First plus ripoff

ILW

And the lesson for today is-
Never agree to, or sign anything unless you have read and understand what you are agreeing to.

halifax71

Have you actually listened to the BBC programme?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/moneybox/8146083.stm

After that latest comment ILW i think we'll have to agree to disagree. Life must be great for you. Cheers for your thoughts anyhow.

poorlad

ILW I'm guessing you work for firstplus, no?

kimpeck

Just to clarify "why" most of us thought the rate was variable and could go up and down.

I quote directly from the first line of each letter recieved from Firstplus.

Letter dating 8th February 2007 stating that due to the increase in the
Bank of England's base rate the interest rate of my loan will be changing.

Letter dated 10th January 2008 stating that due to the increase in the
Finance House base rate the interest rate on my loan will be changing.

Therefore would it not be safe to "believe" that these rates effect the interest rate of the loan. Therefore if they are at the lowest level since records began then wouldn't you expect the interest rate to lower.

Article 8 of the lending criteria stipulates that the loan agreement cannot be infavour one party in the contract ..........

Rates go up but never down ...... even when the reason for the last increase hits the floor ......... take your pick.

halifax71

Thought i'd bump this as there appears to be others in the same boat who have only just received letters

marshallka

edwards97 wrote: »

When I took out my loan with first plus I was under the impression that variable means that it can go up or down, the best rate i have ever paid was when i took the loan out!! It has never gone below the original rate. This loan is a complete con and I dont know how they can get away with it! I will be complaining to the ombusman again.

I am so angry!:mad:

I don't think (unless your loan was taken since April 2007) that the ombudsman would be able to look into this. Wasn't it only then that they had jurisdiction over Consumer Credit complaints? May be wrong but I would check first.

marshallka

I had a variable rate mortgage a few years back and the rates just went up and up during my term with them, we complained but were told if we wanted a steady rate then we should have taken a fixed rate mortgage or even a tracker that tracks BOE base rate. Its the same for loans I think. I wish I had taken a fixed rate or a BOE tracker at the time but it would have cost me £2K to swap. They get it from you somehow.

The thing is that the mortgage I was paying consisted of our FP loan too as we EVENTUALLY got to remortgage and pay it off so in effect we still got stung. I have to agree though, if you want it at a certain rate you would be better to go for a FIXED rate and not variable.

kimpeck

Firstly Firstplus and / or second charge lenders do not do "fix rate".

But I do feel you "miss-understand" my arguement with Firstplus.

I personally (I will not speak for anyone else) have letters from Firstplus stating
that due to a Rise in BOE / FHBR that the interest rate will be rising on the variable loan.

However when both these rates dropped and I questioned why the loan APR did not reflect the changes they stated ...... The loan APR is not linked to either the BOE / FHBR and therefore no changes will be made ... which contradicts the earlier rises.

When I asked them to clearly expalin "how" they calculate their APR (taking into account they borrow from Barclays at BOE) they refused to give a clear explanation and only quoted "market forces" ......

Now my argument is not about paying the loan or about the APR going up or down to reflect the current climate. My argument is :-

1) My APR only goes up and never down even when the past rises were linked
to BOE / FHBR rises.

2) They still have failed to explain "how" they calculate the APR

3) Clause 7 of the contract un-balances the loan agreement as it basically
allows them to do "anything they wish" (contrary to Article 8)

Now taking into accout that Firstplus is "no longer trading" all I am after is some hint that when x goes up my APR rises and when y goes down the APR lowers.

At the moment I have "we lost 5m in PPI claims" lets stick 1% onto the APR

But I do agree that we should all stop barking up a tree and get a good solicitor and settle this once and for all.

halifax71

Have you joined FirstPlusComplaints yet KimPeck?

Sounds like you're on the right track with your arguments.

kimpeck

Yes I have