Lending Stream

payday_loan_user

Last year I took out a payday loan with Lending Stream which was payable over 6 months. The original loan was for £480. The interest was huge as they usually are with these lenders - I had several other payday loans with different companies at the same time. Most of these had my bank debit card number because that is what they insisted. Towards the end of the year I got into more financial difficulty and wrote to all of the companies to arrange reduced payments for a few months.I also contacted my bank and said I had lost my debit card which was then cancelled and a new card was issued. All of the PD loan companies helped either directly or through debt collection companies. Lending Stream also agreed £10 per month and sent them regular cheques which were subsequently cashed.

All was going well until end of March when all of a sudden and WITHOUT warning, Lending Stream took out £789 out of my bank-Lloyds TSB- using my OLD debit card details! I contacted my bank and asked them why they would allow this to happen on my old bank card. They informed me that if a company still had my old card details the bank could not refuse. This alone I find totally outrageous!

I contacted Lending Stream by email and phone and was told this would be looked into.This went on for several weeks with me constantly calling and emailing. LS did reply to a couple of my emails in the first 2 weeks but only to say they had passed this onto the disputes department.After this they did not reply to any of my emails so 3 weeks ago I wrote a letter to the Managing Director enclosing copies of all my emails an threatening to report them to the OFT,BBC Watchdog etc and pursue it through a small claims court - which I have not yet done.

Sorry this message is so long but I felt it necessary to explain thoroughly!

I hope someone out there can help or advise me.

chalkie99

Here we go - think I'll put the kettle on........;)

Gothicfairy

We could go through the whole "they took money as you owed it to them " stuff but what would be the point ?

Did you have it in writing that they would ONLY take £10 for x amount of weeks, months ?

As far as I know if they have your details they will carry on trying to take money out of your account until it is paid off. That might be slightly different if they have agreed in writing to a payment plan but I would think unless that has been done there is nothing to stop them trying to get their money whenever they like.

I also don't think reporting a card as stolen can stop someone taking money from your account if that agreement /set up was done before you lost your card..reason being I really really did lose my car and my insurance (set up by phone through the card) still got paid and still to this day gets paid even though I have a new card and number.

Apples2

A payment plan is entirely voluntary. It sounds like they did give you a grace period accepting the £10 a month but I guess they got a bit frustrated that you weren't trying to resolve the issue but chose just to drip feed them a few pennies.

Your post does help to show others that you simply cannot simply take money then cancel the card, thus avoiding repaying your debt.

You will see lots of posts from people who are in the situation you found yourself in a little while ago. The replies are always advising you to close the whole bank account and open another one with a different bank.

Ironically, a lot of those posters cannot be bothered with the hassle so simply declare their card lost in the vain hope that will be them off their backs. Only to discover the same thing happen to them with cries of stealing/illegal etc.

It is normal for a warning to appear when applying that if you have any doubts about your ability to repay - NOT to apply.

It may not be much consolation - but repaying £789 from a heavily defaulted loan of £480 is quite a good result.


Oh! and take it as a warning, if one has done it, the others surely can too.

payday_loan_user

Hi Gothicfairy, thanks for your quick reply. To be honest I cannot find anything in writing from them.It may have just been verbally agreed but I am still searching for a letter.I have heard though that a verbal agreement is in fact a legal contract but of course I would have to go to court and prove it.

opinions4u

payday_loan_user wrote: »

Hi Gothicfairy, thanks for your quick reply. To be honest I cannot find anything in writing from them.It may have just been verbally agreed but I am still searching for a letter.I have heard though that a verbal agreement is in fact a legal contract but of course I would have to go to court and prove it.

There is nothing contractual about a concession to allow you to pay less.

The contract here is the loan agreement. You broke it.

Saints2011

payday_loan_user wrote: »

All was going well until end of March when all of a sudden and WITHOUT warning, Lending Stream took out £789 out of my bank-Lloyds TSB- using my OLD debit card details! I contacted my bank and asked them why they would allow this to happen on my old bank card. They informed me that if a company still had my old card details the bank could not refuse. This alone I find totally outrageous!

If it was a case of simply cancelling card and re-issuing to avoid this happening then everyone would do so.

You need to contact them and request the monies back kindly and state you have been maintaining your £10.00 as discussed. If they will is another matter as you do owe the money.

payday_loan_user

I appreciate your comments in your first first paragraph.

I did ask for my money back nicely originally but this was totally ignored.I only got heavy on my correspondence after this.

RichGold

payday_loan_user wrote: »

Last year I took out a payday loan ...The interest was huge ... I had several other payday loans with different companies at the same time ... all of a sudden and WITHOUT warning, Lending Stream took out £789 out of my bank ... This alone I find totally outrageous!

You find it outrageous that a loans company who YOU borrowed money from and then refused to pay the full amount to, long after it was due, took what they were owed from your account after giving you the grace of a payment plan???
You borrowed more than you could repay. Its not the payday lenders fault they wanted their money back is it? To be fair you did spend their money previously...

As for the card, its whats called a continuous authorisation, where even if the card is canceled, the payments can continue as you gave them permission to take payments in the first place.

jonesMUFCforever

Correspond all you want even in a court - you will lose.
See it this way - you have paid off one of these monstrous loans now move on.

payday_loan_user

Yes but I am angry because they could have at least warned me they were going to take such a large amount out.