After almost 6 months of letters going back and forward I do not feel I am getting any closer to an end to this nightmare. After my last letter to DLA (acting on behalf of Abbey), below is the reply I received:

I asked what they did to contact me at the time of repossession - they sent 1 letter to me at the repossessed property even though I hadn't lived there for 2 years.

I asked for copies of the valuations - it is not their clients policy to send valuations but they give me 2 dates and 2 amounts (£8000 more than the price they sold it for).

They did not know my partner at the time (joint mortagee) had since died and will claim against his estate if I tell them who is dealing with it(His estate was closed 3 years ago).

As they had previously advised my solicitor I am not entitled to see the MIG.

They finish by saying that "as I was a party to the mortgage account they dont understand how I can dispute the shortfall".

I really am stuck now - I've asked for all of the above info since reading and taking notice of this website(thank god it's here)but dont know what else I can do. The house was repossessed without my knowledge at the time. I cant check any details with my ex partner because of obvious reasons and feel that they now have me backed into a corner leaving me no option but to offer them something!

If anyone has any advice as to what my next reply should be I will be extremely grateful!

Thanks

-- Jo Berry (foxwood60@aol.com), November 30, 2000

Answers

A few things come to mind: You say that 'for almost 6 six months' if that is the case then surely they did not contact you until after 11/2/00 which means they only have 6 years to chase you. If the repossession was older than that and no contact made until after 11/2/00 then that is the end of the matter.

If not, you are fully entitled to see the valuations whether or not it is the company policy. Also, ask them about the Statutary Instruments that you shpould have got when the property was repossessed - the details are on this site. If the house was repossessed without your knowledge ask if a court order was obtained. As well as the valuations have you got a FULL breakdown of the accounbt detailing ALL costs. If not get one - again you are entitled to it. You will probably find that most of the figures are far too high, ask for full justification and receipts/invoices.

Basically, make them prove to you that the debt is justifiable and that everything was done in fairness to all parties. Do not admit liability make them prove you are liable, ask them to show you the documents that say you are. If they refuse or ignore things ask again and keep asking until you are 'fully satisfied'.

Also, have you been told that 50% of the debt is now written off by the Abbey? Hopefully some of what I have said will help, others may be able to add more.

Keep fighting, they are trying to wear you down so don't let them

-- Matt (Mattyc@ntlworld.com), November 30, 2000.

I think Abbey are putting on a hard face about providing proof and evidence of claims. I cannot say for sure why this is, but keep asking for the proof you need - and yes, that includes the MIG.

The MIG policy document may well be relevant to Abbey's claim (especially if it's an older MIG, pre-1993) whether it claimed on the policy or not. If it didn't claim, why not - why didn't it mitigate the claim in this obvious way? If it did, why aren't you the beneficiary? Can it prove that the MIG clearly states that you, the borrower, will obtain no protection whatsoever from this insurance?

I know this stuff's hard to endure, but the less keen the lender is to provide evidence, the weaker its case against you becomes. It would almost certainly forfeit costs in court if it fell foul of the Civil Procedure Rules, which discourage the 'stronger' party from refusing to provide documentation upon which it is relying. (Hey, why don't we all hire ourselves top barristers?!!) No lender wants to take a person to court and lose on costs. If you can get your head around this, the whole thing does become a lot easier to bear.

Don't waste your energies worrying. Channel energy effectively elsewhere. Tell your MP that Abbey won't properly prove its claim. Tell him about EDM 1102 - a recent motion by Mike Hancock CBE MP which censures Abbey over this very issue. Email Mike Hancock about it. He's on your side. So are a number of Labour MPs.

By the way, I too have received the somewhat crude and patronising question along the lines of, you had a mortgage, so how can you dispute the claim for mortgage shortfall? As Lee points out in the thread (I think ?two) below this one, there are a lot of documents which need to be produced by a lender before a claim is proven.

I have seen you post a lot of emails on this Q&A board. I know the feeling! Good luck, and please contact me privately if you need a shoulder.

-- Eleanor Scott (eleanor.scott@btinternet.com), December 01, 2000.

My wife and I are in a similar position to you, a dozen or so letters to them asking for proof of the debt, and behold, we still remain in the dark as to how they arrived at most of the figures.

Please take the advise of this site and do as we are doing, for the time being anyway, just keep asking politely for proof of the figures.

Good luck,

Steve Pooley

-- (stephen.pooley@ntlworld.com), December 01, 2000.