Quick update everyone, after a lot of arguing and promises to involve the FoS, hey have paid out 50% now and the remaining 50% in 3 months time. I did have to escalate to the top, literally speak with the Chief Operation Office and CEO himself, but we got there Thanks everyone xxx

Thank you I will try this.

Thank you - we have sent evidence of blood tests over the last 6 months plus - detailing depressed white blood count, platelets and red blood cells - he has almost 95% reduction in white blood count and platelets and red blood count is reduced by over 70%. Has been the case for 6 months, he is getting worse not better. Now requiring fortnightly platelet and blood transfusions. His letters all state Pancytopenia so I hoped this would be enough to fit the category. I am really at a loss as to what they will say, I know that most insurers try to get out of paying if they can. but it is just hard to swallow, especially when you or your partner could lose their life because of the illness. Thank you again for your help.

Hello Everyone I hope you can help me. My husband has been poorly for over 9 months now and he has been diagnosed recently as suffering from Pancytopenia caused possibly by Peripheral Consumption/Destruction, exact cause still unknown. We have claimed on our Serious Illness cover, but the wording in the policy is ambiguous. It described his condition as Advanced Aplastic Anaamia and the exact wording is as follows; Aplastic anaemia is the reduction of circulating red cells, white cells and platelets. For the purposes of this plan pancytopenia, causing a reduction to 10% of the normal number of white cells and platelets as well as 50% of the normal levels of red cells, must be present. All lines of blood production must be depressed as demonstrated by bone marrow examination and abnormalities persisting on blood tests for a minimum of three months. My husband fits all the definition and criteria as described in the above statement, however the consultant is unable to confirm Advanced Aplastic Anaemia at this stage because it could be something else, like a very rare form of cancer or bone marrow disease. I am concentrating on the fact that the wording states that 'for the purposes of this plan, pancytopenia' - well that is exactly his diagnosis so therefore does that mean the plan should payout? I have sent my eyes square reading and re reading the policy wording, but could just do with some outside opinions. Do you think we have a chance of a payout? Many thanks in advance L xx

Okay great thank you x

No, we don't receive any statements or notice of sums in arrears. All we get is the occasional phone call.

I was told that the interest being added was as per the terms of the original agreement with GE Money and that there was nothing I could do about it. But all this escalated to this point after I was advised by GE to not pay and wait for it to be sent to a debt collection agency as they were the only ones that could freeze interest. It's a mess

No it was an unsecured finance agreement with GE Money. After Link had accepted our offer of £50 per month and then refused to freeze interest and then got the balance back up to twice the original balance they said to protect themselves they were going for a Charge against the property. If that makes any sense.

Thank you all of you for your advice - I think I'd be a mess without your ideas, support and help.

I have refused to speak with them on the phone after one of them actually said and i quote "Your husband isn't dead so why are you so upset" I know we have a charge against our property so I guess they must have a CCJ, however I will check tonight. Link added additional fees in line with the original agreement with GE Money, which stated that they would add interest on a monthly basis. they have continued to add monthly interest....but don't have a copy of the agreement to give to me? We had life/illness cover through legal and general (separate from the finance) and they said the type of cancer it was wasn't covered.

What if I want the charge removed and also the manner in which the account has been handled investigated? I am pretty sure that they will have breached FSA rules/guidance. Can't open that page on my work PC so will check for judgement tonight at home.

I'll check now - if they have got judgement, is there anything I can do? And if they haven't does that significantly change matters? Thanks again x

I think they must have obtained a judgement too, I was informed by Link and GE Money that wait for all the action to finalise and then they would agree a settlement - well we did this and now we owe more than what we borrowed and twice as much as what we had paid back? I think I will do a SAR and ask for ALL the paperwork relating to us, with a hope I can challenge this somewhere on something? Unless anyone else has any better ideas? Fingers crossed xx

Hi All I am hoping that someone can help me. My husband and I purchased a new kitchen from Magnet, costing £5000, when we bought our first house back in 2004, which was on finance. We were not explained the details to the agreement in any way and were informed that the agreement was over 5 years. Once the agreement had been signed we received paperwork from First National Bank that the agreement was actually 10 years, we queried this as we weren't happy that we would have been paying back £10,000! We paid as normal (no missed payments) until my husband was taken seriously ill (cancer) in 2010. He lost his job and due to a technicality the serious illness cover did not pay out. I contacted GE Capital (previously First National) and made them aware of the situation and asked if they could freeze the interest so that we had a chance to pay it off - the payments I was proposing would not have even cleared the monthly interest. To cut a long story short, they said no, told me to stop paying altogether so that they could sell my debt in which case the interest could be frozen and this would be better for me. I did that, they sold the debt to Link Financial who did not freeze the interest and continued to charge interest, meaning my debt which had been reduced to £3,500 was now back up to £7,500! They also then said that my payments of £50 per month was not enough and that they were now going to get a Legal Charge against our property, (again added more fees) and that they would pursue for the full amount. I want to know if this is lawful, can I challenge the charge? Can I actually challenge the agreement? I feel we have been dealt with unfairly and they have acted very unkind especially given our hour of need. What can I do to resolve this matter? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

P.s. I have never received my SAR and CPR from GE and only received screen dump info and a old copy of original agreement with (First National) GE from Link. No letters showing that they have attempted to contact us prior to enforcement etc.....does that matter? Also we are in a position now due to me being back at work full time I can pay the full monthly installment, can the debt be passed back to GE?