Thankfully, QuickQuid have accepted payment plan with no issue (was quite worried about them) - they appeared quite understanding and willing to work with me to deal with the debt.

However, SafeLoans will not even discuss a repayment plan until I send them a sick note from my Doctor, and wage slips showing the reduction in my income.

I think this is a little aggressive at this stage, and I am not that willing to share my medical information with them - would it be unreasonable not to let them have this at this stage of negotiations?

Any advice appreciated.

Oh, and Happy New Year to you all!

I would be very reluctant to send any medical information, personally. In fact, I just wouldn't do it.

I would continue to try to negotiate with them, and make sure you save all the emails - if they do take you to court, it won't go well for them that they've refused a reasonable offer of repayment.

Report them to the OFT, this is against their guidelines, and remember that they are investigating Payday loan companies at the moment, your complaint could help change the way this industry operates in the future.

http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk for Office of Fair Trading

http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk for Trading Standards

New year advice read the people paper today and never touch a payday loan again once u are rid of them

Thankfully, QuickQuid have accepted payment plan with no issue (was quite worried about them) - they appeared quite understanding and willing to work with me to deal with the debt.

 

However, SafeLoans will not even discuss a repayment plan until I send them a sick note from my Doctor, and wage slips showing the reduction in my income.

 

I think this is a little aggressive at this stage, and I am not that willing to share my medical information with them - would it be unreasonable not to let them have this at this stage of negotiations?

 

Any advice appreciated.

 

 

Sorry with the greatest of respect, what have you to hide by not providing what has been requested?

Someone on this very site said this to me quite early on and really saved me a whole lot of grief

once I supplied the info these companies requested along with plenty of begging (cos when your desperate) they suddenly all became very helpful and did massive u-turns (Payday UK being one that sticks out...)

 

Put another way can you afford to take this attitude?

 

You can turn this around - and you can then make it work for you when or if they obviously don't comply

asmilecostsnothing, i have to agree. who cares if you give them the information or not, do whatever you need to get the deal done and move on! ))

Thanks for the advice everyone... I do appreciate what you are saying, but........ the medical information they are asking me to supply is, to me, very sensitive. Also, they are have now upped the ante and asked for this TOGETHER with a letter from my doctor, AND a letter from my employer confirming the effect this has had on my wages. I certainly do not wish to involve my employer, this is not something I particularly want to discuss with them either!

I am not being precious about this, and I do understand the points you have made; I am being honest and acting in good faith, as I have with the other PDL's involved - none of them have requested this amount of information, and have all agreed sensible payment plans with me with the minimum of fuss, without any of this extra information.

It just strikes me as somewhat over the top - the debt to them is only £150, with the arrears charges, and I have offered three payments of £50 to clear this. I am not asking them to negotiate over an extended period, in fact, it is only stretching the agreement a month more than it was already for!

In light of this, does their excessive requests still seem so reasonable?

Thanks again guys (and girls!)

Am surprised QQ were easy for you to deal with. You must have caught them on a good day.

I hope you have your wages paid into a different account and that QQ no longer have your debit card details?? Their compliance sounds too good to be true... You are one of a few who have successfully negotiated a payment plan with QQ.

As for the other shower. If they aren't willing to accept your "more than reasonable" payment plan... You may be better off waiting for then to pass the debt on to an external DCA. They might be easier to negotiate with. You could always send them your 3 monthly postal orders for the amount you owe (+1 months interest... If this hasn't already been calculated into the £150 you owe) and then tell then to whistle for any further charges they feel the need to add.

It is completely unreasonable, I would write back and ask for a copy of their complaints procedure and complain to the company.

You can still involve the OFT and Trading Standards.

The request is out of proportion to the level of debt you have with this company and they are taking the proverbial.

Thanks Sillygirl... my gut reaction was that they were being unreasonable, but just wondered if I was being a tad oversensitive at the moment.

Am more than willing to contact OFT about them... but what grounds do I have? Just that they are acting in an over zealous way over a relatively small debt? Or does this actually contravene one of their guidelines?

Yes, they are not supposed to be asking for proof of problems, that can only be asked for by a judge.

I suggest you read the OFT Guidelines and write down which ones YOU think they have broken before contacting them, you may be surprised how many breaches could have been made.

Thanks for the further info... I have read through the OFT guidelines,and think I must be being particularly blonde as I can find no reference to them asking for these sort of documents, or that they need to be requested by a judge. There are other things that could be construed as against their guidelines, but they seem somewhat subjective.

Am I being very thick, or have I just missed the relevant point? Would be grateful for any further pointers.

Thanks again x

With regards to what the companies can ask for, are they entitled to ask for an I and E form at this stage? I understood that this was also something that came later?

And if anyone can help with the post above, I would be grateful.

Many thanks

With regards to what the companies can ask for, are they entitled to ask for an I and E form at this stage? I understood that this was also something that came later?

 

And if anyone can help with the post above, I would be grateful.

 

Many thanks

As I understand it, an I&E form can only be requested by a judge. Whether you want to send one to them to illustrate your proposal is up to you, though.

Personally, I would say the section of the OFT guidelines that I would be looking at is the bit below. It's only my opinion, but the precise medical information that leaves you on reduced pay is none of their business - the fact is that you have less money coming in and need to negotiate a repayment plan. To refuse to negotiate one until you hand over potentially sensitive and/or embarrassing medical information (with no guarantee to you on how this information will be used or stored) falls into aggressive and coercive behavior in my opinion.

treat debtors fairly – debtors should not be subjected to aggressive practices, inappropriate coercion, or conduct which is deceitful, oppressive, unfair or improper, whether unlawful or not

OK so the safeloans saga continues... today I received a letter from the, claiming to be a second reminder, dated the 30th December... this was the day my payment was due, and at this point the did not know I was defaulting on the loan!

It claims that this is the second letter and that one was sent seven days previously - this was before the payment was even due, when my account was just as it was supposed to be!

Surely this is in breach of some regulation or the other?

It then goes on to say that any action necessary to recover the debt will be taken, and that should a CCJ be obtained, they will seek to gain an Attachment of Earnings which will involve my employer knowing. Am I right in thinking that an AOE can only be obtained if you fail to pay a CCJ?

I was about to report them to the OFT anyway, but in light of this letter, and the fact that they have failed to answer any of my emails satisfactorily, apart from holding out for letter from my employer and a sick note, that they have now breached a few more guidelines?

I want to send them a stinking letter back, but don't want to get bogged down in too many technicalities that they can then turn back on me... so am hoping someone here with more experience than me can offer me some guidance.

Thanks!

You are correct, they cannot get an attachment of earnings unless they first have a CCJ and you have not paid it. Send them a letter advising that you are reporting them to the OFT, make them the offer of £50.00 per month to clear the debt and enclose a postal order for the first payment. Write your name and address on the back of the postal order and take a phototopy of both the front and back of it and also a copy of the letter - send by recorded delivery so you have proof they received it.

Get those letters over to the OFT and Trading Standards, it is against their regulations to send out inaccurate letters, as you state how do they know you will default when you haven't before. This points to them not having the right people in position to deal with this system.

Safeloans have been a very small player but now they are getting more customers they cannot continue in the way they think they can.

If you don't complain to the OFT and Trading Standards, both lots are going deeply into the Payday loan market, you are wasting your time posting on this site.

agree with sillygirl, they have no legs to stand on. The offer is very fair and they cannot even think of adding excessive charges.

Just wondering if anyone else has had any experience with Safeloans?

Just had a call with their collections department following a "pre-court notice", they refused to discuss my loan with me as it was in a pre-court issue stage, nor would they provide me with a breakdown of my account. I have just counted the emails I have sent them - to both email addresses on their website (as well as two short phonecalls asking them to reply to my emails) - over 20 sent in total and no reply. When asked why they didn't respond and why I couldn't have an account breakdown all the comment that was made was "tell it to the judge"

I'll admit they've sent quite a few letters but surely they can't ignore all my emailed responses and issue court proceedings in the manner they have? I even offered the 1 month interest plus loan at the start of my email chain back in January.

Pre court notice - means NOTHING, they are trying to be very scary here.

In view of your 20 messages contact the OFT and Trading Standards immeditely as they are doing an in depth investigation into this murky market.

If you did 'tell it to the judge' as they say the judge would go ballistic. They are being very economical here and need to be hauled over the coals for their bad behaviour.

Just wondering if anyone else has had any experience with Safeloans?

 

Just had a call with their collections department following a "pre-court notice", they refused to discuss my loan with me as it was in a pre-court issue stage, nor would they provide me with a breakdown of my account. I have just counted the emails I have sent them - to both email addresses on their website (as well as two short phonecalls asking them to reply to my emails) - over 20 sent in total and no reply. When asked why they didn't respond and why I couldn't have an account breakdown all the comment that was made was "tell it to the judge"

 

I'll admit they've sent quite a few letters but surely they can't ignore all my emailed responses and issue court proceedings in the manner they have? I even offered the 1 month interest plus loan at the start of my email chain back in January.

Hi, yes safe loans took me to court over £100! Ended up costing me £275 with costs/interest judge ordered them to take £25 per month till its cleared. I had all similar arguments with them that you are having and they just wouldn't listen.