Link Financial Contact Problems: Your Rights and How to Complain

If you’ve received a surprise letter from Link Financial claiming you owe a debt, don’t worry. This article is here to help.

You can check the account, request suitable contact arrangements and obtain independent debt advice.

In this friendly guide, we’ll explain:

•  How to check if the debt really is yours (and if it’s not, you don’t need to pay!).
•  If it’s possible to question or even disregard Link Financial.
•  Methods to stop Link Financial from bothering you too much.
•  Ways to arrange payments or even clear your debt.

Collection contact can be stressful. Tell the verified firm about any support or communication needs.

This guide explains how to respond to a demand and challenge inappropriate contact.

Have you received a letter?

Responding to a debt letter from Link Financial is not pleasant, but you need to do it!

Link Financial will send a letter to the people they’re chasing on behalf of their clients. This letter will outline how much is owed and give them a deadline to pay. It’s likely to suggest or threaten court action can be taken if they don’t pay. 

An ordinary collection letter is not necessarily a letter before action. In England and Wales, the Debt Claims Protocol normally requires a business claiming a debt from an individual to send a letter of claim and allow at least 30 days to respond before proceedings. Issued court papers have separate deadlines.

Typical Debt Collection Process

An entitled creditor may bring a claim, but only a court can issue a CCJ. Collection, court proceedings and enforcement are separate stages.

We’ve put together this table to help you better understand the debt collector process and manage your financial situation. For more information, be sure to check out our specialized guide.

Possible stage	What can happen	What to do
Missed payments	The creditor or collector may contact you, apply contractual charges or issue required notices. There is no single timetable for every debt.	Check the debt and contact the creditor early. Prioritise essential bills and seek free debt advice.
Collection activity	Letters, calls or a proposed visit may follow. A collection agent has no power to seize your belongings.	Ask for identification and evidence of the debt. You do not have to let a debt collector into your home.
Letter of claim	A creditor may send a formal pre-action letter before making a claim.	Follow the response deadline and get advice; do not ignore it.
Court claim	In England and Wales, a creditor may apply for a county court judgment. A judgment and later enforcement are separate stages.	Respond to the claim by the court deadline, whether admitting it, disputing it or asking for time to pay. Attend if the court requires a hearing.
Enforcement after judgment	Where legally permitted, a creditor may seek enforcement such as an attachment of earnings, charging order or warrant of control.	Get advice promptly about the specific notice, available objections and affordable payment options.

Can they prove it?

If Link Financial have written to you about a debt that you supposedly owe, make sure you ask for proof before you make a payment.

Ask for the creditor’s name, account reference, balance breakdown and evidence that you are liable. For regulated consumer credit debts, a firm must pause recovery while it investigates a dispute on valid or potentially valid grounds. A request for information does not itself cancel the debt or extend a court deadline.

The importance of debt validation can’t be stressed enough, in our opinion. You don’t want to pay a debt that you didn’t have to.

You can use our free ‘prove it’ letter template to write to them and request proof that you owe the debt.

Check whether limitation or prescription applies

Get advice on an old balance before paying or acknowledging it. You can request information without automatically admitting liability, but the wording matters.

Many ordinary unsecured debts may become statute-barred after six years in England and Wales, or prescribed after five years in Scotland. The start date, debt type, payments, legally relevant acknowledgments and any court claim all matter. A creditor’s letter alone does not restart the period. Ask a debt adviser to check the facts before paying or admitting liability, and respond to any court papers on time.

In England and Wales, limitation can provide a court defence. Scottish prescription can extinguish an obligation. Respond promptly to any court papers.

Keep in mind that not all debts become statute-barred!

Tax debts, mortgages and judgments can follow different rules. A CCJ does not expire when its credit-file entry disappears; later enforcement may face additional requirements.

If your debt is statute-barred, you can use our free letter template to write to Link Financial and explain the situation.

If you are unsure about the status of your debt, you can contact a debt charity for some advice. Their advisors will be able to look at the debt in question, determine its status, and advise you on your next steps.

Not every written enquiry restarts limitation. A qualifying written acknowledgement or payment can affect the position. Ask an adviser to help word a response, and do not ignore statutory or court notices.

How do I find out if my debt is statute-barred?

The best way to know if your debt is statute-barred or not is to get professional debt advice. You don’t have to use paid-for services. Instead, get in touch with a UK debt charity and get an advisor to look over your case and tell you whether the debt is too old to be collected or not. 

You can always check yourself by looking at the criteria for a statute-barred debt, but it’s best to get a second knowledgeable opinion. You don’t want to tell a company your debt is statute-barred when it’s not (yet). 

What happens if I don’t pay?

If you don’t pay Link Financial after receiving an LBA, you may or may not be taken to court. There’s no surefire way of knowing if they will or won’t start legal action. 

Take legal notices seriously and seek advice. There is no reliable basis here to assume a threat is a bluff or that delaying will avoid payment.

We explain how you should react to one of these letters shortly. But first…

What to do if you’re harassed

An ordinary debt collector has no right to force entry or seize goods. A visit must comply with applicable contact and privacy rules; there is no blanket ban on every doorstep visit. FCA rules prohibit workplace visits without prior consent for regulated consumer-credit collection. A collector must protect your privacy and must not disclose a debt to an unrelated person without a lawful basis. Contact with someone you have authorised, such as a debt adviser, is different. Keep evidence of any improper disclosure and complain.

There are a number of steps you can take to deal with Link Financial harassment. You can send them your contact preferences and even ask for all communications to be made in writing. 

Complain to the firm first and keep copies and call logs. For an eligible regulated financial complaint, you can normally approach the Financial Ombudsman Service after a final response or after eight weeks without one, usually within six months of the final response. The Ombudsman can require a remedy or compensation; it does not impose regulatory fines. Tax, council and other non-credit debts may have different complaint routes.

Keep copies of your complaint, the response and evidence of the conduct. The Ombudsman’s role is to resolve eligible disputes and provide appropriate redress, not to punish a firm with a regulatory fine.

Customer reviews

Online reviews describe individual allegations and do not establish a breach of law in your case.

The following are undated user accounts quoted in the earlier version of this guide, not verified findings or a current representative assessment.

“[…] if they continue to harass me I will take this issue to the financial ombudsman, the financial conduct agency and to the trading standards. Ridiculous company with an embarrassing reputation and non-existent morals.”

• nicelocal.co.uk

“Hounded me over a 2p debt, that’s not an error, TWO PENCE! I paid, they deferred my debt of TWO PENCE to Moorcroft Debt Recovery who are just as useless and unprofessional […]”

• Ritual (nicelocal.co.uk)

Use the complaint steps below if you experience inappropriate contact.

» TAKE ACTION NOW: Fill out the short debt form

Can they take you to court?

An entitled claimant can bring proceedings for an enforceable balance. Do not assume that a smaller debt or a request for a payment plan rules out court action.

Dealing with legal threats is uncomfortable, so we recommend getting some legal advice as soon as they mention court. The charities at the bottom of this page will be able to offer free advice.  

A CCJ is a County Court judgment requiring payment. It can be entered after a hearing, an admission or a failure to respond. If you dispute it or did not receive the claim, obtain prompt advice on whether a set-aside application is available.

Your judgement will include the following:

• How much you owe
• How you should pay
• Who you should pay
• Your deadline to pay.

Unless you pay within one month of the CCJ being issued, it will be recorded in the Register of Judgements, Orders and Fines for 6 years. If you pay off your debt within these 6 years, you can request that your judgement is marked as ‘satisfied’ on the register.

To do this, write to the court with proof that you have paid off the debt in full.

Full payment within one month can allow the judgment’s registration to be removed. Keep proof and check the court’s process for recording the payment.

A CCJ normally appears on your credit file for six years from the judgment date unless it is removed earlier under the applicable rules. It can make borrowing harder or more expensive, but it does not make all credit impossible.

Lenders consider judgments along with other account information and their own lending criteria.

The effect varies by lender, product and the rest of your credit record.

The entry normally disappears after six years, but that does not guarantee credit or cancel the unpaid judgment.

Unfair or improper practices

Assess the actual conduct and applicable rules. This article does not establish that Link Financial has acted unlawfully in an individual case.

Possible grounds for a complaint include the following. Whether conduct amounts to harassment or another breach depends on the circumstances:

1. Contact at unreasonable times or despite reasonable requests about when contact is possible.
2. Inappropriate disclosure to an employer or another unrelated person, or a workplace visit without prior consent where FCA consumer-credit rules apply.
3. Excessive or intimidating calls, messages or pressure.
4. Misleading claims about entry or seizure powers, or an unreasonable visit. An ordinary collector cannot force entry or seize goods.

How do I complain?

If you think that Link Financial has been unreasonable or behaved inappropriately, you can make a complaint. You can also make a complaint if you feel that they have broken any of the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) guidelines.

Fortunately, the steps to lodge a complaint against Link Financial are quite straghtforward.

Make your first complaint to Link Financial so that they have the chance to sort out the issue themselves. If you feel that they have not taken your complaint seriously enough or have not addressed your issue properly, you can escalate matters.

Complain to the business first. If the activity falls within the Financial Ombudsman Service’s remit, you can normally escalate after a final response or eight weeks without one, usually within six months of the final response. The Ombudsman can require redress, such as compensation or correcting records; it does not fine firms or remove their authorisation.

Link Financial Contact Details

Company	Link Financial Outsourcing Limited; company number 07059696
Official customer website	linkfinancial.eu
Customer support and complaints	03330 145 145
Opening hours	Monday–Thursday 8am–6pm; Friday 8.30am–5pm; Saturday 9am–2pm. Check the official site for holiday changes.
Account correspondence	Link Financial Outsourcing Limited PO Box 107 Caerphilly CF83 3GG
Registered office	11 Belgrave Road London SW1V 1RB
Online contact	Use the current account and complaint links on the official customer website.

References

1. Link Financial: current customer support, complaints and account information