And as for the bike, just done some maths and should be able to get rid of that one in about 6 weeks anyway, so no real benefit either way in the end. So that'll be £180 a month in my pocket, or going towards getting rid of another bill i think.

Bit the bullet, paid off the bank, though you'd have thought they didn't want the money. Santander Loan, Santander Current Account you'd think it would be easy, but after going through all the security questions for the loan it declined the card, even though i had internet banking in front of me with the balance showing. So i got transferred to another dept where i went through all the security questions again to be told it was blocked due to the value, so i've got to speak to the security anti-fraud dept to get it unblocked, (yes they had stopped the card entirely), so yet again with the security questions. Eventually they let me have access to my own money so i could give them a load of it, so guess what they done.............. yep, transferred me back to the loans dept again to repeat the whole process from scratch. Four different people and 22 mins on the phone to a 0870 number to pay it off. Absolutely ridiculous. (But i'm now £90 a month better off )

Bike, but yeah i got it

Nope, no early exit fees, and i declined PPI on both agreements, think the decision is purely which one looks better on credit file as a settled agreement.

Both of these debts were attained after the blk of my troubles, those were in 2005 and in 2014 fall off my credit file so i was just gonna stump up the settlement figure. The motor finance is about £700 less than it's balance on equifax and the bank is about £100 more, not that i think that matters.

After a few years of struggling etc i'm in a postion that allows me to pay off either motor finance or a persoanl loan (bank), but not sure which one. Both debts are within £70 of each other on the settlement figure, with £2 per month on payments and are both due to finish at the same month. The only real difference is the motor finance will take a capital payment whereas it's all or nothing on the bank loan. Does anyone know which one might have a better effect on credit scores etc when paid off secured or unsecured debt? Many thanks Stu

This took a little digging and a while to find but to email your local bannatyne club directly try the following. General Manager - gm.club name [email protected] Admin - admin.club name [email protected] Sales - sales..club name [email protected] I have used this format for my club and had replies for all three addresses, just make sure to set up a delivery AND read receipt on anything you send.

Ask them for more details of the transaction, stating date, amount, account etc then try to tally with your statements.

Some of the comments here about Abbey surprise me, within the last week or so i have made a number of credit applications to rearrange my finance, and upgrade laptop, (6 year old, can't cope anymore, as i use it for work i haven't got much option). Mint CC, (balance transfer from Lloyds CC) - declined PC World, (laptop finance with HFC) - declined Abbey internet loan £5500 - accepted At this point i had an arguement with my dad regarding my credit file as EGG had screwed it up a couple of years ago and still has a current default for a loan that was settled in 2005, but anyway, mum kindly offered an interest free loan to get rid of Lloyds CC, so that was sorted. So, after a small discussion with Abbey, (my main bank). Abbey Branch loan - £17000 - accepted, (internet one cancelled) and that's with arrangements to pay, missed payments, a current default and a historical default all showing on my file.

Already decided to do that, basically the internet banking thing says i owe £16,152 and the woman on the phone reckons it's £16,205 before this bloody fee is added on, i know in the whole scheme of things, £50 ain't a lot, but i'll be damned if that bank is going to get more money from me than they are supposed to, this whole mess is partly their fault anyway, and they admitted it too, (9 debt consolidation loans in 10 years, 8 of which were for their credit card).

Just done some quick maths, according to the numbers on the internet banking, i have paid £288.50pcm for 26 months, over 50% of that was interest, as only £3647.59 has come off the balance, and they reckon that figure is wrong and i owe £50 more than the website shows, then they throw on the charge to pay it off too? Bunch of thieving ^%&$%$^%$&%!!!!!!!!!!!!

The loan was a permanent arrangment based on a temporary one, basically i got into trouble, the bank lowered the amount i was paying, (from £613pcm to £288pcm) and extended the term, once i had made a number of months payments without a problem, (to be honest, i never missed a payment on this loan beforehand, it was another), they made the loan permanent, sent me paperwork to sign and return along with a letter, signed said paperwork and returned. I CCA'd them at the end of last year, just to see if they could come up with it, and they did. But don't have, and never did have a set of T & C's for this loan, so don't know if this fee is in them. The money for settlement will be in my bank on tuesday, so don't want to go down the line of sending letters and waiting weeks for an answer, as i don't want £17000 burning a hole in my pocket so to speak. Trouble is i have another issue with the settlement figure for this loan, but that's one to attack the bank with on monday morning i think.

I have just contacted my bank regarding a settlement figure on a loan, they informed me that there will be a £250 settlement fee imposed, how can they justify this? Is there anyway around it, or can i claim it back like the overdraft charges etc? Many thanks

Right then, i have been able to secure funds to settle this loan and finally get away from the dreaded Lloyds TSB entirely. Just telephoned their customer services for a settlement figure, and was surprised to find that it is more than the balance showing on the internet banking. After the third time of getting the lass on the phone to repeat herself, i asked why, she replied, there is a £250 settlement fee. But the balance they have, was still higher than the balance showing online even after removing this fee. Couple of things, can they put the balance up again, or can i get away with only paying the "advertised" price? Also, how can they justify a £250 fee for me giving them their money back?

Well as the loan was with EGG i thought i'd try my luck, here is the message i sent through their secure messaging service, (on logging into their website i was surprised to find the loan still shows, but the credit card doesn't....) And the reply...... Let's wait and see what happens, in the meantime i have sent off for credit files from Experian and Callcredit too, will be interesting to see what they have.

Hi, Erm...... no On the credit file the first entry is the first month's Arrangement to Pay in Feb 2006, Jan is blank, 2005 and before isn't shown. The ATP continues until Nov 2006 when it goes back to 0 and continues as 0 until the last entry at Dec 2007, 2008 not shown. At the time the card, (Lloyds TSB), was over it's limit, but i was paying the minimum amount each month, then i had problems with EGG on a loan and another card, i reassessed my complete finances and Lloyds agreed to freeze the interest to allow me to get the card back below it's limit, then they reinstated the normal interest. Throughout the whole period they are showing the ATP, i was paying more than the minimum amount required, and still pay that amount now.

I got in some bother back 2005, at the time Lloyds TSB agreed to freeze the interest on my credit card for 6 months to allow me to get the balance back below the credit limit. Having just got a copy of my credit file, this is showing as an "Arrangement to Pay", does the freezing of the interest qualify for this tag on my file? I was still paying the agreed amount, (more than minimum payment), and am still paying that amount now, although i now have interest put back on. Any ideas?? Sharkey

Ok, just had a word with my dad, and think we have worked out where the £528 comes from. When the DCA was paid, although payment was accepted as full and final settlement, it was not the full amount, it was reduced if the account was paid immediately rathre than by installments. Looking at the figures i have with me this £528 is the remainder that was discounted. So now the question changes slightly, as the DCA accepted full and final payment, can the original lender place a default on the remainder of the loan balance? Also, how do i get rid of it, as this is showing on the file summary as a current default, and the only one at that.

Back in 2005 i missed payments on a loan, this was taken to a debt collection agency and thanks to a kindly parent, paid off relatively quickly. I have just got a copy of my credit file after being knocked back for credit, after looking at the file i can see why, (2 defaults and a few missed payments, all in 2005 or earlier), while looking i noticed something about the above loan. Although paid off with the DCA it is showing on my credit file as having a starting balance of £2,711, current balance of £528 and loan terms of 125 months @ £0. The starting balance is correct but confused about the rest, as it was paid off over 2 years ago, how can they put a current balance on my file? Can anyone shed any light on this, also what i should do about it, as it is still showing a defaulted loan with a balance i would imagine it's affecting me worse than if it showed as settled after default. The reason it confuses me is that i had a credit card with the same lender as the loan, this was passed to the same DCA at exactly the same time, this shows as settled at the time it was passed over, yet the loan shows as defaulted on 2 months after that. Many thanks.

I was in a mess in 2005 and it was my dad who helped me get sorted, (same male ego/denial thing), i would strongly advise making an appointment with the Citizen's Advice, take everything you have and they can help sort it out. When i was in trouble, i nearly went to Chiltern DM to get sorted, it looked good, reducing monthly payments from £1100 per month to just over £400, but when they decided that i now had Sky TV and higher car insurance payments, (on paper), it started looking dodgy, then in the small print they were charging 16% of the monthly payment, so chances are he's paying around the same. I'm not sure on the legality of the car payments, but if he returned the car, i'm certain the value of the car plus interest on that amount etc should be deducted from the amount owing, so he basically pays the arrears and possibly interest on the arrears, doesn't sound right that he is still having to pay the full amount. As a footnote GAP insurance is there to recover the amount paid for the car in the event of an accident write off, not just the amount the car is worth at the time of the accident.

Hi all, Does anyone have an address for HFC bank to post CCA request to??? Their website directs to their subsiduaries and the original loan was taken out with HFC themselves, (in branch) Ta

Depends what you believe....... Q. What is the test case about and when will it happen? A: The case is expected to start on the 14 Jan 08, subject to confirmation from the High Court, and will last eight to ten days. It’s important to understand this first stage will determine if the ‘Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations’ (UTCCRs) can apply to bank charges. Bank Charges Reclaiming: How the OFT test case impacts you...

As already suggested, use Mozilla Firefox, it has less security issues than IE, also has a pop-up blocker included!!

I have seen this one before too, took a complete re-format of the computer to get rid, (actually done it 4 times to make sure), but it did work. If you can get all your documents off, then you may want to try that.

Maybe not, but as this is to allow me to actually have a copy on file first, (required to have security/financial vetting for work), if they send it out after a phonecall then so be it, if it doesn't appear in a couple of weeks, then i will send a formal request via post. As there is no rush or problem with the account as yet, no harm trying.