Payday loans, please avoid! also help needed

Timaintsosmart

Hi, I took out one of these silly things and unfortunately got into a little situation due to ill health. Il explain it all so hopefully it may discourage a few people thinking of using payday lenders in future. I had a £100 loan (which was reduced by £19.50 for fast payment charge which i never asked for) over a period of 30 days, Which at 365% meant £130 was repayable on my due date. A few days before my loan repayment was due i became ill and as a result i was unable to arrange to pay it. So i contacted the company to explain my situation and was rudely told that it was my mess, they wanted there money now, they dont do repayment plans and my £130 debt would be £650 in a months time if i didnt repay it all by then (unfortunately all true but what could i do). Within 3 days i repayed them what i could afford which was £95, now it is 2 weeks later and my debt is now up to £255. I have been charge £80 in overdue charges, £14 in interest and about £130 in debit charges from them constantly trying to debit my bank 3 times a day, everyday and then charging me £3 a time for the pleasure....... Right now for my question; they have informed me they will be charging me a one-off £100 charge on my 30th day overdue, this was not mentioned in my loan agreement, unlike the other overdue charges and i am wondering if this is right/legal? Any knowledge or advice is very welcome, cheers

Hannah_10

Right and legal is the second priority with a payday loans company. The first priority is stopping them hammering your bank account. You need to close your account and get anew one, with a totally unconnected bank. This guy explains better than I ever could... https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2673537

Timaintsosmart

Hi thanks for your response, I have already cancelled the card and my money is been paid in elsewhere, yet they are still trying to debit the card that no longer exists and have done for about a week after i told them and im still been charged £9 a day for this. I complained and there response was "The system will continue to try to recover funds until the full outstanding amount is repaid", I get the impression they are trying to add on all they can before the debt is passed on to a DCA

Hannah_10

Yes, they can keep debiting the card that doesn't exist as well. They use a really weird sort of thing I forget the name of, it's not like a normal card payment. It's a called something like a continuing payment authority or something. Anyway, cancelling the card will make no difference, they will still be able to dip your account. You must close it.

Timaintsosmart

Thanks for the info, much appreciated. Any ideas on the £100 charge thats not mentioned in my loan contract? surely they have to mention it as why did they bother to put the other overdue charges on the contract and not this one?

Culex

Timaintsosmart wrote: »

Thanks for the info, much appreciated. Any ideas on the £100 charge thats not mentioned in my loan contract? surely they have to mention it as why did they bother to put the other overdue charges on the contract and not this one?

I am not a lawyer and you need the help of one. Go to your local CAB.

That said, if that charge is not in the contract, it can neither be properly levied nor legally enforced.

Have you checked to see if the loan company has a Consumer Credit Licence? I did hear that, at one time, the OFT was giving them away free with packets of cornflakes, but they've probably tightened things up a biy since.

Timaintsosmart

yeah they have, i think they were one of those who got them with the cornflakes because it seems that their computer system runs the company and any real people that work there just answer phones and be rude to customers. They wont let me speak to a manager or even discuss the debt with me, Infact since ive had the debt a real person has never once contacted me in anyway wanting to know why i hadnt paid.I just get the odd automated phone message that says the same thing (Pay or we will send a DCA to your house or take you court). I will try the CAB route tomorrow and see what they have to say. Sorry for rambling on and Many thanks for your advice

Culex

If they insist on being rude to their customers, just cease calling them - put everything in writing.

They do have a postal address, don't they?

Timaintsosmart

hi,yes I only called them the once then refused to again as its a premium rate number, I sent them a letter about 10 days ago but they havent bothered to reply and any emails I send I just get the same automated response "thanks for the infomation!" with no actual acknowledgement of my question. I have told OFT, Trading Standards Consumer Direct and The financial ombudsman service of there actions but they all say they cant personally get involved in my case but they will look at their credit fitness, which i doubt they will follow up on unless they get more complaints

Culex

Timaintsosmart wrote: »

hi,yes I only called them the once then refused to again as its a premium rate number, I sent them a letter about 10 days ago but they havent bothered to reply and any emails I send I just get the same automated response "thanks for the infomation!" with no actual acknowledgement of my question. I have told OFT, Trading Standards Consumer Direct and The financial ombudsman service of there actions but they all say they cant personally get involved in my case but they will look at their credit fitness, which i doubt they will follow up on unless they get more complaints

You called a premium rate number for those onanists?

In the name of your preferred sky-fairy, why?

If you must call them, try to find a cheaper number to call and certainly not one where they get paid for prolonging the call.

Send them another letter, enclosing a copy of the first letter and send it by Recorded Delivery at the least. Recorded Delivery is only signed for on receipt (if a signature is obtained at all) and its tracking data is less comprehensive than Special Delivery; they may claim to have mislaid the contents of the letter but, with tracking data to confirm its receipt, they cannot claim (at all convincingly) never to have received it. (They can still make that claim, but they would be shewn to be liars.)

I would have expected Trading Standards, at the very least, to be able to get involved in your case, whilst the FOS may require you to exhaust the lender's complaints procedure first. As for the OFT, it has always had more of a decorative than a utilitarian aspect to it as it used to take its input from Trading Standards departments up and down the land rather than from individuals. My suspicions of regulatory capture were rather confirmed when the OFT "took on" the banks over their excessive fees and penalty charges - and cocked it up completely!

Regardless of how it may have been obtained, have you checked that this bunch of latter-day usurers actually has a valid Consumer Credit Licence?

iolanthe07

What Culex says.