Hitachi Capital Advice Needed ASAP!!

Hoopylass

Apologies in advance as this is a long one....:(

Ok...
Nov 2008 i took out a finance agreement of £4455, it had a 6 mth deferrel period and then 41 payments to make.

April 2009 - receive letter informing me deferrel period was coming to an end, I had received some money in a will so I called the company to find out what would happen if I paid £2000 towards the loan. I was told that this would effectively reduce my loan to £2455 and therefore make my payments around £90 per month instead of £174.41 which i cannot afford to pay. So i was quite happy with this and was told payment would restart in april 2010.

Dec 2009 - I receive an annual statement stating that my balance at nov 09 was £4278. I was shocked as this was not what i had been told previously..so I contacted them and was told that the info that I had been given in april was incorrect there was no way that the payments could be changed as this was not in their terms and conditions. I was fuming and asked them to trace the call I had made and meanwhile i would be making an official complaint. So in Jan I got a letter from them saying that they had "found" the call and the advisor did not say that my payments would be reduced.

Sooo... (apologies I just want all the facts down here)

Jan 2010....I contacted them again and asked for a settlement figure. I was told that as of 15th jan it would be £3447.96 but my account was still £800 in credit so I asked for a rough estimate as to what it would be in april and the advisor said £2630. So i have transferred money from my credit card to pay this off.

March 2010...I phone up to obtain a settlement figure and was told it would be £3550!!!! I explain what I was told in january and surprise surprise they cant find the call.

I am at my wits end with this company and have no idea what to do...I have this money sitting in an account to pay off, im tempted to pay it and cancel direct debits so that they cant take any more money off me but I know thats wrong.

If anyone has any advice...please please help me!:(:(:(

jonesMUFCforever

With this type of credit it is usual for them to front load the interest and apply it in full to the loan if it is not repaid before the end of the concessionary period.
So your part payment would have not saved you a penny in interest.
With hindsight you should have had everything in writing - never trust what anybody tells you over the phone.

I would now write it all down as per your post - keep it as short as possible - instigate a formal complaint and see what they come back to you with.

Hoopylass

I made a complaint and received a letter stating that the advisor told me that only the april payment would be £90 when that was not what he said at all. The said that the complaint would not be taken any further.

jonesMUFCforever

Hoopylass wrote: »

I made a complaint and received a letter stating that the advisor told me that only the april payment would be £90 when that was not what he said at all. The said that the complaint would not be taken any further.

Write again and get them to confirm that that is their final word on the matter - mention you will be taking your complaint to FOS.

CLAPTON

its all a little unclear

you borrowed 4455 in Nov 2008
you had 6 months payment holiday .. they will be adding interest for this period however

what was the APR?

what payments did you then make
2000 in april 2009?
the now much a month?

Hoopylass

CLAPTON wrote: »

its all a little unclear

you borrowed 4455 in Nov 2008
you had 6 months payment holiday .. they will be adding interest for this period however

what was the APR?

what payments did you then make -
2000 in april 2009?
the now much a month?

Like i said in my 1st post ..... after the defferal period ended i paid £2000, the person on the phone said this would place my account in credit and i would make no further payments until April 2010 where my payments would be £90 per month. I then received my annual statement and i phoned the company and was told my payments would be £174 per month.
The APR is 11.7 per annum

nomoneytoday

I can't see how they get zero payments for a year, and then £90 a month for the rest of the debt? Something doesn't add up.

If you pay £2000 as a single amount, and then £90 from April 2010 until Oct 2012 the total payable is £4700. On a debt of £4455 the original total repayment was £7150 ?

Hoopylass

I confess to being a bit clueless about things like this so when I phoned up in april 2009 I was looking for advice from the company and I assumed that the advice I was given at the time was correct.

This is my statement which I received in dec 09
Credit agreed - £4455
APR - 11.7 PA

nov 08 - opening balance £6278.76
april 09 - credit of £2000 - balance £4278.76
nov 09 - closing balance £4278.76

I didnt know that the interest was added at the beginning of the loan as opposed to spread over the term.
I was given the wrong advice the 1st time I called them to make the payment of £2000, yet when I complained they stated that they found the call and the operator told me that only aprils payment would be £90 when this was wrong.

I have been on the phone to them again this morning and they have said they are trying to trace the call I made in january as I was given a settlement figure, yet when I called on friday the settlement figure I was given was different.

What do I do?

Ok...I have now confused myself....if the interest is added on at the beginning of the loan (hence the opening balance of £6278) then am I still being charged interest each month?

CLAPTON

this is how is should work

initial loan of 4455 in Nov 2008
six months of interest = 6 x 4455 x 11.9% /12 = 260 approx
so by april/ may 2009 you now owe them 4715
but you paid then 2000 so your balance reduces to 2715

you paid nothing for 12 months (ish ) so interest would have been
12 x 2715 x 11.9 %/12 = 318
so you now should owe about £3,032 ish

I haven't include compound interest and they can add a couple of months interest as an early settlement charge so I guess a settlement figure should be about 3,300 - 3,500 before you paid any more money.


I am assuming
1. that overpayments (i.e. you 2000 ) are allowed and go to reducing the debt for interest calculations
2. there were no penalties imposed for making no payments for a year


I would suggest you ask for a written settlement figure and statement of the account so you can see whats what.

Hoopylass

Thank you clapton...your post makes soo much sense however when I called in january i was told that the settlement figure would be £3447.96 however my account was £810 in credit...how does that apply now?

CLAPTON

when they said your account was in credit presumably they meant that if you had stuck to the original deal (and not paid in £2000) then you would have had to make a certain number of payments... maybe the difference between those payments and your actual 2000 means you were in 'credit' from their point of view.
So it looks as if they are treating your 2000 simply as advance payments.

So a settlement figure of round 3,300-3400 ish seems about right