Not getting the services I took a loan out for

Janieann1

I took out a 12 month interest free payment loan through a small private dental practice to have some dental work done (cost approx £6000). The Dental practice is only doing emergency dental treatment so I am not having any treatment done at this time, Do I still have to make payments? I asked the loan company and they said they would defer a payment for 3 weeks or I could lower the payments but this would mean that this would incur interest as the term as been extended past the 12 months interest free period.  I paid £1500 at the beginning and had some treatment.  I have now been furloughed.  My questions are: 1. Should I continue to be paying for a service that I am not receiving or should I be looking at invoking the force majeure clause (I am concerned that the dentist practice may go bust) 2. Am I entitled to ask for a 3 month break that does affect the 0% interest

[Deleted User]

Yes, continue to make the payments.  Any payment holiday will cost you additional interest, unless you can clear the arrears within the 0% period.

Janieann1

Deleted_User said:

Yes, continue to make the payments.  Any payment holiday will cost you additional interest, unless you can clear the arrears within the 0% period.

Thank you but ..

1. On this site it says: The FinCA's guidance on payment holidays says that lenders should make sure borrowers don't suffer the normal consequences of non-payment, such as losing a 0% deal or getting a charge for missing a payment. So, if you're on a 0% deal and you take a payment holiday, you'll keep the 0% deal.

2. Your answer does not take into account the fact that I could be continuing to pay for services I am not receiving (or may never receive)  - surely this is frustration of contract / contrary to the Sales of Goods and Services Act?

sourcrates

Is your agreement governed by the consumer credit act ? check your paperwork.

As a first response, both you and the lender are bound by the terms of the agreement you both signed, going forward, those terms could be altered by the current covid-19 situation, the FCA guidence changes on a daily basis, and not everyone is keeping pace with it.

Last resort is your ability to use their complaints procedure, and to escalate to the FOS should it become nessessary.

[Deleted User]

Janieann1 said:

Thank you but ..

1. On this site it says: The FinCA's guidance on payment holidays says that lenders should make sure borrowers don't suffer the normal consequences of non-payment, such as losing a 0% deal or getting a charge for missing a payment. So, if you're on a 0% deal and you take a payment holiday, you'll keep the 0% deal.

2. Your answer does not take into account the fact that I could be continuing to pay for services I am not receiving (or may never receive)  - surely this is frustration of contract / contrary to the Sales of Goods and Services Act?

1.  And that is what my answer said. But if you extend your payments beyond the 0% period, you will be charged interest.

2. My answer takes into account that you're spreading the cost of the purchase over a loan period. Assuming you still want the treatment, the cost effective method is to continue to make payments.

If you never receive the treatment, you would simply invoke section 75.

[Deleted User]

I completely understand your anxiety about the furloughed wages and the interest rate period but do try to keep to your commitments, forego the non essential spending, totally, and just pay out your Direct Debits, it's hard but do try and plough your way through this.

The word 'never' keeps being mentioned too; in a few weeks time some non essential businesses will be opening again and you will return to the surgery and the work will take place.