Billed from a company that promised us help!

LynseyR_2

Hi board. Just need a bit of advice please.

Cutting a long story short, we got into financial difficulty. Got a rep from a 'Financial Advisory' company out to visit us who looked at our finances and said all the usual - cut this, cut that. We only pay the essentials, and are currently on a Financial Statement from the CAB for our bills because in the end, this guy proved fruitless.

At the time, he promised he could reduce our payments one way or another - consolidation loan, remortgage etc. Applied for a loan which fell through for some reason, then he seemed to lose interest in us. We contacted him again a couple of months later asking about any possible progress, and lured us into a Life Insurance policy which would aid us in aquiring a consolidation loan. According to him, better to get a loan than a remortgage as at the time, we'd have to pay some sort of 'penilisation' fee for remortgaging with our current company.

Anyway, we signed up for it, on the promise he'd sort out something to lower our payments, and which would at least cover the extra expense of this Life Insurance policy. Months later, still no word on progress regarding saving money. Last time he contacted us was to say we'd incur a charge from themselves for cancelling the Life Insurance as we couldn't afford it. He did promise to lower our outgoings somehow, and no charge would be made unless he did.

So now, we get a bill through the door from this company for nearly £600 for their 'services'! As we had cancelled the Life Insurance, we'd have to pay them for arranging it for us. Phoned them up and they said because we cancelled the policy, that is why they were charging. I said it made no sense because if we could afford that amount of money, we would not have needed to cancel the Life Insurance, which was half of that spread out over the year.

She stated that my credit history could be affected as it could go to court. To be honest, my credit history could not be any worse, I'm sure. Offered for us to pay by installments, but had to remind her installments of less had to be cancelled due to not being able to afford it!

Basically, he promised to save us money which proved fruitless. He got us to take out a Life Insurance policy which would aid us in our quest for a consolidation loan which seems he never followed up. Contact ceased from him until he was obviously notified by Life Insurance company. He landed us with more expense (contrary to our original reasons for his first visit), and because we cancel that, we end up with a bill from his own company!

Is there anything I can do about this? Any info/advice would and will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

RAS

Try checking whether he is in any industry recognised group?

Ask for their formal complaints procedure and if thet does not come up trumps complain to the industry bodies.

sammy115

You have got to be kidding....tell them to take you to court and wait!

Did you sign anything with them, a contract etc with terms and conditions on it.....?

Could you perhaps name them on here....surely someone can then do some digging on your behalf but whatever you do - do not speak to them on the telephone ask them to put everything in writing...

Ivrytwr3

These people are just after your money as you have found out.

There is no quick and easy fix from debt, take responsibility for your past spending.

LynseyR_2

Thankyou for your replies. Yes, we have learned the hard way, but they promised no charge unless they offered us help ie reducing some payments one way or another. Instead we were left with extra expense - of which he promised lower outgoings to cater at least for this Life policy. Also distinctly recall him saying that this would considerably increase our chances for a loan.

Never again. Prevention rather than cure from now on!

LynseyR_2

I would take responsibilty for past spending, if it were that, I can assure you. We've experienced a set of unfortunate circumstances, family matters etc. which we had to deal with by means of borrowing. No holidays, cars or home improvements we've enjoyed - far from it!

poorandindenial

Ivrytwr3 wrote: »

These people are just after your money as you have found out.

There is no quick and easy fix from debt, take responsibility for your past spending.

Ivrytwr3 I didn't get the sense that OP was trying to avoid paying or responsibility for their debt but that they needed to reduce their monthly expenditure and that they had made a mistake by contacting a sheister company.

LynseyR - have you compiled a statement of Affairs (there is a calculator at https://www.makesenseofcards.com) it details your income, expenditure and financial obligations and allows us to help you more easily.

As far as the lying company goes, do check to see if they are registered to provide the services that they are selling and if they are not you can name and shame them, if they are then you will probably have to send a letter of complaint to them and wait for it to go through their internal processes before you do. Have you got evidence of the conversations that you had or was any of this in letters?

Ivrytwr3

Then why do people go to these companies? Because they believe they can cut the amount they have to repay.

Sorry if i sounded harsh; my actual point was forget about these companies and try to deal with the debt.

LynseyR_2

Ivrytwr3, you have it very wrong my friend. I don't look for companies that can cut my debt, otherwise I would have wandered down the route of IVA. If possible, I have looked for ways to reduce outgoings, albeit with longer repayment terms. Yes, more interest, but something that can help us for the timebeing, and possibly even increase payments and reduce payment term in future when things start picking up.

I came here because I have made mistakes yes. We all make mistakes. However, my personal circumstances have forced me to make these mistakes - family issues, and other unfortunate circumstances I am not going into have all played a part in my decision regarding obtaining credit. I have enjoyed no holidays or luxuries, and to be quite frank, I have not seen most of the money I borrowed in the past.

If you cannot reply anything constructive, please don't reply at all. It doesn't help. If it all boiled down to your advice, this particular thread and certain forums would not be required.

Ivrytwr3

yawn, don't post your problems if you're not prepared to hear answers you don't want.

Ivrytwr3

you had debt, you signed up to something else that costs you money. Why? When you were trying to reduce your original debt?