Welcome Finance any dealings???

falcon185 · 12th October 2006, 14:36

Hi All,
after some considerable time we have finally managed to throw off the shackles of Welcome finance. I went to my local office today and personally served them with A Subject Access Request, which I advised the manager she might like to forward it to head office along with my cheque for the £10 fee?
I was wondering if anyone else had had any dealings with Welcome and have taken action against them similar to mine. It would be great to get some feedback from anyone who has and what stage they are at or the conclusion of their action?

Hope to hear from you soon Bazza

bankofsandy · 12th October 2006, 15:57

Hi Bazza

Have not made a claim against them yet but intend to send for Subject Access Request and also going to look at the mis-sold payment protection insurance and see about claiming that back.

Good luck with yours

Sandy

falcon185 · 12th October 2006, 16:09

Hi Sandy,
I took in my S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) today personally and gave it to the manager. She seemed ( or made out she knew what it was all about) and was probably on the phone to head office as soon as I left. They have charged me and others, I believe, extorsionate rates and prey on people who have had some adverse history financially in the past. Well, time for the fat cats to be placed on a diet

Good luck with yours, keep me posted
Bazza

bakedalasker · 12th October 2006, 20:03

Guys,

Not too sure what your issues are with them but this guy asked for his PPI to be cancelled and refunded. Welcome agreeded:-

www.saynotoyes.co.uk -> Another Welcome Finance

seylectric · 12th October 2006, 22:32

I would be interested to know a little more too as I have an HP agreement with Welcome Finance. The original agreement had PPI on it too but i immediately telephoned them and asked them to remove it. They said, "Sorry, but it's a legally binding agreement". I said "OK then, take the car back as I won't be paying a penny. Feel free to default me if you wish but you won't get any money." They cancelled the PPI.

My payment record has been OK for the two years I have been with them but the interest rate is extortionate. The biggest issue I have with them is for the past couple of months, having missed one payment, they decided (without telling me) to add another £30 a month to the payments to recover the missing payment so I cancelled the direct debit and began paying them in cash at the local office.

However the local office has now been relocated out of town and I no longer am able to get to them with cash payments. I don't have a cheque book so they insist on calling at my home for the money, charging me £25 a time. I have now told them that I will ONLY pay by bank transfer as I can do this online and although they initially said this couldn't be done they are now going to supply me with the details.

What I'm getting at is can I do anything about the high interest rate? The rest of the issues (callout charges, letter charges etc.) I can deal with. I will not be in a position to get another loan at a lower interest rate and still owe (according to them, I think it's less) about £5,000+

bakedalasker · 12th October 2006, 22:44

Guys,

I cannot promise anything here but I will look into it for you.

This is a new one on me regarding doing something about the interest rate. My immediate instinct is the enforceablitiy of the agreement. If its a possible chance the agreement is unenforceable then there might be something that can be done. Even so I would imagine its going to be a tricky legal road to prove.

I shall endevour to find out.

seylectric · 13th October 2006, 00:45

Thanks, I'm toying with the idea that if the PPI part of the agreement was invalid (and obviously a lot of people have managed to get their PPI cancelled/refunded), then could it not be argued that as the PPI was origininally part of the agreement, then the fact that the PPI part is void renders the whole agreement void?

Hope this makes sense, in otherwords if part of an agreement is invalid then possibly it could be argued that the agreement as a whole is invalid?

I'm not exactly sure what might be gained if this was the case, except perhaps a decent reduction in the interest being charged?

falcon185 · 13th October 2006, 02:07

Hi guys,
I'm not sure how you stand on the interest issue, however, if part of a contract is deemed void then surely the whole contract would be too?? something worth looking into dont you think?
My gripe with them is that we paid off out loan with tweo large payments but had late payment charges etc levied against us although we were still waiting for the money to be sent to them from another finance company. Also charged at least an extra £2000 or there abouts as penalties for paying off early redemption figure?
Will find out exactly how much soon!!

seylectric · 13th October 2006, 02:14

Quote:

if part of a contract is deemed void then surely the whole contract would be too??

My point exactly. The tricky part is how to present a legally viable case.

bakedalasker · 13th October 2006, 10:35

Thats the million dollar question.

If you feel you have a case using this argument then the first thing you need to do is approach Welcome and inform them what you reckon. This basically is putting pressure on Welcome but they could turn around and say "we dont think so, go to court then" etc. So the emphasise will be back on you to go that step further and take them to court. This is the tricky legal road I mentioned earlier.

The only people who can make a contract unenforceable is the court. As you know this could be expensive and there is no guarantee of winning. Welcome have you at the moment regarding the APR and the PPI will make them only think. As far as getting them to change it well I feel you will have to go to court or at least threaten such action. It looks like they are happy to give back the PPI but on the APR I think they will just sit back and see what you do.

falcon185 · 13th October 2006, 12:11

What about hitting them with the unfair contracts ??? If you could prove to the court that you signed the dodgy contract under extreme pressure and hardship and you couldnt get help anywhere else financially and you felt you had no where or no-one to turn to to help you out of the financial mess you was in, assuming you weas in that situation of course.

seylectric · 13th October 2006, 13:09

Yes, I've thought of that and approached Trading Standards some time ago, who didn't think that the Unfair Contracts Act would cover it. Personally I have found my local TS office to be less than useful on most times I have contacted them to be honest.

I'm hoping to find something more concrete to hit them with rather than take them (Welcome) on "blind" as it were.

bakedalasker · 13th October 2006, 13:13

Does anyone know if Welcome are covered under the FSA.

If so then Welcome should have taken nesscessary precautions to ensure you could afford the payments. Think that is what its meant to do.

falcon185 · 13th October 2006, 13:24

HI Guys, yes they are covered under the FSA, just cut and pasted this from their website

Welcome Financial Services is a trading name of Progressive Financial Services Ltd, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

bakedalasker · 13th October 2006, 13:31

My immediate instinct here is to do a SARN to them and get all paperwork they have on you.

I'm sure, under FSA regulations, they have to cover themselves regarding your ability to pay the instalments.

It will be worth getting confirmation from the FSA on this.

falcon185 · 13th October 2006, 13:51

I personally issued them with an Subject Access Request yesterday, the local office looked like they didnt know what to do with it, the manager made out she did which was quite funny really. Just waiting for the next 40 days to find out just how much they have taken off me in unlawful charges then the fun begins again

bakedalasker · 13th October 2006, 14:33

Just been informed that the FSA only deal with mortgages and personnal loan. They dont deal with CCA regulated loans.

So are your loans with Welcome HP or personnal?

falcon185 · 14th October 2006, 16:02

Mine was a personal loan and hopefully when I get back the details of my account from them they will be paying me back all their extortionate charges within 6 wks

northland · 14th October 2006, 16:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by falcon185

Hi All,
after some considerable time we have finally managed to throw off the shackles of Welcome finance. I went to my local office today and personally served them with A Subject Access Request, which I advised the manager she might like to forward it to head office along with my cheque for the £10 fee?
I was wondering if anyone else had had any dealings with Welcome and have taken action against them similar to mine. It would be great to get some feedback from anyone who has and what stage they are at or the conclusion of their action?

Hope to hear from you soon Bazza

Hi Falcon 185

Wrote to them 3 weeks ago, recorded delivery and they have not replied. First thing Tuesday morning I am taking my Data Protection Act into the main branch in Glasgow. Gonna file against these sods as soon as I get the information on the account from them and there 14 days are up.

Tony

falcon185 · 14th October 2006, 16:21

Nice one Tony,
keep us posted on here and let us know how you get on, I will do likewise for all you Welcome fighters

Dont forget the cheque for £10 when you take in your Subject Access Request Tony. you will probably find, like I did that the local branch wont deal with it they send it on to head office. Seems they will /have been getting quite a few

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