Blemain(Un)Together Secured Hell

moneymeltdown · 16 May 2017 at 8:50PM

hello everyone,
It's been a while since I posted here but it's good to be back!

I have got a horrible situation with Blemain - now Together - and was wondering if anyone has any wise words/advice on how to deal with these crooks.

In brief, I took out a secured loan with Blemain almost 10 years ago (this is certainly in the top 5 of the worst decisions I have ever made)

Thinking I had almost made it to the finish line after a decade of crippling, life ruining monthly repayments, imagine my surprise when I found out recently I still have a whopping balance to clear!

I could not understand it at all so requested a breakdown. The list of extra charges and HUGE interest charges on every single item over the years is eye-wateringly ridiculous.

For example, crazy inflated charges for buildings insurance that they supplied despite me having my own. I think I had to have my own building insurance as part of the actual loan agreement.
Charges for home visits? I mean .. what ever for?

In the unlikely event that I could pay this off early, there would be an unrealistic and enormous redemption figure to pay also.

Is any of this legal? Has anyone here ever challenged their shady practices? it is SO depressing as I doubt I'll ever be free of this awful loan.

Any help and advice is greatly appreciated ...thankyou!

sourcrates · 16 May 2017 at 9:40PM

Hi,

Yes usually secured lenders have a list of "extra" charges they can bestow on you.
They will of been listed in the small print when you signed your agreement, so yes, although they are ridiculous, they are also legal and would of been clearly visible in the terms and conditions.

ReadingTim · 17 May 2017 at 10:22AM

It's entirely legal, and by signing the agreement, you have literally signed your name to say that you agree with all of these charges, rates of interest etc.

The advice here is to read and understand what you're signing up to before you sign on the dotted line, but that's probably not the answer you're hoping to hear.

Deadbeat · 17 May 2017 at 12:19PM

> Charges for home visits

That's a bit concerning. Did they make any visits to your home?

moneymeltdown · 18 May 2017 at 8:49AM

ReadingTim wrote: »

It's entirely legal, and by signing the agreement, you have literally signed your name to say that you agree with all of these charges, rates of interest etc.

The advice here is to read and understand what you're signing up to before you sign on the dotted line, but that's probably not the answer you're hoping to hear.

This is totally NOT what I want to hear of course but thankyou for taking the time to read and reply!

moneymeltdown · 18 May 2017 at 8:52AM

Deadbeat wrote: »

> Charges for home visits

That's a bit concerning. Did they make any visits to your home?

Not that I am aware of!

How would I know as I am usually out at work all day...they could very easily say they have visited my home and I would be unable to prove it.

Everything appears to be weighted in Blemains favour - they are a hateful company. I wouldn't wish my experience with them on anyone :mad:

GarthThomas · 18 May 2017 at 9:20AM

Did you at any point fail to make your payments in full and on time?

Or, to put it another way, are these charges that everyone accrues and knows about beforehand, or are they down to things that happened to you?

ferry · 18 May 2017 at 1:48PM

No expert of course, but does the loan have a 'start' date and a 'finish' date i.e fixed period?
Surely the question is whether they are allowed to add charges after this?

moneymeltdown · 20 May 2017 at 10:20AM

ferry wrote: »

No expert of course, but does the loan have a 'start' date and a 'finish' date i.e fixed period?
Surely the question is whether they are allowed to add charges after this?

yes the loan term was originally stated as 123 months (or so I thought

when I spoke to them last week to query the huge amount still left to pay, I was told the monthly payments and term were based on a "perfect loan"

ie if you paid the amount every single month without fail, which is what I did for YEARS. I missed a couple of payments way back in 2009, and sorted all of the arrears ages and ages ago.

How can one of their loans actually ever achieve "perfect" status when they add their own buildings insurance costs plus interest of course despite me obviously having my own buildings insurance - which was stated as part of the actual loan agreement in the first place!!??

it seems their whole business model is based solely on tripping you up to make the loan "imperfect" and thereby creating more strange charges plus interest throughout the loan term.

With their end goal no doubt hoping to be a repossession....

Infuriating doesn't even cover it....how can I now have an almost £8k default balance after approx 9.5 years of a £30k 10 year loan!?!

moneymeltdown · 20 May 2017 at 10:27AM

GarthThomas wrote: »

Did you at any point fail to make your payments in full and on time?

Or, to put it another way, are these charges that everyone accrues and knows about beforehand, or are they down to things that happened to you?

yes there were a few missed payments way back in 2009 due to a decrease in earnings at the time and the arrears were rectified.

I think in my case they have actually charged for items that shouldn't have been charged for such as home visits that I obvioucly can not prove either way if they happened or not and buildings insurance (see my reply to ferry above)

and of course all my building insurance documents can't be located at Blemain / Together ... how convenient!

patman99 · 21 May 2017 at 4:18PM

You might have a case to claim back the buildings insurance as you had purchased your own in order to comply with the loan agreement.

A couple of years back I had something similar where I ended-up with two insurances. I contacted the second policy issuer and they told me that it is not legal to have two policies to cover the same set of contents or the same building. Therefore they would refund me the premiums I had paid as part of the loan.

I would suggest that you write to Together and inform them that you wish them to refund the buildings insurance payments as you already had cover that predated their policy start date, therefore voiding their policy set up in your name.

If they refuse, then a lba might be the next logical step.

Blemain(Un)Together Secured Hell

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