Undiscolsed Broker Fees

philburkert

Afternoon all.

I need some help if possible.

I took out a £35k secured loan with FirstPlus in Sept 2006. My payemnts are all up to date, the account is fine. I am reliably informed that due to a recent court case (Hurstanger versus...) that undisclosed broker fees are reclaimable.

By undisclosed, I mena, they were never on my original credit agreement and due to the above court case, this has now been set as a must for all new credit agreements between lender and customer. The broker that was paramount in securing this loan was Britannia Financial, which, for the purpose of this is irelevant really.

First plus has sent me my credit agreement and as expected, there is no details of a broker fee even though they have admitted one was paid. I asked for a DSAR including details of commission paid top broker. They have written to me now to tell me that I can have my Data Access Request but they "are not obliged to discolse to customers, underwriting sheets or details of commiossions as this is commercially sensitive".

Q1, is this right? and if not, would you suggest a letter to the ombudsman.
Q2 Does anyone have info about successfully reclaiming these broker fees with compound interest on similar secured loans?

Any help would be greatly apreciated.

Thanks

Rafter

Phil,

Think you need to approach Britannia rather than First plus if the broking agreement was with them?

If you apply for insurance through moneysupermarket they get a fee, but aren't obliged to tell you how much. It is only when there is a more formal advisory relationship that the FSA requires disclosure of the fee paid.

Were you 'advised' by Britannia and did you sign any kind of broker arrangement with them? Depending on the date, they might have been obliged to tell you what commission they were being paid for sourcing the first plus loan.

However, First Plus have every right not to tell you what this fee is as it would be commercially confidential between them and the brokers they use.

R.

petermb_2

Rafter wrote: »

Phil,

Think you need to approach Britannia rather than First plus if the broking agreement was with them?

If you apply for insurance through moneysupermarket they get a fee, but aren't obliged to tell you how much. It is only when there is a more formal advisory relationship that the FSA requires disclosure of the fee paid.

Were you 'advised' by Britannia and did you sign any kind of broker arrangement with them? Depending on the date, they might have been obliged to tell you what commission they were being paid for sourcing the first plus loan.

However, First Plus have every right not to tell you what this fee is as it would be commercially confidential between them and the brokers they use.

R.

Sorry to disagree Rafter because you offer good advice but on this occasion you are incorrect. The lender and broker have joint and several liability to the borrower to disclose all income derived from placing the client's business.

Brokers are agents of the borrower not the lender and therefore have a fiduciary duty. A failure to disclose is deemed a breach of contract and the client is entitled to return of the comissions paid to the broker plus interest. This can be claimed from either party involved.

the OP is correct in Hurstanger v Wilson set the precendence for this.

petermb_2

philburkert wrote: »

Afternoon all.

I need some help if possible.

I took out a £35k secured loan with FirstPlus in Sept 2006. My payemnts are all up to date, the account is fine. I am reliably informed that due to a recent court case (Hurstanger versus...) that undisclosed broker fees are reclaimable.

By undisclosed, I mena, they were never on my original credit agreement and due to the above court case, this has now been set as a must for all new credit agreements between lender and customer. The broker that was paramount in securing this loan was Britannia Financial, which, for the purpose of this is irelevant really.

First plus has sent me my credit agreement and as expected, there is no details of a broker fee even though they have admitted one was paid. I asked for a DSAR including details of commission paid top broker. They have written to me now to tell me that I can have my Data Access Request but they "are not obliged to discolse to customers, underwriting sheets or details of commiossions as this is commercially sensitive".

Q1, is this right? and if not, would you suggest a letter to the ombudsman.
Q2 Does anyone have info about successfully reclaiming these broker fees with compound interest on similar secured loans?

Any help would be greatly apreciated.

Thanks

First Plus are experts at the bluff game. They have perfected it over quite some time.
However, they and many other lenders like them have huge issues to deal with over this subject.