Cahoot Rip Off (merged)

h4nym

Phoenix79 wrote:

Both Natwest and HSBC do flexible loans. Natwest's are between £5k-£15k but HSBC's are only up to £5k

Thanks - have checked both out - HSBC's does indeed appear to be fully flexible, but they're even dearer than Cahoot! 15.9%!

Natwest's offering - is it really fully flexible? I didn't see the option to borrow back...

Also - both of them require a current account with them... not a major problem unless, of course, they start charging for them!

hmm...

roswell

h4nym wrote:

Not that I'm sceptical or anything!

H

OK - and what credit card doesn't charge for cash withdrawals? - Egg money (if in credit)
will allow you to fire a transfer directly into a bank account? - Egg money
and charges a sensible rate of interest to boot? - Most Life of balance cards or .. Egg money (typical 6.9%)

All depends on the amount you want, what your using it for and you wouldnt need a cash Withdraw.

Example,

M&S more card 3.9 % on life of balance expect a limit around 6 K if you have a good credit rating, Balance transfer 6 K to a egg money card (Free cash withdraws on credit balances) or transfer from egg money to current account.

Result a loan at 3.9% for life, you can pay back more when you want and min when you cant.

roswell

Suggested reading

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1094822880,81886,

Phoenix79_2

Also any of the MBNA cards (MBNA Platinum, Virgin etc) will allow transfers (curretnly 0% for 12 months) into current accounts. There will be a BT transfer fee though....usually 2 or 3%, can't remeber which.

dave2006

Egg at 7.9% APR seems to be the best. Not as flexible as cahoot, unfortunately, but offers penalty free overpayment.

mrcow

Sorry to change the subject slightly, but does anyone have any ideas what Cahoot are planning for their current a/c holders? Are they looking to close down completely? Or just the loans and mortgages divisions?

chriswuk_2

Are Cahoots fixed rate loans unaffected ?

lynzpower

Becles wrote:

I phoned Smile as I have my current account there. They've offered me a loan at 6.7%.

It's not fully flexible as I can't draw more out, but I'm happy with that as I'd rather not have any debt! I can settle early and will be charged a months interest as a penalty. I'm going for that as I think that suits my needs best at the moment.

becles, if Im not too late, check with co-operative if they will give you the same rate, thier loan you can settle early with no penalty. Additionally the post office do a loan settled with no penalty too- although the APR wasnt as good as the one i was offered last week with the cooperative.

Ginger_lady

Hi All,

I'm so glad that other people are talking about Cahoot's disgraceful behaviour regarding the short notice for the huge hike in their interest rates for flexible loans as I am.

I would really appreciate some feedback on any conversations anyone's had with Cahoot about this. I phoned on Monday night and asked for some explanation on why the sudden increase and was told it was to 'drive more business to Abbey' and when I asked for more details I was told that that was all they could tell me.

I also tried to find out how my monthly repayments would be affected and was told that I wouldn't have to pay any more each month, even though the interest rates have gone up by so much. Can this be true?

So - has anyone had a decent explanation of why they are doing this, and is it true that monthly repayments will not increase as a result?

Thanks.

clarab_3

Ginger_lady wrote:

Hi All,

I'm so glad that other people are talking about Cahoot's disgraceful behaviour regarding the short notice for the huge hike in their interest rates for flexible loans as I am.

I would really appreciate some feedback on any conversations anyone's had with Cahoot about this. I phoned on Monday night and asked for some explanation on why the sudden increase and was told it was to 'drive more business to Abbey' and when I asked for more details I was told that that was all they could tell me.

I also tried to find out how my monthly repayments would be affected and was told that I wouldn't have to pay any more each month, even though the interest rates have gone up by so much. Can this be true?

So - has anyone had a decent explanation of why they are doing this, and is it true that monthly repayments will not increase as a result?

Thanks.

Seriously - if you dont up your payments you will just pay more and more interest.

I'm pursuing a complaint with the Financial Services Authority - suggest you do too. based on the criteria they set that:

• not being given adequate notice about changes to a contract.
• unexpected or excessive charges

I have also tendered that "Forcing customers to switch to an Abbey loan represents an unfair penalty on the customer as their credit rating will take the unavoidable hit of another credit reference search against it, adversely affecting their credit rating."

Please take them up on this - the more the merrier.