PPI Reclaiming discussion Part II

marshallka

tiggrae wrote: »

then start drawing up your particulars of claim for the county court - you've really no other alternative if you want to make a claim for mis selling !

I have spoken to Freedom Finance who have told me my SAR is being sent out today and i should receive it tomorrow. This may give me some other information and basis for my claim. Thats always been the missing link here. I will give this til monday and then i shall need help on this court thing and who is responsible for this.

marshallka

Tiggrae, I did this both yesterday to the FOS (and i know i don't think they will be able to help) but also to OFT unfair contracts complaints. I just wanted them to be aware of what these companies are doing. (ie Freedom/Bespoke) I know i keep on about them but i want something done if not for myself then for others now. Can you tell me what you think



I am writing to complain about a company called Freedom Finance.

We took out a loan with Firstplus and had a complaint with them about the sale of the ppi insurance but (i am aware this is outside your jurisdiction) we were told by Firstplus that our complaint had to be made to a company called Bespoke Finance Limited and their address was in Gibraltar. I had never heard of this firm and knew for definate that i would not of gone into any financial deal with this actual company so i asked again. I was then told that i contacted Freedom Finance Ltd for a loan and that they only PROCESSED loans for this company called Bespoke and did not actually broker the loan themselves or the ppi. I have this in writing from Firstplus that "I note from our records that the loan and ppi policy were actually sold by Bespoke Finance and I have therefore passed your complaint onto them".

I asked for a telephone number and address of Bespoke from Firstplus and they said they did not have one and that they would find it out and write to me with it. I received a letter some days later with the details on.

I then telephoned Firstplus and told them that Freedom Finance were not Freedom Finance at the time of my loan and they said that they had changed names. I then found out that at the time of my loan/ppi they were actually called Wilmslow Financial Services. (MY loan/ppi was January, 2000).



The very same day i received my letter from Firstplus giving me the details of this company in Gibraltar I also received a letter from Bespoke Finance to say they had looked into my complaint and that they would not be able to help.

I then got in touch with Freedom Finance and said i wanted to deal with the company that i had dealt with over the loan (as i was never informed that Bespoke Finance were anything to do with my application and assumed like many others that Freedom Finance were the broker) and was informed by them that they had passed my complaint to Bespoke Finance. I then said i had the week previous had a letter from them saying that they had investigated my complaint and that they would not look into this further and then Freedom said well there is nothing else we can do. We only process on behalf of Bespoke.

I then got back in touch with Freedom Finance and requested a SAR as i was adamant that i was never told that they only process the loan and are not actually the BROKER. I am still waiting for this to be complied with.

My loan was taken out in January, 2000 and settled in April 2003 and i realise that my original complaint (the sale fo the ppi) is outside any jurisdiction of the FOS but wanted you to know that i feel cheated and mislead by both Firstplus and Freedom Finance and have been sent on a wild goose chase for the actual seller of the insurance whom I am told is in Gibraltar.

I have been in contact yesterday with Bespoke Finance by telephone and was told that they had retreived my records from archive and that they would be sent over to Freedom Finance as they had a better compliance team than Bespoke. I then asked how Bespoke could send out a letter stating that they had investigated the complaint fully when the records were only found yesterday.

Is it possible that a loan can be processed on behalf of an off shore broker but the ppi sale is commenced in the UK by the UK firm taking the role of the broker. A processor cannot be a broker and sell insurance. I f this is the case then myself and others are being mislead by Firstplus and Freedom Finance and i consider this unfair contract terms and want to make a complaint. We are lead to believe that we are protected under UK Law and from my investigation should i commence a court battle with Bespoke Finance over anything to do with the loan or the ppi then i am entitled to use a UK court but should i win the case, UK bailiffs have no jurisdiction in Gibraltar so therefore would have no way of ensuring payment. Again a very unfair term.

We were mislead by Freedom Finance (formerly Wilmslow Financial Services) into believing that we had had the loan brokered by them but upon looking into the very small print on there legal and privacy it does state


Freedom Finance Plc registered in England and Wales (company number 1780977). Bespoke Finance, Suite 2C, Eurolife Building, 1 Corral Road, Gibraltar introduce loan enquiries to Freedom Finance. Freedom Finance process and manage the enquiries that originate from this advertising.

This is so misleading as they also state on their site

The largest part of our business is Freedom Finance Plc, which is one of the U.K's leading national finance brokers in personal loans to homeowners and mortgages.

Again i feel mislead and think that they shoud not call themselves brokers on certain parts of the site and then processors on other parts. Also Freedom Finance should not allow Bespoke to use theirname if it confuses customers into believing they are protected under UK Law as this from the Bespoke Website. I got the website of Bespoke from the letter that was sent to me from them and it states www.bespokefinanceltd.com but when you type this in you are then redirected to a site bespokefinanceloans.co.uk and it is a website that states the following.

Bespoke Finance work very closely with Freedom Finance, one of the largest secured loan brokers in the United Kingdom. Freedom Finance provides their expertise of loan processing to ensure that our customers receive the best possible service and the correct loan to meet their individual requirements.

There are no terms and conditions on this website and yet freedom site "This web site (the "Site") is owned by Bespoke Finance Ltd and operated by Freedom Finance Plc and any access to this Site is governed by these terms and conditions.". Again its very misleading as to whether you are to take the terms and conditions from Freedoms site or relate to them from Bespoke Finance Limited. I note that Bespoke Finance is owned by FIDECS now from 2003 so again we do not know who we are dealing with here.

Bespoke Finance has been providing secured loans to consumers in the United Kingdom since 1997. We are owned by Fidecs, who are the Gibraltar member firm of BDO, the world’s fifth largest Accountancy group.

Its all very misleading and I want to complain about this to whoever i can. I had a complaint over the loan which i have now taken up with Firstplus as they are equaly to blame but what they have put me through, both Freedom Finance and FIrstplus over the last few months, in trying to find a seller of my ppi has been a tremendous amount of work. I now know that the setting up of the loan was far from professional and i would not of been protected under the same laws as here in the UK. I feel like this has made me very wary of trusting another finance body again as we trusted this company to tell us the truth and protect our interests and they clearly did not.

My complaint is about the unfair terms in consumer contracts as i was not made aware that i did not have the same protection from this company "Freedom Finance/Bespoke Finance" as i would of here in the uk. I was not informed when taking out the loan that they were only processing this for the off shore company. Apparently the off shore company was formerly called Karacus Limited. I have made an enquiry about this company to the FSC in Gibraltar along with others that have experienced the same response and this was the reply we have had

Dear Ms

Bespoke Finance Limited (previously Karacus Limited) has never been licensed or held any authorisation issued by this Commission.

Please find attached a company profile, which provides basic public details about the company as filed at Companies House in Gibraltar. We would like to review any supporting documentation before reaching a view as to whether Bespoke Finance Limited is, or has been involved in licensable activity.

Yours sincerely.

I presume they mean that the selling of insurance was licensable. I am no law expert and do not know but i will respond to it with the letters i have received from both Firstplus and Freedom Finance.
Certain laws in this country do not apply in Gibraltar and we are the unfortunate victims. The website of Freedom states that Freedom is Bespokes processor. A processor cannot be an advisor so we can assume that Freedom assumed the role of advisor but failed to inform customers. One Freedom company was a GISC member but i cannot find this information out. I want to base my claim if ouside your jurisdiction on unfair terms in consumer contract regulations as

Unfair Terms
5. - (1) A contractual term which has not been individually negotiated shall be regarded as unfair if, contrary to the requirement of good faith, it causes a significant imbalance in the parties' rights and obligations arising under the contract, to the detriment of the consumer.

which my contract was not individually negotiated in that i was not informed and mislead into believing that i was actually using a UK broker. I would never of applied for the loan from this company at all if i had been informed of this beforehand.

I want compensating for this if possilbe as i feel this company has taken advantages of all of us people and i have done an email to Watchdog about this.( to see if it is an issue that needs looking into). I have also made the Association of Finance Brokers aware of this as Bespoke state that they members and strictly follow their guidelines and Freedom Finance are also members.

I hope you can help us with our situation and if not i appreciate the time you have taken to read this and hope (if not to ourselves) it may be of some help to people in the future.

Once again, many thanks

nothingwitty

tiggrae wrote: »

Go back to the court and ask them what they think you should do - as the Court have returned their defence it could be your judgement stands. I'd also write to HBOS and tell them as their defence has been returned by the court for being out of time if they don't pay up within 7 working days you'll instruct bailiffs to enter their HQ premises in Halifax and seize goods to the value of your judgement

Tiggrae (or/and anyone else who can offer advice)

I have sent this letter and they are continuing to ignore me. Is it possible for me to privately hire bailiffs to enter their premesis or do I have to use the court appointed bailiff - I ask because I just know that if I apply for a court bailiff to enter their premises, they will apply for the judgement to be set aside. For once, I want to be in control as they have strung this claim out for almost 9 months!!

Thanks as always

sarahc5388

sparky0107 wrote: »

Hi tiggrea,
No I live in Liverpool, what's the problem?

Step 1 - send a copy of Martins first letter to CSL, enclose a SAR and a cheque or postal order for £10, they have 40 calendar days in which to supply you with all the records, send this recorded delivery. They will send you a standard bog off letter. Please be patient whilst you do this, we're all here to help as much as we can cos we're all in the same boat

marshallka

nothingwitty wrote: »

Tiggrae (or/and anyone else who can offer advice)

I have sent this letter and they are continuing to ignore me. Is it possible for me to privately hire bailiffs to enter their premesis or do I have to use the court appointed bailiff - I ask because I just know that if I apply for a court bailiff to enter their premises, they will apply for the judgement to be set aside. For once, I want to be in control as they have strung this claim out for almost 9 months!!

Thanks as always

So what you are saying is you have won your claim but its been 9 months and they still have not paid up. Can't the courts enforce it for you.

nothingwitty

marshallka wrote: »

So what you are saying is you have won your claim but its been 9 months and they still have not paid up. Can't the courts enforce it for you.

Sorry, I should have made that clearer. I was awarded default judgement 22nd May. Wrote to bank 29th May saying I would get a warrant of execution if they did not pay. They said (3rd June) that they intend to apply for the judgement to be set aside and that once they make that application, any attempt by me to enforce judgement will be stopped. So they are effectively blackmailing me. They still have not made an application for the judgement to be set aside - their defence was returned by the court as they entered it a week after I had been awarded default judgement.

I want to go into a branch and embarrass them in front of customers (while also advising their customers of the PPI rip-off scandal and the MSE website!!). But I know I can't do that, can I??? So I want to get a bailiff, a camera, and get down to one of their branches and do the bailiff thing!!

Many thanks for your advice/help

nothingwitty

"So they are effectively blackmailing me."

That may be a bit strong so I withdraw the accusation. It's just that it feels like the bank has been using every delaying or stalling tactic and constanlty trying to call my bluff even though I KNOW they missold the PPI.

marshallka

nothingwitty wrote: »

"So they are effectively blackmailing me."

That may be a bit strong so I withdraw the accusation. It's just that it feels like the bank has been using every delaying or stalling tactic and constanlty trying to call my bluff even though I KNOW they missold the PPI.

Did you get a solicitor involved or did you do this through the courts yourself. I would ask the courts advice on this one and see what they say.

nothingwitty

Did it through the court myself. Have contacted the court who say they cannot advise me and that it is probable that if I enter for a warrant, the bank will immediately retaliate with an application for the judgement to be set aside. So can I get my own bailiff (not that I HAVE one, just that I can try to get one) to go to one of their branches??

alleybabes

nothingwitty wrote: »

"So they are effectively blackmailing me."

That may be a bit strong so I withdraw the accusation. It's just that it feels like the bank has been using every delaying or stalling tactic and constanlty trying to call my bluff even though I KNOW they missold the PPI.

Hi when they apply to put the judgement aside they should send a copy of the application to you have you received anything? if not they are pulling a fast one and i would send the bailiffs in,i heard after a week of winning a judgement by default and a have a hearing date 1st july, if you havnt heard anything from them then its doubtful they have applied to put the judgement aside,send the bailiffs! im jellous i would love to do that,dont let them get you down:beer: