creditor broke our agreement? help advice would be greatly appreciated!!

saralouisewilson

hello!

newbie on the forum, its lovely to meet you all!

i was wondering if i would be able to ask for some advice - my partner is an HGV mechanic and in October 2014 bought a new toolbox. this was bought via finance (approx £2500 total) the minimum payment was £69 per month however we made an agreement that we repay £100 per month over 2ish years - the company is Stanley, Black and Decker (i cannot remember the name of the creditor).
In December 2014 we received a letter from the company informing us that there was an issue with their repayment system and therefore they would not be taking any further money from us until this was sorted. we heard nothing further until we received another letter probably 6 months later explaining that the issues with the repayment system were still ongoing but they hoped to have this sorted in the near future. the letters did not offer an alternative payment method (like standing order).
over 18 months after the agreement was originally made, we received a letter in May 2016 to say that the payment system was back up and running and provided us with a new agreement and a direct debit mandate, requesting that we complete this and start making payments again.
i wanted advice on a couple of issues
- first of all, the letter had a statement attached to it which showed the balance and what repayments had been made against the loan. the values were wrong as they stated that we had made 3 payments of £69 when we have made 3 payments of £100. the new agreement was photocopies and the alignment means some of it is illegible.
- secondly and the part i wanted advice on is whether or not they have broken their credit agreement with my partner? in the 18 months since he started the agreement, we have received only 2 letters both stating that the payment system was still down. we have received no monthly or annual statements and no other communication. i do not know much about financial laws or credit agreement laws however i if this issue had not occurred, we would have almost paid off the loan by this point. in addition if we had broken our agreement with them and not paid for 18 months, I'm sure they would have communicated with us a bit more than just 2 letters in 18 months.

it may be that we have to start repayments again and if that is the case so be it, i just think after 18 months time lapse, we have been given no offer of discount or reduction in interest. our finances have changed drastically in 18 months. i wondered what our rights/options were in terms of a credit agreement that in my opinion has been broken by the creditor.

thank you!

~Beanie~

You still owe them the money for the tools, you are not going to get out of paying this back, if that's what you were hoping for.

I assume that you spent the £100 per month and didn't save it somewhere ready for when repayments recommenced?

saralouisewilson

actually no, we have general savings of £100 a month for the last couple of years.
i am not looking to 'get out' of the agreement - i appreciate that we have goods which they have provided my partner with and that they will need to be paid for. my question was more around what our rights were in terms of asking for a reduction in interest/the price they are charging. over 18 months is a long time and i feel it is unfair that we have not asked for a suspension in payment, would have almost finished paying for it by now and because of a fault with their system we are now being asked to start again.

poppasmurf_bewdley

saralouisewilson wrote: »

actually no, we have general savings of £100 a month for the last couple of years.
i am not looking to 'get out' of the agreement - i appreciate that we have goods which they have provided my partner with and that they will need to be paid for. my question was more around what our rights were in terms of asking for a reduction in interest/the price they are charging. over 18 months is a long time and i feel it is unfair that we have not asked for a suspension in payment, would have almost finished paying for it by now and because of a fault with their system we are now being asked to start again.

With the £100 a month savings you have been making whilst not paying the installments, surely you have 'almost finished paying the loan off' as you put it. The only difference is that the money is still in your account, awaiting you to transfer it to the loan company.

Or am I missing something?

Kim_13

You say you're not trying to get out of paying but that's how your post reads.

You should contact them with evidence that you've paid 3 x £100 and not 3 x £69, plus requesting a legible copy of paperwork where this is an issue.

Certainly they don't have the best customer service but I wouldn't expect much more than an apology and perhaps £10-20 compensation for your inconvenience of having to provide evidence etc.

You've had an extra interest free period by the sounds of things, so a bonus enough as far as they're concerned. They would chase you if you hadn't kept to the agreement, as that would be to their disadvantage. They haven't kept to it to your advantage, but that's not the same thing.

You would have almost finished paying by now but with the money saved you'll be able to get to that position. They didn't offer an alternative method of payment at the time but did you chase them for it?

saralouisewilson

no i did not request an alternative payment method - if that option was available, i am sure they would have offered it, and i am certainly not trying to 'get out of paying' if i am legally obliged to do so - that almost makes me sound like some kind of criminal . and no poppasmurf, you arent 'missing something'.

thank you for your responses. i think i will probably look elsewhere in future before i post for advice on this forum as the tone of some of the responses has made me feel like i'm being treated as stupid.

ViolaLass

Was interest suspended while they weren't taking payments? If not, then it's not fair on you (since you were willing to make the payments). If it was, then you are better off, if anything, as you've had time to save the money and could pay the whole loan off now, saving the interest you would otherwise have paid.

Kim_13

Requesting an alternative method would also have put your partner in the position of almost having the amount paid off by now (from your post, it appears to be an issue that it isn't.) Of course you weren't obliged to request an alternative method like SO, but the delay doesn't null and void the agreement and part of your post read as though that, a lower interest rate than originally agreed, or a discount on the original amount was what you were hoping for. That will never be well received on the forums and I apologise if I've misunderstood.

The two options are:

- Pay the amounts saved over the payment holiday to the creditor, which as you say will almost clear the debt. A lot of money to hand over in one go, but an alternative to having to pay instalments over the next 2 years.

- Restart the agreed instalments (if they've miscalculated these then as I said, challenge that.) If they are trying to charge interest for a payment holiday that they needed, then morally you shouldn't have to pay this. From your post it seemed that this wasn't the case, but if so, then again, challenge them and if necessary, complain. You can complain to the Financial Ombudsman if you have exhausted the firm's internal complaints procedure and are not happy with their response, or if they do not respond to your complaint within 8 weeks. Not pushing for an alternative method of payment might have a bearing on the decision, as the law requires claimants to mitigate their loss.

Before restarting instalments or signing a mandate I would want a better copy of whatever they've sent so that you know they aren't trying to change the terms to your disadvantage.

Clive_Woody

ViolaLass wrote: »

Was interest suspended while they weren't taking payments? If not, then it's not fair on you (since you were willing to make the payments). If it was, then you are better off, if anything, as you've had time to save the money and could pay the whole loan off now, saving the interest you would otherwise have paid.

This was the point I thought the OP was making. It sounds like interest has continued to be charged but they had no option of making payments to reduce the debt. If this is the case then I think they have a genuine reason for a complaint.

Gaz83

I wonder if the payments of £69, when the OP has been paying £100, are what was coming off of the principal, with the remaining £31 being interest, and that's why it only shows payments of £69 being made.