MSE News: First Direct starts refunding customers over paperwork blunder

meer53

Pincher wrote: »

This is taking self-flagellation too far.


Send the customers some flowers with a card, a £50 gesture, and deal with any people still unhappy individually. A fair assessment can be made on their real loss, which won't be ALL the interest.


Refunding ALL the interest is being unfair to the share holders, who now have a right to complain as well. Somebody needs their head examined in First Direct.

I think you'll find it wasn't first directs decision.

Pincher

callum9999 wrote: »

Or they could refund all the interest and follow the law...

This is the Child Support Agency all over again. Hassle the law abiding ones, and can't catch the actually irresponsible.


Why don't they make the Pay Day Loan companies pay back some of their ill gotten gains? How about getting investment bankers to cough up some bonuses?


I don't have any shares, but I have been with First Direct for over twenty years, and there are real criminals out there, not First Direct.

jamesd

First Direct isn't one of the law abiding ones. It broke the law.

Payday lending wasn't and isn't breaking the law, though some firms in the business did that. Investment banking isn't breaking the law. Popular targets of criticism but that's different from what FD did: actually break the law.

Pincher

Loads of people break "laws" and get a telling off, a small fine, or something appropriate. This is disproportionate. Anyone who suffered a real loss can make a claim, and have a better chance of getting fair treatment than from a Pay Day Loan company.




http://www.emag.org.uk/


I think you'll find Equitable Life members, who saved a life-time responsibly, suffered REAL LOSS, and is more deserving of compensation than the FD customers in this case. Amusingly, the FSA just shut up shop, and opened for business under a new name, like any other crook who took the money and ran.

rizla_king

Not all consequences are equal. The consequence of breaking this law is that you have to refund the interest you illegally charged. No getting around that. Tough. Get over it.

nic_santorini

i look after my money and luckily don't rely on bank loans and so get zero, my hubby on the other and is always buying cars at my annoyance and got nearly £1k put in his account because some typist missed off a line on the agreement. Everyone knows you can pay off early, you only have to phone up - this is ridiculous but a happy windfall, wish he had taken out a £50k loan now!! ha ha.

nic_santorini

rizla_king wrote: »

Not all consequences are equal. The consequence of breaking this law is that you have to refund the interest you illegally charged. No getting around that. Tough. Get over it.

I contacted first direct, they have NOT overcharged anyone - they have just refunded all the interest that would have accrued naturally, so basically people have had an interest free loan.

SpiceIsland

nic_santorini wrote: »

I contacted first direct, they have NOT overcharged anyone - they have just refunded all the interest that would have accrued naturally, so basically people have had an interest free loan.

Nobody has said " Overcharged". You have just repeated what everyone on here has said.

jamesd

nic_santorini wrote: »

I contacted first direct, they have NOT overcharged anyone - they have just refunded all the interest that would have accrued naturally, so basically people have had an interest free loan.

You might want to consider complaining to FD about them misleading you. The law prohibits charging of interest for a period covered by an incorrect annual statement so they overcharged everyone who's getting a refund: nil was the maximum legal amount of interest to charge for such periods.

There were no errors in the calculation, they just charged more than permitted.

JJB223

Hi all

Can anyone advise me if I will be eligible for this refund,

I took a loan with first direct for £19,000 in Feb 2011 over 78 months, I serviced this loan through till June 2013 where I paid the balance off in full (together with an early repayment charge)

So during the loan I will have received 2 incorrect annual statements, I have not heard anything from FD but is it likely that I will be eligible for interest refund ( I guess for all interest from the first annual statment feb 2012 until June 2013)

Thanks