anyone have a loan with welcome finance? what do you think of them?

staceh

I was just wondering, i recently was made redundant and i phoned to explain to them my situation and asked if i could lower my repayments, they said to me i had to make a full payment at the end of this month. After this month i cant afford to make full payments anymore? any advice? im now only working 16 hours a week

mrcow

If you can't afford to make a payment, then you'll have to cancel your direct debit (if you have one) and send them a cheque for what you can afford. If you simply don't have the money, then unless you can find some work in the next few days to raise the amount for your repayment, then there is nothing else you can do. Of course it would be better if you could somehow raise the money, but don't get into any more debt through it as you're only going to be making it worse.

Your credit rating will be negatively affected, but I would think that if you are at a point where you're dealing with companies like Welcome Finance then it probably wasn't that good in the first place?

Write them a letter explaining that you are making a token payment for this month and that you will pay the rest when you can.

As for what do I think of them, you'd either have to be naive or desperate to deal with them (most of their customers I would guess, are both).

staceh

mrcow wrote: »

If you can't afford to make a payment, then you'll have to cancel your direct debit (if you have one) and send them a cheque for what you can afford. If you simply don't have the money, then unless you can find some work in the next few days to raise the amount for your repayment, then there is nothing else you can do. Of course it would be better if you could somehow raise the money, but don't get into any more debt through it as you're only going to be making it worse.

Your credit rating will be negatively affected, but I would think that if you are at a point where you're dealing with companies like Welcome Finance then it probably wasn't that good in the first place?

Write them a letter explaining that you are making a token payment for this month and that you will pay the rest when you can.

As for what do I think of them, you'd either have to be naive or desperate to deal with them (most of their customers I would guess, are both).

what makes you say that? have you heard negative press about them? i got recommended to go to them by yesloans because i was looking for a consolidation loan?

rita13

Hi,
My Niece Is In The Same Position As You So She Phoned Them And Told Them She Had Cancelled The Direct Debit Because All She Was Receiving Was Job Seekers Allowance And Could Not Afford To Pay Either The Loan Nor Any Bank Charges Which Would Be Incurred If They Applied For Payment And The Money Was Not There To Pay.

They Sent Her An Income And Expenditure Form To Fill Out So I Would Ring Them And Ask For One Of These. We Are Trying To Find Out If They Can Refuse Any Payment Providing You Can Show It Is All You Can Afford - Will Let You Know What I Find Out.

By The Way, Have You Looked To See If Your Payment Is Covered By A Personal Protection Plan? However, Be Aware, Ifyou Worked For An Employment Agency They Will Not Pay Out On The Insurance.

Good Luc

staceh

rita13 wrote: »

Hi,
My Niece Is In The Same Position As You So She Phoned Them And Told Them She Had Cancelled The Direct Debit Because All She Was Receiving Was Job Seekers Allowance And Could Not Afford To Pay Either The Loan Nor Any Bank Charges Which Would Be Incurred If They Applied For Payment And The Money Was Not There To Pay.

They Sent Her An Income And Expenditure Form To Fill Out So I Would Ring Them And Ask For One Of These. We Are Trying To Find Out If They Can Refuse Any Payment Providing You Can Show It Is All You Can Afford - Will Let You Know What I Find Out.

By The Way, Have You Looked To See If Your Payment Is Covered By A Personal Protection Plan? However, Be Aware, Ifyou Worked For An Employment Agency They Will Not Pay Out On The Insurance.

Good Luc

I didnt take out protection on it as i couldnt afford the premiums, i'm a little hasty about filling out a form like that, they will then know where all my other debts are held, how much i'm paying them etc.

mrcow

staceh wrote: »

what makes you say that? have you heard negative press about them? i got recommended to go to them by yesloans because i was looking for a consolidation loan?

Yesloans are as bad as they are.

Here is a snippet from their website:

Personal loans: Typical 69.9% APR Variable, Secured loans: Typical 28.0% APR Variable, Car loans: Typical 19.9% APR

Tell me how anyone who wasn't desperate and had their wits abou them would even consider talking to them - let alone signing up finance with them :eek:

If you are looking for a loan and the only people who will take you are companies like Yesloans or Welcome finance......then seriously......the last thing you need to be doing is borrowing money.

mrcow

rita13 wrote: »

Hi,
My Niece Is In The Same Position As You So She Phoned Them And Told Them She Had Cancelled The Direct Debit Because All She Was Receiving Was Job Seekers Allowance And Could Not Afford To Pay Either The Loan Nor Any Bank Charges Which Would Be Incurred If They Applied For Payment And The Money Was Not There To Pay.

They Sent Her An Income And Expenditure Form To Fill Out So I Would Ring Them And Ask For One Of These. We Are Trying To Find Out If They Can Refuse Any Payment Providing You Can Show It Is All You Can Afford - Will Let You Know What I Find Out.

By The Way, Have You Looked To See If Your Payment Is Covered By A Personal Protection Plan? However, Be Aware, Ifyou Worked For An Employment Agency They Will Not Pay Out On The Insurance.

Good Luc

They can refuse or accept whatever they like. She'll still be in arrears.

They are loan sharks and will do whatever it takes to get their money. That means that they will call you x number of times a day, they'll write to you constantly, they'll issue you with a default on your account if they choose to and can and will take you to court if you don't pay what you're supposed to be paying.

Get her to make the token payment and send it with a letter telling them that she is committed to paying off her debt with them. Whether they choose to accept it or not is up to them. They will probably cash her cheque, because they'll take whatever she's offering, write and phone her and hassle her for more money, put her account into arrears as she's not keeping up to her contractual obligations and charge her penalty fees for the priviledge. If shecarries on not paying them, they'll sell her on to a debt collection agency or will default her for court proceedings to start.

If she is only missing one payment and is then planning to keep up her repayments then she'll probably just get a non payment strike on her credit report. It's when it becomes a few in a row that the likelihood of a default becomes a reality. Just don't let her bury her head about it. She needs to keep them informed on what she's planning to get her payments up to date.

mrcow

rita13 wrote: »

By The Way, Have You Looked To See If Your Payment Is Covered By A Personal Protection Plan? However, Be Aware, Ifyou Worked For An Employment Agency They Will Not Pay Out On The Insurance.

Is this what happened with your neice?

Was she working for an employment agency when she took out loan insurance?

If so - she's been missold it and can claim the lot of it back plus interest.

Have a read through her paperwork. Some PPI miselling claims are worth thousands.

fluffyblue7210

I am in an awful tangle with welcome but for some reason this site wont allow me to post my reply?

fluffyblue7210

Hi, I took a loan out with Welcome Finance in September 2004, originally for a Y plate Ford Focus for 5k. I took out an HP agreement. Im not sure what the amount financed was and have been paying 276.49 per month since. The agreement was for a 4 year period and ended in 2008. I have missed alot of payments and welcome have been quite good however we have now got to a stalemate situation. To cut a long story short. Since January I have been harassed by a guy called Raj from their asset recovery department who has tried and tried to coerse me into resigning various agreements with figures from 10 year loans to 2 year loans and threats about possession etc. I finally verbally agreed a sum of 250.00 per month for 24 months. I went to the local office today to sit down and talk through with them and was horrified to say the least. THe guys in the Welcome Office were really helpful and actually advised me to go away and demand a statement of my account as I have over 3k worth of charges on my account. I also have a balance o/s of 4.7k and am paying 18% interest. I was gobsmacked and the guys advised me to get a statement, highlight each line and submit my queries. they also said I should really offer a settlement of approx 2k in full and final settlement as basically I was being ripped off !

I then received a phone call from Raj saying he was dissappointed to hear that I had decided not to take up the offer of the payment plan and that I am now legally contracted to the old contractual payments of 276.49 and they would deduct of my debit card. I am not disputing I owe this company money however I am not in massive dispute that (a) i dont feel I have a contract at all so how can I be contracted to them for a payment and (b) how on earth do I get over 3k worth of charges.

I have requested a statement over 4 times and he now confirms that a statment is on its way, should I submit an application for a SAR report and start at the beginning.

THe lad in the office was very good and when I said that Raj keeps saying "mrs sperry you do realise you car remains at risk" over and over again like a broken record that basically tell him to do one as he cant take the car. Now he could be leading me up the garden path im sure but he seemed genuine.

I am now concerned I am locking myself into a new agreement but the only agreement I have ever signed is the original one 4 years ago. Can someone advise me which is the best route to take. I want to keep the car but albeit not at another 6k ! My DMP company would kill me. Im 8 months into a plan and succesfullty maintaining it. Apparently according to welcome - my original loan was for 5k well that was the price of the car, they said my original advance was for 6515? Not sure where this comes from. Apparently the full amount owing at inception was 13031.52 !

I have a balance of 4469 o/s finance, charges of £2304 AND default charges of £225.00 - making a balance of £6998. They said they are doing me a favour offering to refinance at 6k. The gentleman (he was ok) at the Branch said I should be paying maximum of 2167.00 and to go and question the HP Agreement.

Anyway I have today sent off a CCA request and also a SAR request, repetative I know but need to do it, also I am taking legal advise on the contract.

Can anyone let me know if I should continue paying my contractual payment of £276.49, can I make token payments as long as its a fair amount and what can they do now, can they take the car without a court order ?

mrcow

fluffyblue7210 wrote: »

I am in an awful tangle with welcome but for some reason this site wont allow me to post my reply?

lol - you just posted a reply (try again perhaps? If you click on "remember me" when you log in, the site won't log you out if you're writing a longish reply)