Picture Finance / IDEM Servicing

dal2008

thank you, the FSCS will investigate the PPI but can't help investigate any possible mis-selling of the actual loan

Rickoza

Picture were nothing but con men. Yes, they could have said no but when they do things like get your house valued at a sum far higher than it's worth in order to maximise their return on the loan, it stinks. Strangely they still answer their phones to Picture (even though they no longer exist) also record each and every call now for "litigation...etc purposes" whereas back then those calls which were recorded at the time have mysteriously become unobtainable. Yes, those who took out secured loans never should have but when it's all painted in glorious colour to you and no alternatives are given (and you are financially unaware) then these companies clearly do take advantage of people in trouble. Folk don't want patronising replies - a wee bit of sympathy and understanding goes a lot further. Aye, we've made mistakes, but don't just assume that it's all the loanee's fault and they "should've known better". Not everyone is financially astute.

HulaHoopGirl

Hi, I am new to this forum and have joined hoping somebody can help me please?
Yes, I am one of those 'stupid ignorant' people that unfortunately took out a Picture Loan in 2007 for the sum of £24,990.00. My settlement figure in 2014 was £21,035.00!!!
I'm so angry with myself for borrowing from this company and did receive a PPI claim a few years ago for the miss-sold PPI of £5000 on this account.
I have had no paperwork, correspondence or contact from Picture since a statement in 2014. I gather they have gone into liquidation?
Whilst my ignorance has allowed this loan to run, looking at the figures now for the purpose of selling my home and repaying this huge debt, I can not find any way to contact them.
Does anyone have any contact details for the company that have since taken over the debt please??
I am hoping to pay this loan off in full but fear the settlement figure to be higher than the original £20,000.00 I borrowed? Does this seem likely??
I'm so angry I ever took this loan out and wish I had taken financial advice, I don't wish to be reminded of my naivety and stupidity, I just want to repay the loan from the sale of my home and move on debt free.....
Many thanks for any advice

[Deleted User]

HulaHoopGirl wrote: »

I am hoping to pay this loan off in full but fear the settlement figure to be higher than the original £20,000.00 I borrowed? Does this seem likely??

No. .

Rickoza

With this and that being investigated, i.e. the PPI scandal, and with all I've heard and read (and very painfully experiencing), will the whole world of secured loans ever be investigated for mis-selling?

[Deleted User]

Rickoza wrote: »

With this and that being investigated, i.e. the PPI scandal, and with all I've heard and read (and very painfully experiencing), will the whole world of secured loans ever be investigated for mis-selling?

I am no fan of the secured loan companies but the time to complain was when you took the loan out. Were alarm bells not ringing if your house was valued a lot higher that it was worth?

What I think you are saying is financially incompetent people should be protected from themselves. I agree.

But how would you feel if you were legally barred from applying for credit? How on earth do you make a system like that foolproof and fair?

Ethically, these companies are terrible but they (to my knowledge) haven't done anything legally wrong. You may not like it but people do need to take responsibility for their own affairs and not take on loans they know deep down they can't afford.

Rickoza

Thing was we did complain back then, but not immediately. We'd got back our PPI part and apparently were then barred from complaining about the loan itself. I think that, given those companies who were taken to task for the PPI scandal should be similarly investigated. Things like not making folk aware of alternatives (not everyone is financially savvy, and these companies do prey on the unwary), lying over the phone then, when questioned, these phone "recordings" mysteriously are no longer available and then the company goes bust. Yes, they gave us the financial assistance to get out of a hole, but merely took us from one mess to an even deeper one. I'm not complaining about getting the financial help, but the underhand, dishonest way it was done to put us (and they must've known it) in an even worse state. People in desperate, worrying situations sometimes don't think straight.

johntina

we took out a picture loan for £25000 in 2005 6 months after moving in to a £125,000 house with a 100 per cent mortgage. this was mainly for debt consolidation and we borrowed more off them twice within 12 months also debt consolidation taking our loan to £60,000. this took our secured lending to way over 125 per cent of house value and over 6 times joint basic income on secured debt. i still have the wage slips they asked for. After paying for 10 years my wife got cancer and due to her having to give up work we are now about £15,000 in arrears and a balance of over £63,000 remaining. yes we took out the loan but surely they shouldn't have let us consolidate 3 times in less than 12 months and take our secured lending to over 6 times joint income. idem have currently froze any more interest being added but what we can afford hardly puts a dent in the loan. no doubt idem got these loans for a fraction of the outstanding balances but want the full return. picture is a company i wish i never heard off.

Rickoza

I completely sympathise with you. After 5 years of paying back to them we still owed more than the original loan! The secured loan we got was taken out against our home, bought for £69K then surveyed by a company they appointed just 6 months later for £84K. They obviously did this to maximize what they'd get back from us, nothing to do with helping us. Completely and utterly unethical, preying on the needy and operating on the boundaries of the law, beyond fairness and honesty.

Fnorman

You might just find that your (expensive) PPI was actually terminated. I discovered this when trying to track down a no claims bonus. ‘The Warranty Group’ (TWG - the underwriters of the PPI) informed me that my PPI policy had "expired on 18 July 2011". Astonishing really, when I had still been paying my full repayment amount since then. I did get a claim paid - of sorts - from the FSCS, but I am now left with a loan at really high-interest rates, paying the same amount i.e. they are still assuming the PPI as part of the laon, with no PPI should things go wrong.