Thread: Welcome finance - can anyone give me some advice please?

Hello, new here - please do not bite!

5 years ago i took out a loan with WFS - not because i had CCJ's but because i had no credit history given that i emigrated from oz. As an aussie i didnt properly understand APR's and was told that the interest rate was 1.5% so i signed up for the loan. I did argue quite hard against PPI though as i would be paid if i was off sick so didnt see the point.

Unfortunately around 3 years ago i got into some financial difficulty and needed to move house, and needed cash up front, so topped up my loan with WFS up to 6k. Once again noone told me about the APR.

Ive paid off my loan diligently ever since and AFAIK never missed a payment.

The loan was unsecured, and as such, the real APR was sky high.
A few months ago, i was looking into perhaps settling early with WFS, and looked up their APR and nearly fell over with shock. Since then i have been trying to find a way to settle early with WFS. I may now be in a position to do that.

Unfortunately due to house moves, ive lost the paperwork, and i have no statements, but from my calculations, i have paid around £9600 off a £6k loan which seems to be rather a lot. Also WFS still want another £3k from me to settle early.

This is over DOUBLE what i borrowed - surely this is unfair??? I dont understand what people are talking about when they reference rule 78.. or SARS or CCA - can someone please explain it to an airhead like myself?

Is there anything i can do?

Thanks in advance.

xxx

Hi Angel a CCA is a request for an original copy of your agreement, if you request that it costs £1 and they have 12+2 days to send you it. the SAR is a Subject access request which when you send a request (costs £10)off for that you are asking for everything they hold about you and any accounts you have with them, they have 40 days to comply with the SAR

to be honest I would send off for them both and make sure you send by recorded or special delivery. also what is your APR? there are APR calculators you can use to compare the repayments you have been making, it might be a quick way of discovering if you do actually have PPI added.

there are more experienced members on here who will advise you better.

good luck

thanks for everyones information

i read elsewhere on the forum that if i did have PPI i would have details with the underwriters - so i called them but they dont have my details so i assume i dont have PPI

but still 13k for a 6k loan and no money off for an early settlement - surely that cant be right? is there anything i can do?

i dont know about my apr - i only found out about their huge apr's when i googled it a few months ago - they told me i had an interest rate of 1.5% but they didnt tell me that it was PER MONTH!

So if i send off for a a car and a CA realistically is there anything i can do to get this settlement figure down?

that all depends on what charges they have added to your account for phone calls etc but with the CCA you will get a copy of your agreement which will show if you have got PPI and also what your APR is, the SAR will show you if any charges have been added to your account, so if there are charges and PPI you can reclaim them so it should in theory reduce your settlement figure but it will take time.

just make sure you send the postal orders and do not sign the SAR or CCA requests and that you send them by recorded or special delivery.