Extortionate Loan!

Beebe

Hi There,

I have just been chatting to my parents and got light of a loan situation they are in and it left me astounded!!!

I have got together some rough information which i need to confirm but these figures and dates are quite accurate i believe.

on 6th February 1990 my folks took out a secured loan of £5,000 for home improvements over about 5 years. I have no idea at present what the agreed interest rate was i am in the progress of putting a file together.

They missed a lot of payments in the first year or two and almost lost the house. ( When they did almost lose the house they had to give them a lump sum of £3000 to get it back. (This was roughly 1999). They also paid a lump sum of £4000 in 1992. We have a breakdown of all the payments missed and received.

Well they have asked recently for a settlement figure (15th Sept 2006) and it comes in at.... £52,103.99!!! At this settlement figure they had already paid £26,043.61!

How can this be justified?! Is there any legal action people would advise us to take or people to contact. They are still paying £190 a month to clear the debt.

I would like to hear anyones thoughts on this matter. I am looking to help my folks clear this once and for all.

Many many thanks.

Paul

crazyfj

I would ask them for a copy of the original agreement, then a break down of the account including all charges, payments and interest.

You may be able to claim charges back from them (you did'nt say who it was).

Its a start and will give you more info

Beebe

To follow this up i now have the agreement....

Total Amount of Credit to be provided: £5625
240 payments of: £135.93
Lenders annual interest rate of 33%

The charge for credit is £27,000

Total amount payable: £32,625

Here is the last page of statement. Does this mean they are £6,000 in credit!?

ceebeeby

Hi Beebe, it does look in credit to my very un-knowledgable eyes .... which company is it, is it a widely known organisation. Can you not get on the phone to them and ask them the exact situation? (((Hugs to Mum & Dad))))

Beebe

Thanks

The company is Draegilt Limited. Cant really find much about them online

If you do call them they just answer the phone... "Hello". So professional!

ceebeeby

.... Just Googling them now .....

DRAEGILT LIMITED

Company No: 02097733
Registered Office:
Incorporated: 09/02/1987 ANTHONY BUTCHER & COMPANY
SUITE A HEREFORD HOUSE
OFFA STREET
HEREFORD
HR1 2LL


Company Type: Private Limited
Report Status: Full Data
Accounts Type: Small Company
Latest Accounts to: 31/10/2005
Latest Return to: 19/09/2006

Do you know anyone that works in a large Corporate Organisation that you could ask to do a risk assessment on this company for you. The fact that in 2007 there is absolutely no advertisement for them whatsoever on the internet?? However, they have kept up to date with their annual reports etc. change of directors ....

How did your parents come across this company - was it advertised? Do they have the original paperwork?

Beebe

They found them in a paper advertisment. The address on this paper work we have from september is in Coventry.

Don't think i know anyone who can do a risk assessment, but the fact they have this signed agreement means they r liable. Tho i dont know where they got £52k from considering they have already paid £26k....

May try and track down a CAB thats open tomorrow.

Thanks for ya help so far, much appreciated.

tyllwyd

It seems quite strange - are there court fees etc that have been added on? Why are they paying £190 per month when the original agreement was for £135? It does look from that one page of the statement as if they are in credit.

I agree you need to get someone at the CAB to look at it. And I wonder if you might be able to find a solicitor who would be willing give you an initial consultation free to tell you if there is any chance of taking it to court to get the agreement amended to something more reasonable.

Beebe

Thanks for your reply.

There is no clear inclusion of court fees, its not very clear at all really. Do you have any idea if there is a term for the sort of consulation they would need? A certain type of solicitor?

firesidemaid

hi there.

really sorry to hear about your parents predicament. i have heard of similar situations with banks/loan companies where these kind of agreements from several years ago have been deemed as unfair or almost illegal, and have been cancelled or deemed settled.

i do think the CAB would be able to help you/them with investigating this - it does sound a phenomenal amount of interest.

best of luck to you all and let us know what you find out.:undecided

scotsgirl_3

Ok, from that statement it looks like the balance is going up each month, rather than down! you need to have a more detailed look at the agreement and see if it mentions how they are calculating and adding the interest as it would appear from the statement that they are adding it monthly _ hence why the balance is not going down by the amount your parents are paying> I could be looking at it incorrectly but I think they are actually adding more interest than your parents are paying each month, so the balance is increasing month on by 99.60.

it does look like they are running in a " prepaid" state from what you've shown.

As i say i might be looking at this totaly wrong, its hard to tell from one page!