help required, miss sold loan term!

AndieJagain

just over 5 years ago I had replacement windows fitted, the loan agreement was sold to me verbally as over a 5 year term, consequently, I sought alternatives over the same period and couldn't find anything to beat it.
everything seemed to go smoothly until this year, when the payments should have stopped, but they didn't. I cancelled direct debit and got the standard nasty 'you've not paid' letter.
After a few letters between it has emerged that on my original copy the agent has left the number of payments blank (mine is the bottom copy - should I not have the TOP copy?, to avoid such sneaky changes?) but when sending it in to the loan company, he has filled it in as 120, so they are expecting payments for another five years.
Clearly, had this been made clear to me from the off, I would have taken up one of the other loans I had had quotes from (possibly even another window firm) as they where only around £10 per month dearer over the supposed 5 year, and obviously would have worked out better than paying for 10 years!.
So, where do I go from here?, the agreement I had has been met on my side, as in I've paid the set amount for the 5 year period I was told, but the agreement that reached the bank still has 5 years left to pay? Currently they're sticking by the 10 years term that is on the agreement they hold.
I realise it's now a little late for me to have noticed the blank box, but surely the agent going away and filling in 120 after agreeing 60 with me should be as binding as if I chose to write 12 on my copy.

any ideas?

grumbler

AndieJagain wrote:

... if I chose to write 12 on my copy.

I think you mean 60....
And what were the amount and the monthly payments?

For example, £5000 10% over 120 months is £66 p.m. Do you need a degree in mathematics to see that £66*60=£3960<£5000?

PamVegas

I'd like to see what is replied to this. The same thing happened to my OH before we met, when we joined our finances we sorted it out but the payments had hardly made a dent. He was told that he would receive a payment book and could make overpayments when he could to clear it quicker. In reality the apr was excruciating and the penalty for early payment was ridiculous. Wasnt a particular double glazing firm was it with a daft bloke in the advert?

I would assume they have a breach of contract somewhere in that the agreement was changed without your acknowledgement. Hopefully someone else can help a bit better.

AndieJagain

grumbler wrote:

I think you mean 60....
And what were the amount and the monthly payments?

For example, £5000 10% over 120 months is £66 p.m. Do you need a degree in mathematics to see that £66*60=£3960<£5000?

no, the supposed agreement was 60 yes, my point being that it then being changed to 120 without my knowledge, would be as ridiculous as if I was to put 12 payments in, you see, I could quite easily have a copy of the agreement that had 12, 24, 36, or even one in the number of payments box. wouldn't make it binding though would it.

and no pam, it wasn't mister 'You buy one you goet one free, i said....' thought I do recall the salesman bad mouthing that firm (who I didn't go to as they done a dreaful job of my Mother's windows!).
let's just say, if you watch Rugby League, you'll come across a team with the same name. what area does/did your partner live in?, I'm in Leeds, just wondering if it could be the same salesman? ('HD')

AndieJagain

grumbler wrote:

I think you mean 60....
And what were the amount and the monthly payments?

For example, £5000 10% over 120 months is £66 p.m. Do you need a degree in mathematics to see that £66*60=£3960<£5000?

no, the supposed agreement was 60 yes, my point being that it then being changed to 120 without my knowledge, would be as ridiculous as if I was to put 12 payments in, you see, I could quite easily have a copy of the agreement that had 12, 24, 36, or even one in the number of payments box. wouldn't make it binding though would it.

and no pam, it wasn't mister 'You buy one you goet one free, i said....' thought I do recall the salesman bad mouthing that firm (who I didn't go to as they done a dreaful job of my Mother's windows!).
let's just say, if you watch Rugby League, you'll come across a team with the same name. what area does/did your partner live in?, I'm in Leeds, just wondering if it could be the same salesman? ('HD') - i got the same payment book spiel

AndieJagain

bumpitty bump

AndieJagain

amount was £3400, repayments £70., 70 x 60 =4200.
'payments are low because we pay our commission off the top'
70x120 = £8400 !!!!!.

payless

Does sound dodgy - Did the agreement not also show the total amount to be repaid ( capital & interest)

grumbler

AndieJagain wrote:

amount was £3400, repayments £70.,70x120 = £8400 !!!!!.

This corresponds to 22% APR.

70 x 60 =4200

This means that you have already paid them back the capital and the interest corresponding to 9% APR.
Does you copy show APR? If it shows neither APR nor the total amount repayable, you have serious grounds for complaining and insisting in the loan to be regarded as settled. 9% is not a bad rate for both you and the loan company ...

AndieJagain

apr is shown as 20%

no total amount shown.

as for APR rate, I'v had banks, aswell as the salesman/agent here, state that they can be missleading, or unclear, and to look at the payments!.

trippy

I would take it further. If he has filled in the top copy AFTER he gave you your copy, that seems like deliberate fraud. Could you phone the Trading Standards and ask what your rights are? In the meantime I wouldn't pay anything else to them. They are more likely to sort it out if you owe them money. If you continue to pay, they'll ignore you.

I had a slightly similar experience with a loan from a bank years ago. It was a short term loan for me but over a 5 year term to keep the payments low. When I asked to pay it back they wanted to add on the interest for the whole 5 years. I argued that the person who'd sold it to me knew it was for a short term and should have pointed this out to me. They ended up not charging me the extra interest.