First plus loan ppi - sheer greed

sharonlouise

I am paying a First Plus loan solely (even though this in joint names with ex), which is costing me £708 per month including a PPI. I was out of work for 3 months from Aug 08 – Nov 08 and when I went to claim off of the insurance, they said that I was not able to because I had been contracting, I therefore wrote a letter of complaint in November saying that I had been mis-sold the policy because for one, I was never made aware of this, to take the loan, you automatically had to take the policy and three was never given the opportunity to look elsewhere. Had I have known this, I would never agreed to it. Hence, I received a letter back saying that they had not mis-sold it.

Because this policy did not pay out, as I though it would, over a thousand pounds in arrears accumulated , which they have over the past few months been hounding me and threatening me for. I have continuously paid them £708 per month for the past 11 months and when asked if I could pay towards the arrears and explaining to them the reason I got the arrears (because the PPI did not pay out) I requested a cancellation of this policy, which then I could put towards these arrears. I found out that I was actually paying £128.00 per month for a policy that is absolutely useless to me (I nearly fell over).. They are still hounding me for the arrears, but will not let me cancel this policy. I have been looking at the financial websites and it seems that I do have a case and might be able to get my money back? This policy was taken out in 2004 and still ongoing. I cannot pay them anymore and £128.00 per month is astronomical, the bad thing is, I didn't even realise!! I really am getting deeper and deeper in debt and would benefit from any information or advice.

I would really appreciate your thoughts on this and if you think I am entitled to money back and/or just cancelling the damn thing.

I look forward to hearing from.

Sharon Louise

di3004

sharonlouise wrote: »

I am paying a First Plus loan solely (even though this in joint names with ex), which is costing me £708 per month including a PPI. I was out of work for 3 months from Aug 08 – Nov 08 and when I went to claim off of the insurance, they said that I was not able to because I had been contracting, I therefore wrote a letter of complaint in November saying that I had been mis-sold the policy because for one, I was never made aware of this, to take the loan, you automatically had to take the policy and three was never given the opportunity to look elsewhere. Had I have known this, I would never agreed to it. Hence, I received a letter back saying that they had not mis-sold it.
Of course it was mis sold in my opinion!
They should have checked that you would be eligible to make a claim if you needed to and bound to have had these details from application of your employment etc.


Because this policy did not pay out, as I though it would, over a thousand pounds in arrears accumulated , which they have over the past few months been hounding me and threatening me for. I have continuously paid them £708 per month for the past 11 months and when asked if I could pay towards the arrears and explaining to them the reason I got the arrears (because the PPI did not pay out) I requested a cancellation of this policy, which then I could put towards these arrears. I found out that I was actually paying £128.00 per month for a policy that is absolutely useless to me (I nearly fell over).. They are still hounding me for the arrears, but will not let me cancel this policy. I have been looking at the financial websites and it seems that I do have a case and might be able to get my money back? This policy was taken out in 2004 and still ongoing. I cannot pay them anymore and £128.00 per month is astronomical, the bad thing is, I didn't even realise!! I really am getting deeper and deeper in debt and would benefit from any information or advice.

I would really appreciate your thoughts on this and if you think I am entitled to money back and/or just cancelling the damn thing.

I look forward to hearing from.

Sharon Louise

Sharon, I have also put in a little info between your post above, in regards of your employment etc, that they should have checked that you were eligible, and they should have known from your details that you would not make a successful claim.

If you don't mind, but I would also like to mention the Debtwannabe thread above, which is here:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.html?f=76

If you have not posted in that above thread yet, then I think it would be a good idea, they are very helpful and can lead you in the right direction in regards of debt, you will also find posts by the CCCS on that thread, who are a free national debt company, and will advise you on your best direction in how to deal with these companies, with templates of your hardship etc, where they can arrange a free plan for you.
Give it a go, you will be surprised.;)

Meanwhile, if First plus have not upheld your complaint, I would contact the Financial ombudsman service (FOS) and ask if you can take your complaint to them to investigate.
I take it that the loan was sold by First Plus, was it not?
Or a broker?

I would not leave this here and even if you have debt, it have not been helped by this mis selling of PPI, which is terribly costly, and of course the charges are rising on missed payments etc as well.
By being successful in this would be a big help to you.

So please do contact the FOS and see if they can now help you through this, but also ask for fast tracking as well.;)
http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumer/complaints.htm

Good luck Sharon and please keep us posted.

Di

russt2000

Hi Sharon, good advice from Di as usual.

When you lodge a complaint about the misselling of PPI ,also wirte to whoever is harrassing you about the arrears and tell them that as you are claiming the PPI was misold and is responsible for the arrears by not being able to pay out , you have put the account is into dispute and that they are to stop bothering you.

if they keep up there are letters to send stick your ground .

russ

di3004

russt2000 wrote: »

Hi Sharon, good advice from Di as usual.

When you lodge a complaint about the misselling of PPI ,also wirte to whoever is harrassing you about the arrears and tell them that as you are claiming the PPI was misold and is responsible for the arrears by not being able to pay out , you have put the account is into dispute and that they are to stop bothering you.

if they keep up there are letters to send stick your ground .

russ

Good point Russ in regards of the harassment, I'm sure there are also templates for this type of thing as well, these can be sent to them to telling them to stop ringing, and if they continue to do so is report to the OFT.
Again though Sharon post on the debtwannabe thread on this, they will post the templates you require for this on there.;)

marshallka

ANother point here is if the loan was "joint" with your ex then if you have to request a SAR from them then both would have to sign to receive information relating to the other otherwise anything relating to your ex would be omitted. In fact any correspondence to FP would need both of your approval I would think. They once said to me (our loan was joint and the PPI joint life and single sickness, accident, unemployment) that they would deal with my hubby as he was first named. We just argued that the loan was joint and the loan that paid the PPI was joint.

Also another point here is most probably you cannot cancel the PPI cause the 5 years it covered you for are now up. Although you are still paying it (cause it was a loan coupled with your original one and for the full term) your actually policy is done and dusted. Its probably just the "loan to pay the PPI" that is now running although even more worthless to you now as it is covering nothing really.

di3004

marshallka wrote: »

ANother point here is if the loan was "joint" with your ex then if you have to request a SAR from them then both would have to sign to receive information relating to the other otherwise anything relating to your ex would be omitted. In fact any correspondence to FP would need both of your approval I would think. They once said to me (our loan was joint and the PPI joint life and single sickness, accident, unemployment) that they would deal with my hubby as he was first named. We just argued that the loan was joint and the loan that paid the PPI was joint.

Also another point here is most probably you cannot cancel the PPI cause the 5 years it covered you for are now up. Although you are still paying it (cause it was a loan coupled with your original one and for the full term) your actually policy is done and dusted. Its probably just the "loan to pay the PPI" that is now running although even more worthless to you now as it is covering nothing really.

Glad you posted on that Marshallka in regards of the ex.;)

sharonlouise

Thank you all so much for all your replies, it is honestly so helpful. The FP arrears dept rang me again today and said that if I give all my financial details, they will give a 3 month break from hastling me about the arrears and then combine them into the loan thereafter, which of course will go into a payment on top of £708 oh acutally £709 (because it has just gone up) which I honestly can't afford. She clarified that the arrears were caused in the Months of Oct - Nov 08 (when the PPi would not pay out). However, going back to Marshalka's note, another loan was taken out as a top up in 2006 and I thought that the PPI was meant to cover the whole length of the loan (which was taken over 15 years)? The fact remains that the policy is costing me £128 extra on top of the loan and I am sure that they cannot keep charging this. I thought that you could cancel any kind of insurance policy? When you said about the being in joint names with the ex, I too, had that where they only every contacted me as first name on the policy (I honestly never knew that would matter) When I said that they would have to chase him for it, they got very nasty and said it was was my responsibility to ensure the money is paid, so I was in a lose, lose situation, they wouldn't pay out on the policy and I was out of work.

I have today managed to get an appointment with the CAB for next Wednesday and then will follow up on all your very helpful advice and hopefully theirs.

marshallka

sharonlouise wrote: »

Thank you all so much for all your replies, it is honestly so helpful. The FP arrears dept rang me again today and said that if I give all my financial details, they will give a 3 month break from hastling me about the arrears and then combine them into the loan thereafter, which of course will go into a payment on top of £708 oh acutally £709 (because it has just gone up) which I honestly can't afford. She clarified that the arrears were caused in the Months of Oct - Nov 08 (when the PPi would not pay out). However, going back to Marshalka's note, another loan was taken out as a top up in 2006 and I thought that the PPI was meant to cover the whole length of the loan (which was taken over 15 years)? The fact remains that the policy is costing me £128 extra on top of the loan and I am sure that they cannot keep charging this. I thought that you could cancel any kind of insurance policy? When you said about the being in joint names with the ex, I too, had that where they only every contacted me as first name on the policy (I honestly never knew that would matter) When I said that they would have to chase him for it, they got very nasty and said it was was my responsibility to ensure the money is paid, so I was in a lose, lose situation, they wouldn't pay out on the policy and I was out of work.

I have today managed to get an appointment with the CAB for next Wednesday and then will follow up on all your very helpful advice and hopefully theirs.

If the loan is in BOTH names then you are both liable for any payments. As the PPI is on the agreement (it becomes a loan when it reaches the agreement and nothing more or less) then this also is where you are BOTH liable for it. Them telling you that its purely your responsibility is utter tosh and they are just scaremongering here.

ANd also you CAN cancel the policy and them telling your otherwise is also wrong. I would tell them you are complaining to the FSA about this matter as they are not treating you fairly. I think the only reason why they say you cannot cancel is that they know your 5 years it covered is now up and all you are actually paying for is the loan and interest that paid the PPI. They will not state this to you are this then gives you ammunition to fight them back as you did not know that it only covered 5 years and not the full term of the loan.

I would now get your complaint in for misselling if you have not done so already. We can all help you through it and you WILL win. You will though need your ex's permission on this. Do you still talk?

You have to remember 99% of complaints against FP win so that says something.

If you do go for misselling on this then firstly make sure you did not use a broker to get the loan and PPI as if you did, you make the complaint against the broker.

sharonlouise

Thank you so much for this marshallka, I really really appreciate your help. The only thing I would object to with telling him, is he has left me in such a financial mess and didn't care about this FP loan, so he would benefit and I know it sounds bad, but he has taken mostly everything else, if just doesn't seem fair. to be honest they never mention him (suppose they wouldn't if they make me solely responsible!! When I was out of work and the two months arrears occurred, I asked him for help and he wouldn't, hence the arrears.

melorablack

sharonlouise wrote: »

Thank you so much for this marshallka, I really really appreciate your help. The only thing I would object to with telling him, is he has left me in such a financial mess and didn't care about this FP loan, so he would benefit and I know it sounds bad, but he has taken mostly everything else, if just doesn't seem fair. to be honest they never mention him (suppose they wouldn't if they make me solely responsible!! When I was out of work and the two months arrears occurred, I asked him for help and he wouldn't, hence the arrears.

If you win any money back I think they will have to pay half to your ex because the loan is in both names, or they will pay it back to the policy holder (which can only be one of you - hopefully this is you). It depends on the type of policy but it is always one of these 2 situations.

marshallka

I really feel for you in this situation being left with the debt and trying to repay alone. Its so blummin maddening that if you do win they could pay the cheque to him too.

I have also noted that you made a complaint for misselling in November too?? Was the response that you received a final respone in the matter? If it was then you need to move quick and take this complaint to FOS as your 6 months are up really BUT state that you have been ill and stressed too at having all this loan left for yourself to pay and see what FOS say. If it was not a final response then I would write back to FP and tell them the complaint still stands and that you have been ill (hence the arrears) and see whether they will send a final response to you now and then if they still say "no" take to the FOS. You really do need help here and QUICK cause there are time limits on these kind of things.

I wish you all the luck in the world and please ask if you need any more help here. We are all rooting for ya!!

If you win then I am sure that there is something you can do to prove the debt has been paid solely by yourself and therefore the redress should be to you from when you have being paying it yourself and also the rest taken from the loan. It would ease things for you in the future repayments.