Rights against debt recovery company

bluepeter14_2

Hi I'm looking for some help please?

To keep it short my exgirlfriend ran up an overdraft on a Halifax account that I had removed my name from previously.

The debt collection company have started to chase me for the £1300 that's outstanding and say that unless I make payments in the next seven days they will start legal proceedings against me without giving any further notice.

Can they do this???

Do they have to notify me if it goes to court when the that would be?

If it goes that way can I attend the court to explain the in-depth story behind this to whoever makes these decisions?

My ex has signed a legal separation deed that states she has signed to say she takes responsibilty of that account so need help with the best way of informing them about this too??

Thanks.

bluepeter14_2

Forgot to say if you would like to know a bit more in-depth about this please read my other posts....

MrsTinks

Question I guess is did the bank ever take you off the account? Only when they agree to remove you will your responcibility for the debt have ceased... My guess is she asked them to and they refused because it was in debt at the time...

bluepeter14_2

My ex has signed a legal separation deed that states she will pay the outstanding on this debt, my solicitor tells me if she is legally bound by this and will stand up in court.

MrsTinks

Yes she might well be... but YOU might still be legally jointly liable for the debt... Unless your name was taken of that account I don't know that it matters a jot what legal document she's signed to be fair... I could be wrong.

BlushingRose

Can your ex girlfriend not contact the collection agency and make an arrangement to pay, perhaps tell them that you have nothing to do with it?

bluepeter14_2

Apparently she's already making payments to them so don't understand why they're chasing me to???

The separation agreement she signed states she takes sole responsibility of that account..

BitterAndTwisted

As far as I am aware you cannot "remove your name" from a joint bank-account. It has to be closed and in order to close it there has to be a credit balance to transfer to another account or a zero balance and the signatures of both parties.

No amount of sworn statements will change that if the above were not done. The mere fact of them chasing you suggests that they weren't.

fatbelly

bluepeter14 wrote: »

The debt collection company have started to chase me for the £1300 that's outstanding and say that unless I make payments in the next seven days they will start legal proceedings against me without giving any further notice.

'will' or 'may'?

99 out of 100 of these letters do not result in any action - they are just standard threatograms used by the debt collection fraternity.

bluepeter14_2

The exact wording on the letter is ' please kindly make payment of the outstanding debt or contact us within seven days of the date of this letter to agree acceptable payment proposals, failing which we reserve the right to instruct our solicitors to issue legal proceedings against you without further notice'.

Someone suggested I send a 'CCA'.

Any suggestions?

fatbelly

So it's 'may' not 'will'.

Standard threatogram. Your ex is already paying. Ignore it unless a court claim arrives.

Asking for a copy of your credit agreement is just going to encourage them - and make you look stupid. Overdrafts are not regulated credit agreements.