Help with first plus loan

Suzyhall9024

Hi all havent posted on here for a while but would really appreciate some advice as Im fuming with first plus, brief history we took out loan with FP in 2004 for £30000 they added on near £8000 in ppi which we are still fighting to get back (now being fast tracked via FOS) but I would like your help on what to do next, over the last 6 years or so our situation chnaged drastically I became poorly now disabled and hubbie had to give up work to be my carer, we are getting dwp help with main mortgage (strangely enough with barclays !!) but they wont help with FP loan so we got in arrears to the amount of £7000, we are now back to paying our full monthly contractual payment and in June we set up a new arrangement with them, after getting another default notice ( we were still paying every month plus some off arrears but they said they sent is as arrears had gone over a set amount even though we had no correspondance from them asking if we could pay it off !! ) when we set up arrangement in June we agreed we would pay a the monthly payment of £398 plus £130 extra towards arrears, this is really more than we can afford but they would only give us 2 years to pay off arrears so had no choice, we also offered them a one off payment of £1500 so the arrears have gone down to £6000ish, we have paid as agreed since June no probs but I called them on 2/9 as august payment was due and paid £230 I explained as we had no credit card etc I had to buy all 3 kids school uniform and I had to wait for benefit payment to be paid in which would be by end of week and I would then pay the other £300, advisor told me that was ok so I called them on sat 7/9 and paid rest no problem. To my surprise this morning I receive a default notice from them so I called to find out why, they were extremely unhelpful and said we had broken agreement by not paying on time and there was nothing they could do and it had been sent to solicitors for legal action , she refused to put me through to a manager or give me an email address to complain to until I really lost my temper then she put me through to complaints who are said that the notes on computer said I would pay by 5/7 and I hadnt, I stressed to her that I said it would be by end of week and as there default notice was dated 9/9/13 they could see payment was up to date, so she is looking into it and raising a complaint which would involve listening to the phone conversation etc.
I am just so sick of battling this company, I only came out of hospital last night and now have this to deal with again!!! Can you advise me on what I can do as I think they are treating us really badly, we are doing all we can to pay them what we owe plus pay off arrears and are keeping them informed all the way, selling our home is not an option as we have had to get it adapted for my disabilities etc . What I really need advice on is what can we do if they do seek legal advice and what do you think the chances are of them getting a suspended possession order etc and is there any debt advice /legal company that could help us and talk to them on our behalf etc as this is really affecting my health, I cant see why when we are paying as much as we are they are being so unreasonable as with all of you getting this loan was the stupidist thing we ever did !!

Sorry it is so long winded and thanks for all your help xx

~Beanie~

Suzyhall9024 wrote: »

Hi all havent posted on here for a while but would really appreciate some advice as Im fuming with first plus.

Brief history - we took out loan with FP in 2004 for £30,000 (they added on near £8,000 in ppi which we are still fighting to get back, now being fast tracked via FOS) but I would like your help on what to do next.

Over the last 6 years or so our situation chnaged drastically, I became poorly now disabled and hubbie had to give up work to be my carer. We are getting dwp help with main mortgage (strangely enough with barclays !!) but they wont help with FP loan so we got in arrears to the amount of £7000.

We are now back to paying our full monthly contractual payment and in June we set up a new arrangement with them, after getting another default notice. We were still paying every month plus some off arrears but they said they sent it as arrears had gone over a set amount even though we had no correspondance from them asking if we could pay it off !!.

When we set up arrangement in June we agreed we would pay the monthly payment of £398 plus £130 extra towards arrears, this is really more than we can afford but they would only give us 2 years to pay off arrears so had no choice. We also offered them a one off payment of £1500 so the arrears have gone down to £6000ish. We have paid as agreed since June no probs but I called them on 2/9 as august payment was due and paid £230. I explained as we had no credit card etc I had to buy all 3 kids school uniform and I had to wait for benefit payment to be paid in which would be by end of week and I would then pay the other £300, advisor told me that was ok so I called them on sat 7/9 and paid rest no problem.

To my surprise this morning I receive a default notice from them so I called to find out why. They were extremely unhelpful and said we had broken agreement by not paying on time and there was nothing they could do and it had been sent to solicitors for legal action. She refused to put me through to a manager or give me an email address to complain to until I really lost my temper then she put me through to complaints. They said that the notes on the computer said I would pay by 5/7 and I hadnt, I stressed to her that I said it would be by end of week and as there default notice was dated 9/9/13 they could see payment was up to date. She is looking into it and raising a complaint which would involve listening to the phone conversation etc.

I am just so sick of battling this company, I only came out of hospital last night and now have this to deal with again!!! Can you advise me on what I can do as I think they are treating us really badly, we are doing all we can to pay them what we owe plus pay off arrears and are keeping them informed all the way. Selling our home is not an option as we have had to get it adapted for my disabilities etc .

What I really need advice on is what can we do if they do seek legal advice and what do you think the chances are of them getting a suspended possession order? Is there any debt advice /legal company that could help us and talk to them on our behalf etc as this is really affecting my health? I cant see why when we are paying as much as we are they are being so unreasonable as with all of you getting this loan was the stupidist thing we ever did !!

Sorry it is so long winded and thanks for all your help xx

Sorry, that was making my eyes hurt!!

Hope you don't mind but I've split your post into paragraphs to make it easier to read.

Suzyhall9024

can anyone help please ??

opinions4u

Talk to CAB.

The problems aren't going to magically vanish, but CAB staff may be able to help you focus on them better.

On the PPI thing, if you are a "hardship" case tell them and they should expedite the claim. If they don't, get the FOS involved.

Assuming they pay out, use the settlement to clear the arrears.

Suzyhall9024

thanks for your reply, I havent found our local CAB helpful at all and it takes weeks to get an appointment sadly which is why i was hoping for advice on here, as far as PPI claim it has been with FOS for 2 years and in june they agreed to fast track it but still no news on it, the problem seems to be who is responsible for it FP or central trust who are the broker they claim we took loan with !! If we could get it back it would easily clear the arrears and obviously with the loan re calculated make the monthly payments much lower, problem is FP are seeking legal action now and I cant see PPI claim being settled anytime soon , I am hoping that as we are still making payments and paying off arrears as promised they wont do anything further but they are so nasty they seem hell bent on causing misery to us even though they now I am really ill !!

Thrugelmir

If you agree to an arrangement to pay. Then you must stick to it. Lenders do not have the time or resources to micro manage accounts that are in arrears.

Second charge lenders are always at risk on not recovering the debt in full. So aren't as flexible as first charge ones.

Odds are that a judge would grant a suspended possession order if the matter went to court. To reiterate what I said previously. This will require making payments in accordance with the agreed schedule, no if's and buts.

Suzyhall9024

The fact is I am sticking to it thats the point !! I called them and told them the dates I would pay and they said fine, I paid them when I said I would thast why I am so mad !! I have paid £1700 off arrears in the last 3 months so they can see we are doing all we can !

ch3101

Suzyhall9024 wrote: »

The fact is I am sticking to it thats the point !! I called them and told them the dates I would pay and they said fine, I paid them when I said I would thast why I am so mad !! I have paid £1700 off arrears in the last 3 months so they can see we are doing all we can !

But you didn't pay them when they told you to.

Ay time you don't keep u a financial agreement, a default will most likely be added to your credit file.

Suzyhall9024

I get what you are saying but the point is they agreed to me paying the 2nd 1/2 of payment by the end of the week, if I hadnt told them what was going on and just not paid it then fair enough but THEY told me it wouldnt break the agreement if I paid by a certain date and I did, therefore it seems extremely unfair to then go ahead and issue a default notice ?? and more importantly what do I do from here if they try to take further legal action?

ch3101

Suzyhall9024 wrote: »

I get what you are saying but the point is they agreed to me paying the 2nd 1/2 of payment by the end of the week, if I hadnt told them what was going on and just not paid it then fair enough but THEY told me it wouldnt break the agreement if I paid by a certain date and I did, therefore it seems extremely unfair to then go ahead and issue a default notice ?? and more importantly what do I do from here if they try to take further legal action?

It is doubtful that they would take legal action considering you are paying them, and of course they already have a charge on your property so there's not really any sense in legal action.

Suzyhall9024

fingers crossed I am waiting for a call back from their complaints dept , I will update when I know what they are going to do, hate this stress, if I could sell our home I think I would but I am disabled and home specially adapted for me so nowwhere else to go also still have 3 kids at home , up to date with main mortgage just wish first plus were not such idiots to deal with !!