Welcome Finance Settlement

Leah1981

Hello, just wondering if anyone has any advice for me re Welcome Finance & their settlement policies?

My partner took a loan secured against his house with Welcome approx 7 years ago. He borrowed £7k and has been paying back £180 religiously every month. So far he has paid over £15k and still owes £12,400!! They have been ringing him a lot and had offered him a settlement figure of just over £7k.

I want to get this loan out from under him & pay it off, but it grates on me that the settlement figure is more than he borrowed in the first place!! I called today to see if they would accept £5k but was told they cannot change the settlement figure. I've read things online and on forums which make me think that they can....I don't know whether to stick to my guns and try to speak to a manager or the Head Office, or to just bite the bullet and pay the full amount...

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

[Deleted User]

What were the terms of the agreement (eg term, rate)? Has he missed payments in the past?

Leah1981

Hi, thanks for replying. I don't have that info unfortunately - he lost all the paperwork, but I know he has never missed a payment.

Gaz83

If he hasn't missed a payment, then presumably he was happy to agree those terms, payments and duration of loan to begin with.

You can offer a full and final settlement of, say, £5,000 but it is up to them to choose whether to accept it or not. They could, in theory, refuse any settlement figure as they know they'll eventually receive £12,400 (plus interest).

Leah1981

Thanks for your response - I am aware that they are well within their rights to refuse my offer. I was really looking to find out if anyone that might see this has been in a similar position with Welcome and might have managed to barter with them. Thanks again though.

stator

Unfortunately because he's been such a good customer they aren't likely to accept a low offer. It's normally when people are struggling with debts they can't pay that creditors will accept a lower settlement.

Definitely give it a try though. I think there is a law that governs early settlement, but it isn't very generous and you still end up paying lots of interest on the balance.

Monkeyballs

When did you last get a statement off them? I'd ask for a breakdown of payments made to date, current balance and the remaining payment schedule.

I'd also ask for a copy of the original signed agreement too, you may need to pay for this (someone confirm this?).

From what you've mentioned I'm guessing he still has 5 or 6 years left to go before the end of term? I think I'd also be tempted (after getting the info from Welcome) to run it past the financial ombudsman too as that is an extortionate amount of time/interest for what I'm assuming is an unsecured loan? At any point was there a request to reduce repayments/interest made to them?

FYI. Welcome stopped loaning a few years back and are now trying to claw back as much as they can and as quickly as they can... You might be in a stronger position than you realise

Good luck!

MB

Gaz83

Monkeyballs wrote: »

When did you last get a statement off them? I'd ask for a breakdown of payments made to date, current balance and the remaining payment schedule.

I'd also ask for a copy of the original signed agreement too, you may need to pay for this (someone confirm this?).

From what you've mentioned I'm guessing he still has 5 or 6 years left to go before the end of term? I think I'd also be tempted (after getting the info from Welcome) to run it past the financial ombudsman too as that is an extortionate amount of time/interest for what I'm assuming is an unsecured loan? At any point was there a request to reduce repayments/interest made to them?

FYI. Welcome stopped loaning a few years back and are now trying to claw back as much as they can and as quickly as they can... You might be in a stronger position than you realise

Good luck!

MB

OP States it's a secured loan.

Leah1981

Thanks for your replies - I have spoken to the staff at Welcome a few times as I'm also in the process of pursuing a PPI claim for him. Not from Welcome as it turns out, it was sold by a broker called Bright Finance (gone bust of course!) so it's now with the fscs. I haven't found Welcome particularly helpful as I needed statements, copies of loan agreement etc from them and it was like pulling teeth! The loan agreement they finally sent me is pretty much illegible - looks like a copy of a copy of a copy!! And after numerous requests for statements I have never received one.

Well I think I'll try a bit harder before I cough up the full settlement figure. I know it's my bf's own fault for signing on the dotted line, but the interest these companies charge is just disgusting!!

PeacefulWaters

the interest these companies charge is just disgusting!!

They tended to operate in a market that catered for the needs of those who had struggled to make loan repayments in the past.

Gaz83

Leah1981 wrote: »

I know it's my bf's own fault for signing on the dotted line, but the interest these companies charge is just disgusting!!

They tended to loan to people who had previously shown they simply could not be trusted to borrow and repay money. Hence the high APR - to partly mitigate their own risk in lending to sub-prime customers.