welcome finance

splash112

hi i got a loan from welcome finance on june 2008 for 2000 plus 1000 interest.

repayments were 165.03 and now they are 175.03, what happened was when i got the loan i told them i get paid every four weeks in which the rep said they would change the dates to go with when i got paid, this didnt happen, the first payment went through then another 2-3 months worth didnt.

i received a statement from them on the 7th june 2010 showing 6 months worth or payments, on the 3rd of dec 2009 my balance was £3029.03 and on the 4th jun 2010 my balance was £2833.14 (i have recieved statements in the past but i never took notice of them, my bad!).

so after paying £875.6 for that 6 month period ive only paid £195.89 towards the balance, and the total balance of the loan has only been reduced by 166.86 in 2 years!

when i look at my statement after each payment they are adding default sum fee interest £7.19 and capitalisation £111.23 this is slowly reducing as im paying £10 extra on my payments a month.

bearing in mind aswell that i have also myself missed two payments in the past, so im not sure if this has been happening form the start of the loan or not im really confused with it.

please help!!

splash112

anyone to help me??

DizzleUK

Ok.

Capitalisation is their term for interest, which is applied monthly.

Unfortunately, as you have missed a couple of payments you'll have been charged fees, and interest on these fees, plus interest on the outstanding balance. As the interest is so high with these loans you'll find the monthly payments barely reduce the balance in the early part of the agreement.

If you fall behind it is VERY difficult to get caught up again and a couple of months missed can lead to years being added to the loan repayments.

The only way to get caught up is to pay extra each month until you are back on track.

Now the thing to know is that Welcome are all but finished as a company. They no longer lend to new customers and are doing all they can to minimise losses and shore up their loan book. They have closed many of their branches over the last year or so.

If you are in a position to afford a lump sum, it may be worth writing to them to see what they would be willing to accept as a full and final settlement to clear the loan.

Be aware that because of their "sinking ship" status, they are a right pain in the !!!! to deal with and are very slow in sorting things.

If you have PPI on the loan you may be able to look into reclaiming that back and claim back the unfair charges.

There is plenty of info on Welcome if you search on Google. Other forums have whole sections devoted to Welcome and there is some excellent information there.

splash112

thanks for your reply dizzle

byebyedebt

DO you know what rate of interest you are paying. If so, you will be able to use a loan calculator to work out how long it will take to clear the loan if you make overpayments.

splash112

im not sure, ive just checked my credit file and it says opening balance was £3120 and i borrowed £2000 thats all i know really, ill have to ask them when i pay again

byebyedebt

It should be in the small print somewhere. Also check, are you paying for payment protection insurance.

DizzleUK

Chances are with Welcome it will be around the 40% mark.

insideWelcome

Splash what you saw on your credit file was your true balance ie what you borrow including insurance.

Check your paper work im sure your find a good size PPI policy on there.

Mrsteve87

Im in exactly the same situation. i fell behind 2 months and have had issues with them since december for it.

Ive tried to reach a settlement figure with them and it just as much as id pay if i were to carry the contract on

Watch your credit file carefully, they have all but ruined mine since i fell behind

Adie_McCarthy

Hi Guys,

I have recently paid off a debt with Welcome Finance. i had a outstanding balance of aroung £3,200. I offered them £1,500 lump sum to clear the debt which they accepted. When i came to calling them, i offered them £1,300 and told them that was all i could get, they accepted my offer and 3 days later i recieved a letter from them stating my balance was now £0.

However, they never updated Experian and when i checked every month, it was still showing as "defaulted". In the end, i wrote to Experian and sent them a copy of the letter Welcome had sent me, Experian then handled everything and got it sorted with "Welcome". My Experian report now says "settled" from Welcome.

If you can afford to make them offer, i would recommend doing it ASAP. I'm certain they will accept 50% of the current balance.