Updraft sold account to Perch capital but never issued default notice or default

ldn83

sourcrates said:

People wrongly assume debts cannot change hands without first being defaulted, that is simply not the case.

Debts can be bought and sold as a going concern, at any time, perfectly legitimately and without any need to default.

The only thing a lender cannot do without first defaulting you is start legal action.

All else remains the same, all that has happened is the lender has changed, nothing more, all the terms and conditions of the original loan remain the same. I assume they are still charging you interest?

Difficult to say if interest is still being charged as I have no access to the loan info in the updraft app anymore and also no notification of what was sold or how much, just a 10k balance for which I don’t know if they’ve somehow just come up with a round number to start chasing. 

I will do nothing until I get written confirmation of a default.

ldn83

Update on this situation for anyone interested. Finally got a letter from Updraft and then ACI stating debt has been sold to Perch capital. Previous balance was over 23k, now its somehow 10k, no clue where they got that number from and also it states any interest owed is now to be paid to Perch Capital. Definitely not defaulted, yet.

Here's where it gets interesting, Perch capital is owned by Quilam Capital, who own and fund Updraft. ACI is owned by Perch Group, and Verify and TM legal are also all owned by the same umbrella firm, Quilam Capital. All they've effectively done is pass it on to another branch of theirs to chase. Effectively their whole operation is all in house, pretty interesting. Wonder how long they'll keep chasing before default? Have sent them a GDPR letter to only be contacted in writing.

agentblackcat

Thanks for sharing an update. I have received nothing further as of yet. 

agentblackcat

Hi ldn83

I had an update from updraft today. I complained about unaffordable lending. They have partially upheld my complaint for the second loan I had with them. They are retrieving this debt back from perch to manage it in house. 

ldn83

agentblackcat said:

Hi ldn83

I had an update from updraft today. I complained about unaffordable lending. They have partially upheld my complaint for the second loan I had with them. They are retrieving this debt back from perch to manage it in house. 

Ok good news, were you not going for defaults then? Will they partially refund some of the interest on the second loan?

agentblackcat

Hi. 

Sorry have not made that very clear. Yes so had two loans I have complained about both. However, only upheld for second loan. Interest refunded for this loan. 

Bazy

Hi, this has been very interesting reading for me as I'm currently in the same predicament. I also had two loans with UPDRAFT one for 20k and one for 8k. I wanted to default on all my credit cards and loans which I decided to do last year. I did receive a default notice from updraft for both my loans and I had assumed the defaults had been recorded when I started to get letters from ACI. I started to make small token payments weekly to ACI to ensure no further action is take with them, which they seemed happy to accept. However, just yesterday I checked my credit file and I noticed the two loans with updraft were settled last year (which they weren't) and also there was no mention of the loan balances registered under ACI or Perch. So these outstanding balances literally are not showing as any debt on my credit file. So, I'm now sitting thinking do I just stop paying as the debt as it is currently not enforceable (with no default registered) or do I just continue to keep making the token payments to ACI and hope the debt never appears on my credit file at all, which is essentially a hidden debt?

sourcrates

Bazy said:

Hi, this has been very interesting reading for me as I'm currently in the same predicament. I also had two loans with UPDRAFT one for 20k and one for 8k. I wanted to default on all my credit cards and loans which I decided to do last year. I did receive a default notice from updraft for both my loans and I had assumed the defaults had been recorded when I started to get letters from ACI. I started to make small token payments weekly to ACI to ensure no further action is take with them, which they seemed happy to accept. However, just yesterday I checked my credit file and I noticed the two loans with updraft were settled last year (which they weren't) and also there was no mention of the loan balances registered under ACI or Perch. So these outstanding balances literally are not showing as any debt on my credit file. So, I'm now sitting thinking do I just stop paying as the debt as it is currently not enforceable (with no default registered) or do I just continue to keep making the token payments to ACI and hope the debt never appears on my credit file at all, which is essentially a hidden debt?

What makes you think its unenforceable?

A debt does not have to appear anywhere on your credit file for it still to be collectable.

The only thing that would render it unenforceable is if they can`t supply a copy of the credit agreement if requested under sec 77 CCA, or the debt was out of time by limitation, you haven`t mentioned if either of these particular scenarios are relevant to your situation, so the debt remains live and collectable.

Bazy

Thanks for your response. 

I only assumed it was unenforceable as there was no default registered for the loans and the past loans with UPDRAFT had been marked as settled. Clearly I'm wrong with this tho. The loans aren't 4/5/6 years old, they were taken out in 2023 I believe, so I would say they could provide the CCA agreement no bother and also I think this rules out the time limit for statute barred. Would I be better at this stage to just continue making the payments directly to ACI or should I contact them and ask them to register the default back to when it defaulted in 2024? Many thanks 

sourcrates

Whether a debt defaults or not has zero bearing on the enforceability of that debt, the only thing it does affect is the lenders ability to take legal action, a debt must default before legal action can be considered.

Now you say you received default notices for both loans, so that is good, however they do not appear on your credit report.

You are aware that a default notice, and a default on your credit file are two very separate events aren't you?

They should have registered the defaults, but haven`t, are you certain they do not appear on any of the three main credit reference agency databases?

Have you checked them to see?

If your credit file states the original loans with perch were settled, then its extremely likely ACI have purchased those accounts, and they have defaulted, the default is just not being reported.

So having checked all of the CRA `s, if you still find no sign of these defaults anywhere, you should send a written complaint to the original lender, as it was their responsibility to record events on your credit file correctly.

Ask them to register the default, and backdate it to the date you specify, make your letter an official complaint, that way it will be dealt with within FCA timescales, which is around 8 weeks, if you are not satisfied with the response you get, escalate the matter to the FOS and/or the ICO.