Barclays First Plus Loans interest rates

rubylou72

Hi Amersall right I've had an email from a caseworker stating that I can see you was offered 1653 plus 150 pounds,which we accepted back in October 2022 ...... the  caseworker is stating that this is fair etc ... we paid our original  loan off in July 2022 ... then they applied suppressed interest charges for approx 11000 pounds .... which we also paid on sale of our house.. just to get rid of them. 
Sorry for being dense ... but I was hoping that the ombudsman would look back on the life of the loan ? And does that offer sound right, it doesn't sound right to me ? Feeling confused 😕 

amersall

It does if you cleared the loan 3 months before the offer, as you already accepted the offer in 2022.
You could get in touch with your case worker and ask for this to be passed to the ombudsman to look at the suppressed interest that you payed when the loan was cleared as you believe that should have been looked at in 2022 as you paid extra 11,000 on top of the loan in interest .

You never know until you try.

amersall

Have you heard anything ?

rubylou72

Thankyou so much Amersall I will do that. I did pay the loan off then took the offer approx 3 months later as we had nothing else to go by. We ended up paying approx  11000 to Topaz ... its all documented via the solicitor, as Elderbridge  said charges would stay on the house If suppressed interest  not paid. Thankyou again.

amersall

You've nothing to lose fingers crossed 🤞 

msh030400

Hello there,

Has anyone gone outside of the Ombudsman Service in their attempts to win compensation based on the interest rate clause - specifically via the services of a legal firm. There's one firm in particular Ellis Jones who have published articles most recently highlighting their success in obtaining compensation from FirstPlus.

Reason for the ask, My loan paperwork clearly states this is a variable rate loan, so I complained via the the Ombudsman Service. It's taken six months and the Ombudsman has informed me that FirstPlus are offering settlements regarding interest rates, but they are working to the FCA 6 year / 3 year guidance.

My FirstPlus loan, start date July 2003 fell into arrears back in 2007 and it took until December 2022 to clear the arrears. All statement of accounts released by FirstPlus / Elderbridge when asked for only showed the arrears balance falling. In the meantime interest was accruing and Elderbridge on the statement of account released January 2023 after the arrears had been cleared, a single line item appeared, the figure £49k in accumulated interest whilst the loan was in arrears.

January 2018. Elderbridge to their credit reduced the interest rate from 11.2% to zero. The fact that they did this, and the adherence to the FCA 6 year / 3 year rule means a offer of £56 plus £150 has been presented to me.

Thanks.

amersall

Hi there.
Firstly, I don't think you will get a different result to be honest even if you use Ellis Jones or a court, without paying for it, even if you don't win.

You could respond to Ombudsman and say that, you disagree with the offer of £56 due to arrears accruing that were then added after you paid the original arrears off.
It might not get you anywhere but at least you will have tried.
Are you sure that the remaining arrears are coming off  by the full monthly payment as I wouldn't trust these sharks  as far as I could throw them.

What's the balance now?

darrendgw

Hi , I had a secured loan with Barclays which subsequently went to Elderbridge. I have recently obtained my statement of account and settlement figures. I was surprised too see how much is still outstanding and the fluctuations in interest rates. Is the previous advice on this thread relevant to myself. Thanks in advance and I have read all previous posts 

amersall

It certainly is. Make a complaint to Elderbridge use the info on this site.
Give them 8 weeks to respond and if they don't send to FOS 

ThePinster

Hi All
I have received a final response from firstplus today on a loan I took out with Barclays back in 2006 for 70k. Still has 7 years and 44k to go!! They have denied wrongdoing and have offered a goodwill gesture of reducing the balance by 13k. It reads as if they have only calculated the last 6 years.
Does this sound right and reasonable? I have not contacted FOS yet as Elderbridge have been good on timescales in responses