FIRST PLUS

[Berry57]

Hi

 

Newbie poster getting on top of debt here, seeking advice PLEASE.

 

Four years ago, we were in financial trouble and so my husband and i took out a 15 year loan with First Plus for 55,000k. Added to this was a single premium PPI for £13,469k which only covered us for 5 years. The interest rate was 8.4% initially but this has fluctuated marginally. We sold our house earlier this year and settled the debt in full for a massive £62,000k We believe we were missold the PPI so are trying to claim money back on it. On receipt of our second letter to them, First Plus came back with an offer of £2030 as a "gesture of goodwill". We know this is no where near enough but would really welcome some advice on what we should be asking for. Many thanks in anticipation

[alanfromderby]

Didn't see your post as you put it on the end of another thread. I have now moved it so hopefully you will get the advice you need.

 

If it was missold then you are entitled to seek the full amount, plus 8% interest for the period that they deprived you of it.

 

Why do you consider it was missold?

Does the £13.5k include interest?

 

You could be looking at another £4k+ on top for the 8% interest over four years - so, if your figures are correct, their offer of £2030 is a bit sick.

[Odie]

I think the fact that they even made you an offer so quickly is a good sign. I would reject the offer (or accept as part payment) and continue the process to reclaim the lot!

[Goldlady]

I am in the process of claiming back PPI for a friend in exactly same situation as you.

 

Have a read of this thread

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/ppi/115106-ppi-loan-issues.html

[Berry57]

Thank you very much for your prompt replies. We believe it was mis-sold as we didn't realise what we had actually signed up to; First Plus implied we had to take it out to get the loan and we didn't realise it was only for 5 years. We are both in employment that offers good sickness and redundancy terms so we would never have agreed to it if we had been fully aware. In reply to Alan's question, the 13.5K doesn't include interest.

[alanfromderby]

Did the agreement list a breakdown of the figures between the loan, the loan interest, the PPI and the PPI interest. If so what are the totals.

 

If you can show that the cover you had through your employment was sufficient, then you have a clear case for misselling.

[Goldlady]

On my friend's firstplus loan the PPI was added to the loan balance at inception so the interest on it is same rate as the loan itself. MEGA bucks!

[Berry57]

Thank you for all your comments once again. It is good to know we are not alone. (I feel so embarrassed we ever got into this mess but at least we are on the way out now, having faced up to it, downsized and paid our biggest debts off.....).

 

The only breakdown is between the loan amount of £55K and the PPI of £13.4k.

The PPI was then added to the loan to form a total of approx £68.4k. The interest was calculated on a daily basis on the balance of the total loan and added to the total on a monthly basis in arrears. The APR was 8.4%. We paid 4 years of monthly repayments with no defaults before settling in full.

[alanfromderby]

Okay, this sounds like a flexi-loan - did they give you a cheque book or card with it so you could borrow up to a set limit if you so wished?

 

In which case, you would be claiming the £13.4k, plus the proportion of each monthly interest payment relating to the PPI, and add to that a proportion of the final pay-off figure. I calculate the proportion to be about 19.67% (13469/68469)

 

Use the bank charge spreadsheets and put the £13.4k in at the day the loan started. Then input each proportioned monthly payment, and then the same proportion of the final payment on the last date. That will give you the total 8% interest to add to the claim to today.

 

If you have not got the statements then you will need to do a DSAR to get the information - there is also information on that in the Bank Template Library.

[Berry57]

Hi Alan

 

It wasn't a flexi loan. It was just a straight repayment with the PPI added to the total. The monthly repayment stayed the same every month and only changed when the interest rate changed. Our approximate payment was £690 per month

 

B

[alanfromderby]

Ahh.....right, so variable rate. The calculations above should still cover it then.

[Berry57]

Hi

 

I sent a further letter to First Plus saying we wanted the cost of the policy and the interest for years and basically they have sent the same letter and offer back. Any further advice please

[alanfromderby]

It's your call - if it were me I would be sending them a 14 day letter before action.

[Berry57]

Hi

What is a 14 day letter?

[alanfromderby]

A Letter Before Action, giving them 14 days to refund - otherwise you will take court action.

 

Of course, if you are intending to go through the FOS route, you will need to send a formal complaint, which they then have eight weeks to deal with.