I have a similar problem. My FirstPlus loan interest rate has remained at 9.3% for the last 6 months. I have looked at Bank of England Base rates and FHBR (Finanance House Base Rates), both of which affect the setting of interest rates by FirstPlus. Over the last 3 years, the FHBR rate has almost paralleled the Bank of England base rate, up and down, all be it a little bit higher then the BOE base rate. Interest rate charged by FirstPlus has mirrored the FHBR rate, again, all be it 3% higher. Then a strange thing seems to happen over the last four months (Oct08 to Jan09), the Bank base rate has dropped 3%, the FHBR has dropped 2% with a slight time lag behind the the BOE rate and you have guessed it, the interest rate charged by FirstPlus has not changed!!! Surely they are now making the rules up as they go along by deviating from the FHBR rates. How can anyone have any confidence in them as it appears now that they can set any rate they jolly well please. I dont know, but something tells me this must be some sort of breach of contract on the part of FirstPlus or at least breaching some sort of regulation of financial fairness. I will be digging deeper for more information. If anyone has any information on the definitive way FirstPlus decide on interest rates, it would be very useful. Also, does anyone know if there is a code of conduct for the way companies like FirstPlus should calculate changes in interest rates once you have been allocated a starting interest rate on a loan. Reason I say after your starting rate is that this initial rate will have the built in risk factor they class you as having, which technically should not change provided you dont miss any payments, which really only leaves BOE rate changes or FHBR rate changes that can affect your interest rate.

Hi there firstly great news for you. I have very recently had my claim upheld by First Plus and received a letter exactly the same as yours (apart from the figures). If your loan is still ongoing - which it looks like it is, then the first 2 amounts mentioned should be deducted from your loan, and monthly payments made against the insurance policy to date should be sent to you in the form of a cheque. I had the full premium plus interest paid to date deducted from my loan, I got a new figure for my monthly loan repayment and received a cheque which was a refund of our monthly payments made towards the payment policy to date. Obviously all claims are different, but this is how my claim was upheld and dealt with. Hope this helps Feebs

Thanks a lot and good luck with your claim....more than happy to help if you ever need advice. Cheers

Won my claim with FirstPlus - yippeeee I must say it wasn't too problematic. Sent 1st letter and got fobbed off i.e. "we've listened to phone calls and we did nothing wrong" !! Then requested S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) and the conversations I listened to were very revealing. These companies are very good at informing you what they did tell you but fortunately it's what they DON'T tell you that gives you the proof you need. Getting single premium plus interest refunded, plus all ppi payments made to date. Loan will be rescheduled and hopefully repayments will be significantly reduced. I now am in pursuit of other missold ppi and wish everyone the best of luck.......

Hi all Re my 2001 loan with First National - this was brokered by HSF Loans. Wondered if anyone pursuing anything via First National/HSF Loans ?? Also.....just won my First Plus claim - will post details on success forum as soon as someone has rescued me from Cloud 9 !! Feebs

Hi Alanalana Many thanks for all this.....I'm grateful for any nuggets of help I can get. I was quite horrified when looking back at credit cards (mbna) and past loans all paid off to see how much PPI I've paid out. My MBNA is the worst, this wasn't a single premium but as expensive looking at the monthly repayments !! Fine 'em all - that's what I say !!!! Feebs

Thanks for that HHNF....think I may have a bit of work to do.....not only have ppi on First National but MBNA Credit Card, Alliance and Leicester and a couple of others !!!! Better start getting some £10 postal orders organised !! Feebs

I have been going back through previous loans and credit cards to check if ppi was added. Have found a large single premimum ppi for a loan we took out with First National Bank in 2001. Is it much more difficult to claim back single premium ppi that was issued prior to the 2005 change of regulation? I also wondered if anyone else has dealt with First National Bank (now GE Money I believe) and should I send SAR request to GE Money ? Many thanks as always for invaluable help.... Feebs

I've now listened to tape recordings from SAR and have now written my letter to pursue my claim of misselling. I can't work out what I should be due back (never was any good at maths). I've tried using spreadsheets but my APR started at 7.7% and is now 9.6 % so I'm not sure what to do. I wondered if any one who had been successful at reclaiming from First Plus had actually managed to work out exactly what they are owed, or is there a standard paragraph I could put in my letter i.e. "I request a full refund of all premiums, and interest on these payments, that I have paid to date. I also believe we have been deprived of this money, so also expect 8% statutory interest, the amount a court would award, to be added to each payment already made. Many thanks in anticipation Feebs

BHB Sounds exactly like my claim. In my opinion this is a huge piece of vital information that we should have been given. Can you imagine the scenario ? FirstPlus Salesman "....and after the PPI cover runs out after 5 years you will still continue to pay interest for the full term of the loan even though you no longer have the cover - is this OK for you" ? FirstPlus Customer "of course, that's absolutely fine" I would never have agreed to this and it is unforgiveable to omit this information. Good Luck with your case and keep your fingers crossed for me Feebs

Hi Bog Was that the reason you managed to win - FP salesman not telling you about paying interest for the full term of the loan after the 5 years ? Hoping this is enough for me to get it all back. Cheers Feebs

A question for First Plus customers who have successfully reclaimed or are in the process of reclaiming PPI. For claims from 2005 onwards, I wondered if there was a pattern of misselling from First Plus. For example, I'm currently reviewing my taped conversations and it seems obvious that the salesguy is reading from a script. He recommended ppi (advised sale), and having listened to the entire tape, the most glaring piece of information he did not give us was that we would continue to pay interest on the PPI after it had expired. We have a ten year loan so would be paying interest on this policy for a further 5 years. In my eyes this is a clear case of misselling, but I wondered if other First Plus customers had similar experiences. As always many thanks to all for any advice or info shared. Feebs

Many Thanks aa - that's really really helpful can't say I'm looking forward to it - good job I've got 2 weeks off !! Feebs

Dear All Received my SAR documents/tape from First Plus and about to start 'ploughing' through it. Just wondered if anyone had any tips on how to go about this....I was going to sit down with a pad, pen and 'stop and start' the tape to transcribe the 'script' of the entire conversation(s). Would be grateful for any tips on how best to do this As always hugely grateful for any help received Thanks Fiona

I thought so.....my partner organised the loan (him being the second applicant) and he was self-employed at the time and wasn't told that he wouldn't be covered. Now awaiting the SAR to see exactly what was said. Blimey I'll be glad when this is all over !!

A question for the First Plus experts. Does anyone know if First Plus PPI (mine taken out after June 2005) covers you if you are self employed ? My other half organised the loan & PPI and he is self employed. I am the first named and he is the second named person on the loan. I've tried trawling through the paperwork but it's so woolly - I can't work it out and wondered if anyone might know Many thanks in anticipation Feebs

Thanks to you all for great advice. Definitely going for SAR now. I knew I'd get a FOB off letter but it still makes you feel c**p doesn't it. However, the fight goes on !! Feebs

Well I've got my first fob off letter from First Plus i.e. "you agreed you needed this", "you signed the docs" etc etc etc. Is this standard practice i.e. sending you a thick document listing all the reasons that they acted properly and putting all the blame on you and hoping that you'll go away ? Now need to ask for all the recorded conversations etc Has anyone else been/got to this stage ?

Hi FUWM will be very interesting to compare notes - do you still have the loan ? Feebs

Hi Demtootief and Alanalana - really appreciate your advice - there is so much to try and trawl through. I've also found that when looking through all the First Plus Reclaim posts that some people have different experiences i.e. some don't have too much trouble reclaiming and some do. Demtootief - did you get the option to have it taken off your loan or to have a cheque ? once again many many thanks for all your help and assistance Feebs

Many thanks for all advice - it's very much appreciated. I took out the loan in 2005, was sold Single Premiumn policy and was not asked about any pre-existing medical conditions. One of the reasons I posted was that much of the threads relate to people claiming back PPI who have already paid off the loan. I wondered if any had reclaimed back whilst their loan was still ongoing and if they were successful, did First Plus deduct from their loan or give them a rebate of PPI plus interest ? Unfortunately I can't pay off the loan for the immediate future so wondered what my options were ? again many thanks for all help from a confused PPI victim

Hope someone can help as I do find it all a bit overwhelming. I'm currently pursuing First Plus for misselling on PPI. I have just received my first 'nice' letter saying that they are looking into my claim and will get back to me by no later than 28th June. I still have the loan and expect to have it for another 4 years (unless I win the lottery and can pay it off). My question is, if my claim is successful and I get my PPI back will this make any difference to my current monthly payments? Many thanks in advance

Many thanks for quick response.. I believe they did mis-sell as firstly they made no mention that the policy was only valid for five years but we would end up paying interest on the insurance for the full loan term. My main reason however, for wanting to claim is that we would never have taken this insurance if it meant that only I was covered for sickness, accident and unemployment. If my partner was sick, became unemployed or had an accident I would never be able to make the payments on my own on top of mortgage payments etc. We were not told that this insurance was only suitable for one of us and on the PPI offical agreement it lists both of us as insured customers. Would be really grateful if this would give more clout to my claim Many thanks for your help it's much much appreciated Feebs

Dear All My partner and I currently have a loan (£34,000) with First Plus (taken out in July 05). We were 'persuaded' to take out PPI which cost us £8, 326.60. I'm about to send off a 'misselling' template letter to reclaim, but am really confused as to what cover our PPI provides. My partner was self employed when we took out the loan so my name is the first name on the PPI agreement. On the agreement it puts us both as Insured Customers (my name is listed first) - but on the actual loan agreement it states "You have chosen to protect your repayments with the FIRSTPLUS Payment Protection Plan. You will have joint life, and single accident, sickness and involuntary employment cover. Single cover applies to first named borrower only. I'm totally confused - does this mean that we would both have been covered by the PPI or not ? Any help very very gratefully received Fiona

Very grateful for advice. Amex did state in their letter that they "have informed the OFT that our default charges will be £8.00 on Credit Cards. This reflects the costs involved in administering accounts in default, and is calculated in accordance with the guidance issued by the OFT on how to calculate default charges". Presume this is 'flannel' and does not constitute a breakdown on how they have come to a figure of £8.00. I'm fairly far down the line in reclaiming bank charges but was unsure as to how to proceed with credit card charges now these have come down. Again many thanks for help - much appreciated