Blackhorse Finance incorrect advice

Rafpol

I would be grateful for advice.

In November 1999 I took out a Personal Contract Purchase Agreement with Blackhorse Finance. It was for 60 payments with a final balloon payment. Due to Covid-19 I had to take 6 months holiday for which I was charged an extra £600 to be paid at the end of the agreement. The agreement is due to end in May 2025 with the balloon payment in June 2025.

On the 17th July 2023 I contacted Blackhorse and informed them that I wanted to pay £15,500 off the agreement. I asked them what would be the benefits to paying the money off to which I was told that I would reduce the interest paid.

On the 8th August 2023 I paid the money into the account.  On the 11th August I contacted them again and asked why the agreement had not been updated. They informed me that I had been given wrong advice as the advisor had made a mistake. She thought that it was a different type of agreement and that there wasn't any benefit to paying extra money. That was that.

Forward to now and when I checked the balance on the account I noticed it has gone up as they had added the £600. It has irked me that they have charged me £600 interest on missed payments of £5,600 and I was to to receive nothing for paying in £15,500, so I made a complaint. I was told they would listen to the recordings of the 2 call I had made and then make a judgement.

They have now informed me that they cannot locate the recordings and the notes state that on both occasions I called that the correct advice had been given. This, I informed them, was bizarre as why would I have paid the £15,500 when there was no benefit whatsoever. I could have earned far more by putting it in an ISA.  They couldn't answer that and offered £100 as a goodwill gesture as they couldn't find the recordings.

Can anyone advise me what I can do about this. I have asked for the notes to be sent to me but clearly they have been doctored them and I find it convenient that they can't find the recordings.

dunstonh

Can anyone advise me what I can do about this. 

You complained, they gave their response. If you disagree with their response, you can refer it to the FOS.

DullGreyGuy

Rafpol said:

In November 1999 I took out a Personal Contract Purchase Agreement with Blackhorse Finance.

Got to be a prize for the longest PCP surely?

saajan_12

Rafpol said:

In November 1999 I took out a Personal Contract Purchase Agreement with Blackhorse Finance. It was for 60 payments with a final balloon payment. Due to Covid-19 I had to take 6 months holiday for which I was charged an extra £600 to be paid at the end of the agreement. The agreement is due to end in May 2025 with the balloon payment in June 2025.

On the 17th July 2023 I contacted Blackhorse and informed them that I wanted to pay £15,500 off the agreement. I asked them what would be the benefits to paying the money off to which I was told that I would reduce the interest paid.

On the 8th August 2023 I paid the money into the account.  On the 11th August I contacted them again and asked why the agreement had not been updated. They informed me that I had been given wrong advice as the advisor had made a mistake. She thought that it was a different type of agreement and that there wasn't any benefit to paying extra money. That was that.

Are all the dates correct here? Would have been easier to question it nearer the time - more likely they would have had the recordings, and if they were difficult then maybe you could have requested the 15k back in 2023 to invest elsewhere over the last 2 years. At this stage depending on your agreement, you may not get the interest back on that amount. 

Rafpol said:

Forward to now and when I checked the balance on the account I noticed it has gone up as they had added the £600. It has irked me that they have charged me £600 interest on missed payments of £5,600 and I was to to receive nothing for paying in £15,500, 

You don't state the total loan amount and the monthly payments, but did 6 months cover 5.6k worth of payments or did you miss more than just the covid period? Otherwise 15k would cover 1.5 years of payments, ie you'd be done paying already? Or did they reduce your regular payments? 

born_again

Not finding calls from 2023 is not a surprise. Given most use a fixed space system that overwrites old calls & given the amount of calls they will have had in relation to the current situation.

So have you missed payments of £5,600 since paying £15K?