Hi, I was chased by a company called Link Financial last year for a debt I owe. The debt was an old bank account overdraft that was withdrawn unexpectedley when the banks got jittery in 2006. I ended up getting a default on my credit profile and it is due to expire in November this year. Up until last year I did nothing with the debt until it came to a DCA called Link Financial. I decided then to start getting rid of it and told Link I would pay £30 p/m via standing order and not one of their direct debits. I've paid this without fail for the past 12 months. Link Financial have called me a couple of weeks back to make me an offer to settle the debt at a lower level in one payment. I said as much as I would like to I could not afford it at that time. They then asked me to answer some questions about my financial status, this got my back up and I said I did not want to do that ... at this point this company's representative got quite nasty on the phone and I sensed she was trying to wind me up which I did not fall into. They have now sent me a form to fill with my financial circumstances which I have not yet filled and really do not want to. Do they have any legal standing to request this info given the fact I agreed to pay £30 p/m a year ago and have continued to do so. Are they just getting jittery knowing the debt is exempt come November. Can I keep refusing to give this info without breaking any law? I want to pay ths debt off but I am not doing it by being bullied or what is starting to appear as harrasment by phone. I would be gratefull for any advice. Many Thanks

I am trying to help out a pensioner sort her debts out. She doesn't have access to internet etc so I am the middle man, this is the first of half a dozen+ debts lol. This is a copy of her agreement via a CCA request. Any advice on the agreement would be great. It was for a credit card taken out in 1998. There are some copied onto the back of the agreement. They also sent some other terms and conditions but nothing that is showing a direct link to the above agreement. I can scan up if required though. Link Financial Outsourcing bought the debt in 2001. Payments have been made a few months ago. All help appreciated AS pdf in post #3

Hi everybody , i am new to this forum and was looking for help with my problem with link finance . It all started back in 1996 with my wife and i purchasing new double glazing from local company and finance through first national bank the installation was thwart with problems from windows that would not shut correctly or lock, cracked sill and front door letting in water when it rained. We complained numerous times to company and first national with promises of all faults to be rectified believe me this was a a real joke. First national sent guy out with clip board had a look at all problems and agreed about the faults and said will have company back the same week to rectify, this also did not happen at this point payments were still being made to first national. This continued for about another 3 months with nothing being resolved so wrote to first stating that if repairs are not done within 4 weeks then i will withhold payment so i did , and this continued for about a year and then first sent a surveyor who wrote a longer list of faults than i had, great i thought solution at last...wrong. First national took me to court for default £3000 then after a while passed it to Link to cut a long story short Link added over £3000 interest in 2004 but court order states any interest must be added within 5 years of order not 7 years and now put our balance at over £5000 but we did have it corrected by link but they have now sent further statement reverting our balance back to over £5000 so please can anybody help with advice we are tearing our hair out and sorry for long story, please note balance had being changing with payments made...Thanks

Ive been getting mail from Link Financial Outsourcing regarding an old student loan. I was deferring the payment as I was unemployed at the time then about 6 years ago I forgot to defer the payment and was asked to pay about 6 months worth of repayments, I told them I was unemployed and I didnt have it but they didnt care so I broke off contact completely with them. It looks like they have sold the debt to Link Outsourcing, my question is this, should I contact them and ask for the original credit agreement and use the statute of limitations defence or should I ignore it? Im not sure if its been over 6 years since I last contacted the student loans company (but I think its been over 6 years) If I contact them and its been under 6 years the debt becomes "live" again as I understand it. Any information would be gratefully received.

Hi All, Can anyone advise me on what to expect initially from Link Financial ...I am still waiting for a letter from them after my MBNA CC debt was assigned to them. MBNA wrote to me on 8th August informing me they were no longer dealing with my account and I would hear from Link in due course.. .will they go straight to serving court papers for a CCJ or will they start with just a letter(s) demanding payment. I lost my job in January and could no longer pay anything. .wrote to MBNA informing them and heard nothing until end of march. I offered £1 per month and they wrote back asking me to fill in an income and expenditure. At first I refused and after a second letter I filled one in but heard nothing back. There is no PPI on the account and the balance is just shy of £6,700. Any advise would be great. I have read bad things about Link and want to just be prepared. I am happy to pay something but I want to arm myself with as much info as I can. Thanks all in advance.

hi i'm looking for some information regarding a letter i received from link. the letter says i owe £5000 referring to a repossessed van in 2010 which was originally take out with santander , they now say the debt is with them and i should pay them in full within 15 days. please could someone advise what my next step should be as i didn't take this debt out with link originally so dont feel i should start paying them now.

Hi all, After some problems with debt I managed to remortgage in order to try and pay off my debts. MBNA had already sent me a letter saying they would consider an offer to settle the debt. (6k) last week in response I sent offers to all of my creditors for full and final settlement. Now two days later I have received a letter from MBNA saying they have decided to sell my debt to Link Financial Outsourcing and I will hear from them in due course No mention was made of the letter I had sent to them by recorded delivery 2 days previously I assume this new company would be delighted with any offer?

I had a Debenhams store card that was opened in a rush, the PPI was added, she thrust the application form at me and put crosses where I sign, I cancelled when I realized but was diagnosed with cancer shortly after so it was 3 years before I cancelled. Debt was sold to Link and I am paying back monthly but having done my rolling credit, once the PPI is off the card went into credit and would have stayed in credit if it were not for interest and over limit fees etc. So do I draw attention to this or just claim PPI for now? And once again do I go to Santander who sold the debt or Link who will probably equally ignore this one.

I received a letter from Apex regarding an Abbey debt from 2000 threatening doorstep collectors etc. The debt had been passed to them by Westcot, although their letter claimed that they were acting on behalf of Santander. Following the excellent advice on this forum, I sent the CCA form to them enclosing the £1 postal order. Naturally within a couple of days they sent it back saying they couldn't comply with the deadline as they didn't have any of the documents and referred me to the Abbey. We have now received a phone call from Westcot who previously were the debt collection agency looking for the money. We refused to discuss anything with them and they said they would be writing to us. Do I follow the same procedure and send them the CCA form and postal order? I have really lost track of this debt and how much we have paid over the years to the various Debt Recovery firms it has been passed to so I genuinely haven't got a clue how much I owe.

Hello Not sure how to start really. I have a read and there is an awful to digest but I was wondering if anyone could help with our problem. Link Financial put both my husband an me in court in April this year, thing is they sent my court papers to my old address so I couldn't respond. My husband did put in a written defence for what it was worth and they still obtained judgement on him and on me by default. I have completed the N form and paid £80 to have stay of judgement or whatever it was and its being transferred to the local county court to be heard in two weeks time. In the meantime Link sent my husband whats called a tomlin agreement for the whole amount and he signed and agreed to the terms etc, however, Link are still intent on suing me for the full amount as well by saying I am still liable for the debt. I thought that if someone admitted liability and agreed terms etc then the other person could not be pursued for the same debt? What help I would like is on how to defend this cos Link have said to me on the phone they will go for a charging order even tho there is an agreement in place? Blimey this sounds complicated but I really hope someone can help. Thanks

Hi , I received a letter from MBNA saying they had sold my cc debt to Link couldnot pay it so buried my head in the sand and ignored it. Link to took me to court and I filled in the court papers and admitted the claim including £1400 of their costs posted it back to them. it then occurred to me that i had ppi on the card so put in a claim sent for the agreement and i had not asked for PPi they been charging it since 2002 on £4200 balance only paid the minimum payment each month I rang link asked them if they gone for judgment they said that they were in the process i explained about the ppi and they said that they would not go for judgment and would wait. They didn’t and went for judgment. Today i received 3 letters 2 from MBNA upholding my complaint on ppi on the card and another upholding my complaint on 2 loans 1 for £15000, and 1 for£9800 (loan value not PPI) they say it will take 12 weeks for the card and 8 for the loans. And another from link saying my debt has been transferredto Cardiff for enforcement. Looks like i am going to be dealing with bailiffs for money I don’t owepresuming that the PPI will cover the card?( they havent told me how much justthat they agree my claim) Can anyone tell me will the PPI be enough to pay them £5600? What should I do regarding court?

This briefing summarises the consultation paper by section, and provides some initial analysis and comment. The LGA will make its further analysis available to member authorities to assist with the preparation of consultation responses. These are due with DCLG by 24 September 2012. http://www.local.gov.uk/web/guest/briefings-and-responses/-/journal_content/56/10171/3651530/ARTICLE-TEMPLATE

Hi Guys. I've been fending off Link for quite some time. I did manage to get one CCJ attempt struck out but they still hold 2 more accounts and they are not giving up without a fight. I had been paying to all 3 accounts until I found this site. They have sent me reconstituted credit agreements for both these accounts & pre contract application forms. Both accounts were from MBNA credit cards. I replied to these efforts by saying that while the reconstituted agreements may have satisfied the CCA request, they were still not enforceable in court. This is their response : We note from our system records that you previously disputed the exact same issue regarding the credit agreements. We had made our position clear in our letter dated xx/xx/xx. We confirmed that the documentation sent was regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974. We will not enter further dialogue with you regarding the agreements as we had already issued our final response on the matter. It is nonsensical that you would make payments on an account which is now disputed. Please contact our office with your payment proposals to settle the outstanding balances to avoid any recovery action. Interesting that they are saying that I have more or less accepted they have a valid claim as I have already made payments to them. Do they have a point? Could they use that in any court action? Any thoughts on this matter & a possible course of action would be gratefully appreciated.

Many years ago (about 2004) me and my now ex-husband got a loan for £7k to buy a new bathroom and kitchen for the house we then owned. The loan was through Welcome Finance. After a few payments we got in to difficulty, Link Financial took over and very, very quickly got a charging order on the house. I would, at a best estimate, say this was about April 2006. In 2009 I left my (ex) husband and the house was sold in 2010. The house didn't sell for enough so Link never received a penny. Just yesterday they called me and asked me for my address. They only told me they were called Link and that was about it. Of course, I refused on the basis that I haven't a clue who they are and I wasn't giving my address to a stranger on the phone. I don't understand charging orders that are no longer charging orders so I'm not sure of the statute barred rules on this. They last received a payment 2005 or early 2006 and nothing since. I have never spoken to Link and I can guarantee my ex hasn't either. he declared himself bankrupt about 2 1/2 years ago so they won't be bugging him (well, they may be....Link don't seem to mind, do they?) Does the fact they had an order sat on the house for 4 years mean the SB clock began after the house was sold or does it still start from the time of the last payment. This was originally an unsecured loan. Link cleverly turned in to a secured loan via a charging order. However now I have no property what exactly is this loan now? Confused. Any help would be appreciated.

This relates to an old MBNA card debt (opened in 1995) which was sold to Link. Every so when they have been in touch with me seeking payment and I tell them the debt isnt enforceable and they disappear for a bit before reappearing. Now my case with them seems to have gone off to their Welsh office and I seem to have a bit of a rottweiller on my case. Typically I have told them that the agreement is an application form and so not enforceable - I know HSBC v Brophy. But the main head of complaint that i have raised is the separation of the sig document from the T&Cs - these have always been sent to me as two separate sheets of paper. I have quoted Tuckey in Wilson and Hurstanger at them, to the effect that the prescribed terms should all be within the four corners of a single document. Also Langan in BoS v Mitchell in which he says "The key words in Section 61(1)(a) are the reference to a document itself containing all the prescribed terms, and conforming to the regulations under Section 61. This language is clear and specific, and ensures that mere reference to terms contained in another document will not suffice. The document must contain the prescribed terms, just as the signed document referred to in Section 127(3), which might save the day, must however contain the prescribed terms. " In short I have argued that they have sent an application form which has my sig but no t&cs on it, and a set of t&cs - show they are connected They spend most of their letter rebutting the application form argument and taking me through the 83 regs to show the T&Cs they have sent comply. But when they address my points re Tuckey and Langan, and the connection between the application form and the T&cs , they say something quite interesting "As to the cases you refer to we are fully aware of the judgements therein, however your position remains utterly misguideed and for the avoidance of doubt the terms and conditions are part of the Credit Agreement Document, that there is two pages of that document is not relevant. You may consider from reading the front page with your signature thereon, namely your own declaration that there is no requirement that the terms and conditions be signed and it is entirely sufficient that you declare your agreement to them when penning your signature". What follows is the ususal litany of threats - we would not wish to enter into futher correspondence - doesnt say they wont - and will now consider referring the matter to our solicitors with a view to .... - doesnt say they will. What I really dont understand though is the bit I have highlighted in bold since the sig box declaration says "This is a credit agreement regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974. Sign only if you want to be legally bound by its terms" Interestingly it also says "Once you have signed this agreement you will have for a short time a right to cancel it. Exact details of how and when you can do this will be sent to you by the Bank" which kind of suggests to me it wasnt part of what I signed, suggesting the T&Cs werent part of what I signed. Concerning the section before the part I highlighted, Waksman states in Carey (s173) Agreed Principles The parties in Carey have helpfully agreed the following principles. The fourth one was added by Mr Uff, with their agreement. No other party takes issue with them. The OFT has formulated the matter in a slightly different way but accepts these principles are close to its position. (1) It is not sufficient for the piece of paper signed by the debtor merely to cross-refer to the Prescribed Terms without a copy of those terms being supplied to the debtor at the point of signature; (2) A document need not be a single piece of paper; (3) Whether several pieces of paper constitute one document is a question of substance not form. In particular a physical connection between several pieces of paper is not necessary in order for them to constitute one document; (4) Additionally, a physical connection (or one or more physical connections) between several pieces of paper does not necessarily constitute them as one document; (5) Accordingly, where the debtor's signature and the Prescribed Terms appear on separate pieces of paper, the questions of whether those pieces of paper together constitute one document is a question of substance and not form. So following (2) of these agreed principles they are right, but considering (1) there is no reference to T&Cs on the application form. I am therefore inclined to write back to them (notwithstanding they say they dont want any further correspondence) pointing to the above in Carey and that they have presented no evidence to the effect that there is a connection between the form and the T&cs sent when I signed I agreed to be boudn by the CCA 1974 and that was all it says I would though be grateful if some critical friend could offer an opinion first. Thanks SFU:???:

Hi All, I've had a read of some threads which have given me some really helpful advice, but I was hoping someone could offer something more specific to my husband's situation. My husband recieved a letter from Link a couple of months ago regarding an old (pre 1998) student loan. We sent off a statute barred letter only for them to reply saying the account was subject to a ccj and so cannot be sb'ed. I do not think they knew about the ccj to start with as the original sum they were asking was about £3300, and this dropped to £2400 in the ccj letter. My oh has no knowledge of the ccj (Link claim he has paid £104 towards it but as he didn't know about it this is unlikely!), but rang the county court who confirmed a ccj was given to the slc in 2000 (Link had ref no of the ccj). The lady dh spoke to at the court was quite helpful and told dh it would no longer be enforceable but would speak to the Judge. I assume she got 'told off' for discussing it with dh as he recieved a strangely short email from her saying Judge said they would need to seek permission to enforce but this is likely to be given! We were planning on replying to Link just asking them to prove the ccj, that they are the claimant etc - not telling them we had spoken to the court and see what they come up with. The debt helpline suggested we could offer 30-40% of debt as settlement - is this a good idea? Reading on here we assumed it would be unlikely to be re-enforced, but the reply from court suggests it could be likely. Can anyone suggest what would be the sensible way forward here? Thanks

Please help!! I've just received a letter from the above saying that I owe them £ from a student loan I took out in 1994 - 97. I have had zero contact with anyone about this since at least 1999, and they say they will not accept monthly payments but want the money within 21 days or they will come round and recover goods! I am in a state. I'm afraid i did foolishly call them as wanted to sort this out, but have been reading that I shouldn't have phoned. Can they do this??

Hi Hope someone can help, am separated from my husband ( not legally yet) I live at my parents with my two children ( the second of which was born whilst we were trying a reconciliation that didn't work). I'm self employed and claim as a single person, I'm at my mums whilst trying to grow the business and save to buy a house. Have been discussing the situation with my ex , I 'm ready to move on from my mums. He has agreed to help me buy a house for myself and the kids to live, if i sell my flat to help with the deposit my parents will also help. The advantage for him is that his children have a family home and its an investment for him as he'll own 50% and the advantage for me is that we get to live in a home i would not be able to afford to buy on my own My question how will a joint application for a mortgage look to HMRC. We are not an in a relationship and don't plan to be. Can prove he lives elsewhere. I guess having the house is more important than the tax credits but I'll struggle without them for a good while whilst paying the mortgage. Just checking before we go ahead.

I am getting concerned about what data a CRA holds against addresses. I have received two letters one from BUCHANAN CLARK & WELLS and another from DEBT MANAGERS LTD, They both start identical; “We are attempting to contact the above named person and our client’s recent investigations have resulted in your details being obtained from a credit reference agency. Your address has been provided by them due to a link with the data our client holds, as a possible new address for the person we are wishing to contact.” I have contacted my landlord who says the person they want lived here some 8 years ago and was evicted for non-payment of rent and destruction of property, after only 6 months. I am getting concerned about what the CRA holds on addresses, I thought they only held data on people’s credit and why are they linking to an address that is over 8 years old. Surely any DCA that is wanting this person must be aware any debt is statute barred or is there any way of finding out if she is still using my address?

Hi, I hope you can all help My friend was sent a letter today in her maiden name to her home address (not her current but her home address when she was younger) saying that I (maiden name) had given them permission to contact them to give my details to them. It was from link financial outsourcing and the only thing I can think of is it is about a student loan? I am very confused though as I have had statements from the student loan company about how much I owe? Also I never gave my friends address to anyone regarding loans or anything? Is this letter genuine or should we/she ignore it? Thanks F

Hi After reading various articles on this site (thanks everybody), i sent a cca request to debt recovery company they didn't send a cca agreement and after a couple of phone calls of them i explained i very politely i wouldn't talk to them via the phone until they provided it. This was approx 3 months ago and up until the last week i didn't hear anything off them. This last week ive had 2 letters the latest threatening me with Data being passed to our internal investigation department Your account will be approved by way of judgement/decree securred in a local court The debt will be transferred to a Debt Collection Agent who may call at your home Then inviting me to contact them. Few questions really, is this just a scare tactic? What do i do next? It was my understanding (limited) after reading various posts that without the cca theres not a lot this company can do Thanks for any help

Hi, I am hoping someone can help me out here. I bought a Ford Focus in December 2008 on a Hire purchase agreement. Unfortunately due to some personal circumstances and a bad time in business, I fell behind on my repayments and my debt was sold to Link Financial Outsourcing (LFO) in January 2012. This means I had repaid more than two thirds of the debt and so LFO would need a court order to repossess my car. I rely heavily on my car for work (I run a software consulting firm) and so rang LFO to see if they would accept a repayment plan on a monthly basis but I was informed this was not possible and I had 6 weeks to repay all the money. Rather stupidly I said, this was something I could do but the payment date has been and gone and I have not paid. Today I received a letter (Dated May10th) explaining they were now issuing court proceedings against me and I had to contact them within 48hrs to prevent it happening. I've tried calling but to no avail. As today is the 15th, I presume they have already set the wheels in motion. My question is; what is the process here? Am I right in thinking that they will try to take out a CCJ against me and that I will then have 28 days to pay this, before the baliffs come calling? Or have I got that completely wrong. I can lay my hands on this money by the end of June (I owe £2,531.86) and would be able to clear the debt in full, but somehow I don't think LFO would accept this at this stage. My Credit Report is completely shot anyway so at this point I am not too bothered about getting a CCJ (I already have one from a failed business deal) which was filed recently so either way it's going to be 6 years before it starts to repair. I would be really grateful if someone could please explain the process that LFO are now going to go through and how much time I have realistically to pay the outstanding debt off. I'd be thankful for any information you can give me. Please ask for any more information you need. Many Thanks, Matt

Hi all long time since I last came here and glad to see everything is still as it was I have today received a letter from Link Financial, see below for text as i dont have a scanner Dear Mr XXXXXXXX An application for credit (bank loan, credit card etc) occured in the name of : APPLICANTS NAME : MR XXXXXX This application was at an address different from your own however that address is currently linked to your own home address We ask that you contact our offies to discuss this on 02920 808610 Yours Sincerely Robert Barker Stupidly I contacted them to find out what this was about as unfortunately I have recently been victim to bank card fraud, where my account was emptied (£200+) They then passed me through to a gentlman called Emmanuel Oliver who started saying I had a debt through GE money and they wanted an immediate settlement. I am now a little worried as I had not known this debt had been passed over to these people and find it strange that just after the bank card issues this letter arrives. As you can imagine I am now a little worried and would appreciate any advice Thanks in advance

Hi guys, I need some urgent guidance if poss please. My OH received a Claim Form from LINK Financial 2nd week of Feb (Issued on the 9th) for a £12k MBNA Card debt. I have Acknowledged online as Defending but I'm coming up to the 28 days in just over a week and am not sure what defence to put in or if I should hit them with any requests/letters etc. Having read up on the site I'm still unsure what may be relevant, every thread I have read is always subtly different, so apologies for asking the same questions everyone else is - I just want to be sure. Is the agreement unenforceable? - Before the debt was assigned to Link I CCA'd MBNA (2yrs ago) and they sent us a barely legible photocopy copy of a signed application form from 1999. Link printed the two sides of a min application form on both sides of an A4 sheet in an attempt to imitate a real application form and 'connect' the two parts. However the terms are still a separate photocopy image with much of the fine text faint/illegible and no guarantee any physical original remains. - (btw the PPI box is ticked NO but was charged anyway for a few months in 99 - worth mentioning?) CPR/extension? If the best option is to issue a CPR 31.14 data request Link would get 7 days + 2 days to be answer so I need to send the letter tomorrow/Saturday latest or the 28 days will be up before the CPR deadline. Should I send CPR 31.14 (?) or request an extension?? have I run out of time? Can anyone help please?? I can scan docs tonight or type in more info. Thanks. GF2k

Hello, New here so appreciate any help / advice on this. I have received a court pack from the northampton bulk centre from Link Financial for an MBNA CC debt from just under 6 years so unfortunately not Stat. Bar'd. I submitted a defence stating that I had no record of this debt and they needed to supply details. (I can post exact defence later if neccessary) I received a letter from the court stating the defence had been passed on and the claimant would contact me to attempt a resolution. Link have contacting me sending a copy of the original CC agreement (stating they obtained it from MBNA) along with a NOA and a Default Notice from them & also a letter asking me to acknowledge the debt and allow them to ask the court for a judgement for me to sign (addressed to the court) I am thinking that this is a last desperate act on behalf of Link. My questions are: Where do I stand on this? As they are only assignee's sureley they can't bring legal action without MBNA or is this not the case anymore? Can I ask the court to throw this out on the grounds of not the owners of the debt or do I need to rethink my defence? Should I respond to their letter? If so how and what to say? Regards JL.