Cahoot Loan

Becles

I'm in a mess with Cahoot who are now owned by Santander. I have a flexible loan which works like a credit card, where the minimum payment reduces slightly each month as the loan is paid off.

I took out a loan in my name for my husband, so he sends me the monthly payment each month as the direct debit comes from my account. (Separate finances due to his bad credit record and my squeaky clean one!)

Anyway, he changed his job and started being paid on the last working day of the month. The payment was taken on the 25th and as he's not very good at budgeting, he wanted to change the date of the payment so it also went out on the last working day of the month when he got paid.

Payment went out as planned on the 25th January, and I rang asking if the next payment could be collected on the last working day of the month from Feb onwards. I was told they couldn't collect on the last working day of the month, so she would set it up to collect on the 3rd March and from the 3rd each month after that. I said said that was fine.

March 3rd came and the payment went out as per the statement, so we thought everything was good.

On March 20th, I logged into my current account and was surprised that another payment had been taken. I rang Santander and the lady had no idea why this payment had been taken. I asked if I could have it back and she said she couldn't authorise that and she advised me to claim it back under the Direct Debit guarantee which I did. She advised the next payment would be taken on the 31st March but she didn't know why.

Nothing was taken on the 31st March or the 3rd April, so I rang up to find out what was going on. Nobody had any idea and my account was now marked in arrears as I'd claimed the 20th March payment back. They advised ringing back on the 20th April.

I rang back then and was advised nothing was set up to be collected on the 20th April and my account was still showing in arrears. They explained I should pay the payment immediately by debit card to remove the arrears. I paid up to date and was advised that the next payment was due on the 20th May. I asked if I could change that payment date, but he said he couldn't do that as I'd been in arrears and I'd have to wait until the 20th May payment was collected and then change the date.

No statement arrived in May so I rang on the 16th to say I hadn't had a statement and asked how much they were going to collect on the 20th. I was advised the system had suspended my account, and no statement had been produced and they had no idea how much my monthly payment would be. I was advised that it might still be collected on the 20th, but if not, ring back and find out what was going on.

Nothing was collected so I rang back on the 20th and was advised that the system still hadn't updated itself and my account was still showing as suspended. I asked if I could pay something by card while I was on the phone, but she said the system will not accept card payments while accounts are suspended. She said she would get "Admin" to ring me back.

Nobody has rang back and I've rang again this morning, but nobody has any idea what is going on, and nobody can sort anything out.

Any anyone else been in a mess like this, and how did you get it sorted out?

I don't want my credit report marked down for late payments, when I've been trying to pay it but they can't tell me how much I owe or take payments.

Apples2

This is quite common on here, not many believe it but you are testement to it.

when you shift a payment right, as you have done moving it form 25 to the last working day, you are effectively asking for a "Free" week (25th to 31st).

It is normal that if you wish to move the payment right, then you will have to make two payments that month to ensure there is no gap in the payment history.

Sounds like the wheels have completely fallen off the cart though, the system has been poked and fallen to bits.

Your priority is to ensure you make payments on time, every time. Quite how you can achieve this is the account is suspended is anyones guess.
These would have to be manual payments until they can get their preverbial in one sock and push a regular payment date into the system.

The worse news is you may have late/missed payment markers on your credit file already so keep an eye on your credit file.

Good luck to you.

Becles

Thanks - they never explained at the time about the two payments thing.

When the 20th March payment was taken, the lady had no idea why that had been charged, hence I claimed it back as it seemed like a mistake, but perhaps that was correct.

However when I paid in April by card, the man said I was fully up to date then?!

Confused.com