Transferring ownership of loans

Pem16

I took a loan out with Intelligent Finance, part of Halifax, which subsequently become Chester Loans. Are IF (or Halifax) legally obliged to notify me? Do we in the UK have an equivalent to the FTC in the US where they state that

"The ownership and servicing rights of your loan may be handled by one company or two. If ownership of your loan is transferred, the new owner must give you a notice that includes:

the name, address and telephone number of the new owner of the loan
the date the new owner takes possession of the loan
the person who is authorized to receive legal notices and can resolve issues about loan payments
where the transfer of ownership is recorded.
The new owner must give you this notice within 30 days of taking possession of the loan. It is in addition to any notices you may get about the transfer of the servicing rights for your loan."

I cannot find anything on the web or companies house that show that Chester Loans even exist.

ch3101

No, the loan company assesses your ability to pay the loan back in accordance with their aptitude for risk. You then passing the loan to someone else is not an option because it would mess that all up.

The only option would be for the other person to take a loan out, give you the money and for you to pay the loan back with that money.

rizla_king

Debts can be sold from one company to another making them the creditor instead of the original. Google legal and equitable assignments, and the Law of Property Act 1925.

rizla_king

Also the CCD for regulated agreements.

http://www.berr.gov.uk/assets/biscore/consumer-issues/docs/c/10-1053-consumer-credit-directive-guidance.pdf

16. ASSIGNMENT OF RIGHTS

16.1 Where any rights of a creditor under a consumer credit agreement (for
example the right to be repaid the money) are sold or transferred to a third
party, notice of that assignment must be given to the borrower as soon as
reasonably possible, except in the circumstances described below. This
requirement applies to all regulated consumer credit agreements other than
agreements secured on land. This requirement is in new section 82A of the
CCA43
.

16.2 It is the responsibility of the assignee (the creditor acquiring the rights)
to ensure that notice is given. However, he does not have to give notice
himself, but can agree with the assignor (the creditor assigning the rights) that
the assignor will give notice instead, depending on what is more sensible in
the circumstances. It is important, however, that notice is given as soon as
reasonably possible and in a way that is clearly understandable by the
borrower.

16.3 Notice does not have to be given where arrangements for servicing the
credit are unchanged as far as the borrower is concerned. For example, if
Creditor A sells his rights under a credit agreement to Creditor B but Creditor
A still collects the borrower’s repayments in the same way and is the only
point of contact for the borrower on matters regarding the agreement, notice
does not have to be given.

16.4 Where notice has not been given, and arrangements for servicing the
credit do subsequently change, the borrower must be informed of the
assignment on or before the date that change happens. Again, this must be
readily comprehensible to the borrower.

16.5 The definition of “creditor” in section 189 of the CCA applies to this new
requirement on assignment of rights. This means that when an assignee
purchases debts (or otherwise acquires rights under a credit agreement) it
also acquires certain obligations to the borrower including the duty to comply
with CCA requirements (such as the rules on statements and notices and
other post-contractual information). The assignee becomes the creditor under
the agreement. This ensures that essential consumer protections under the
CCA cannot be circumvented by assigning the debt to a third party.