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Complaining about a loan
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My current account is with Smile (part of the Co-op) and I had two loans running with them. I've dug out the old paperwork and the details are:
Loan 1: 9.91% APR, monthly payment £99.72, ends Nov 14.
Loan 2: can't find the details but it was around the same payment and APR as I recall and I think it was due to finish in 2016 or 17.
In 2012 a lady rang me from Co-op Direct and asked if I'd thought about consolidating the two loans into one as it would save me some money on the monthly payments. At the time I was dealing with the aftermath of escaping from a bad marriage break up so my head was all over the place. What she said sounded good to me as money was tight. She went through the process and set up the new loan for £7400 and I've been paying this back since. On checking the paperwork, I'm paying 13.4% APR, a monthly payment of £134.19 and it finishes in 2019.
I was in the bank recently and was invited for a personal finance review to see if they could save me money on anything else, so I agreed to listen. When going through my accounts, the Personal Banker asked why did I borrow the £7400? I explained it was consolidation. She pointed out that the APR drops a lot if you borrow over £7500. She said if it was her setting the loan up, she would have recommended borrowing £7500 to get it at a cheaper rate and then making a £100 overpayment with the surplus. I explained the above and she said she wouldn't have sold the loan to me as it's taking me longer to pay back the loans I initially had and it's costing me more.
I'll admit I never gave it a second thought until the bank lady brought this up. Is it worth making a complaint now, or should I just put it down to my own stupidity at the time?
Loan 1: 9.91% APR, monthly payment £99.72, ends Nov 14.
Loan 2: can't find the details but it was around the same payment and APR as I recall and I think it was due to finish in 2016 or 17.
In 2012 a lady rang me from Co-op Direct and asked if I'd thought about consolidating the two loans into one as it would save me some money on the monthly payments. At the time I was dealing with the aftermath of escaping from a bad marriage break up so my head was all over the place. What she said sounded good to me as money was tight. She went through the process and set up the new loan for £7400 and I've been paying this back since. On checking the paperwork, I'm paying 13.4% APR, a monthly payment of £134.19 and it finishes in 2019.
I was in the bank recently and was invited for a personal finance review to see if they could save me money on anything else, so I agreed to listen. When going through my accounts, the Personal Banker asked why did I borrow the £7400? I explained it was consolidation. She pointed out that the APR drops a lot if you borrow over £7500. She said if it was her setting the loan up, she would have recommended borrowing £7500 to get it at a cheaper rate and then making a £100 overpayment with the surplus. I explained the above and she said she wouldn't have sold the loan to me as it's taking me longer to pay back the loans I initially had and it's costing me more.
I'll admit I never gave it a second thought until the bank lady brought this up. Is it worth making a complaint now, or should I just put it down to my own stupidity at the time?
Here I go again on my own....
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Comments
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She asked you whether you wanted to lower your monthly payments, you said yes, and she made it happen.0
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Were you advised to take out a loan of £7,400? And I mean actually advised?"Facism arrives as your friend. It will restore your honour, make you feel proud, protect your house, give you a job, clean up the neighbourhood, remind you of how great you once were, clear out the venal and the corrupt, remove anything you feel is unlike you... [it] doesn't walk in saying, "our programme means militias, mass imprisonments, transportations, war and persecution."0
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They rang me out of the blue and it was all done over the telephone.
I can't recall the actual conversation so can't say if I was advised or not. I do remember the main focus was on the lower monthly payment as she was saving me money each month.
Normally I would check these things carefully, but due to circumstances at the time, I didn't. I'll admit I was lax in checking things at the time and the paperwork has been filed in a drawer and forgotten about until the bank lady pointed out the APR was high. Probably my own fault I guess.Here I go again on my own....0 -
It is not good practice to offer a customer more than they have asked for - all too many would spend the additional lending and then blame the bank for giving them money they did not ask for.
I see no grounds for a complaint - next time you need to shop around and do your own sums.0 -
They rang me out of the blue and it was all done over the telephone.
I can't recall the actual conversation so can't say if I was advised or not. I do remember the main focus was on the lower monthly payment as she was saving me money each month.
Your paperwork will say if it was advised, on the information given I strongly expect it was not. She did offer you a loan with a lower monthly repayment, which is what she said she would do.0 -
No there is nothing saying it was advised.
Think I'll have to put it down to an expensive mistake
Here I go again on my own....0 -
Sounds like it, aye.No there is nothing saying it was advised.
Think I'll have to put it down to an expensive mistake
It happens, move on with it. By the sounds of it you're not in any financial deep water so chalk it up to an inconvenience more than anything."Facism arrives as your friend. It will restore your honour, make you feel proud, protect your house, give you a job, clean up the neighbourhood, remind you of how great you once were, clear out the venal and the corrupt, remove anything you feel is unlike you... [it] doesn't walk in saying, "our programme means militias, mass imprisonments, transportations, war and persecution."0 -
I'd say not worth it; you applied for £7,400 and were accepted at a rate you were happy with at the time.
The FOS (if it got that far) may decide it was unfair, and you have nothing to lose by putting in a complaint, so on the other hand it may be worth doing anyway.
CK💙💛 💔0 -
If you can afford to increase your payments again (back to the amount you paid to the 2 loans originally, or higher) then that would be a good idea.
It would reduce the overall cost of this loan for you, and reduce the amount of time it will take you to repay.A smile enriches those who receive without making poorer those who giveor "It costs nowt to be nice"0 -
If you can afford to increase your payments again (back to the amount you paid to the 2 loans originally, or higher) then that would be a good idea.
It would reduce the overall cost of this loan for you, and reduce the amount of time it will take you to repay.
Yes looking into overpaying to clear it quicker or moving it somewhere with a lower APR, and again overpaying when I can.Here I go again on my own....0
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