This company needs to be banned.

My husband made the mistake of borrowing from them and he is still paying back the sum after 6 years.

They are a complete nightmare to deal with and the rates are terrible.

Suggest you borrow from the bank, someone reputable, and pay it off that way.

guys thanks god i saw this welcome stuff and i was thinking of going with them! they are terrible. are there any petitions we can sign to get them stopping trading how is it legal?! all small print i guess. i have 2 defaults no CCJs but am struggling to get a loan, anyone suggest anyone good?

I work in the financial sector, and not a day goes by without hearing another Welcome finance horror story.

Please however bad your situation seems or no matter how much pressure their dodgy salesman put on you -

STAY CLEAR OF WELCOME FINANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

progressive is the holding company or welcome finance.

its all the same thing

as with all things,

i think it depends on your situation.

If u take a loan from the branch they will explain everything to you and are strictly monitored.

if u take a car loan, then unfortunately, it is the car salesman that is responsible for what they tell you (remember that they want to flog u a car)

however, they are also now strictly monitored.

- also welcome car finance is not the same as welcome finance.

WCF sell u the car and WFS service the loan...

.also, its usually the insurances u take that increase the loan to a much higher balance.

this is all clearly shown on the agreements so make sure u are happy with what u sign.

its not usually in small print either!

I have heard direct from one of their finance suppliers that they are cutting their finance 100% away from car dealers so its time to get out quick! they are laying of falot of staff and are in big trouble. At last they have their comupence.

Hi Guys,

I have a membership with credit expert so i can keep track of what`s happening with my credit file. I have a good credit history and my credit score was 862 out of a 1000.

I wanted to apply for a loan for £3000 and wanted to see what the best deal was i could get so credit expert has a link at the bottom of the page where you fill in your details if you are looking for a loan and they will contact you.

They contacted me the next day by phone and promised me they would be able to search the market to see what was the cheapest loan rate they could get me.

I thought ok no prob`s saves me all the hassle and waited to hear back.

I got a call back about a week later saying they had found a company that was willing to loan me the money and put me straight through to them. I`d never heard of Welcome Finance but this was the company i was now speaking too. She took all my details then started reeling of all the extra insurance`s and cover for the loan. I explained that i did`nt really want any of these and she informed me that i could cancel them at anytime if i wanted to.

To get rid of her i told her i had to be at work and i was running late and that if she could just put all the paperwork in the post i would have a look at it once i had it and then contact them back.

The paperwork arrived 2 days later with my offer of my loan and i was shocked to find the APR RATE @ 42.88% PLUS with all the payment charges etc added to my loan i would have to repay them back £4,080.97 over 2yrs with an acceptance charge of £75.00.

I thought if that`s the best deal credit expert can find me forget it, but Welcome Finance did`nt want to forget me and for the next 2 weeks they kept ringing and texting my mobile which i did`nt answer.

I HAVE SINCE GOT A LOAN @14.9 APR WITH NO SELLING OF COVER BEING SOLD TO ME SO A WORD OF WARNING TO ALL YOU WOULD BE BETTER TO SEARCH FOR YOUR OWN BEST DEAL AND NOT DEAL WITH THIS COMPANY NO MATTER WHAT.

I bought a car (£3250 plus finance costs) less than 12 months ago on an HP agreement with Welcome Finance.

Within a week, I advised Welcome that the vehicle was not fit for purpose intended.

Welcome advised me that I needed to contact the garage where I bought it. I did.

They carried out repairs to then total of £800.

The garage was in Sheffield but they instructed a garage near to where I live (90 miles away) to carry out repairs.

Although the repairs were done, a couple of the initial problems were still there, but the garage was unable to diagnose the faults.

I have spent something like £1500 on additional repairs (including a new gearbox, clutch etc) within 6 months of purchase.

Welcome contributed £500 towards the repairs as a "goodwill gesture".

The initial problems are still there and apparently I need to take the car to a Renault main dealer who will be able to sort matters out, but this will cost at least £500 to investigate (half of the engine needs to come out - the problem is located somewhere where it is difficult to get at).

Then there will be the costs of parts, etc.

I am unable to afford the repairs/investigations and Welcome say that they won't pay anything.

I have instructed Welcome to re-possess the vehicle as it is not working and I am unable to pay for it to be repaired.

I have asked welcome to reply by mail, so that I have a written record

Three months later, Welcome have tried to 'phone, but have not replied in writing, despite me sending three letters, and copies of the first two.

I have now stopped my standing order and told them that I will let it go to court.

Anyone got any advice?

Hi

I am new to this site but have been reading you thread ref welcome.

I to have had a few problems with them I got a secured loan on my previous property but my circumstances changed 

I had to sell the property and to cut a long story short in the midst of all that was going on Welcome where least of my worries till now.

Dont be judgemental on me I always pay my bills and I assumed this was to be cleared in the sale.

However, I have been looking round for loan and a company I approached to find me a good loan put me on to welcome.

They have offered me another loan without the mention of the previous I know I should say something but I am a single hardworking mum and am looking for a loan to take my boy on holiday I am confused has this happened to anyone else???

More to the point should I mention the previous debt??????

it's difficult - i'm sure most of us know - but seriously - you would contemplate dealing with these people again???

It sounds as if they messed up a bit with your secured loan, similar thing happened to me. I would NEVER deal with welcome again.

I know it's not what you want to hear, but if you have the money to pay another loan, save it, go on holiday when you have the money in your hand, just think how much that would actually save you in the long run.

I can guess that you don't want to wait, (not many of us do) another option is, a credit union, again you will have to save 1st, but they will allow you to borrow after a little time, and the interest rates are unbelievable (in a good way) - try and find a local one near you.

Just my 2 cents........

I dont mind paying what i owe and initially welcome were very good

i extended my loan to consolidate some other Owings, i would only have one monthly outgoing.

i also took out two of the three offered insurance policies.

Everything was fine and i didnt need to think about my payments.....

until i heard they were laying people off and i may be one of them,

i played on the idea of decreasing my monthly payments...which i did.

I signed a bit of paper to state that i would drop my payments to the minimum of £80.80 per month....

.I have now been laidd off and have been forced to wake up and look at my finances

i looked through my insurance policy and found out i am covered if i am laid off from work,

i thought this was great until i spoke to welcome...

All they stated was because i reduced my payment amount my insurance is null and void,

i received no hint of this from the man that i spoke to when reducing my payments and all the lady on the phone could say was "sorry".

I am now left paying what i owe (which i dont mind) plus another £1560 on top as apparently i bought these policies outright even though i can no longer use them...

I have since been in touch with welcome and requested a complete breakdown of my account and have been in contact with the FSA who agree i shouldnt still be paying for something i can no longer use...

They have set me off in the right direction of getting in touch with Welcomes complaint department which then makes everything 'official' as it were...

i will keep you posted on how it goes....

one last point on the breakdown of my account i have, since the 27/10/05 paid off a massive £460.20 unofficially the amount of my payments £1718.20 minus the capitalisation (interest) £1715.02 means in 3 years

i have paid off £3.18 with regular payments.....Go figure!?!?

With that last comment - now maybe you can see why we are so 'anti' companies like WFS - they take advantage of those can afford it least, and when things get tough - they get tougher for those who have less - which in turn, creates a nasty spiralling circle..... go figure..... WFS reckon they are helping you.......

Personally with the insurance thing - I would contact the FSA and get them involved - you did the right thing by advising WFS and having them agree to lower payments, but ' I think ' they have it wrong on the insurance, where is the cancellation document??? Have they revised your loan and advised of the new payments (minus the insurance) - i don't think so, or you would have known you weren't paying for insurance.

I would also advise asking for the agreement you signed - and not a mock of what it would look like, a copy of the 'actual agreement' you signed, you can do this under a cca request - cost £1 - there is a template on the site somewhere.

If they are trying to palm you off, because of their mistake, (not informing or even advising you of the cancelled insurance due to lower payments) then I say, go for the jugular:D

Chancer1 is so right - go right to the regulators, and tell them you are doing it.

Welcome can make this insurance thing like swimming through a swamp - thing is, they are only a broker who would have sold the insurance on behalf of someone. Apparently they are a member of the Finance and Leasing Assoc and subscribe to their codes of practice, which states - when you take out a policy we will tell you who the insurer is.

I would be willing to bet you lots n lots that you were actually covered. Your insurance premium is usually paid upfront, so you insurance is fully paid up - I cannot see how an agreed drop in your monthly LOAN payment could affect this.

Really upset them - ask them who your insurer is and you want a copy of the policy - inc. t&C's to check them. Advise them you will be complaining to the insurer directly for their behaviour.

Best of luck

I worked within the sub prime market for almost 2 1/2 years before the credit crunch set in

- I understand and agree with pricing for the risk of any borrower but NOT to the extent of 60% + - this is absolutely extortionate and I was horrified when I found out that some companies charges this.

I feel these companies are the type to target people who probably do not understand the implications of the loan.

Also their 're-finance' option that I am aware of is even worse - paying off 1 loan with another one can only mean paying double interest.

I feel loans like this should only be taken out in absolute desperate measures i.e. borrow or starve to death, not for the yearly holiday or a new flash car!!!

Most responsible sub prime lenders have proper underwriting procedures in place and DO NOT lend to people who cannot afford to pay it back for the simple reason that it is not in the customers best interest.

Now I have lost my job I have cut back drastically, total rubbish but it won't be forever!!!

Not into the buy now pay a lot more later strategy. try typing

moneysupermarket into google - finds a variety of loans for any credit rating from excellent to poor!!!

At least this shows people the options without then having companies mither you on the phone!!!

I had a loan with this lender.

I borrowed 12,000 over 15 years.

paid it for 3 years and settled for 17,000 how i managed this im not quite sure.

I recently asked for a SAR.

they complied and i looked at the info.

Turns out they had hit me for a £1800 penalty charge £1400.00 disbursal fee.

None of these were mentioned when i took the loan out

,I intend to claim these back.

If anyone has advice or similar experiences

please help.

I took out a HP Agreement with then in April 2006 which was arranged through a local car dealer. This went well however I was contacted by them in January of this year to upgrade my car. Naively I did so.

In February myself and my partner separated which caused a massive problem with my financial situation so in March I contacted Welcome and asked if I could terminate the agreement, they told me I could but would be liable for the costs agreed to in my contract, they also said that I would have to but my request in writing which I did.

By April they had still not contacted me regarding uplifting the vehicle, I contacted them and was told that my letter was not received so I sent it again this time by fax to the person that I spoke to on the telephone, I was told that I would be contacted soon.

By June I had still not been contacted to arrange the uplifting of the vehicle.

On the 24th June I was contacted by the Walsall branch of Welcome Finance to arrange a repayment scheme for the arrears of my HP and also a loan agreement I am currently signed in to with them, I informed the lady that I was still waiting for someone to contact me with regards to uplifting the vehicle she then gave me the telephone number to the inspection desk to arrange for the RAC to inspect.

On 24th June PM I was contacted by another branch of welcome finance in Lancashire I think, requesting that I arrange a repayment schedule with them or risk being taken to court, I informed the gentleman of my conversation with the Walsall branch and he said it was ok for me to carry on my business with this lady.

I agreed with the lady from the Walsall branch that I could pay back £150 per month which was all I could afford she informed me that she would have to come back to me after speaking with her manager as that was not enough per month.

Please also note that they still have not sent my settlement figures for both accounts as requested.

I contacted the inspection desk and arranged for the RAC to come to my property the following week to inspect my car, this was carried out and I was given a copy of the report and was told another copy would be generated and sent to welcome.

2 weeks later I still had not heard from the Walsall branch, I tried to contact the lady I had previously spoken to on a few occasions left messages and didn’t get call back.

I was then contacted by a gentleman at the Tamworth branch, insisting that I pay my arrears and get up to date on the accounts, I informed him that I was dealing with the Walsall branch and that I had the inspection of the vehicle carried out and I was waiting for them to come back to me with regards to uplifting the vehicle. He had no information about this at all.

Since then I have dealt with Manesh at the Tamworth branch (who refuses to give me his surname as does every other person I have spoken to at welcome.)

He assured me that he would get the vehicle uplifted, which he has not done. I have been contacted again today by Manesh suggesting that “the voluntary termination desk have tried to contact me” which they haven’t.

I took the number from him to contact them directly and got to speak to a man called Liam (who again refused to give me his surname) Liam said that I would have to arrange yet another RAC inspection to get the vehicle uplifted as Welcome Car Finance have no record of having this done, This was carried out a month ago. I tried to explain to Liam that this had been done and that I was not prepared to take more time off work unnecessarily.

I then contacted Manesh again at the Tamworth branch of welcome to ask why they claimed that no inspection from the RAC had been done, he contacted the voluntary termination desk on behalf of me, the branch manager Zoe (again no surname) confessed to Manesh they have lost this document and can not uplift the vehicle without it. They have requested that I fax over my copy and they will then arrange to have the car uplifted.

I understand that my letter is quite long winded but hope you can appreciate the trauma I have experienced simply trying to return a car that I can not afford to run let alone pay for, they require once I have sent the car back £6,119.98 & also £390.00 for scratches found from the RAC inspection.

The vehicle has been sat outside my house since March 4 months I have tried and tried to resolve this matter and am still no further forward, the car now does not have tax either so I am having to keep it on my drive (yet more inconvenience!)

you might want to visit carcreditcomplaints.com They Know Welcome very well!

I've worked out a good way to play welcome when purchasing. Firstly you have to accept that your at welcome because your credit isn't grade A. Secondly you have to remember your in charge.

The psychology of welcome is to put themselves in control, they do this from the moment they fix an "appointment" time. WTF?

Next they won't display the full price on the car, this is because your negotiating by payment. If you look at the list on the wall, hidden away, that they HAVE to display, the cars are way overpriced.

A girl next to me was chuckling at one point listening to me. Afterwards she said, she had taken a month haggling with them and finally they came down to her ideal payment for the car SHE wanted.

That's the other thing about them, they want to put you in cars they want. Keep saying no until your happy.

Now this is the important thing, double the monthly payment you really want to make, you want 150, tell them 300 is your ideal. Then you find your ideal car (don't be silly and go for something you know you can't afford, know the prices of cars, check autotrader b4!!), then you need to keep telling them no on the monthly repayment. Do not go to welcome in desperate need, you need to walk away, remember the girl who had been working them for a month? I shaved £120 off my payment within 40 minutes, the cost of the overprice car dropped a fair bit! Then I walked, boy was she (sales) p1ssy about that I'm 120% sure she'll call me monday, she doesn't know it yet, but she needs to drop the payments buy another £25 a month.

The whole experience is horrid, but you MUST be prepared to say NO and leave or you might as well ask them to kiss you afterwards. I always like being kissed while being f*cked And that's what they'll do, you'll wind up with a car in negative equity the moment you sign (something worth thousands less than your paying for, you can't sell it basically).

Good luck, be firm, don't be desperate and make sure to remember your the customer. The free coffee's cr@p too.

welcome are a joke!

i took out a loan from them in march this year and fell into difficuilty for making the payments

i contacted them to explain the situation and was told someone would be in touch to help me manage my account

no one got in touch so i had no option but to cancell the direct debit

i then recieved phone calls from them about missing payments but were all recieved while i was at work! i asked them to call me back at a suitable time( told them when my breaks were and when i finished) i tried calling them but was told the person dealing with my account was busy and would call me back

he then spoke to my mother on the phone telling her that i was in debt and was missing payments and that they will soon be visiting HER house to start repossesing goods!

i finally spoke to a manager and agreed a new payment plan but they keep trying to increase the payments that they know i cant afford

Hi Baz300, welcome to CAG . Hope we can help you with these muppets.

First thing is to put a big complaint about their breach of the Data Protection Act. Secondly, do you have any of their insurances with the loan?

Without trying to be too nosey can you give some details, like:

Did you choose to have the insurances and what ones do you have (PPI, healthcare etc) and what kind of difficulties were you having?

We may be able to help with those too, claim on any insurances or if you were missold, maybe claim back the cost.

Don't let the buggers get you down....we've all been there

just thought i would read through this post as i have just posted my thread and i find that childish littel rant unbelivable and typical of the kind of people they employ,

i find it strange though that if its that busy why a friend of ours has just been made redundant from their sales force and and they are currently not putting vehicle finance into dealerships,

obviously doing well... not.

their day will come,

what goes around comes around.

Wow, this whole thread is bizarre!

Not sure how it went from an innocent request for help regarding a son's loan -which my advice on would be that requesting a settlement figure is usually unproductive & that you would tend to have better response if you give an offer of settlement figure, backed up by income & expenditure evidence or they will just reject it...but since that first post was amazingly in August 2007 I'm sure that case is well on it's way to being resolved!

I am gobsmacked at the posts of these Welcome employees! So rude & unhelpful! If you are so happy working for them & have no problems with what you do & can sleep well at night etc etc then why come onto a support forum to defend them? Methinks they are not as comfortable in their roles as they make out!

I agree with various points on here...Welcome usually charge a crazily high interest due to the fact that they offer loans etc to people who have been refused by everyone else. People who are desperate, & whom may not necessarily read the small print or pay enough attention to the PPI they have agreed to as they are merely focused on getting the money & just say yes to everything.

Everyone (I hope) knows that if you get a loan, credit card etc you will be charged interest & if you don't pay back on time you will get charged, & you will in the end always end up paying back more than you initially got, but that's the condition of them 'lending' the money to you in the first place. It is not free money. Most people understand this.

Unfortunately, alot of people come into unforseen circumstances in that even though they had every intention of paying back installments etc on time, their situation changes & they for whatever reason cannot afford to. These people are not bad people & are not stupid people & they try everything they can to sort things out through great stress.

There are also people who for whatever reason think that they are better than others & should be able to get money that is not theirs & never pay any of it back. This ruins it for everyone else who has every intention of paying back money they owe & take responsibility for it. Debt collectors treat everyone as the latter & they are very well 'brainwashed' into believing that what they are doing is right & have no problems with what they do.

Welcome as far as I know are doing well & is in no danger of getting into difficulty at the present. I have heard that there is restructuring, & they are also just one part of a very big company: Cattles. They lend to the people who noone else will, & so long as people who cannot get credit elsewhere keep taking out loans with them, they will carry on exactly the same.

I would advise noone to go to Welcome for anything, -no matter how bad it is at the time, it can only ever get worse if you go with them!

Compliant ? my son was naive enough to take out a loan in July with this shower and looking at the agreement the boxes for PPI were pre-printed with a tick. So much for choice, basically Welcome preys on people who are desperate.

Im sorry i went with welcome finance,

i borrowed 750 and am paying back 1516.

i had the loan a year ago and still owe 630,

if i was to get a settlement fee i can only get that by sending them a letter to request it,

endless problems with these,

please do not go with them for any finance whatsoever,

they rang me the other day to offer me a loan for only £1000 and the payments were (with insurance) 145 per month over 3 years! so for a 1000 loan id pay back around 5220

interesting comments from new posters x2

very strange if i may say

why strange?