Wedding/Engagement Rings in Pawnbroker Help Needed

helpingtheoutlaws

My first post. I am new to the forum, hoping I have this in the right place.

I am here to help a family member who has been victim to a huge trust fraud online. It's having some pretty far reaching effects on the family and though I work in finance, some of this stuff is very new to me.

One of those new things, is Pawn Brokers. My Mother in law has pawned her engagement ring at a pawnbrokers. She did this through fear from threats from the fraud that has occurred. I am have got the police involved and have a crime number etc. The issue is the rings got a fraction of their value, and interest has accrued and been paid over the last year. There is something like £2.5k needed to get them back, with only 1,000 advanced, and 1,000's already paid in interest.

Do I have any scope to get a lower settlement value, it seems insane that so much interest has accrued and she did this under duress as a consequence of the fraud. I am on with the banks separately to try and get some complaint in.

Any help appreciated.

[Deleted User]

Unless the fraud is somehow connected to the pawnbrokers, one won't have an impact on the other.

What were the pawnbroker terms when the ring was pawned?  Do the figures match the agreed terms?

helpingtheoutlaws

Hard to say, there was a paper ticket based on a 28 day buy back. That shows circa 330 as what I am guessing is the interest element. My guess is that has been paid monthly since as interest, she said she has been in with cash since. But if she has paid, or due to pay circa 12*330 in interest on an 1000 advance, is that normal? That's an insane amount of money.

Exodi

helpingtheoutlaws said:

Hard to say, there was a paper ticket based on a 28 day buy back. That shows circa 330 as what I am guessing is the interest element. My guess is that has been paid monthly since as interest, she said she has been in with cash since. But if she has paid, or due to pay circa 12*330 in interest on an 1000 advance, is that normal? That's an insane amount of money.

I'm guessing it's 330% APR (so 330/12 not 330*12). £1,000 principal would incite £3,300 interest every year.

Which might fit in with your comment of "something like £2.5k needed to get them back, with only 1,000 advanced, and 1,000's already paid in interest"

Exodi

Sorry, to respond on about whether it's normal or whether that's an insane amount of money - the loan was intended to be one month and generally shorter term loans attract a higher interest rate.

The loan was intended to be advancing £1,000 with £1,275 payable in one month. Quite high (I think most other pawnbrokers operate at about half the interest, ~160% APR) but this is part and parcel of the industry.

I think the fraud issue (which is obviously very serious), should be treated as a seperate issue to the interest rate the pawnbroker charges.

helpingtheoutlaws

Is there no code of conduct for Pawnbrokers? 
Are they not regulated in any way?

I sadly am trying to put a jigsaw together on all this, but the crux is a final settlement number, on such high interest is jarring at me. If there was something that I could go to the Brokers on with sensible grounds for mitigation, to a reduced number...I don't know. Just such an eye opener, I am confounded and saddened there's no duty of care when a woman manifests in shop with engagement rings to obtain an advance too, but that as noted, as separate issue.

Sandtree

helpingtheoutlaws said:

Is there no code of conduct for Pawnbrokers? 
Are they not regulated in any way?

Code of conducts/ethics etc tend to be from being part of some form of association such as https://www.nationalpawnbrokers.org/code-of-ethics/ but these are voluntary organisations for a business to join.

Yes, they provide consumer lending so are regulated, if you go to the company's website almost certainly it will advise in the footer who their regulator is and their registration number. 

You haven't actually said what you think the pawnbroker as done wrong... high interest in itself isn't an issue and if its 330% that is fairly low compared to other sub-prime lenders which can be 750% plus. 

Exodi

helpingtheoutlaws said:

Is there no code of conduct for Pawnbrokers? 
Are they not regulated in any way?

I sadly am trying to put a jigsaw together on all this, but the crux is a final settlement number, on such high interest is jarring at me. If there was something that I could go to the Brokers on with sensible grounds for mitigation, to a reduced number...I don't know. Just such an eye opener, I am confounded and saddened there's no duty of care when a woman manifests in shop with engagement rings to obtain an advance too, but that as noted, as separate issue.

Sorry, I truly sympathise with you on this but I'm just trying to remain as objective as possible as businesses deal in facts and not emotions.

You must appreciate that the types of people that find themselves in pawnshops are typically very high risk and have usually already exhausted most other lending avenues available to them. Also, without meaning to sound heartless, I'm sure pawnbrokers deal with people in significant emotional turmoil day in and day out - as in to say that you wouldn't usually expect a woman pawning their engagement ring to be happy about it.

DE_612183

do you know the value of the rings?

helpingtheoutlaws

Rings valued, ironically a few years ago when they moved for insurance at least 6 times the advance.

Appreciate points made, I don't doubt it's a sensitive area of the market and won't be the first/last. I suspect I will end up paying to get them back anyway. Just wondered if there is anything else I could do.

theoretica

It isn't practical help, but insurance valuations are almost always significantly higher than sale valuations.