New to all this! Welcome Finance-PPI claim, loan agreement questions?

michmain

Hi,

I'm new to all this and wonder if anyone has any experience or advice. Since stumbling across the information on this site I decided to contact Welcome Finance about a loan I took out in 2003 with which I knew I had been missold PPI.

I sent a request for information but then decided to ring and check if I could find out anything over the phone. The woman was very helpful and told me the policy numbers of the PPI and also a life insurance policy I didn't even know about! She told me I just needed to fill in a claim form and send it in and then they would look at it. This I have done.

However, today (obviously following my request for information) I have received a copy of my loan agreement. The loan I originally took out was in March 2003 (confirmed by woman at Welcome,) however this is a copy of an agreement of a renewal loan which evidently I took out in August 2003 (I don't recall doing this but it is my signature so I obviously did.)

The first thing that is odd is that the repayment on the loan agreement is for £177.71 but I was paying £180.76 a month. I know it was £180.76 because I can go back through my bank statements and see my direct debits to them. Does anyone know the reason this might have happened? Should I query it?

Also, when I spoke to the woman she said my PPI on my loan was around £440 and was over a 24month period. The PPI on this loan agreement is for £915.74 and is included in the total loan amount with a repayment period of 36months. As this is a renewal loan, would they have paid off the PPI of the first loan and added it to the PPI of the new one or would the PPI have been included in the 'amount used to settle existing loan agreement?'

Finally (thank you if you've got this far!!) it doesn't state anywhere what the actual cost of the credit is...there is no breakdown of the amount of interest which would be due on the loan or the PPI and life insurance. The only financial information on the agreement is;

Amount used to settle existing loan agreement: £1214.04
New cash: £1500
Familycare(?!?): £175
PPI: £915.74
Acceptance fee: £75
Total amount of loan: £3879.78
APR: 44.7% (ouch!)
Rate of interest: 3% a month
Estimated repayment period: 36months

Is this normal? Should I have a cost of credit breakdown? Or should I just be able to work it out from the interest rate etc.

Thank you for any advice or information.

Michelle

amersall

Hi,first of all,the Total amount of loan: £3879.78 is the loan, ppi,family care,what you borrowed and interest.
It is not set out very well is it?and " estimated repayment period"?,think this means it may take you longer to repay than the 36 months..

Amount used to settle existing loan agreement: £1214.04,

this will have included the remaining ppi from the other loan (less any rebate),you really need to get the details of that loan,as you are owed ppi that you paid on this to the date you re loaned.

I dont know why the monthly payment differs,other than it can fluctuate.

Sorry i couldnt help more.

michmain

I'm glad it's not just me that finds it hard to understand! I wonder if they still have the first loan agreement, the woman on the phone obviously had the information but I guess it's whether they have anything in writing, it was a long time ago.

Maybe I will try calling them again in the morning and see what they say?

amersall

I would,that loan was repaid with this one,they surely have info regarding this.

Good luck and let me know how you get on.

michmain

Ok, spoke to Welcome. It's all very confusing, they say that the loan agreement they have sent me shows as not executed on their system and apparently they have another loan agreement without the PPI that was in fact the renewal loan in place.

They say the repayments were £135 a month which match the loan agreement they have. Annoyingly I only have bank statements of the last three payments (it's as far as I can go back on my online banking - why didn't I know about this last year?!?!) which shows £180.76 a month.

So, they are sending me all the paperwork of the actual renewal loan which took place as well as the original loan, plus everything we discussed in writing and a claim form (as they couldn't find the one I'd sent in for the original loan.)

I wish there was some way of getting my old bank statements....wish I'd kept hold of them! Would just be nice to check if the payments were £135 as they say!

amersall

The statements you have,is the account number there,does it match the loan number?,if it does,send copies of these to them and ask for clarification of the increase in the monthly payment.

If the account number is not there,go on your dd list in internet banking and this will show the account number,if it matches,then when you get clarification of this being the correct loan and why the payment is higher,then give FOS a ring and put a complaint in.

Your bank may help you with statements,they may charge,but at least you will know what you paid.

This is weird !! you get a loan,the monthly payment is £xxx but you pay more??.

amersall

Mind you,this is Welcome we are talking about,they seem to be underhand with interest.

michmain

Thanks for replying. Unfortunately the direct debit no longer shows on the direct debit list, as it's so old. The bank say they don't have any statements further back than seven years, which makes sense. It's a shame, I'm not sure I'll get to the bottom of it, wish I'd noticed earlier!

Welcome are sending me statements of the payments I made anyway, so I'll see if they match up with the small amount of information I've got from my bank statements.