!!!

 

Good luck !!!

 

Jaxads

[spiritgirl59]

Hi demonlady

 

Just subscribing

 

I too have issues with MBNA/Link.

 

I have CCA'd them on one occasion and they have provided no agreement (CCA'd them in April so they are now well into default).

 

They have now written to me again about a further alleged MBNA debt of which I know nothing about, so I have CCA'd them again about that one.

 

Chances of them providing agreements are pretty much zero - but jaxads is so right, they ARE a nasty piece of work so don't deal with them on the phone only in writing.

 

Good luck!

Love Spiritgirl x

[oneofakind]

My partner just had notification from MBNA that her debt was sold to Link (she was making small but regular payments as per an agreement brokered by CAB) - Demand subsequently arrived from Link: 'because of the assignment the whole amount is now due' - Yeah, right! Interestingly, MBNA acc.no. and Link's version are totally different! (therefore, UNENFORCEABLE, right?)

 

As recommended above, CCA them; I just have, and can't wait for their reply!

 

Check and double check everything! These guys are not the sharpest tools, or they wouldn't be working as DCA's!

 

[clutchingatstraws]

My appologies SFA

 

Perhaps this will explain it.

 

I used the example of the franglais expression 'san fairy ann' (which I didn't confuse by adding that it is also used in England) - and having a Congolese student write it in French on the board 'Ça ne fait rien'(I always find students appreciate some validation of their existing knowledge) and giving me the precise word for word french translation -

 

That makes/does nothing.

[demonlady]

Thanks everyone. Letter N being done right this minute! In fact when I got the notification from MBNA that the debt had been sold to Link, they themselves quoted a meaningless account number. When I queried this with Link they just said that MBNA send letters out once they sell a debt with some random number on it. How the hell can that happen? What, my debt isn't stressful enough without them flippantly sending a random number on the letter just to upset me even more? Great. MBNA themselves have been the worst of my creditors to date but finally they agreed to the CCCS offer. Trust them to send to one of the worst DCA's going. Stands to reason doesn't it.

 

I will keep everyone posted on the outcome of the letter sending. So appreciate your support. You know you're never alone going through this stuff but it feels that way at times.

[demonlady]

Also it's worth us all bearing in mind that if we are making payments under a legitimate agreement and those payments are worked out correctly to be 'affordable' to the debtor, surely no court in this land would try and get more money or enforce some ridiculous request for large lump sums? My (very limited admittedly) understanding is that if you are making payments, and making them regularly with no missing payments, you are doing your best to clear the debt and that will be looked upon favourably. Any other thoughts on that?

[clutchingatstraws]

Threats of large lump sums are commonly used as a tactic to bully debtors into paying more than they can afford.

 

If you have developed a fair and reasonable financial breakdown of your means the court will generally agree.

 

Once you have made an agreement and you are meeting that commitment a judge would take a dim view of a DCA trying to sue.

 

The problem is that DCA's get greedy, fortunately that greed can lead to people finding out where they really stand with regards to the law.

 

If you owe money to lots of card companies It is worth CCA'ing the lot of them, many only have application forms and the debt is not enforceable but you will have to CCA them to see if their paperwork is correct.

 

It is your lawful right under the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

 

All the best.

 

Cas

[spiritgirl59]

If you owe money to lots of card companies It is worth CCA'ing the lot of them, many only have application forms and the debt is not enforceable but you will have to CCA them to see if their paperwork is correct.

 

It is your lawful right under the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

 

Hiya Demonlady

 

Cas is so right here I had no less than 11 DCAs chasing me, harrassing me and making threats. The stress of it all made me very ill and at one point I seriously thought of ending it all because I felt I would never ever be free of these low lifes on my case. Then I found CAG and I CCAd all of them. Out of those 11 only ONE has provided a properly executed agreement and I am making repayments to them now which I can afford.

 

MBNA/Link are in with the rest who have either totally ignored my CCA request or sent back a load of tripe such as a badly copied application form, T&Cs which could relate to anyone or anything, and I've even had a BLANK application form from one of them!

 

I can't begin to tell you the difference this site has made to me in my life. CAG have literally been a life saver and I cannot speak highly enough of this site and its lovely members.

 

When YOU are in control rather than the DCAs its a wonderful feeling. When you know your rights as a consumer and they cannot walk all over you anymore, bully and intimidate you, it makes you feel so much stronger emotionally.

 

Its great that we can all support each other because we all understand and have been through similar experiences.

 

Good luck!

 

Love Spiritgirl x

[oneofakind]

when I got the notification from MBNA that the debt had been sold to Link, they themselves quoted a meaningless account number. When I queried this with Link they just said that MBNA send letters out once they sell a debt with some random number on it. How the hell can that happen? What, my debt isn't stressful enough without them flippantly sending a random number on the letter just to upset me even more?

 

Methinks I'd better check the numbers to see who (if anyone) has the right one....

 

What a shower.

 

[oneofakind]

Checked it. MBNA have the right account number. Link are trying to claim an amount that has nothing to do with me....

 

Better send a cheque off right away then......

 

[spiritgirl59]

Checked it. MBNA have the right account number. Link are trying to claim an amount that has nothing to do with me.... :grin:

 

 

Now why doesn't THAT surprise me!!

 

Link are as crafty as a barrel load of monkeys.

 

Good job we are one step ahead of them eh?

 

Love Spiritgirl x

[dc240969]

Can someone tell me how to CCA

[dc240969]

bump

[andrew1]

Can someone tell me how to CCA

 

All letters are in the Library which is found in the 'General Debt' Section: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt/20758-creditors-dcas-letter-templates.html

 

Letter 'N'

 

For your reference, once posted they have 12 working days + 2 days for postage, to respond to your request and provide the documents. If they don't then they require a Court Order to enforce the debt. They then have a further 1 month to supply and if they don't they have committed a criminal offence and you can report them to Trading Standards.

 

Should they provide your agreements (Not application forms) at any time in the future then they can apply to the court to enforce the debt, so it is never uncollectable unless they write and inform you they are not pursuing the debt or if you have no further correspondence for another 6 yrs at which point it will become statute barred. Beware though because some Debt agencies buy statute barred debt and chase for it as it is believed that although they cannot enforce the debt the debt is still outstanding and they play on peoples fears and ignorance in the hope they will pay up. The returns are worth the trouble for these people as they pay a pittance for the debt.

 

Good luck

[clutchingatstraws]

Any update on this one Demonlady