Guarantor to loan asked to pay back

strawberry1984

Hi,

I hope someone can help me!

I signed up to be a guarantor on a loan 6 years ago for £6,000 and have heard nothing from the company in regards to paying it back. Since the loan I have not had contact with the borrower and have no idea where they are.

About 6 months ago I had a letter informing me that no repayments had been made and I needed to settle the account. I requested a copy of the original paperwork but have not recieved anything.

I called this collection company whom have brought the debt from the original lenders who bullied me in to making a payment and setting up a direct debit monthly to continue a payment plan.

I have since requested original paperwork twice and have yet to recieve anything. I have not signed anything in agreement with this new company to make the repayments.

My first payment was made 4 weeks before the 6 year statute barred would have taken effect.

Am i obliged to make these repayments as a guarantor with no original paperwork and not official agreement?

Please help.

A very worried student with a young family.

RichGold

strawberry1984 wrote: »

Am i obliged to make these repayments as a guarantor with no original paperwork and not official agreement?

Yes. You were aware of the loan and the fact you were guarantor to it.

With that in mind, what exactly is your question?

k3lvc

In your situation I'd be making some very strong efforts to find the original borrower and extract the aformentioned £6k from them.

Good luck

Tixy

You will need to repay the loan if you signed as guarantor and if the debt is not statute barred. But they should provide you with a copy of the credit agreement - you say you have asked for it - have you sent a proper template letter and enclosed the £1 fee to obtain it?

With regards to it being/not being statute barred - how do you know it was 6years? what date are you going from as the starting point of the 6year period?

strawberry1984

Thank you for the responses!

I am going on the date which was on the collectors letter to me in June, my first payment was 4 weeks prior to this date 6 years on.

I am unable to find the borrower as he disappeared after recieving the loan along with a lot of my personal belongings.

My question is 'if the new collectors do not have the paperwork with my signature on from 6 years ago as they wont or cant provide it am I oblidged to continue making repayments?'

Thank you for the advice on sending a template letter and pre paid envelope, ill do that today!

Many Thanks

toddle2u

But they should provide you with a copy of the credit agreement

You want a copy of the guarantee as well

CHR15

If that is correct, they got you a treat, only 4 weeks of turning your back and ignoring things would have seen an end to the hassle for payments.

Even if they don't/can't produce a copy of the agreement you signed, they can easily knock up a reconstituted copy.

There must be a thousand posts on here from those hoodwinked into becoming a guarantor with no understanding of what it means.
The whole reason a guarantor was required was because the lender knew the borrower was not going to repay.

Did the loan go into your account or the borrowers?

It's not realistic to try denying all knowledge of it in any case, this was always going to end up back at your feet.

Tixy

You do need a copy of that agreement, but I think you might find that the debt was already statute barred (and therefore still is).

I would imagine that if debtor never paid that the statute barred period would run from the date of the agreement (or maybe the date of his first missed payment) - might be worth seeking some free professional advice from national debtline to see if it might be statute barred.

toddle2u

Even if they don't/can't produce a copy of the agreement you signed, they can easily knock up a reconstituted copy.

A reconstitiuted one would prove nothing in the case of a guarantee

mumtomany_2

To comply with the rules the new collector does not have to supply you with a copy of your signed agreement, they only have to supply you with a copy of the agreement you would have signed.

I think it maybe worth looking into the statue barred thing but it all depends when the defult took place and when you first acknowledge the debt. It doesn't matter when the loan was taken out the key date is when the defult took place. Do you know if the other person made any payments?

toddle2u

To comply with the rules the new collector does not have to supply you with a copy of your signed agreement, they only have to supply you with a copy of the agreement you would have signed

Not true - for a guarantee they will have to produce an actual signed copy of the guarantee. The money will not have been deposited with the guarantor and there will be no statements in the guarantors name so they will need to produce the guarantee to prove that they acted as guarantor