Capital Finance One - Payday Loan - HELP please....

magictorch1976

Hi all

Please can I seek some advice? My bank account has been cleared by Capital Finance One, (worst ever people to deal with,) and this has left me in a case of hardship i.e. no money for rent, bills etc.

During August 2010, I applied for a PDL with CFO. This was in addition to a number of other debts I had and on reflection, it was a stupid thing to do. However, when faced with the choice of eating or not, I felt I had little choice, having already explored other options.

As the end of September 2010 approached, when the loan was due for repayment, I realised that I was not going to be able to meet the repayment and after years of struggling financially, I conceded to a debt management plan with debt-line.org.uk.

Whilst going through the process of setting up the DMP, I switched banks from Barclays to RBS with a view to starting with a clean slate. This meant that the card details held by CFO were now invalid. I received a few emails from CFO advising that I was in arrears and the total debt owning ended up at £762.19.

They were contacted by Debt Line and advised of my position and in December 2010, cashed the token payment cheque from Debt Line to the value of £1. I was also aware that they cashed the first real payment of £22 on the 25th January 2011. By all accounts, this points to the fact that they accepted the DMP.

During early January 2011, I had to pay out some vet bills, totalling just over £200. This was a total and unexpected nightmare but the pet being insured, I thought I could handle the situation by applying for a further small loan, with the intention of paying it back as soon as the insurance cheque arrived.

I tried a number of websites, most of which declined. I didn’t pay a lot of attention to whom I was applying through because I was trying to do it in my lunch hours at work and speed was required rather than doing what I would normally do and check these things out carefully. Again, in hindsight stupid idea, but I was desperate and probably not thinking too clearly.

I came across payday credit dot co dot uk which on the face of it, appeared to be a “lender” not a “broker” and I entered all the usual details, (including debit card,) and submitted my application. This came back as “approved” and up came Capital Finance One’s “approval” page asking for more details. I clicked out of the website at that point thinking firstly I already owed them money and it would be irresponsible to proceed on that basis.

As it happens I never got the money from anywhere else and my vet has been rather more than understanding.

Proper payday, (rather than payday loan,) was 28th January and I logged onto internet banking, (I bank with RBS) in the morning just to confirm, as I guess we all do, that I had been paid. There was a debit card payment pending for £400. I called the bank immediately asking what this was for and they advised it was to Capital Finance One, whom had been trying to take payments since 24th January, which had all been declined. After coming off the phone to them, I noticed another payment had arrived on the screen, this time for £362.19! In essence, having been paid just 8 hours before, I was now overdrawn by £250, with no overdraft limit.

Phone calls to CFO for the next few hours proved fruitless. They never answer the phone. I tried to escalate this within the bank by speaking to their Fraud department who in essence have been useless. They tow the line that because I have an outstanding loan with the them that they are well within their rights to do this, despite me trying to impress upon them that they obtained my card details deceptively, (remember that they never had my card details originally because I my banking relationship with RBS began after entering into the DMP and CFO were never given my new card details.) Also, they accepted the fact that I was on a DMP because they cashed the cheques.

I finally got through to CFO and considering this was the first time I had spoken to them, their vision of customer service is not worth writing on toilet paper, i.e. they have none. I won’t go into details other than I found the “call centre” operative I spoke to the most common and useless girl in the whole world and her supervisor even worse. They insisted the loan was settled in full and that they would not consider refunding any part of it to me. I tried to impress the whole DMP thing on them and that I had never proceeded with my application but because I had “applied for more credit,” this obviously gave them the right to clear my account because it’s in their terms and conditions! I can’t pay for anything. My regular payments are all going to bounce and RBS will no doubt charge me for the privilege.

My questions really I guess are:

1. Is the fact that they can apparently do this and it’s in their “terms and conditions” an unfair contract term and;
2. Seeing as RBS Fraud won’t help me, they have suggested I speak to the VISA Debit Chargeback team, (which I can’t do until the pending transaction is claimed in full by CFO.) Do you think this is a good route to go down?

I am extremely concerned that they have deceptively obtained my card details and debited my account with no prior authorisation or warning. Surely they should not be allowed to do this? They had accepted my DMP. What I am doing outside of my DMP is none of their business and quite frankly, I am appalled at their business practices. I understand I owe them money, (with extortionate charges,) and I explained I was paying back at a rate I could currently afford. This could have changed this year with me being able to clear it at a faster rate. On another note, my card payment to my DMP has declined now which means my other creditors won’t get their fair share and I am now breaking my agreement with them. I am so angry!

Advice, pointers etc. are much appreciated.

Thank you in advance. Have a good day.

Blitz01

I am extremely concerned that they have deceptively obtained my card details and debited my account with no prior authorisation or warning.

There is no deception on the PDL people's part. You took the loan, changed banks, and tried to pay way way below the terms you signed up to. Then got caught out.
Also, you have given them authorisation to take money on a given date as you signed the forms and agreed to their T&C's.

As much as people love their pets, you have your priorities all wrong. The bills come first.

I understand I owe them money, (with extortionate charges,)

These charges are never hidden. If anything, they are clearer on Payday websites than mainstream lenders

magictorch1976

Do you work for a PDL company? What a load of rubbish - let the animal die basically?!

Constructive thoughts would be appreciated please. And as you state, I agreed to give them the money on a specific date and a specific amount, not 4 months later and a much higher amount. Think about it.

Hax

magictorch1976 wrote: »

They had accepted my DMP. What I am doing outside of my DMP is none of their business and quite frankly, I am appalled at their business practices.

To be honest, part of your DMP agreement would have been that you would not take out (or, possibly, even apply for) further credit - so, what you do IS their business.

In essence you have breached the terms of your DMP - that can, sometimes, spell the end of the DMP with all creditors cancelling any agreements and continuing to pursue your for the debts as they were prior to the DMP agreement.

You say that your DMP is with "debt line" - if that's a company that charges fee for handling your DMP, I would suggest that you look at CCCS or Payplan - both of which will provide the same service but without charging a fee. This means ALL of your contribution will go to clearing your debts.

Enfieldian

magictorch1976 wrote: »

Do you work for a PDL company? What a load of rubbish - let the animal die basically?!

Constructive thoughts would be appreciated please. And as you state, I agreed to give them the money on a specific date and a specific amount, not 4 months later and a much higher amount. Think about it.

No need to fly off the handle, although blunt, the information given is correct.

PayDay Lenders will try ANY means available to claim their outstanding balance, as you have found. A large number of them state as part of their Ts & Cs that they will NOT accept DMP solutions to pay off the loan.

It is not fraud as you willingly supplied your card details online to the broker, unluckily for you they were passed on to a company that you had an existing "relationship" with.

Really you need to be having a good look at yourself, to get into a situation whereby you have defaulted on a PayDay loan and then attempt to take out another one elsewhere is crazy.

Scotty1965

Are they one and the same or does paydayfirst just operate from the same address ?

I am quite sure a lot of people would not want to deal with CFO under any other name.

Blitz01

magictorch1976 wrote: »

Do you work for a PDL company? What a load of rubbish - let the animal die basically?!

Constructive thoughts would be appreciated please. And as you state, I agreed to give them the money on a specific date and a specific amount, not 4 months later and a much higher amount. Think about it.

No i do not work for a PDL company. But i do know how to manage my finances and prioritise what i need to pay and when.
You are only asking that, as you don't like the advice given.

It's not rubbish...it's a fact......you tried to circumvent what you signed up for, got caught out, and then decided to bleat about it.

Let the animal die? Of course not. But you can't afford pets.

CHR15

Sorry op. I could only get half way through your post before getting too wound up.

Your entire perspective is wrong. It is you who has this lot wrong. Everyone else is doing it correctly.

kangy

Your pet wouldn't have died. Your vet - as you found out after your panic - was understanding. And not only that it's what animal charities such as the PDSA exist for.

Ive_A_Horse_Outside

This has to be a wind up.

You're in a DMP but apply for more PDL's??!?

You happily give your new bank details to an anonymous website, who in turn provide them to a company you already owe money to - but you didnt relaise this because you were in such a rush - and they then take the money you already owe them. No deception there im afraid.

Just stop and think for minute. Can you afford a pet? Priorities need to be straightened out - best to have a read at the dfw board for a bit of sympathy if thats what you are looking for.

Blitz01

I agreed to give them the money on a specific date and a specific amount, not 4 months later and a much higher amount. Think about it.

If you 'thought about it', and had the intelligence to read the terms and conditions you signed up for, you wouldn't have to cry now.