Course Fraud, Fake Loan?

JayCarson

Good day to you all and thanks for taking the time to read this thread.

The reason for it’s creation lies in a dark place where I’ve slowly realised I may have been a victim to fraud. As an individual from the hospitality sector, a hard hitting impact from the pandemic lead me to take desperate measures and accept a finance agreement from a “home learning college”.

An online form was filled out initially and not heard back from for a couple of months. As the year of 2021 started I received a call and was given an online interview as well as videos explaining the 97% pass rate for the college.

A long list of City & Guilds qualifications were promised and a “interest free loan” of £7800.00 was offered after a “in-depth” review for which the sales man made the mistake of leaving his discussion with the finance company on loudspeaker which I ignorantly ignored (there was no review of eligibility just a straight up acceptance of the finance).

I have ONLY been provided with course-books, a DVD and a bunch of webcam recorded videos of poor quality, I was promised “around the clock support from dedicated tutors” in an attempt to contact them, my “dedicated” tutor wasn’t even there to answer the call and his plumbing counterpart simply outlined that I should circle the answers and hand in the results online.

The promised “virtual learning” is nowhere to be seen and I am now paying £180.00 per month with no choice but to continue suffering in silence.

Funny enough, I have checked Experian for my history of credits checks and loans, but nothing is there from the finance company, I thought perhaps it takes a while to show up but this deal was done in January so it begs to question, is this a real loan? They threatened my credit file being affected if I requested a reduction in monthly payment amount the last time I spoke with them, how can it affect my credit if it’s not on my credit file?

I cannot believe I have been sold into a deal like this, even if no one can help me escape this financial prison of an agreement, if this forum can even stop another young lad or older gentlemen from being in my position at least some of you will be able to finesse these venomous fangs of manipulation.

I plead to anyone who can help me get out of this deal, as a family man I am struggling to stay afloat and now have another huge bill to deal with.

Hope you’re all well and having a lovely day, yours truly,
Jay

eskbanker

Are you saying that you signed an agreement with a finance company (unregulated?) to effectively borrow £7800 and repay at £180/month, plus a separate agreement with the course company financed by that £7800?  Not sure that anyone can advise without details of exactly what you signed up to, in terms of the contract Ts & Cs, and cancellation clauses in particular - feel free to name the companies if this info is published online?

masonic

Did you receive any of the £7800 or is that purportedly going straight to the course provider?

From what you've described, the course is bad, arguably significantly not as described, but presumably not fraudulent as you have received some course materials and can make contact (albeit unsatisfactorily) with the institution providing the course.

It's not unusual for things to take a few months to show up on your credit file, and they may not be reported to all three CRAs. If you check all the CRAs and there is no record of a search at any of them, then that would be very suspicious.

born_again

Not all co's report to Experian. 
Who is the finance co & the course provider?

colsten

You could ask Citizens Advice whether they can have a look at the T&Cs you signed, and give you some guidance an what you might be able to do

Eyeful

If you are still interested in courses, this gov.uk website might be of interest to you.
Some courses are free:
https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/find-a-course