black horse again!

bigbaldy

Hello All,
I wonder if you could offer me any advice on the following?
I took a loan in january 2008 for 7k with Black Horse to purchase a new car. During protracted communications with the loan advisor over some 10 days, where I was asked to provide more information and paperwork several times, I had asked what the likely interest rate would be for the proposed loan. No answer was given,(as it would be the underwriters decision), yet the 'typical APR' advertised was 10.9%.
I was somewhat dismayed to be offered a rate of 26.5%, upon being summoned to Black Horses office. I was perfectly prepared to refuse this offer until the loan adviser told me that the rate was high because Black Horse had little information on me as a lender,(despite there being other active and up to date credit agreements on my credit file), and that provided my first six months payments were made on time, i could apply to have the loan refinanced at a preferential rate.
I had never heard of such an arrangement and asked her to reiterate this. She assured me that if my first six months payments were made on time and I applied to have the loan refinanced, it would be done at a better rate, as Black horse would now be confident of my ability to repay.
I asked what the preferential rate would be and was told it would be the typical APR, or similar to it.
Due to this and the option to pay lump sums into the loan account to reduce interest and loan term, I agreed and duly signed the paperwork.
Only a few days later, my own bank pre-approved me for up to 10k at 8.5% APR.
I considered cancelling the Black Horse agreement,(still within 14 days), but as bank interest would be front loaded,(no advantage to re-paying early), and the proposed reduction by Black Horse, I decided not to.
I made my first 9 months payments on time, (due to working away from home, it was difficult to do so sooner), and then contacted Black Horse to refinance the loan. I was then told that no such arrangement existed and that in order to reduce the payments, I would have to apply to borrow more money, over a longer period, but that there was no guarantee that this would reduce the amount of interest paid.
In short, it had become fully apparant that the initial loan arranger had lied to secure the deal,(and i suspect, her commision), and that I had now been tied into paying a high interest rate over a long period, which was never my intention.
Some six months later I approached Black Horse again to make an arrangement to refinance the loan, with the minimum additional amount, over the same period.
Despite having made all my payments on time, as the credit crunch had hit, lending policy had changed,(not my circumstances), and the early settlement figure on my existing loan, plus the minimum additional lend of £500, was now more than the maximum loan available.
I have now made 29 payments of £211.84, monthly, without fail, until a change in my circumstances, means i have missed the last three payments. In fact, the change in my circumstances occured in october last year, but I had kept pace with all my commitments until then with the sale of assets.
More recently, I have had to prioritise, and since in my opinion this loan was sold dishonestly, i have opted to keep pace with my other other commitments as a matter of neccessity; (mortgage, secured loan, credit card)

I have today recieved a default notice from Black Horse demanding the overdue payments in 2 weeks before issuing a demand for full repayment and court action.

How should I tackle them in respect of the above?
Do i have a legal leg to stand on?
I am hoping to recieve a lump sum soon, having obtained judgement against an individual who owes me a considerable amount of money, could I negotiate a reduced settlement with Black Horse?

Any ideas greatly appreciated.........

[Deleted User]

they might agree to a settlement as you are in arrears,they might not,and getting a judgement against someone isnt quite the same as getting the money.
the big mistake was not taking the lower apr loan with your own bank,even though the interest was front loaded on early settlement some would have been refunded.

aimingforadebtfreelife

This sounds very familiar with a loan I took through Blackhorse, mainly they couldnt decide about the interest rate until the very last minute and again I was promised a lower interest rate after 6 months. 6 months later - "Paid 6 months on time what about interest rate being lowered?". Reply - "Sorry Sir, we don't do that, the only way you can get a lower rate is to apply for new amount including this loan to be settled and we can see what rate it comes out at". Me - " I was told by xxxx nothing about a new loan having to be taken" Reply - " Im sorry but xxxx doesnt work here anymore so I cant comment, its not our practice to say things like that."

Its a ploy to get you to sign and as I found out unless its in writing you will get nowhere with a complaint.

My best advice is to incorporate this complaint into getting a settlement figure. I would ignore the local office manager as they in my opinion are all in this together to boost their figures for head office and go to customer complaints at their head office direct. Explain situation and ask for a settlement figure to end the matter.

Good luck