Thank you so much. FBN

Thank you so much for your quick reply.....this is so frustrating as my husband is now likely to lose his job because of this as he can no longer perform his core role. Is it feasible to ask for an interim payment and if so would a years salary be realistic.......this has been going on since March 2006 so hope you understand the frustration! Finally whats Part 36? Tks again FBN

Hi Im hoping someone can help with timelines as Solicitor is being somewhat vague and it will take as long as it takes! My husband has a private hospital medical negligence case. The hospital have admited liability although there is a challenge to split this with the Consultant who is somewhat evasive. Anyway Issue of Proceeding will be submitted mid March, just inside the 3 year period. What Im keen to understand is how long it will take from there.....I understand it has to go to the Barrister within 4 months from IoP, so that he can prepare for court, but is there a time period for it to actually be in court. I also understand that the majority of private hospitals settle out of court....anyone know if this is true? Many Tks FBN:confused:

Wills7 - I have PMd you. Tks Just to bump the question again, has anyone ever won against Welcome Finance?

Bona...I havent actually said FSO or Court, just that I would be taking matters further to pursue the claim if they did not comply with my request for a full refund. They have assumed FSO and sent me the fob off final response alongwith an FSO booklet.

Tonycee, thanks so much for your response and well done, it certainly has given me hope. I have already done the LBA (got this from Martin Lewis site before I discovered this site) and a letter 14 days after that stating I would be taking further action unless they complied to my request for a full refund. GMAC have replied as a "final response" detailing above. Im really tempted to go the Court route as doesnt look like it actually gets to court, although know I shouldnt presume. Can anyone tell me if they have ever won against GMAC pls and whether it actually went to court, what time span and how they did it.

OK, is there a standard template I can use for the FOS. Tks

Im not being negative honest, but must admit I am scared of going to court. Has anyone ever won against Welcome Finance.....do you think its worth taking them to court...its about £1.5K which to me is alot of money and could certainly pay some bills but in the general scheme of things I guess it small fry.

Hi Hope you can help me....Im claiming just over a £1,000.00 in charges from GMAC and have just received their final response which basically states their charges are in line with their Tariff of Charges and that their charges are not disproportionally high (I think a £50.00 arrears fee and £30.00 unpaid DD is high) and are therefore justified!!!!! Do I now go to the Financial Ombusman or the Courts and if so what do I need to do. Any help greatly appreciated.

Many thanks Hellhasnofury. Ive contacted the FOS and unfortunately they cant help because, as you rightly state, it pre-dates the regulations!!!!! Madness!!! I guess I now go to court which to be honest Im not looking forward to so any help anyone can give would be greatly appreciated. Tks.

Hi This saga continues, but I hope someone can help me as Im stuck....Hellhasnofury has been a great help in the past. This goes back to a loan my husband and I took out in April 2004. We believe we were mis-sold on the following grounds..... We were advise we had to take out the PPI (in my husbands name) or we would not get the loan. My husband is diabetic and no medical details were discussed yet we also had to sign for medicare and and lifecare which were not valid. Its a single premium policy which we surrended in the Sept 2004. I have all the SAR details and have written numerous letters to Welcome Finance stating the grounds above as to why I feel this has been mis-sold. There final response is that we signed a declaration at the time of the loan which show the insurance purchase, which is true although it does look like our signatures have been superimposed, but honestly cant remember. They also state that the Agreement (April 2004) pre-dates this regulation set by the FSA and therefore the principles we seek to rely on are not applicable. They have then directed us to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Where should I go from here....is it worth pursuing with the FOS if it pre-dates the ruling? Any help greatly appreciated.

Many, many thanks and will do.....btw this is a great website and much appreciated.

Sorry Zootscoot, Im just getting used to all of this. I have the SAR, plus letters from LTSB stating they are very sorry to hear Im disatisfied and would be looking into it which was received in June and July. Then in early August I received a letter advising that it had been stayed.....at the time of request we were not in financial hardship, although this has now changed and they continue to add charges....horrific. So decided to wait until the court case, but today discovered from reading threads that maybe I can claim under financial hardship, which is certainly the case.

Hi, I hope you can help as not sure whats the best route to go. This is a long story, but Im trying to claim back just over a £1,000 in late payment charges from GMAC. I have my SAR and have sent them two letters (from the templates) requesting this money is returned. I have now received a final response which basically states they are not going to pay out at all, they believe their charges are lawfull etc etc. As I understand it my only options now are to either take them through the small claims court or approach the financial ombusman. Which is the best route? ....I also think I have grounds for financial hardship as my husband is off sick and disabled......can any of this be fast-tracked? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Tks.

Hi Hope you can help......Im watching this all with great interest and am obviously not alone. My own case was nearing a court date, but unfortunately we got caught up with stays before a date was given. I now feel I have a claim under financial hardship as my husband is disabled, on DLA and is currently off sick receiving just SSP. What do you think is the best thing to do.....should I pursue now or wait for the outcome of the trial, although cant afford to wait 6 months let alone years??? Any advice appreciated.

Gogivit, Good to know Im not alone as feel pretty stupid for not being wise to all of this!!! HHNF - tks for all your help, this site is absolutely invaluable.

Tks alot and will do, will keep you posted.

Sorry Sandbro forgot to say, havent sent for a SAR.....

Tks Sandbro No refund was ever given on any of the insurances. To my knowledge we have never received any documentation and certainly dont know who the insurances were with. My husband has diabetes which I think was the case in 2004 but will check....certainly werent asked. Yes we were certainly under duress as had incurred huge debts beyond our control for various reasons. It was signed in our home. Pretty much told to sign and they would take care of the arrangements (sounds so stupid now), but we honestly didnt have any choice at the time. The document was a Customer Declaration Form as mentioned above.....no Agreement No., date and whilst the signatures are ours they could have been pasted in. Sorry MIF = Mortgage Indemnity Fee. Tks

Thanks Sanbro for all your help, this is quite scarey....below is my letter and their reply.... "Re: Customer No. XXXXX I purchased the above policy from you in April 2004 but now believe that I was mis-sold this policy for the following reasons: · This is due to the fact that I paid a single premium for my policy but did not see it through to the end of it’s initial term after paying back my loan earlier than planned in September 2004. Plus · your salesperson implied that taking out the policy was essential for me to get the associated credit. Unless you can satisfactorily justify to me that the policy was fair and reasonable I am requesting a full refund of all premiums, and subsequent interest on these payments, that I have paid to date. As I believe I have been deprived of this money I also expect 8% statutory interest, the amount a court would award, to be added to each payment made. I look forward to a full and prompt response to this letter and for the matter to be concluded with eight weeks or I shall be contacting the Financial Ombudsman to investigate my complaint." Reply "I have investigated the issues raised and can respond as follows. The credit agreement you entered into was correctly executed by us in April 2004. This pre-dates the regulation of our business by the FSA and therefore the principles you seek to rely on are not applicable. Notwithstanding this, I enclose the declaration signed by you and witnessed at the time of taking your loan. These show the insurances purchased including PPI and the fact that they were optional. Please also find enclosed other documentation suggesting you were fully informed about their purchase. As a result I am satisfied that our staff have acted correctly in this matter. However if you have any evidence on which you seek to rely, please forward this to me at the above address. On receipt of this I shall be happy to consider the matter further. Should you not be able to provide any such evidence, pleased accept this letter as our final response. Should you wish to escalate your complaint to the FOS I am minded in light of the above, that this matter falls outside their jurisdiction." Unfortunately I have no "evidence" but am sure that at the time we were told that our loan would be considered more favourable if we took out the insurance....there is also Medicare, Lifecare and MIF and only the PPI states optional. With regard to the other documentation there is a Customer Declaration Form re. PPI , it doesnt have a loan agreement number or date and whilst it is definitely our signatures it has a faint box around it which could be a cut out.....I certainly dont remember signing it, but then again it was a long time ago and we were desperate. Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry it should read I took the loan out in April 2004 and not 2003 as stated. Tks.

Hi Im hoping your can help me as this is all very new. I trying to claim back £2422.51 for a £12,000 loan I took out in April 2003. I have sent my letter claiming.... "This is due to the fact that I paid a single premium for my policy but did not see it through to the end of it’s initial term after paying back my loan earlier than planned in September 2004. Plus Your salesperson implied that taking out the policy was essential for me to get the associated credit." I received my reply on the 16th Oct., stating that "the agreement was correctly executed in April 2004. This pre-dates the regulation of our business by the FSA and therefore the principles you seek to rely on are not applicable" Is this the case or is this a fob off.....dont know where to turn from here. Ive received no reply to my second point apart from the wording on the agreement stating "optional".....Help pls.....

Hi Hope you can help me as really dont know what to do now......we have a large claim over £7,000.......frightening I know and surprised how this mounts up:( . Due to not being able to take this through the Small Claims Court due to the amount. we opted to go through a Solicitor and prior to the OFT action were prepared to pay, although under sufferance, the 25% required! However thats all changed now as its looks like there will be one ruling and no need to go through the courts which frightens me. Do you think it would be advisable now to terminate (assuming we can) our agreement with the Solicitors and handle it from here. Any help would be greatly appreciated as worried.:?