log book loans help please!!!

[timpo1981]

I have been reading through various different threads on this forum regarding LBL, and to be honest I'm horrified. My partner recently passed her test and we bought a car earlier this year. However as we are on benefits and caring for a disabled child we couldn't afford to insurance the car in my partners name, so we insured it in her fathers name and put her on as a named driver. However for the policy to be legal we had to transfer the car into her fathers name because the policyholder also has to be the registered keeper. Anyway we found out the other day that her father has taken a loan out on the car with LBL without our knowledge. We actully found this out from a third party and have now gotten copies of the agreements that had been given to him from LBL. To be honest I can't believe this company can get away with giving out these kind of loans. The first payment isn't due for another few weeks yet, but I have no doubt that her father will not be able to afford to make the payments as he is himself on disability benefits, and after reading what some of the people on this forum have gone through with these cowboys I am absolutely s*****g myself. The loan amount is only £700 but the APR is 402.7% (is this legal)? His repayments are £33 per week (He only gets £72) and to end the agreement early we would have to cough up nearly £1800, which is totaly out of the question. (At the moment I haven't got £1.

Anyway what I want to ask is where do we stand with regards the legality of the agreement as the person who took out the loan was only the registered keeper and not the owner. I have an invoice which states I purchased the car. Also is the above apr legal? One other thing according to the agreement the early settlement figures increase rather than decrease. For example if we want to pay back after one quarter it would cost us £1400 but to pay back after three quarters has elapsed will cost us £1800. Surely this can't be right.

If anyone has any advice to offer I would realy appreciate it and if you need any further info please let me know. I hope somebody can help because these people seem to prey on the vulnerable, who they know can't afford to fight back.
thanks
timpo.

[paulsmyth]

402%!!! That's worse than most loan sharks!! I would contact your local Trading Standards, I'm not sure if there's an upper limit on apr

[timpo1981]

Originally Posted by paulsmyth

402%!!! That's worse than most loan sharks!! I would contact your local Trading Standards, I'm not sure if there's an upper limit on apr

I did consider doing that, however from reading these boards I have come to the conclusion that Trading standards have been as much use as a chocolate fireguard when it comes to this company. I also don't want LBL to get wind that this agreement is being questioned until I know for sure whether it is legal. Who knows what they may do.

[barbs26]

Get some legal advise or visit CAB A.S.A.P,they wont hang around much once you default (know from experience) hopefully you'll get a reply from lbl on here he/she is pretty clued up on this company.Also get in touch with BBC WATCHDOG they are interested in LBL.And look at over threads there/s a email address for TS with a complaint number,send complaint to them using that number.Keep us imformed on situation.

[lbl]

Hi,

Having read your post, a couple of pointers that may be of interest.

1) Your partner's father has actually committed fraud in acquiring this loan, as he will have signed a "declaration of ownership" confirming that he indeed owns the car and is free to secure a loan upon it. Unfortunately, to invalidate the security on these grounds, you would actually have to file a complaint with the police.

2) The APR is "legal" as such, but could be declared "an extortionate credit bargain" by the court if it can be shown that in the individual case the terms are unreasonable. This could possibly be the case in the event that your partner's father clearly cannot afford the loan.

3) The "early settlement" figures you have quoted are the total you would repay under the agreement including all weekly payments made up to and including the date of settlement. So yes, after three quarters of the term, it would be significantly higher than after one quarter.

If you are prepared to report your partner's father to the police, you could possibly have the loan overturned, but you would be leaving yourself open to difficulties from your insurance company, as a named driver is not supposed to be the main driver of the car. The best advice I can give at this time is to make sure the payments are kept up to date while you explore your options, and obtain independent legal advice.

Hope this helps

lbl

[DoubleCheese]

I had a similar loan with these guys but my repayments were nothing like yours timpo1981. It was a while ago but from memmory it was more like £25/week. Are you sure its log book loans and not someone else?

[lbl]

Double Cheese, it sounds like timpo's loan had what logbook loans call "advanced payment plan" built in, as he has said that the first payment isn't due for a few weeks. This will up the amount of the loan, although he will only have received the £700. £33 per week sounds about right in that case.

[timpo1981]

Thanks guys for your input. Calling the police is definately not an option. Going by what lbl says we have no option but to make sure payments are made. Doublecheese lbl is correct. It would seem that he deffered payments for 5 weeks, hence the higher repayments.

[lbl]

timpo1981 - If you are prepared to ensure that the payments are made, do not under any circumstances let Logbook Loans know that your partner's father does not own the car. If you do, they will seek one of three remedies:

1) To report your partner's father to the police for obtaining the loan fraudulently and sue him civilly for the full amount of the loan including interest and legal costs.

or

2) Terminate the loan agreement, and seek to repossess the car, claiming that they were acting in good faith in securing the loan on the vehicle, leaving you to claim against your father's partner for your loss, whilst pursuing him themselves for any shortfall following sale of the car.

or

3) Seek to sign you up for a new loan, including the settlement figure for your partner's father's loan and secure the loan against the car again but in your name as the owner of the car

I am not advocating any unlawful act here, and to rectify the legal situation, ideally you should sign over ownership of the car to your partner's father for the duration of the loan, backdating the receipt to before the loan was taken out. This will protect him from legal action if Logbook Loans were to become aware that he did not own the car when he took out the loan.

Your partner's father should look into the possibility of having the court look at the "credit bargain" to see if it can be classed as extortionate, however, very few cases have been successfully won against lenders.

Hope this helps.