HI Thanks. Will get info on Mon.

HI topcat Thanks for reply. Daughter is away until Monday so cannot be specific until then but from what she told me £90 is 3 missed payments of monthly contract. She has never made any call as she could not do so. She first complained within the first month but not sure exactly when. All her previous payments went by dd but this was cancelled when she had trouble with bank and charges leaving her with no money to pay bills (on income support). Thanks

Hi all I need some help for my daughter please. She took out a mobile contract (12mths) with Virgin year but when she set it up she found that where she lived she was unable to get a signal unless she went to the end of her road. She does not have a landline and as a single parent with a baby she needed a phone that would work at home. She contacted them and explained that she could not get the service where she most needed it and asked if she could cancel, their reply was basically no way you have to pay for the 12mths. She then took out a Vodaphone contract and payed both. 3mths ago because of troubles with the bank she had to cancel all her DD's and start paying everything by cash. She forgot to continue paying Virgin. She is noe 3mths in arrears, £90 and has started recieving letters from CARS dca. She only told me all this last night so now I need some advice as to how to deal with this. Many thanks in advance

Hi Kenny Well done on a valiant fight and wishing you every sucess with your other cases. My case with UCB is for charges only so hopefully a bit easier. All the best Midge

HI Ward 3010 how did you get on?

FISA included the info in their letter so BF had it anyway and I had stated times and transaction numbers previously without the copies in a previous letter that the said they had on record so no excuse on BF side really!

Thanks tommy The overpayment was 5 years ago £1400 which i refused to recieve (sent in giros) but they said I had to accept it as giros already issued. Since then every year it goes up!! I will tell them my income then but just think what's the point .

phatram Hi I know it's best to send recorded delivery but this month thanks to not being paid all my money has gone on food and bank charges!

Tommy are you legally obliged to reply to your yearly renewal? Every year when I get mine it says we owe them and it will be deducted from this years award, which is only £500 and they reckon we owe £1800 so we are not going to get anything for the next 3 years. I'm so fed up with them that I have'nt replied especially as my present job means I get paid a different amount each month I can't see them getting it right at all so can't face explaining it all. Will it matter if I don't bother?

HI all Had a call from BF tonight because of last months payment not paid (dear NHS failed to pay me thats why!) Anyway call is being recorded for training purposes! I explain why not paid and that I have sent letter explaining this oh and by the way you owe me 1 months money. Lad says let me look at file. Comes back and says the last letter was dated 31st may. I explain that I sent all relevent documents to prove double payment on 6th June to Mr longdin and as no reply complained to FISA who agreed with me that BF owe the money and taking too long to deal with it and if I dont get a reply soon complaint will go to TS. Lad says I will speak to Mr longdin and get back to you. He phones back 10 mins later and says Mr Longdin hasnt recieved such a letter can I fax it all over and he will sort it asap. Funny how my complaint letters are recieved but my letter with the evedence isn't I say. Well I promise to sort it asap when I recieve the fax says lad. I also state that they have taken 3 months so far avoiding the issue and it should have been dealt with within 8 weeks max. Lad apologises!! So I will fax all details (3rd time of sending them) tomorrow and see what happens.

Hi Pliny Mine is secured loan taken out in 2006.

Hi Dax Well thats what I thought but I think that as it's a loan company they are saying that they did not come under their remit until April. Anyway sent a complaint to FISA and they replied saying that Blemain should return money asap and have written to them to say so. I also complained that BF had not given me details on their complaints procedure but FISA said they could not help with that because BF had only recently joined! Fat lot of good they are really. Anyway still waiting for reply from BF.........2 weeks now so I think next step is Trading Standards but not sure what to do really.

Hi Here is two links that may be of interest http://www.competition-commission.org.uk/inquiries/ref2005/banking/prov_find_app_4-4.pdf Provisional Findings report -Northern Irish personal banking

Hi Have just found this and don't know if it would be of use AHDS Cross-Search Catalogue

Hi Have read this post with great interest. I have been trying to search on the net for archives and have come across some pages from a journal about Uk banking reforms. I'ts just a thought but would it not be worth contacting somewhere like the London School of Economics where they might hold archives with the sort of data you are looking for?

Hi Had a reply from FISA this morning re my complaint "Clearly, if as appears to be the case, you have evidence that a payment outside the terms of the agreement has been made, then the lender should not delay in refunding any overpayment. I have referred your case to the compliance department of Blemain Finance Ltd and would hope that this will bring about a satisfactory resolution to your grievence." Shall give it a week and if nothing from BF will contact FISA again.

Hi all Have just been reading the trading standards website and found the following. Don't know if it helps anyone How do I get a settlement figure? Under Section 97 of the Consumer Credit Act, the debtor is entitled to know how much he/she has to pay in order to clear the debt. The request should be in writing. Give the creditor enough details to enable them to identify the agreement, including the agreement number. Title the letter 'Request for Early Settlement Figure'. An example of a request letter is given in this leaflet. If you are up-to-date with your payments, some companies will provide a settlement figure over the telephone. I wrote to my creditor over a month ago asking for a settlement figure but have not received a response. What are my rights? The Consumer Credit Act requires the information to be provided within 12 working days from receipt of your request. If the creditor fails to provide the information requested, they cannot enforce the agreement against you until they do; and if they do not send you the information for more than a month, the creditor commits an offence. If this happens to you, contact Consumer Direct for advice. How much rebate am I entitled to? Regulations lay down two different formulas for calculating the rebate. What formula should be used will depend upon when you took the agreement out. A new formula was introduced for agreements entered into from 31st May 2005, but this does not apply immediately to agreements entered into before then.. Most companies use computer programs to calculate the rebate. Will my credit agreement give me any information about early settlement? All credit agreements entered into after 31st May 2005 will have a section headed ‘Key Information’ which will contain information about early settlement. Creditors have to show the figures that would be payable for early settlement when ¼, ½ and ¾ of the repayments have been paid. The information shown will be the sum needed to settle at that stage, taking account of the payments made up to that date. The rules allow the creditor to show this information as the amount for every £100 or £1000 borrowed rather than for the total loan, so check the figures carefully. Can I have the figures checked? Yes. Some Trading Standards Services have a computer program that can check the figures are correct. Contact Consumer Direct to ask whether your local Trading Standards Service would be able to check the figures. If they are able to do the check, you will need to: obtain the settlement figure in writing, and send all the documents relating to the agreement to them by post or by fax. Please note that they will not normally check settlement figures over the telephone. The settlement figure is greater than my original loan – can this be correct? Loans are made up of capital advanced and interest. Depending on how many payments you have made, the settlement figure may well be higher than the original loan. This is most common with long-term loans, where early payments are more interest than capital. The rebate is on the interest outstanding, not the capital left to pay. I am in arrears with my repayments and have incurred penalty charges – can I have a rebate on these charges? No. The settlement figure is for paying off the original loan. You are not entitled to a rebate on any charges incurred for late payment, non-payment or administration fees that have already been charged (e.g. brokers fees or arrangement fees). The settlement figure provided by the creditor is too high – what are my rights? If you feel the figure is wrong, Trading Standards can check the statement and give the correct figure. Contact the creditor and dispute the figure. If they continue to refuse to correct it, then contact Consumer Direct for advice. Example of Letter Requesting Early Settlement: White's Financial Services Ltd 36 High Street Anytown Anyshire AN1 1AA 31st May 2005 Dear Sir/Madam, Request for Early Settlement Figure Credit Agreement No: 123456789 On 10th January 2002, I took out the above agreement with you for the purpose of purchasing a car. I now wish to settle the agreement. I would be grateful if you send me a settlement figure for the above loan, in accordance with Section 97(1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and the Consumer Credit (Early Settlement) Regulations 2004. I look forward to hearing from you in due course. Yours faithfully, Mr A Brown

Hi I have been reading this thread with utter respect for you. I really don't know how you have kept going for over 5 years on this. You must be thoroughly exhausted by it all. We have had so many problems with banks over the last few years (nothing like yours though) and have heard all the above excuses at one time or another........it makes you so sick. I wish you every success and I really hope that you manage to hang them out to dry. My upmost respect to you Midge

SORRY was only trying to help

Hi I realise that now. So next one will be a postal order. Thanks Midge

Hi Kenny Zoot is the best one for things like that. Try sending her a pm. Midge

Hi all Dax how are you getting on with things? I have sent a complaint in to FISA about my overpayment after phone call I had 2 nights ago and fact that I have sent bf proof of overpayment and had no reply. Its now 3 months since I first wrote to bf! Bloody unbelievable. Also sent a SAR but my delightful bank bounced the cheque so not expecting an answer and will have to do it again.

Hi Why not do the pre lim and LBA and then go via the FOS and in the section asking you what you want done to remedy the situation put that you want the charges refunded and a gaurentee that the account will not be closed. Just a thought.

Hi Thanks for that. I sent a complaint off to FISA yesterday about it with copies of all the letters. So we shall see what happens next.

HI Our local court has been doing this for the last couple of months. When my daughter went to file she was told to complain to ombudsman first, which she has done. She is still waiting for the outcome. Personally I feel this will mean that people will just go and file via MCOL which could be why they are becoming so overloaded.