Horrendous Settlement Figure off Welcome

Silvafox

Hi,

I posted this thread in 'loans' and was advised to put it here too...

I'm currently remortgaging and I have a secured loan from Welcome Finace that will obviously need to be paid off as it is secured to the property. Got a settlement figure and its frightening compared to what we borrowed.

Have spoken to someone at CCCS and they've told me take the original agreement down to the CAB. Just wondered what the knowledgable people on this site made of the situation and whether I stand any chance at all of lowering the figure?

Here are the figures:

Loan taken out for £15k in November 2004

Secured via a Unilatteral Notice added to the land registry (which means they didn't need to get permission off my mortgage lender)

Taken over 10 years

Unsure of APR until I dig paperwork out, but the monthly payment is £426 per month

To date we haven't missed any payments at all any months that we have struggled, we still paid off the interest itself which was £318 per month.

In total up to this month we've paid around £10-£11k back.

Settlement is over £23k......

So if we pay the settlement then we've paid approximately £34k back for a £15k loan in just over two years.....

I've heard things in the press about huge amounts being paid back on loans like this. I'm not disputing the fact we took the loan out etc and am not trying to get out of paying, obviously, its just that £23k seems extremely unfair in comparison to what we borrowed.

I would be willing to offer £15k, equiavalent to the original amount, as full and final, which means they still would of made over £10k in just two years in interest.

Any advice? Is the CAB the best option?

Any use in calling Welcome and offering less as full and final?

Thanks.

PS: I will update the thread with actual APRs when I get the paperwork out.

GirlRacer_2

Did you take out payment protection on the loan?

Silvafox

GirlRacer wrote: »

Did you take out payment protection on the loan?

I did as the woman said we had to, which is illegal I now understand, but about a year ago I went in and removed it from the loan. This is an interesting thing too as I'm sure I remember the balance being around £23k then and they said removing the PPI would put about £k back into the loan....over a year later and the figure is £23k still?

I've asked them today for a full account statment from day one up until this month and another settlement figure so I can take the lot, including the agreement to see someone for advice. I have until June to get anything done about it.

Its the biggest financial mistake of our lives and we're out of the 'thick of it' now but this is a final kick in the b@lls and its a big one... and its the last thing we needed!

GirlRacer_2

Tell me about it. I made the mistake of going with Welcome, I did the same as you, had a secured loan for £15K. I only had the loan a few monthsand repaid it. My settlement figure was about £18K from what I can remember.

Wait until you get the paperwork from Welcome and see whats what. Check the PPI has been cancelled and if it hasn't argue the case with them. See how much the repayment figure will be then.

Hopefully some of the more knowledgable folks will be along soon and be able to advise you better.

Silvafox

GirlRacer wrote: »

Tell me about it. I made the mistake of going with Welcome, I did the same as you, had a secured loan for £15K. I only had the loan a few monthsand repaid it. My settlement figure was about £18K from what I can remember.

Wait until you get the paperwork from Welcome and see whats what. Check the PPI has been cancelled and if it hasn't argue the case with them. See how much the repayment figure will be then.

Hopefully some of the more knowledgable folks will be along soon and be able to advise you better.

Its a horrible feeling when you realise you're screwed like this. The worst bit is that we borrowed the same as you and have already paid back over £10k AND now have to pay £23k!

GirlRacer_2

Welcome Finance are absolutely awful. I can remember when I phoned them for my loan, I knew I only wanted to borrow £15K but they kept pushing me and pushing me to borrow more. I was absolutely deperate at the time but would never resort to using them again. I still get letters and phone calls from them occasionally.

I was lucky enough to find myself in a position to pay it off a few months after taking the loan out, but find a few posts on here from people who have been screwed by them.

stokegal

I totally agree, Welcome Finance are just back street loan sharks with fancy advertising. I took out a loan with Welcome in Dec 2005 for £2k, they offered me an extra £1k last December and I regret ever taking it, I understand that nobody held a gun to my head but my APR is at 55.4%:eek: :eek: That is shocking and I would advise anyone to stay away from them

crossleydd42

Just a look at their Home Page is enough to make you want to puke!

Personal Loans 59.3% APR - it's daylight robbery

System

We had a consolidation loan with First Plus of 30K over 25 years we had been paying the loan for 2 years at £280pcm. We sold the house, made 30K but, they wanted an extra 10K to remove the charge from the property and this is where out problems started to go down hill. I hope Martin uncovers some illegality with these extortionate charges and we can claim some of it back (Hope springs eternal!). I feel for you. Lenny

chick-chick

Interesting post...... at some point during this year, we are looking to pay off my OH's Welcome Finance loan. I was hoping for a low settlement figure if we pay the loan in full, but it looks doubtful now Which makes me wonder if we should even bother paying it all off, or just keep making the monthly payments

smashedbooboo

Morning peeps. There is a huge thread on CAG about welcome. They are soooooooooo not good. I bought a car through them. you should see the 15.00 they have added on for phone calls. They used to ring 2 or 3 times a day. And 25.00 for home visits just to ask when i would be paying my next instalment on my loan. And that was just before it was due each month. I took the ppi off my loan just after i took loan out. But oddly only after being on here and CAG i have noticed my payments went down but the original figure stayed the same. I should have paid it off by now. But it seems i have another year to. I mean !!!!!!. I dont think so. Check your agreement with a fine toothcomb. Good luck with this hun. I think its outragous what they are asking you for.