First Plus PPP Loan

sallysp

Hello, I'm new to the site and have decided to try and take control of where our finances are bothering us!:)
We have a secured loan from First Plus. At the time it seemed like the right thing to do and we were desperate. Running alongside the loan is a Payment Protection Policy Loan which adds a huge amount to the monthly repayment. Looking back I don't remember it ever being sold to us as optional, just that it was part of what we were looking for.
So basically what I was wondering is this the same as PPI and therefore could possibly claim back as missold? Or have we somehow managed to get ourselves 2 loans that presumably can't be cancelled, only repaid. I feel very silly typing this... we owe lots of money and entered into it without checking things out.

src007

'Barclays FirstPlus' sold some of the worst PPI. Carol Vorderman should be ashamed for advertising for them!

The Financial Ombudsman Service have been finding in favour of the consumer 99% of the time for insurance complaints against 'Barclays FirstPlus'.

Their loan are usually 10-25 years however the PPI only covers 5 years. The PPI payments that you make, don't stop after 5 years but last for the entire time the loans running.

They also charge interest on the insurance for the the entire loan (not just five years). The total costs are ridiculous.

They also add large charges for the insurance if you settle the loan early.

I would write a complaint explaining that it wasn't made clear the PPI was optional. You could also say that the policy was unsuitable because of the interest charges and because the insurance only lasts five years.

They will probably have the telephone sales call in question but this rarely helps them!

If you have any questions about the PPI 'cashback' and how this affects a complaint, don't worry about posting on here because it can cause confusion!

amersall

Do not cancel the ppi what ever you do!!!!. Your monthly payment wont go down by the ppi monthly amount and the ppi is still on your loan to end term with interest.You want mis sell, your loan balance will reduce by the ppi amount and your monthly payment will go down by the ppi monthly amount.

Write a letter to FP saying
We believe we were mis sold the ppi on the above account number.
1)We were not told that the ppi was in effect another loan that was added to the original loan and was repayable over the loan term with interest.

2) We were not told that the ppi only covered us for 5 years, but the ppi would still be on the loan to term end with interest.

3) We were told that if we did not make a claim on the ppi ,after 5 years we would recieve the ppi as cashback, and to look on this as savings plan.. But were not told that the ppi would be on the loan to term end with interest and the cashback of ppi would not include the interest that we paid over the 5 years.

In line with the FOS recommendations it is requested that the overall situation be restored as if PPI had never been included. This will entail:
a) A refund of the monthly payments that have actually been paid towards the overall loan in excess of those that would have been needed, if the original loan had been sold without the PPI policy;
b) Restructuring of the loan going forward so that the amount owed, the monthly repayments, the term and the charges reflect those that would have applied, if the original loan had been sold without the PPI policy.
c) In addition, interest at the rate of 8% simple per annum to any excess payments made from the time each payment was made to the point that Firstplus pays them back to us. We believe we were not given enough information on this ppi to make an informed decision. Had we known the full cost of this ppi we would not have taken it.

Unless you can prove without doubt that this PPI policy was fair, reasonable and suitable for my circumstances we will require you to rearrange the loan as if PPI had never been included on the aforementioned loan.

Send a copy of this recorded delivery and give them 8 weeks to respond. if you want to use the template letter on this site, follow this link.
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/ppi-loan-insurance#nutshell
A letter in your own words will do the same job, because if it goes to FOS you will only have to fill another template in.
Take a look at this site
http://firstpluscomplaints.co.uk/
and have your eyes well and truly opened about FP. Good luck with this and please keep us posted.

sallysp

Wow! Thank you both... I'm horrified.
I had no idea about the 5 year duration and assumed that because the loan is 15 years that this would be too. You've certainly made me determined! I remember at the time being quite upset and low and feeling that this would be the right thing for us. The employee I spoke to even wanted me to meet him in a service station on the M1 to sign the papers and hand them over to him!

amersall

sallysp wrote: »

Wow! Thank you both... I'm horrified.
I had no idea about the 5 year duration and assumed that because the loan is 15 years that this would be too. You've certainly made me determined! I remember at the time being quite upset and low and feeling that this would be the right thing for us. The employee I spoke to even wanted me to meet him in a service station on the M1 to sign the papers and hand them over to him!

That is wrong for a start!!! what a way to do business!.
Before you send your letter, was your loan through FP or another company?.

di3004

Hi Sally and welcome

I would follow the advice given as above.

And for being sold these Single 5 year loan protection policies is a complaint in itself, only protecting 5 years of a loan that may be on longer terms, where the PPI would end in 5 years you would still be paying out on the PPI for the term of the loan, yet not protected after the 5 years have passed.

In my opinion you have a good case here, so pursue the ones who set up/arranged your loan with the details given as above.
Good luck and please keep us posted.

I know there is good info on this site about mis sold ppi, "WHICH" is also another here.
http://www.which.co.uk/campaigns/personal-finance/the-ppi-campaign/mis-sold-ppi/

Single premium PPI insurance normally only lasts for five years. If your loan or finance agreement was for longer than this, did the adviser make it clear that the insurance would run out before you had finished paying for your loan or finance agreement? The adviser should also have told you that you would continue to pay interest on the insurance premium, even after the insurance expired.

sallysp

Thanks for all your responses! Have been reading the small print and am annoyed at myself that at the time I didn't take more notice of this.
The 5 year PPI period was not made clear to me at the time by the person I spoke to although looking at the small print it is hidden in Point 19 out of 21 in the T&Cs. I was under the impression that I had been dealing with First Plus but the letter from the person I spoke to is from Central Capital who I'm assuming are some kind of brokers?
I'm wondering how I can try and get them on the 'you never told me' angle when they have done, but its just well hidden.

amersall

sallysp wrote: »

Thanks for all your responses! Have been reading the small print and am annoyed at myself that at the time I didn't take more notice of this.
The 5 year PPI period was not made clear to me at the time by the person I spoke to although looking at the small print it is hidden in Point 19 out of 21 in the T&Cs. I was under the impression that I had been dealing with First Plus but the letter from the person I spoke to is from Central Capital who I'm assuming are some kind of brokers?
I'm wondering how I can try and get them on the 'you never told me' angle when they have done, but its just well hidden.

Send your reclaim letter to
Central Capital
Edward Hyde Building
2nd Floor
38 Clarendon Road
Watford
Hertfordshire
WD17 1JJ.
And read this thread.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2528487

src007

As long as the policy was sold after January 2005 you can start the complaint yourself.

Central Capital use a number of tactics to end PPI complaints.

1) They write very long 'technical' sounding rejection letters stating that you have no case. They're losing almost all complaints at the FOS, so this should be ignored.

2) They offer an 'enhanced rebate'. This sounds good but is in actual fact a very poor and mis-leading offer to settle the complaint.

3) They call persuading you to drop the complaint because you'll lose the 'cashback' if you continue. The cashback doesn't include the interest you paid on the insurance which usually adds up to many thousands of pounds.You can ask them to put any communication in writing.

4) They drag the process out for as long as possible, perhaps in the hope the consumer will die of boredom before a final outcome. In my experience they've appealed every decision thats gone against them at the FOS. So you could be in for a long wait!

Don't let this put you off because the process isn't as daunting as it might seem at the outset!

sab_100

I took mine out with FP back in 2002 and complained directly to them, they offered a very small amount back as a "goodwill gesture" but I declined it as it was a stupid amount of £250!! I went through the FOS and as the loan was for 54K ( yep you read right! I thought at the time it was better to have all my debt in one place) I had to wait for 9 months but I finally got a chq for just over £9000.
My advice is follow the instructions from Di3004 ( great advice from there!! Thank you so much!) and hang in there. It wont happen overnight especially with the amount of complaints that the FOS now have to deal with but it is worth it.

sallysp

Thank you all for your great advice. Am going to get on with the letters and will see what happens... It's very heartening to hear of so many success stories!