Worried over Link Financial

frugalcasey

Hello everyone. Im new and in need of some advice, its a long story!!
A few years ago my (now ex) boyfriend and i moved in together. He had the mortgage, bills etc and nothing was in my name.
He had windows fitted with safe style uk, but i am unsure who the credit was with. At the time of siging this contract (under pressure!) i was a full time mummy to our little girl and did not earn any money. I told this to the sales man who insisted my details were only going on the form as i was living at the same address. I had no money gong in and out of my account and made it clear that i would not be the person responsible for making payments.
Fast forward three years and me and my partner have split up, he no longer owns the house and i live with my little girl in rented accomodation. I have recived a letter (at my mums address) stating that i owe £17,000!! It is from Link Financial. They havent actually stated where is debt is from, but i can only assume it is the mentioned debt as there is nothing else i can think of that it could possibly be. I have had 2 letters stating that i owe the debt, one with dates of payments (which i never made, partner did) and now i have recived one saying they are wanting to take me to court!!
I am so worried, im studying to be a midwife and there is no way i can afford to pay this debt, and i definately dont want to go to court!!
an advce would be greatly appriciated in this matter. I have not responded to any of the letters yet, as i am unsure what i am to say.
Thankyou in advance.

fermi

A few years? Can you be more premise on how long ago this might have been?

And when were the last payments made by your ex?

I presume you don't have a copy of what you might have signed?

As Link don't seem to be letting on exactly what this is about, then if you need to respond, the letter here would be the first one to use.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2607247

frugalcasey

Thankyou for your reply.
Im sure the contract was signed in november 2007, unfortunately i dont have a copy. I am no longer in contact with my ex partner either, and he has moved away from the area.

fermi

In that case, if you want to respond to the letters, then the letter in the link in my last post is the one to start with.

If they then respond to that with details of the debt, and it turns out to be that one, then we can look at making them prove that you are actually liable for the debt along with your ex.

frugalcasey

Letter is printing off as we speak!

If they manage to proove that i am responsible for this what will happen? I have no house or any assets, just my bursary. I am so worried abut anything bad against my name.

fermi

Well, even if they did go to court, they can't make you pay money you don't have.

Most of the time the court will agree to set payments at something you can afford. If you can't afford anything, that can even be £1 per month or some other token sum.

Debt collectors like to threaten court, as they know the idea scares the daylight out of most people. The reality of it is that the court will be looking to get a result that is fair to you as well as the collector, so as long as you don't ignore court paperwork there isn't anything to fear.

That is getting way way ahead of things though. We can help deal with that in the unlikely event it goes that far.

First thing is that Link have to prove that there is a debt and that you are liable for it.

frugalcasey

Hi, a quick update on this. I sent the recommended letter and today i received this this:

Dear sir/madam
Thankyou for your recent letter. We confirm the account was formerly a GE Money home improvement loan held jointly by yourself and ******** ******. The loan was taken out on 10.11.2007 and went into default on 23.07.2009. The account was assigned to us on 30.07.2009 and in view of no payments being made on the account legal proceedings wee issuded against you and on 07.10.2009 judgement was entered in those proceedings against you. May we please hear from you with your payment proposal for the balance of on the account in the sum total of £16,882.69

If you have any questions or queries in relation to this letter please feel free to contact a member of the Business Support team or one of our account Officers who will be pleased to offer any assistance in this matter if they can.

This is all that was in the envelope, no proof of the paper work etc. This letter has left me feeling very worried! They say they have started legal proceedings!? Any advice on the next step to take in this matter would be greatly appreciated.
Thankyou in advance.

Gordon_Hose

The letter is designed to scare you, and it seems that it's working. Scaring people is the way they get them to agree to payment terms and set up payments with them.

Keep calm and await further instruction from the helpful guys on this site

frugalcasey

Hello, i wondered if anybody had any more light they can shed on this? I have now had phone calls where they pretend to be couriers, my dad gave them my address without knowing who they were. That was yesterday and im really starting to panic.
Thankyou in advance

thechippy

It sounds like they already have a ccj against you from what I read in post #7, so why are they threatening litigation?

Could you remove all personal details from their letter and post it up??

Edit,

Have you checked your credit file to see if a ccj is showing?

frugalcasey

Thankyou for your reply.

The letter in post 7 is the exact letter i received from them, and the last leter i received. I did send the letter that was reccomended, but no proof has been sent.

I havent checked my credit report, i will do tonight though. I wasnt aware they could have a ccj against me without me getting a letter or some form of document? And like i have said, this isnt really my debt in the first place.

Thanks!