the loan people - fee paid but loan declined - advice please

jay213

My friend tried to get a loan from theloanpeople for £500. She was really desperate for the money as she can’t get any credit or loans through the normal lenders. Theloanpeople say there are no credit checks etc so she thought this is what she needed to get by. She didn’t have the money to pay the admin fee of 29.99 so she asked me reluctantly if I could borrow her the money so that she could get the loan.

As far as what she told me, was that she had to pay the fee of 29.99 to get the loan in 3-5 working days which she needed to pay bills, get to work and for a few birthdays she really wanted to get gifts for. She waited over 5 days and never heard anything, so phoned them up today to be told that she had been declined by the first loan company that they tried. She’s really upset about the whole thing as really thought that she would get the money and has been crying since she sort of put all her eggs into one basket.

She said that she spent a couple of hours trying to speak to them on the phone & that they said that they couldn’t say why it was declined but that they would send a form for her to fill in for her permission to find out from the loan company why it had been declined (I wonder will they charge for this ?). She explained she only paid the upfront fee to get the loan and tried to ask for a refund, they told her that they have a list of about 13-14 loan companies to go through before there could be any sort of refund as they are brokers and its there admin fee, etc. They said they will try another more lenient loan company on there list and she will have to wait a further 3-5 days to find out if it is successful well. The birthdays she needed get things for have passed and she will get paid at the end of the month.

I’m wondering if she will have to accept a loan through them if they secure one on her behalf.

What if the APR changes? I doubt the rate would be the same for all the companies that they contact.

Is there a hope of re claiming the 29.99 fee?

Any general advice of lenders for people who cant get loans that need it

SuzySu

Unfortunately this sort of thing is quite common and you will read a lot of posts about it. These brokers can charge £49.95 so at least it wasn't anything like that amount. I know it's still gutting and frustrating when you are told it is agreed "in principle", but it's a complete rip-off. I don't know about your chances of getting your money back - others might have advice for you.

Before doing anything else, please have a look on this board and search for any companies you/your mum are thinking about trying. Some companies prey on people's misfortune and are charging anything up to 183% APR which is just extortionate.

Sorry to hear your story - it's awful to be kicked when you are down.

chambta

I had a customer call my bank today in tears after a £49.99 payment had been taken from her account. She claimed she didn't agree to it but must have given them her card details. As these payments can't be stopped and it's took the last of her benefits it's left her in a mess.

All this for a £500 loan she will almost certainly never get. She also said the company cold called her. Where do they get details of people from or do they just take their chances and ring anyone?

SIMONB159

I have also paid this but my fee was £49.99 and was promised the money within 5 days i month on nothing is there a way to re-claim the money ?

furndire

There was something on Watchdog a while ago about this company.

Can't find the watchdog blurb, but your can read a bit more here.
http://www.moneysupermarket.com/community/forums/p/21604/fake-loan-advice-130295.aspx

Emerald_Vixon

Hi,
I am new to the forum but I work in an advice capacity and I was so upset to read this thread I had to comment.

Yes there is a way to claim these broker fees back (most of the fee any way).

The consumer credit act 1974 section 155, this applies if –

• The broker has made an introduction to a source of credit

and

• no agreement has resulted within six months.

You may not take up the credit because the interest is too high or the repayments are more than you can afford etc. anyway if this is the case you should write to the company and request your fee back less the £5 which the section says they are able to retain as a nominal charge. if you know you will not be using the introduction they have provided you do not need to wait until the six months have elapsed before writing to them.

If however they have not provided any introduction then they have not performed their part of the contract ( lack of consideration would be the legal term) and you would be entitled to take them to small claims court if they did not refund the whole amount. Court action is often of putting so the alternative is to use the Financial Ombudsman Service who are very user friendly and cost nothing for the consumer. Also the Office of Fair Trading takes a very dim of any instance of non-refund and would be interested to here from anyone who suffers this.

CHR15

chambta wrote: »

. She also said the company cold called her.

I wish her luck in getting her money back but I also hope someone gives her a good head shake into ignoring cold callers!! :rolleyes:

confused3_2

does anyone know the phone number for the loan people ltd?

thankx

Matt16v

Got to ask, why?? If you're planning on phoning them up to give them some serious abuse then good on you and i'll happily help find the number, but if you're planning on calling them and asking them for a loan you need your head examined!