Blu financial services

djh77

ineed wrote: »

Found company website for Blu, seems they are also a debt management company? It's the same address.

Edit: Just reading the fine print, they're not regulated by the FSA and the loans are secured?

Quote: "Finance is subject to status, terms and conditions apply, you must be aged 18 or over to apply. Security may be required. Think carefully before securing other debts against your home. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on a mortgage or any other debt secured on it. Blu Debt Management Limited is not regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Blu Debt Management Limited is an introducer to lenders and providers of finance."

Do they want your pension to secure the loan? I'm a bit green with these companies so I hope I'm misinterpreting it.

Yeah, thats the same company. Not sure what the angle is with the pension. Never really been fully explained as to why there is a need for me to transfer it.

They are just a brokers so by that I guess they don't actually lend me the money? But, the paperwork I have from them so far indicates that the agreement would be between me and Blu, no mention of another party.

thegirlintheattic

Sounds very much like they will take possession of the pension to secure the loan - I'd walk away now and get some normal finance.

OutofDebt-NOT-OutofDanger

djh77 wrote: »

The company Blu use to deal with the pension is called Fast Pensions. They sent me an email today to say the paperwork for transfering my pension to a SIPP is on the way out, and that I have to choose what to put my investment in. At the end of the day I have no issue with transfering my pension, however I have no desire to do something illegal or risk my wife and I's retirement by losing my pension. The pension value currently stands at a little over £30k.

I guess what I am asking is does anyone have any knowledge of these two companies, Blu and Fast Pensions? Can anyone point me in the right direction of where I can find anything out?

Sounds to me as though they want to transfer your existing pension to a SIPP and then effectively lend you your own money out of the SIPP!

Not only will you pay interest on the loan, but I'm willing to bet that the management charges on (what is left in) the SIPP will be very high as well.

This company is only a broker and is likely to be getting a large kickback from whoever is looking to be managing the SIPP (which will also be taken out of your pension fund).

My advice is to run away....................As far and as fast as possible!

ineed

OutofDebt-NOT-OutofDanger wrote: »

My advice is to run away....................As far and as fast as possible!

This would be my advice to. Sounds like they are trying to secure against your pension.

KingElvis

Yep after reading about it you're effectively borrowing your own money and paying some crook for the pleasure.

I bet the guy at the top of this bent little company doesn't go round in a year old Ford, more likely a big Jag or something.

tell_it_how_it_is

djh77 wrote: »

So I do think that if they are just after it for my pension, why go to all that trouble? But, still it is still niggling me.

I guess because it must be quite lucrative. For them. Not for you.

Everyone on here seems to be of the same opinion, and some sound thoughts in the posts above, so time to take note of that big red "danger" sign methinks.

Nice second-hand Kia C'eed or sommat on the driveway soon perhaps!

poppasmurf_bewdley

As soon as I read your first post, I smelt the fish.

The further I read, the stinkier the smell became.

You cannot seriously be considering it. You are talking about losing a £30k pension pot for a second hand car.

The stink is now overpowering.

djh77

Right, I understand a little more now about how this 'loan' is likely to be funded. I am perhaps a little green about these things.

So the educated guess here is that whoever lends me the money will effectively do so out of my own pension fund. The remainder will then go into this SIPP pension thing, which Fast Pensions will manage and take a payment (rather large and out of the remaning pension fund?) for doing so.

For doing all this Blu will probably get a substantial payment from Fast Pensions.

So, as a guess, when I come to retirement age, most (or probably all) of my pension fund will have been used up on the management company?

Doesn't sound like a very good deal to me!!

Okay, well I obviously won't be going along with it. As a final note though I signed a letter of authority to Fast Pensions so they could get details (pension transfer value) from standard life. Do I need to cancel this in some way? I am guessing it would be advisable to write to standard life an tell them I now withdraw the authority given to fast pensions.

And, as for the car, I think I might stay as I am for the moment. My car is bought and paid for years ago. Nothing really goes wrong on it, and to be honest I don't really want to spend the money we have saved for a house on buying a new(er) car.

ineed

Well done, your making the right choice .

I'd write yes, better to make sure you have your bases covered.

malkyh

Well done on making in my opinion the correct and sensible choice. I took out a loan for a 2 year old Ford CMax trading in my 6 year old Clio and it was a very bad decision. To cut a long story short, the car was a nail, I ended up swapping it at a dealer for a 7 year old Fiesta (which I have to say has been a cracking little car) so now paying off an 8k loan with a car worth about half a cold fish supper.

The transferring of the pension seemed very iffy, the reasons which have now been discovered.