I joined this forum to ask for information I am having with this company, they are nothing less than loan sharks.

I got involved with them in 2006

I was very ill recovering from brain surgery (to remove tumour)

in those days the DWP did not pay your mortage interest until you had been off sick for 10 months,

I could not drive let alone work and so my mortgage was in serious arrears,

I took out a £7,500 loan with Prestige, more out of desperation than anything else,

I wish I had never heard of them.

They sold me PPI when they knew I was self employed,

I found out later that the PPI did not cover the entire loan (which was 8 years)

I tried to get it back but they said they had not sold it to me inappropriately,

they supplied a disc of my initial conversation of which half of the conversation was missing.

I have complained and complained over the years,

in 2010 once again I was back in hospital having another tumour removed,

I contacted them because I could not work again,

they did nothing other than take proceedings for the repossession of my home

my dad loaned me the money to stop this

but I couldn't keep up with the payments and yes they were sending me letters on a daily basis,

sending collectors to my home etc., etc.

This loan was finished in 2014 but they are still chasing me for disbursements which they claim I owe

these costs are around £12k in all!

I have already paid over £3000 more than the original costs.

Essentially now they want over £30k for a loan of £7500.

They have now issued court proceedings to repossess my house for the charges,

the loan has been repaid in full.

I wanted information if anyone knew what the government consider fair charges for letters etc.,

I am thank goodness no longer in the financial position I was in and so I will be fighting these charges,

I contacted a solicitor who wanted to charge £200/hour and

whilst I don't mind paying for advice, I don't want to end up owing a solicitor thousands if the court decide I have to pay them.

I'm struggling on this one and could really do with some advice.

Have you made any attempt to reclaim the PPI ? If not, then it might be worth starting the process. It sounds as though the PPI was sold inappropriately, not least because you were self employed.

I think you might also be able to reclaim charges - I think charges for letters have to be proportionate.

I will try and find someone who can help.

And you do NOT need a solicitor for this. It looks pretty straightforward to sort out on your own.

Thanks everyone!

What were these disbursements? This would be something they've paid out, possibly solicitors fees .....

Have they provided a breakdown?

You say they are threatening or have started the process to repossess your home - so your thread has been moved to the correct forum.

Hi,

I have asked them for a breakdown of the so called disbursements,

it appears though as is most of the costs are concerning letters they have sent to me,

they have been quite clever with this over the years and

at some points I was receiving 2 letters every day for a considerable time all saying the same thing!

I have asked them to list the dates of the letters sent to me and this will show what their game is, I

(making the obvious mistake) did not however realise that these people charge £35 per letter!

I know that this is my fault, but as I have said I was recovering from a very serious operation when I took the loan out,

and they knew this, also I didn't have many options open to me at the time.

As I have said I do accept that some disbursements are due but have already paid over £3000 for them, but they want over £12k which I don't accept.

I have until the end of March to sort this out and I am considering writing to the court to ask for an adjournment

because the figures on their claim don't even add up correctly,

also I might contact a company to issue a counterclaim for return of PPI etc.,

I know I could do this but I am so busy with my work that I cannot really afford the time at the moment,

and if the claim company want to take their cut then I'll be happy with this as long as I am able to fight these astronomical costs,

which by the way I am not going to pay out of sheer principle.

The other thing is that a defence form was sent to me with the summons,

and they have taken the liberty of putting a cross in the box where it says I accept all the monies they are claiming!!

I never did this.

please don't use a CMC they'll rip you off blind.

these letter fees and any other fees can be reclaimed too

dx

Hi,

Thanks for the reply if you are saying I shouldn't use a recovery company what would you suggest I do?

Do you think I should go ahead and put a counter court claim in for return of PPI and the other costs?

we can sort the PPI or yo can

its quite easy

so are the charges

dx

so when is your court date please

and do you have all the statements?

dx

It's something like the 25th March,

I only have their record of payments,

most of the payment I did directly through my bank and I'm not sure I would be able to access all of them over the entire 8 years,

I want them to provide me with a breakdown of costs, i.e. how many letters @ £35

how many visits from so called debt counsellors @ £100 etc.,

I have instructed them on many occasions not to only email me (I supplied them my email address)

and not to send anyone to my home - they just ignored me!

If and when they reply I will post it here,

in the meantime I think I will go ahead with a counterclaim and also a request to adjourn what is a very silly application for possession

because none of the figures even add up on it!!

have you a real mortgage is this a 2nd charge?

you need to send them an SAR and get all the statements.

dx

Hi,

It's a second charge, and the loan has been completely repaid (plus another £3000!)

I will request the SAR as you advised

however don't think I have the 40 days for the reply,

however I am going to apply to the court to adjourn based on the fact that I am requesting further and better particulars (i.e. the SAR).

I have 5 years left on my mortgage (which is completely up to date without arrears)

based on this, would the court give this company possession for a claim of just over £9000, my home is worth over £250,000?

urm I dont think they can without your mortgage companies permission/agreement

they have 1st dibs.?

dx

I just want to thank everyone on this site for their help, advice and support,

I will be doing this myself now,

I am very familiar with court proceedings (not this though, family courts) and

I have made representations many times, I am not afraid of going and stating my defence,

I am going to apply for an adjournment so that I can get a response to my request for an SAR,

also I am somewhat comforted that they will probably not get repossession anyway

as my 1st mortgage is fully up to date in payments,

their claim is ridiculous in comparison with the value of the house and anyway it is not for default of repayments

it's for some other breach of contract (i.e. refusal to pay them their absurd charges)

tell you mortgage company what is going on.

get your PPI

PENALTY charge

and

Arrears

spreadsheets done too at their int rate.

any other insurances PF made you take out?

life

MIF

etc

urm they cant without your mortgage companies permission/agreement

they have 1st dibs.

 

 

dx

This isn't true. They do not need the first charge's permission at all to issue proceedings - and the judge can make a possession order if he/she so chooses without any reference to the first charge at all. The only issue with a second charge taking possession is that they may not get all of their money as the first charge has to be paid first - e.g. if there is a lack of sufficient funds once the property is sold to discharge both loans. But where in line a chargee stands makes absolutely no difference to whether the court will award possession or not.

The plus point for this OP is that he appears to have been charged a huge amount in what appear to be unfair charges - so he's likely to get his adjournment on the basis that the claim for possession isn't based on arrears of payment, but on charges (and it's unlikely a court will award possession for those whilst there is a dispute about how much is actually owed).

thank you for that.

very useful.

dx

I've completed the SAR and sending it today, I was looking for a template to send to them regarding the PPI

and other inflated charges but can't find anything that suits my claim,

and advice please?

Sorry I meant any advice please.

Wait until you get your SAR so you can work out what you want back.

I've sent the SAR

I have requested an adjournment in court based on the fact that I have applied for further and better particulars,

I now want to start proceedings to reclaim the PPI and other charges,

in the meantime Prestige have replied to my initial letter and they are maintaining their stance

that their disbursements are legal and appropriate (£35 per letter!!)

over they years I sent them 63 letters in all,

mostly about the PPI but also about my other medical issues,

do I get to charge £35 each for them,

some of the letters they have sent have been in response to mine,

are they allowed to charge for these? and why is it so much.

also they are making charges for 'bounced items',

however if I receive payments into my bank account that are not honoured

I do not get charged, usually it's the person making the payment that gets charged

so how can they apply for costs for these?

I've looked at the FOS website and it says claims for PPI are time limited,

so does this mean I am out of date as the original loan was taken out in 2006

but I have complained about this now for the entire length of the loan.

I am very grateful for all the help and support I have received from this forum

PPI claims are not time limited!

its from when 'you' discover the mis-sold PPI has been levied.

as for the charges/arrears

it their letter fees

debt management

bounced item

and ANY other fixed sum PENALTY charge you can reclaim.

you need to make two spreadsheets.

use this one.CISheet v101.xls

pop their in rate in cell d15

then put every monthly payment of PPI in the sheet on its own line.

then get another copy and do the same for the PENALTY/arrears charges.

dx