Cahoot loan please help!!

jojo1973

I got a flexi loan out with cahoot in dec 05 for £2000 over 4 years, repayments £50 a month (first payment 17th dec 05) I was going through a divorce towards the end of 2006 so missed a couple of payments but caught them up and have paid regularly until last month, I'm changing bank accounts and sorting benefits and stuff out.

Anyway they wrote to me and according to them I owe £2410!!!! I thought I owed about £800 as it was due to be paid off in november 2009. My balance in July 2006 was £1900!!!

From what I've worked out they have added £1600 in charges!! I expect about £400 as the loan fees but £1600 COME ON!!!!

What do I do!!

whiteroom184

hi jojo

have cahoot never sent you any correspondance regarding your charges?
additionally have you requested a full breakdown of your account?
also have you not kept a track of where you are with your payments/balance since 2006?

what is the rest of your financial situation like?

jojo1973

No, I just got a letter saying I'd missed a payment and owed £50 which I know and what the outstanding balance is, it doesn't say charges are being applied to your account X amount or anything like that.

I am going to ring them for a full breakdown as this seems way way way wrong and no I havent kept track of payments or balance since 2006 as it just a monthly direct debit that comes out, no missed payments since 2006. I know I have paid in total 32 payments of £50 each on a 2k loan and wxpected to make another 16 payments.

Rest of financial situation is I'm on incapacity due to post natal depression and have been signed off until at least May next year.


If I get a full breakdown of my account and they've hammered me with charges (I see on their site its £30 for late flexi loan repayments) can I claim them back as I have with the bank?

Even taking into account the loan fees of approx £400 there's at least a grand in charges there, where on earth has that come from??! :eek:

whiteroom184

well keep us informed of the breakdown, i would be really keen to see how they add up their sums - best of luck

i also have had a very bad experience with cahoot, took me a few years to pay off a debt when they bumped the interest up from 6% to 29.9%:eek:

jojo1973

Can you claim charges back from them as people have done with bank accounts?


How can they hike up their interest rates mid term? I thought you agree at the start what the rate is or did you get a variable rate loan?

GotNoRhythm

You've got me worried now! I have a Cahoot loan which doesn't seem to be going down as i thought it would. I'll have to check mine out too. (I must admit, I pay by DD each month without a second thought to the loan balance).

GNR
xx

whiteroom184

jojo1973 wrote: »

Can you claim charges back from them as people have done with bank accounts? would have thought so check with cab or this site for help, not too sure


How can they hike up their interest rates mid term? I thought you agree at the start what the rate is or did you get a variable rate loan?

with cahoot it is flexible, so just like you can alter your monthly payments they can alter your rate. they only notify you on email so if you have changed your address then there is a possibility you have missed the notifications?

jojo1973

I dont think I have that email address anymore so no I wont have been informed. Going to get all the info next week to see exactly what's going on. I think I missed 2 payments in 2006 and one last month but have brought the arrears up to date so where they get those figures from is well, we'll find out next week! :eek:

markelock

if the e-mail address isn't working, it should have bounced and they should have written to you.

£1600 seems excessive based on the above. almost of loan shark proportions.

there will be some penalties in place of course, which will be in the small print (but if you're anything like me, it was either used to light a fire, or in the spirit of humanity, recyled to make another piece of paper)

best of luck with everything else too.

jojo1973

They're sending all the paperwork (and charging £10!)
They said as its a flexi loan the interest goes up and down and if i make the minimum payments it will "take forever to pay off"
I got the loan via moneysupermarket, put in £1500 over 4 years, it came up as repayments £50 a month, i took it. According to cahoot its like a credit card and i can pay a minimum or more, i didnt know this.

As far as i thought i'd pay 50 quid over 4 years and job done, ive had loans before and they worked like this, you know when its finished. I now owe over £2400 and have made 33 payments of 50 quid each already, worse than a provvy loan! :eek:

markelock

£10 is the charge they are entitled to make.

check the paperwork carefully. whilst I am in favour of capitalism per se, things like this are ridiculous. After all, you'd never knowingly borrow £2000 as a lump sum, then pay it back over 4 years at £50, if they are applying interest on top.
It would take 8 years or so surely? If they'd have told you that, you would never have agreed.

con artists.