Nightmare with Welcome Finance!!
Options
This is my first time posting here but I am a long time lurker. I am having a hell of a problem with Welcome Finance and wonder if anyone can help me.
In 2005 I took out a loan for £500 with Welcome Finance, and was told that the only way they would give me the loan was if I took out PPI. This took the loan to almost £800.
During the past year I have had problems with the monthly payments due to losing my job and when I asked whether I would be covered they started coming up with all sorts of excuse and the end result was that I did not get any help.I was told that they could reduce my monthly payments by extending the time of the loan, and I was so stupid enough to agree that it was extended for another 4 years
.I was out of work and I contacted the CCCS who advised me to give them token payments of £1 a month which I have been doing so far. I even wrote them a letter stating that they freeze payments on my account and I also enclosed a Income and Expenditure form.
I received a letter this morning from them saying that my account has now been passed to the collections department due to arrears. When I called up I was shocked to find that the interest was not frozen and that now I owe £1200. I do not understand how its gone up so dramatically when I have paid almost £1000 within the 2 years.
I feel that I am losing a fighting battle here, and that my debt will never ever be clear. I just don't know what to do anymore. I am desperatly looking for work and I am trying my best to come off JSA, so it doesn't help that this letter has come now.
My aunt knows about the situation and has offered to give me £200 to see whether they will take it as a full and final settlement, but I very much doubt it as they will probably chase me for the remainding £1000. This will mean that for a £500 loan, they will end up getting in total almost £2200.
The person who I spoke to today said that I have only made 10 payments totalling £300 but this is not true at all as I requested a statement over a year ago and they even added on unnecessary charges which I asked them to drop but they did not do this.
I'm going out of my head with worry and I really need some advice....
In 2005 I took out a loan for £500 with Welcome Finance, and was told that the only way they would give me the loan was if I took out PPI. This took the loan to almost £800.
During the past year I have had problems with the monthly payments due to losing my job and when I asked whether I would be covered they started coming up with all sorts of excuse and the end result was that I did not get any help.I was told that they could reduce my monthly payments by extending the time of the loan, and I was so stupid enough to agree that it was extended for another 4 years
.I was out of work and I contacted the CCCS who advised me to give them token payments of £1 a month which I have been doing so far. I even wrote them a letter stating that they freeze payments on my account and I also enclosed a Income and Expenditure form.I received a letter this morning from them saying that my account has now been passed to the collections department due to arrears. When I called up I was shocked to find that the interest was not frozen and that now I owe £1200. I do not understand how its gone up so dramatically when I have paid almost £1000 within the 2 years.
I feel that I am losing a fighting battle here, and that my debt will never ever be clear. I just don't know what to do anymore. I am desperatly looking for work and I am trying my best to come off JSA, so it doesn't help that this letter has come now.
My aunt knows about the situation and has offered to give me £200 to see whether they will take it as a full and final settlement, but I very much doubt it as they will probably chase me for the remainding £1000. This will mean that for a £500 loan, they will end up getting in total almost £2200.
The person who I spoke to today said that I have only made 10 payments totalling £300 but this is not true at all as I requested a statement over a year ago and they even added on unnecessary charges which I asked them to drop but they did not do this.
I'm going out of my head with worry and I really need some advice....
0
Comments
-
The only suggestion that I can make is to talk to the Citizens Advice Bureau. Welcome Finance appear too regularly on these Forums and don't seem over-enthused about customer service!
Good luck!0 -
hi there
just a small point here but that sort of interest is not at all unusual for welcome finance. I bought a car for £5000 towards the end of the payments i got a bit stuck and ended up in arrears they added charge after charge in the end they did accept £200 less than i owed as full and final setlement but when i worked out what i had paid over 5 years i paid £14 000. I never had a ppi so that was all interest. So that is 9000 interest over 5 years!0 -
As a former employee for these loan sharks i thought I'd give you an insight into how it works. Basically the account managers are targeted monthly to collect as many payments on accounts as they can. This runs to the end of the month. This is why you will receive lots of calls from them at the end of the month.
Regarding the rubbish treatment you've has regarding your insurance. When a customer needs to claim on their insurance it would normally take around 2-3 months for the insurance company to pay out therefore the account managers would not receive a payment on your account and it would affect their figures. This is why they try and talk you out of it.
When the account does full into arrears it works like this.
Upto 60 days it stays at the local branch (more harrasing towards end of 60 days)
Form 61 days - 120 days it is transferred to the LMB (Local Management Branch) depending where you live they will either be very nice to begin with and then more harrasing or maybe vice versa.
120 days - 180 days. This is the best chance of coming to an arrangement. It goes to the local collection unit. They are allowed to accept 35% of your monthly payment.
After 180 days it goes to an external debt collectors.
Regarding additional charges I would put in a complaint to the Financial ombudsman service. They will add a charge of £10 to call you and the same to send a letter. They also charge £25 to visit you house. The only evidence of the calls is on their computer system. I know most people will make up notes on the system just to clear the workload. i.e say they called and left you a message and charge £10. Even though they hadn't.
If you want any more advice please PM me.
Thanks
Oliver0 -
Thanks Oliver for the info will PM you later on....
Just wanted to do a quick update and its good news. I phoned the member of staff in the collections department who is dealing with my account and I really let him have it. He was even trying to get me to pay more onto my account but I firmly stood my ground and said that I would be making an official complaint. He seemed shocked and was stuttering alot, and said that he didn't want the complaint to go down this route, and said that he was going to pass me on to the Branch Manager.
When the Branch Manager came on the phone he was quite pleasant and was trying to crack a few jokes which I thought was a bit odd considering the circumstances, and he also said that he wanted to avoid the complaint from going any further. He then asked me how much I was willing to pay to finally settle the account once and far all, and I told him that I would not pay anything more than £400. He quickly accepted the offer and I requested to have the letter in writing to confirm this.
I have to say its like a weights been lifted off my shoulders as the debt has been ongoing for the past 3 years. It really shook me to know that they wanted an extra £1200 even though I've paid them almost £1000 for a simple £500 loan.
I've learnt a very hard lesson and I will NEVER take out another loan again especially with Welcome Finance. If I need or want something I'd rather save and put some money away until I could actually afford it.
I hope people will try to avoid at all costs0 -
although i dont wish bad luck on anyone i am glad to hear that it is not just me thats having problems with welcome finance.
My mother has a loan with them which she has been unable to pay for the last few months. They have been really pushy and abusive even though they have been advised of the situation. They haven't bothered to try and help by reducing her payments they just keep sending nasty letters.
The last straw came today when a rep from them called to ask to speak to my mother. She was at work so I told him she was not here.
Less than 20 minutes later he turned up on our doorstep (their offices are in my town) with a letter saying that as she wasnt home when he called round he was charging her another 25 quid for the cost of a wasted home visit!!! Not only that but he was abusive to my 14 year old brother who answered the door to him.
He knew full well she wasnt at home!!! I had told him 20 minutes previously, he knew before he even left the office!!! he was obviously in such a rush to get to our house that he didnt even bother typing out the correct letter. the one he gave me had the wrong account number and amount on. he had just printed a template letter off his pc. I am fairly certain that this is completely illegal.
My mother has given me permission on her account with them to discuss details so i am going round their tomorrow to confont this man and his manager.
I am going to raise holy hell!!!
also i recognise the name of the man that called round and as this is a fairly small town i am certain that he is exactly the same man who was sacked from the company i work at for placing fraudulent orders with customers bank details. all to keep up his sales figures. I imagine he pulled this stunt today for exactly the same reason.
I'll let you know how i get on. sorry for the rant but i am livid!!!!
can i take them to court over this? i have proof of the telephone call and home visit both being less than 20 mins apart.0 -
WELCOME FINANCE - no wonder they are named "welcome" I have just caught my son (21) taking a loan out with them for £2,000 and am horrified at the rate of interest - a MASSIVE 65% APR. I am gobsmacked that such practices are legal - surely this dishonest company need investigating? The blogs identified already regarding them are testament that there must be a lot of poor people out there caught into a never ending saga of debt and stress. Luckily, albeit after an argument this morning, my son has just verbally cancelled via the phone but I've pointed out the small print stating he needs to put this in writing - never trust a loan shark to point out the obvious! Come on we should all band together to put this company in the forefront of OUR advert to the public to BE VERY WARY of 65% APR's - any advances????????????????????/0
-
had massive probelms with welcome. Had a car on hp with them asked to surrender the car as had paid half etc they declined said they had already defaulted the account so i couldn't return vehicle ( they hadnt defaulted at all)
eventually got them to recover the car and sell at auction now looking to me for £9k ( not got massive debt problem) I have repeatedly asked them to provide me with a breakdown of the statement they have sent. they use all sorts of abbreviations which i have no idea what they are. never send it. i have asked them to provide signed CCA agreement so far no show. seems they want their money but dont like the rules of the game so they change them to suit themselves.0 -
-
0
-
Well surely if they cannot produce the CCA agreement within the legal timescale then they have no proof that you owe this debt. There is not much on this site about CCA - however CAG has some interesting info and good templates. Good luck - these people are thieves!!!!!!!0
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 343.3K Banking & Borrowing
- 250.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 449.7K Spending & Discounts
- 235.3K Work, Benefits & Business
- 608.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 173.1K Life & Family
- 248K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 15.9K Discuss & Feedback
- 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards