please help, problem with welcome finance

cladunk

hi, we would appreciate the help of anyone who knows what our next step will be or what the likely outcome of this mind numbing error will be.

my partner has a car loan with welcome finance, all well and good. we needed home improvements done before the birth of our child so my partner applied to welcome for an unsecured personal loan of 2,000.

there has been a lot of communication backwards and forwards since 03/04/08 as welcome seem to be a mickey mouse outfit with a severe lack of internal communication and structure.

the loan had been agreed in principle, all documentation complated and returned and proof submitted. we were just waiting on the loan being finalised. this is when the breakdown began. we were told a catalogue of lies from the loan being settled and paid and then to no.. that was a mistake a job check still had to be completed.
it took them until 14.05.08 for them to do the job check and then they confirmed that this had been completed and monies had been paid and we would have them in the acc in 3-5 business days. we further asked for confirmation of this on 15/05/08 due to the previous errors on welcome's behalf.

the monies arrived in my partner's account on 17/05/08, so we paid overdue payments and of course withdrew cash from an atm as there was an available balance according to the RBS, plus i must add payments were made using a maestro card issued by the RBS. it is our belief that a maestro card cannot be used if there are no available funds and there WAS clearly an available balance on my partner's account on saturday as it showed a full available balance.

we paid more outstanding debts today which also cleared and on leaving the house my partner's available balance on his online banking showed a balance of £900. we used the maestro card in a store today which was declined. ofcourse we were confused as to what had happened.

my partner checked at an ATM and it shwoed we were in the region of £17850 overdrawn :mad: on an acc which doesnt even have an overdraft and that welcome's payment was showing as having arrived in the account today and was also backedout by them today 19/05/08.

there were no funds in this account prior to the welcome finance balance clearing on saturday. there was an available balance which allowed us to lift the maximum amount in cash from the atm on saturday plus use the maestro card on the 17th and 19th to make payments.

my partner called welcome who said the loan was paid out in error and are denying that we have had access to the funds in the first place. are we stupid and insane?? i think not, the money was there and was used in good faith. it is our understanding that they can back out of an agreement beofre the money is settled but once the money has settled in our acc can they just then decide ohh we want it back?

they said it has been due to an error on their part, we shouldnt be able to have an HP agreement for a car and a personal loan. this isnt our mistake, it has been a grave error on their part which has lef tus in near financial ruin. my partner gets paid tomorrow and his wages wont even cover the "overdraft" which is now accruing charges etc.

what we also do not understand is the RBS showing an available balance, not pending... available on 17/05/08 but on my partner's online statement it now shows the money enetering the account and leaving the account on the same day.. today 19/05/08.

it seems to me now that there have been grave errors on the part of both institutions. we have complained about welcome finance now to the financial services ombudsman and my partner will be visitting RBS in the morning to see if that complaint has now to be extended to RBS too.

the fact that there was no avaialble balance until saturday and payments and withdrawals have been honoured due to an available balance, clearly shwos that the funds were there as we couldnt even get a toffee crisp wrapper from the account until saturday lol.

it is a huge headache that we do not need and the stress is proving too much for me at 6 months pregnant.

i find it incomprehendable that welcome can do this to us due to "an error on their part". the loan was settled, we never breached any terms of contract. they have now done so and are sending us further into the red by their actions.

are the RBS to blame too? it would seem that way. why would they give back an available balance to any tom. !!!!!! or harry.

sorry for the incredible long post but i am at my wits end. we would like some advice and knowledge to hit both institutions with tomorrow.

thanks you
claire

PS welcome have said they will call us back in the morning, i dunno if the knowledge that we have now complained to FSO has sent a rocket up them as my partner says she seemed more interested in what they had to say about it all. we need the money back in the acc and charges compensated. thats the bottom line. i dont care if it's welcome or RBS but one of them better fix this :mad: .

bigstevex

If i got into this position I would get my salary sent to another account straight away just to ensure I wasn't completely broke for the month!

cladunk

if it had happened last week then we might have been able to stop his salary from going to the rbs acc but the error happened yesterday and his wages went in this morning. it was too late for the wages dept to put a stop on the payment.

homer_j_3

How do you borrow 2k and end up nearly 18k overdrawn? Did you mean 20k was the amount you borrowed?

What paperwork do you have from welcome? Do you have a credit agreement, do you have a letter confirming that the loan application had been successful?

I would take all the paperwork you have down to the bank and ask them to put your account back as it was prior to the loan going in and then you will have to call up all the people you paid and explain what has happened at that the payment will not go through.

Doing this will put your account back to the position you would have been. You need to get the bank to put in writing any charges that they are levying and then send a letter to welcome asking them to refund this back to you as they have admitted fault in lending the money in error.

Clearly, you are back to square one but you will hopefully have enough money to put food on the table and live for the next month.

I cannot see what else can be achieved from this based on the info you have and you have to understand that you have to firstly put your complaint through the internal complaints procedure with the respective companies before the FOS will even look at your complaint and then it could take months to be answered.

So, I would focus my energy on, as a priority, getting your account back to the state it was before welcome put the money in. I would then tackle any charges with the your bank and welcome and then I would look to seek understanding where the loan application went wrong.

The role of the FOS is to look at any wrong doings and to ensure where a complaint is upheld, you are put back in the position that you were before the error had taken place. They will not compensate you above this normally nor will they tell welcome to give you the money as they do not get involved in commercial decisions.

rosemahairy

bigstevex wrote: »

If i got into this position I would get my salary sent to another account straight away just to ensure I wasn't completely broke for the month!

i agree get the money paid into an account staright away i work alongside payroll in a n accounts department and they can easily stop the wages going in within 24 hours. you need to speak to the bank they shouldnt have given you funds available then withdrew them. i would ring trading standards too as their seems to be some decit on welcome finance part or the banks one is at fault. they cant give you money let you spend it then charge you because theyhave cocked up. feel so sorry for you but dont stress take it one step at a time make sure the wages go elsewhere then tackle the problem of the errors. Charges by banks are at a stage now where they can be reclaimed see the main page of this website.

uktim29

GLEKA wrote: »

try www.complaintcommunity.com.

Let me know how you get on with it. :cool:

Try spamming everywhere and let me know how you get on with it?

rosemahairy

a phone number for welcome you could try 08454916572 this is what i rang with complaints. The fax number i used was 01159778895

cladunk

thankyou for your replies.

there has been resolution. my partner went to the bankk today and they are waiving all charges and are going to pay all necessary direct debits. welcome have now too admitted liability and the monies will be BACk in the account again in 3 working days and they have paid us, or are at least going to also give us £500 in compensation. i think this is mainly due to the fact we told them we have complained to the FSO. it's a relief and i can start to breath again. this is the last thing we needed when trying to get the house finished beofre the patter of the tiny feet arrives.

rosemahairy

cladunk wrote: »

thankyou for your replies.

there has been resolution. my partner went to the bankk today and they are waiving all charges and are going to pay all necessary direct debits. welcome have now too admitted liability and the monies will be BACk in the account again in 3 working days and they have paid us, or are at least going to also give us £500 in compensation. i think this is mainly due to the fact we told them we have complained to the FSO. it's a relief and i can start to breath again. this is the last thing we needed when trying to get the house finished beofre the patter of the tiny feet arrives.

well done glad it worked out for you :-) and compansation too they must have been afraid lol