LINK intends to take legal action to recover outstanding balance

[Giulia]

Hi,
First of all, thank you for the support you are offering.
Apologies if my English is not fluent, but I will try my best.

Even if it was in good faith, I have made some stupid financial decisions due to ignorance and poor judgment, and I recently received a letter from Link Financial regarding a loan I took back in 2018, which I topped up with a second loan in 2020 for a total of £35k, including 26% fixed interest.

I paid regular monthly installments until the pandemic hit, when I plummeted into the abyss and stopped paying from the end of 2020.
The current outstanding amount is now £22K.
My anxiety is now through the roof, and I'm overwhelmed as I'm self-employed, struggling financially, and on benefits due to my mental health condition.

After my last payment to the bank, I didn't have any form of contact with them.
I received a notice of default from the bank back in April 2021 stating I'm required to take action paying 6 months arrears on or before May 2021.

Not long after the default notice letter, I had regularly received letters about:

• arrear notice (weird?)
• statements of account
• account passed on Wescot on November 2021 (notice of debt collection and reminders, red letters indicating I am resident at the address, reduced settlement offer, inviting to contact them)
• account passed to Link on July 2023
• more statements of account, arrear notices and reminders

I had a smaller credit card debt from around the same period that I paid in full in 2024 using all my savings after receiving a claim from the National Civil Centre, avoiding a CCJ. I now have zero savings and no one I can ask or borrow any money from.

Content of the latest letter from Link Financial:
Important—please do not ignore this letter
"We have previously contacted you about your xxx account, which was sold to LC Asset on xx/xx/2023. Despite our efforts, we have been unable to agree on an appropriate repayment arrangement, and we therefore intend to take legal action to recover the outstanding balance.
Next steps...
If you do not contact us within 14 days of the date of this letter, we will pass your account to Messrs Kearns Solicitors without further reference to you, and the legal process will commence. This may result in further costs and interest being applied to the balance.

Considering I am not in a position for repayment due to my finances and current inability to earn more. I do not have any assets like cars or properties, and I'm able to pay rent only thanks to state benefits. The money coming from my self-employment is all going into utilities, transport, and food. No savings are left each month. Nowhere to go. I would like to ask for any advice on this debt:

• Shall I wait for contact from Messrs Kearns Solicitors?
• Is it possible this debt will go into statute-barred even if I'm receiving arrear notices?
• What happens instead if I get a CCJ and I'm not able to settle the court decision? (this really worries me)
• Any other course of action you may suggest?

Thank you very much for reading this post, and I'm looking forward to your kind response.

[echat11]

• Shall I wait for contact from Messrs Kearns Solicitors?

No, fill in an income and expenditure form, take into account the cost of living i.e. energy, food etc. Give yourself some 'leeway' If you can only pay £1 a month so be it. A Court will only ask you to pay what you can afford.

https://nedcab.cabmoney.org.uk/

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/de...itor---letter/

• Is it possible this debt will go into statute-barred even if I'm receiving arrear notices?

The Default date on the account is April 2021, so long way to go, they will take action in that time.

• What happens instead if I get a CCJ and I'm not able to settle the court decision? (this really worries me)

If you can't pay, you will get a CCJ, but monthly payments might be an option.

• Any other course of action you may suggest?

Answered above.

[Giulia]

Hello, Echat11. Thanks so much for your answer, you really save lives!

I discovered the full and final settlement offer option after looking over the links you gave. I called my mother, and she agreed to send her £3–4 savings. It isn't much, but since it comes from overseas, it is a lot to her, and I feel really embarrassed about it.

Please let me know whether this is something that I could do as a remedy for the debt and in case it is:

• Will this be enough as an offer, and if not, how much will be a realistic amount they would accept?
• What is the formal line of action in this scenario, considering that I have till the 17th?
• Will this entirely remove the debt?

Looking forward to your response

[echat11]

Hello, Echat11. Thanks so much for your answer, you really save lives!

I discovered the full and final settlement offer option after looking over the links you gave. I called my mother, and she agreed to send her £3–4 savings. It isn't much, but since it comes from overseas, it is a lot to her, and I feel really embarrassed about it.

Please let me know whether this is something that I could do as a remedy for the debt and in case it is:

• Will this be enough as an offer, and if not, how much will be a realistic amount they would accept?
• What is the formal line of action in this scenario, considering that I have till the 17th?
• Will this entirely remove the debt?

Looking forward to your response

I don't think they will except it, but you could try.
They would have bought the debt for pennies.

Send a Full and Final Settlement Offer Letter.

Letter must have 'Without Prejudice' written on it.

Make it clear that you are borrowing the money from your mother.

Your 'fall back' is Income and Expenditure with a covering letter.

https://nationaldebtline.org/get-inf...tlement-offer/

https://nedcab.cabmoney.org.uk/

[Giulia]

Hi Echatt11,
I wrote a covering letter for the income and expenditure that results in a -£ balance.

The following is the Final Settlement letter:
Without prejudice

Account No: xxxx
I am getting advice from National Debtline on dealing with my financial situation and choosing the right debt solution for me.
I am writing about the money which you are claiming on the above account. I can confirm that I am unable to pay the money which I owe in full.

xxx

However, I can raise £xxx and I want to offer this as full and final settlement of the account. I am making this offer on the clear understanding that, if you accept it, neither you nor any associate company will take any other action to collect or enforce this debt in any way and that I will be released from any liability.

Based on my circumstances, and because these circumstances are very unlikely to improve in the future, I feel a full and final settlement is the best way to resolve the outstanding debt.

I enclose a copy of my budget sheet which gives details of my financial circumstances. I also enclose Covering Letter.

If you accept this offer, please confirm that you will mark my credit reference agency file to show that the above account has been paid and closed.

I can pay the amount I have offered within xx days of receiving your written agreement of this offer.

Please give me details of how I can pay.

I look forward to hearing from you.

(Please note, all further correspondence should be addressed to me. National Debtline are a self-help agency and are not acting as my representative).


If it is all right, I will send all the paper documentation via post.

Regards

[echat11]

You need to remove the following, as it's not 'fact'.

'I am getting advice from National Debtline on dealing with my financial situation and choosing the right debt solution for me'.

So you sending all of this together?

'I enclose a copy of my budget sheet which gives details of my financial circumstances. I also enclose Covering Letter.'

[Giulia]

Sure, I just thought I had to copy the form as it was.

So you sending all of this together?

'I enclose a copy of my budget sheet which gives details of my financial circumstances. I also enclose Covering Letter.'

Yes, I'm sending all together if that's ok and will write the above as well.

Thank you very much for your help

[echat11]

Sure, I just thought I had to copy the form as it was.

So you sending all of this together?

'I enclose a copy of my budget sheet which gives details of my financial circumstances. I also enclose Covering Letter.'

Yes, I'm sending all together if that's ok and will write the above as well.

Thank you very much for your help

Yes that's o.k.. 'I enclose a copy of my budget sheet which gives details of my financial circumstances. I also enclose Covering Letter.'

[Giulia]

Hello,
Link refused to accept my final settlement offer and demanded nearly three times the amount I had available.
They sent me 2 letters the same day; I received them over the weekend.

1st letter:
...Unfortunately, we are unable to accept the sum of £5K but we are prepared to accept the sum of £14K in settlement of this account. Payment should reach our office by 28/02/2025...
Following receipt and full clearance of the agreed payment, we will close your account and register a partial settlement with the credit reference agencies.Credit reference agency information lasts for six years, so this may affect your ability to obtain credit in the future...

2nd letter:
Thank you for your recent email making us aware of your circumstances... please can you confirm if there is anything else we need to be aware of when dealing with your account and if your health/situation is making it difficult to repay?... Please confirm if there is anybody who helps you to deal with your finances that you would like us to authorise on your account?.. We have a specialist team that deals with accounts where customers have special circumstances or health issues that make it difficult for them to deal with their accounts. They would be able to allow you some extra time to deal with the account. If you feel you would benefit from speaking with them, we can forward your details onto them upon your confirmation...
Thank you for providing us with a copy of your affordability assessment. The information you have supplied indicates that at present your expenditure currenlty exceeds your income therefore we have been unable to determine a suitable agreement on your account...

At this stage, I really don't know what to do anymore, as I don't have the amount they asked for the settlement.

• I might be able to add a bit more money to what I proposed initially; is there any possibility for further negotiations?
• Is there anything else you would recommend?

Thank you so much for your help

[echat11]

You can make another offer, make sure it has Without Prejudice Save as to Costs written on it but remember your fall back plan is your monthly proposal based on I & E.

You could ask them for documentation, i.e. to check that it is compliant, etc.

[Giulia]

Hi Echat11,
Thank you so much for your prompt reply. I'm very grateful for your help.

You could ask them for documentation, i.e. to check that it is compliant, etc.
May I please ask what documentation I should specifically ask for and how to phrase it correctly?

Thank you!

[echat11]

Send the following to see what they send back and whether it's compliant.
Make sure you get Proof of Postage. They should put the account on hold
until they've provided this to you.

https://legalbeagles.info/library/gu...etter-example/

Send a Subject Access Request, that may throw up stuff.
Make sure you get Proof of Postage.

https://legalbeagles.info/library/gu...ccess-request/

[Giulia]

Hello,
This is a second full and final settlement letter I'm writing with a new offer, but I included two additional options. It would be great if I could get your thoughts on it and/or whether I should avoid these extra options:

Dear Sir/Madam
Without Prejudice Save as to Costs
Reference number: xxxx
I am writing about the money which you are claiming on the above account.
I can confirm that I am unable to pay £14k you asked in your letter dated...
Based on my circumstances, and because these circumstances are very unlikely to improve in the future, I feel a full and final settlement is the best way to resolve the outstanding debt.
As I mentioned in my previous letter, I can only pay £5k, which is the total amount I can borrow from my mother's savings.

• However, I have managed to raise the lump sum to £5.5k and I want to offer this as full and final settlement of the account.

I am making this offer on the clear understanding that, if you accept it, neither you nor any associate company will take any other action to collect or enforce this debt in any way and that I will be released from any liability. If you accept this offer, please confirm that you will mark my credit reference agency file to show that the above account has been paid and closed.
I can pay the amount I have offered within 21 days of receiving your written agreement of this offer.
Alternatively:

• I can offer £7k over 12 months instalments
• Or £1 montlhy token payment

I also added a cover letter for this full and final settlement, and as you suggested, a CCA and a SAR request.

Anticipating your invaluable assistance

[echat11]

You can raise £5k from your mother, but it might be an idea to account for the rest? i.e. other family, friends etc.

O.K. with the £1 statement, but £7k over 12 months, it might be an idea to account for where that is coming from.

It has to add up for them.

[Giulia]

Hello,
I will remove the £7k over 12 months option as it may cause concerns (it is a very difficult option for me).

Regarding:
You can raise £5k from your mother, but it might be an idea to account for the rest?
I can inform them this is a tax refund sum I didn't claim for years. Just kept it on my self-assessment account for tax emergencies.

Will that be okay?
It'll be 4 letters: 2nd Final Full Settlement, cover letter, CCA and SAR requests.

Looking forward to hear from you