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    • Well barristers would say that in the hope that motorists would go to them for advice -obviously paid advice.  The problem with appealing is at least twofold. 1] there is a real danger that some part of the appeal will point out that the person appealing [the keeper ] is also the driver.  And in a lot of cases the last thing the keeper wants when they are also the driver is that the parking company knows that. It makes it so much easier for them as the majority  of Judges do not accept that the keeper and the driver are the same person for obvious reasons. Often they are not the same person especially when it is a family car where the husband, wife and children are all insured to drive the same car. On top of that  just about every person who has a valid insurance policy is able to drive another person's vehicle. So there are many possibilities and it should be up to the parking company to prove it to some extent.  Most parking company's do not accept appeals under virtually any circumstances. But insist that you carry on and appeal to their so called impartial jury who are often anything but impartial. By turning down that second appeal, many motorists pay up because they don't know enough about PoFA to argue with those decisions which brings us to the second problem. 2] the major parking companies are mostly unscrupulous, lying cheating scrotes. So when you appeal and your reasons look as if they would have merit in Court, they then go about  concocting a Witness Statement to debunk that challenge. We feel that by leaving what we think are the strongest arguments to our Member's Witness Statements, it leaves insufficient time to be thwarted with their lies etc. And when the motorists defence is good enough to win, it should win regardless of when it is first produced.   
    • S13 (2)The creditor may not exercise the right under paragraph 4 to recover from the keeper any unpaid parking charges specified in the notice to keeper if, within the period of 28 days beginning with the day after that on which that notice was given, the creditor is given— (a)a statement signed by or on behalf of the vehicle-hire firm to the effect that at the material time the vehicle was hired to a named person under a hire agreement; (b)a copy of the hire agreement; and (c)a copy of a statement of liability signed by the hirer under that hire agreement. As  Arval has complied with the above they cannot be pursued by EC----- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- S14 [1]   the creditor may recover those charges (so far as they remain unpaid) from the hirer. (2)The conditions are that— (a)the creditor has within the relevant period given the hirer a notice in accordance with sub-paragraph (5) (a “notice to hirer”), together with a copy of the documents mentioned in paragraph 13(2) and the notice to keeper; (b)a period of 21 days beginning with the day on which the notice to hirer was given has elapsed;  As ECP did not send copies of the documents to your company and they have given 28 days instead of 21 days they have failed to comply with  the Act so you and your Company are absolved from paying. That is not to say that they won't continue asking to be paid as they do not have the faintest idea how PoFA works. 
    • Euro have got a lot wrong and have failed to comply with the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 Schedule 4.  According to Section 13 after ECP have written to Arval they should then send a NTH to the Hirer  which they have done.This eliminates Arval from any further pursuit by ECP. When they wrote to your company they should have sent copies of everything that they asked Arval for. This is to prove that your company agree what happened on the day of the breach. If ECP then comply with the Act they are allowed to pursue the hirer. If they fail, to comply they cannot make the hirer pay. They can pursue until they are blue in the face but the Hirer is not lawfully required to pay them and if it went to Court ECP would lose. Your company could say who was driving but the only person that can be pursued is the Hirer, there does not appear to be an extension for a driver to be pursued. Even if there was, because ECP have failed miserably to comply with the Act  they still have no chance of winning in Court. Here are the relevant Hire sections from the Act below.
    • Thank-you FTMDave for your feedback. May I take this opportunity to say that after reading numerous threads to which you are a contributor, I have great admiration for you. You really do go above and beyond in your efforts to help other people. The time you put in to help, in particular with witness statements is incredible. I am also impressed by the way in which you will defer to others with more experience should there be a particular point that you are not 100% clear on and return with answers or advice that you have sought. I wish I had the ability to help others as you do. There is another forum expert that I must also thank for his time and patience answering my questions and allowing me to come to a “penny drops” moment on one particular issue. I believe he has helped me immensely to understand and to strengthen my own case. I shall not mention who it is here at the moment just in case he would rather I didn't but I greatly appreciate the time he took working through that issue with me. I spent 20+ years of working in an industry that rules and regulations had to be strictly adhered to, indeed, exams had to be taken in order that one had to become qualified in those rules and regulations in order to carry out the duties of the post. In a way, such things as PoFA 2012 are rules and regulations that are not completely alien to me. It has been very enjoyable for me to learn these regulations and the law surrounding them. I wish I had found this forum years ago. I admit that perhaps I had been too keen to express my opinions given that I am still in the learning process. After a suitable period in this industry I became Qualified to teach the rules and regulations and I always said to those I taught that there is no such thing as a stupid question. If opinions, theories and observations are put forward, discussion can take place and as long as the result is that the student is able to clearly see where they went wrong and got to that moment where the penny drops then that is a valuable learning experience. No matter how experienced one is, there is always something to learn and if I did not know the answer to a question, I would say, I don't know the answer to that question but I will go and find out what the answer is. In any posts I have made, I have stated, “unless I am wrong” or “as far as I can see” awaiting a response telling me what I got wrong, if it was wrong. If I am wrong I am only too happy to admit it and take it as a valuable learning experience. I take the point that perhaps I should not post on other peoples threads and I shall refrain from doing so going forward. 🤐 As alluded to, circumstances can change, FTMDave made the following point that it had been boasted that no Caggers, over two years, who had sent a PPC the wrong registration snotty letter, had even been taken to court, let alone lost a court hearing .... but now they have. I too used the word "seemed" because it is true, we haven't had all the details. After perusing this forum I believe certain advice changed here after the Beavis case, I could be wrong but that is what I seem to remember reading. Could it be that after winning the above case in question, a claimant could refer back to this case and claim that a defendant had not made use of the appeal process, therefore allowing the claimant to win? Again, in this instance only, I do not know what is to be gained by not making an appeal or concealing the identity of the driver, especially if it is later admitted that the defendant was the driver and was the one to input the incorrect VRN in error. So far no one has educated me as to the reason why. But, of course, when making an appeal, it should be worded carefully so that an error in the appeal process cannot be referred back to. I thought long and hard about whether or not to post here but I wanted to bring up this point for discussion. Yes, I admit I have limited knowledge, but does that mean I should have kept silent? After I posted that I moved away from this forum slightly to find other avenues to increase my knowledge. I bought a law book and am now following certain lawyers on Youtube in the hope of arming myself with enough ammunition to use in my own case. In one video titled “7 Reasons You Will LOSE Your Court Case (and how to avoid them)” by Black Belt Barrister I believe he makes my point by saying the following, and I quote: “If you ignore the complaint in the first instance and it does eventually end up in court then it's going to look bad that you didn't co-operate in the first place. The court is not going to look kindly on you simply ignoring the company and not, let's say, availing yourself of any kind of appeal opportunities, particularly if we are talking about parking charge notices and things like that.” This point makes me think that, it is not such a bizarre judgement in the end. Only in the case of having proof of payment and inputting an incorrect VRN .... could it be worthwhile making a carefully worded appeal in the first instance? .... If the appeal fails, depending on the reason, surely this could only help if it went to court? As always, any feedback gratefully received.
    • To which official body does one make a formal complaint about a LPA fixed charge receiver? Does one make a complaint first to the company employing the appointed individuals?    Or can one complain immediately to an official body, such as nara?    I've tried researching but there doesn't seem a very clear route on how to legally hold them to account for wrongful behaviour.  It seems frustratingly complicated because they are considered to be officers of the court and held in high esteem - and the borrower is deemed liable for their actions.  Yet what does the borrower do when disclosure shows clear evidence of wrong-doing? Does anyone have any pointers please?
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Blemain - Who regulates them?


Challenging
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We took out a secured loan in Feb 2006 with the dreaded Blemain Finance for £34,000. Following many sales calls over the next six months, we took out another for £5k as a unilateral charge. After years with Kensington and having accumulated extortionate arrears charges, we were finally offered a mortgage with a building Society and thought that there was light at the end of the tunnel. However, the new mortgage will allow us to pay off Kensington, the smaller loan which they want 7.5k to clear off, and the larger loan they now want £40k & 3.5k in collection costs. We have wrote and called them dozens of times and they just won’t reply with justification of the costs and to cap it all they have not agreed to a deed of postponement even though our new mortgage would clear the smaller loan and most of the large loan including the arrears and collection costs. We called them today and they even said that they wouldn’t agree even to the deed of postponement even if we cleared the arrears and paid them their costs upfront. We are now stuck with Kensington because of Blemain and can’t see any way out. We will still have 30k in equity after this so can’t understand why they are being so difficult. They even refused to speak to us and told us to stop calling. I have tried the FSA, Financial Ombudsman, Trading Standards who have all referred us to the CAB. Why can they get away with wrecking people’s lives – how do they sleep at night? Can anyone give advice before we see the CAB?

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Hi Challenging

they are regulated by FISA but only it you took out your laon after they came under their remit in early 2007 (not sure of the date) any time before then you will find like others on this site with complaints against Blemain that there seems nowhere to turn, except maybe if your loan was sold by a broker who did not explain it to you correctly, it will be covered by the consumer credit act of 1977, does it state anything about early redemption charges? thats what they robbed me on, If your laon was sold by a broker, which is more than likely then its them you go after if theres anything missing from your paperwork, and knowing BF there will be.. Best of luck..GC

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  • 1 year later...

There maybe a way of making a complaint to the Fin Ombudsman (FO) regarding Blemain Finance

 

I am a CAB Debt worker. Our clients came to us regarding a charge of Buildings Insurance in their redemption figures. Clients already have buildings cover with their mortgage providers. After speaking to the FO they informed us that BF are not regulated to sell insurance. We believe that BF will refer us to Ocean Finance who acted as the broker in this deal and miss sold the insurance to our clients. Ocean Finance do come under the remit of the FO and we then can make a complaint to the FO.

 

Will let you know the result of our complaint which may take upto 3 months.

 

Hope this helps some of you

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  • 2 months later...

Just wondered if there is any news on this re the buildings insurance? Blemain have refused to refund me two previous years premiums even though I had buildings insurance. I cannot get the broker to reply to my SAR either so am wondering if the FO is the way to go. Or perhaps the ICO...

 

Kind regards, MG

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  • 2 weeks later...

Challenging,

 

Can't say for sure who regulates the lender BUT.....

 

You might be interested to know that your Blemain loan agreements are REGULATED CONSUMER CONTRACTS under the Consumer Credit Acts 1974 and 2006. Therefore you have extensive statutory protection from those two Acts.

 

The Office of Fair Trading is the regulator in charge of any credit agreement that falls under those acts.

 

When you entered into the contract for £34K, the contract would have fallen outside the OFT's regulation of the loan BUT since April 2008, the 25K limit was lifted so now, your contracts falls within the scope of the OFT's regulatory purview.

 

See e.g. the explanatory notes in the CCA 2006

 

Section 2: Removal of financial limits etc.

16. Section 2 removes the financial limit for the regulation of consumer credit and consumer hire agreements under the 1974 Act. The 1974 Act currently applies only to agreements where credit provided or the hire payments to be made do not exceed £25,000. In future, all consumer credit and consumer hire agreements will be regulated by the 1974 Act unless specifically exempted, regardless of the amount of the credit or the amount of the hire payments. Section 2(3) extends the application of the provisions regulating credit advertisements to advertisements offering credit regardless of the sum involved, and regardless of whether the creditor requires security.

 

 

The "specific" exemptions are set out at s.16 of the CCA 1974. Unless the lender falls within the s.16 exemption, your contract is regulated under these acts. It is unlikely that a mob like Blemain will have a s.16 exemption. The exemption are for institutions such as holding a banking licence, building societies and local authorities.

 

Also see s.2 of the CCA 2006 which changes the CCA s.8 definition of "consumer credit agreement" .

 

Also, check out the "unfair relationships" provisions of the CCA 2006 and also check out the s.13 and s.17 (I believe) which prohibit lenders from charging compound interest on default sums.

 

Recommend: getting in touch with the OFT and learning about the CCA Acts. You have got a lot of good law to protect you from their conduct but you have to use and assert those protection.

 

Use this site to read the Acts: Home - Statute Law Database

 

...and know your rights...

 

Good luck

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Thanks Supersleuth. Things have moved on since I started this thread in 2007. The house was repossessed by Kensington and sold for loads below value in April 2008 (220k and sold for 163k). Kensington then charged us about 8-10k selling fees, legal costs, asset fees, then also charged us an extra 25k on top of the original mortgage (we had paid about 50k the previous 4 1/2 years). They then sent a surplus of 26k to Blemain as second charge. Blemain contacted us months after and following several requests they have still not provided us with a balance (it changes every time and they deliberately will not provide us with a true debit and credit account. They were still requesting a significant amount of money as owing even though technically the shortfall should really be about 5k following the 26k reduction and previous payments. Anyway, it's not all doom and gloom as life is much better and 5 months ago we sent the agreements and all documentation to a company that employ forensic accountants. Both Kensington and Blemain's agreements have irregularities and we are now awiting a call from solicitors regarding litigation. Now that we are free of the professional thieves, we can take them on.

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Hi Challenging,

 

Keep on challenging...going forward, the change in the CCA will still be able to help you.

 

As you've discovered, being repossessed is only the start of the thievery. Just when you think you've lost everything, they manufacture even greater loss which they call "your debt". The blank cheque they write themselves in so called legal fees etc. Happy that you've got legal help with this. I may know your of your forensic accounts and the solicitors. If they're who I think they are, then you're in good hands.

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Oh and one more thought. Did you check your old title number. Often there's a ruse where they sell for under value, and then in a matter of a few months, it gets sold on again at a more realistic price. Check the history of your title number at the Land Registry from the date when you were repossessed through to the current date.

 

That ruse is used to increase the shortfall that they can chase you for, thus keeping you in hock to them and keeping the compounding interest going. Did you know that the latin words from which the word "mortgage" derives is translated as "death-grip". Really is, don't your think

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Can anybody suggest where we turn for help with Blemain. We took out 4 loans with them through a broker. The repayments became extortionate beyond belief and we solf one of the properties. They charged us £3000 just to provide a settlement figure to our solicitor. They've charged us for insurance when we have our own and they stick masses of fees on the remaining accounts every month. They are crippling us and we need to get out but thanks to them we have terrible credit record. They refuse to provide us with statements and I cant see any light at the end of the tunnel. Desparately need some help, can anyone recommend somebody? Needless to say we dont have loads of spare cash around to stump up front either but happy to let anyone who can help us have what they can recover from these sharks

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Oh no, Blemain again.

 

I would start your own thread on this as there are quite a few of us who can offer advice in dealing with them.

 

They are in breach of the Consumer Credit Act by not sending you an annual statement and they have been legally obliged to since April 2008.

 

I can tell you now that on their Tariff of Charges they state £55 to calculate and send settlement figures to your solicitor so the most you should have paid for all four loans is £220. I would challenge this immediately via the complaint form on their website.

 

I have also had the insurance [problem] pulled on me and have now got them to agree to drop it, but they are refusing to refund previous premiums and I will take them to court about this after I have redeemed the loan.

 

I would also send a Subject Access Request (SAR) to the broker to find out if they received any extra commission for putting you with Blemain. Templates on this site. Good luck! MG

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You could try a SAR, http://www.consumerforums.com/resources/templates-library/86-debt-collectors/576-subject-access-request-debt-a-dca they have 40 days to provide you with the information which should include agreements, statements copies of letters. If they fail to provide it make a complaint to the ICO & send them the letter in post #6

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  • 1 month later...
  • 1 year later...
  • 2 weeks later...

No developments it seems.

They are covered by the credit licence of the Cheshire Mortgage Co

as ''introducers''

Any Letters I Draft are N0T approved by CAG and no personal liability is accepted.

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  • 1 year later...

I have been with Bleheim Finance for 6 years now. After being completely at their mercy I thought it would be a good idea to settle up. The loan started at £17,000. After admin fees the loan escalated to £19,300. After failing to acknowledge our building insurance the loan jumped to £21,000. After paying in excess of £16,000 in the last 6 years they having quoted me a settlement figure of in excess of £22,000. Blemain Finance are [EDIT] and this government are letting them get away with it.

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I have been with Bleheim Finance for 6 years now. After being completely at their mercy I thought it would be a good idea to settle up. The loan started at £17,000. After admin fees the loan escalated to £19,300. After failing to acknowledge our building insurance the loan jumped to £21,000. After paying in excess of £16,000 in the last 6 years they having quoted me a settlement figure of in excess of £22,000. Blemain Finance are [EDIT] and this government are letting them get away with it.

 

I'm no fan of this government but they have very little to do with it whereas the last lot had a lot to do with it!

We all need to get together on this. Our situation is very similar to yours. Did you have to take out PPI as a condition of getting the loan?

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