Advice needed (mis sold ppi - Welcome Finance)

[babylou]

Hi there,

 

I believe my partner and myself may have been mis-sold a PPI from Welcome Finance. Some years ago my partner and I took out a joint loan with Welcome Finance a few times since then we have had top-ups on the loans where they have been re-written and the loan amount increased.

 

During one of the loans my partner had an accident at work where he had provided with an unsuitable piece of equipment and this resulted in him being very badly burnt and unable to work for several months. We tried to make a claim from the PPI but they wouldnt pay out as they could not establish who was at fault for the accident. Then by the time his employer admitted fault the time to make a claim had lapsed. We fell behind with our payments fora number of months. To help get us back on track an advisor from welcome Finance offered to once again re-write the loan offering us a higher amount to pay off the existing loan and also give us some cash, we foolishly thought this was the answer to our problems and took them up on the offer. We went into the branch to sign the paperwork and they mentioned the PPI, I told them that we were not interested in it as in the previuos case they didnt help us when we needed it, I was told that we needed to take the PPI along with the loan - it was not optional, so we signed all the paperwork.

 

We continued to pay this loan and one day it occured to me that in all the time we had been with welcome finance they had never sent me a statement of any kind, I called them to enquire about this and they told me that they were under no obligation to send regular statements. I was then told our remaining balance and was absolutley horrified to hear that although we had been making hefty payments for a long time we still owed almost double what we had originally borrowed. I asked for a breakdown of this and they told me interest, PPI etc etc. I asked them to cancel the PPI and they told me there was no point as it was added as a lump sum at the start of the loan so even if I cancelled it the replayments wouldnt be any less nor the amount owed in full.

 

Last January my husband decided he wanted to learn how to use the computer and internet. He was crusing along fine but in his excitement managed to delete all of our dirct debits via internet banking. I tried many times to contact Welcome and get them to send out a new dd mandate but they never did. Then every now and again they would send us letters or phone us and ask us to make payment, they would always prmise to send out the mandate but it never arrived. My husband then went into the office to sign paperwork but they also needed my signature so he brought it home and I signed it and posted it back to them, they said they never recieved it. In September they sent us documents infroming us that they were taking the case to court, i filled in the court forms informing the court that I was willing to make payments on a regular basis - the court informed me that they had accepted this offer. I have made several more attempts to contact Welcome Finance to make the court agreed payments yet they still have not sent out the DD Mandate. So no payment has been made since december 2007.

 

So, what I am asking is:

 

a) Would we still be able to reclaim PPI??

b) Is it right that they are not required to send any statements ????

c) Am I in breach of a court order by not making the payments if the company is making it difficult for me to do so???

 

I apologise for the length of my post but I thought it would be better to provide as much information as possible when looking for any advice.

 

Many thanks in advance

[babylou]

still looking for any advice anyone could offer

 

many thanks

[postggj]

hi babylou and welcome

 

lets see if we can sort these cowboys out.

 

i need to get a few comments from other caggers on the ppi.

so they did not pay out, may i ask why.

they say they did not know who was at fault. that seems a typical welcome fobb off to me.

your hubby had an accident at work, he was covered by ppi, blame does not come into it for payment unless it was self inflicted.

like i said a few comments from caggers on that statement.

 

how old is the agreement as under the new regs, they have to send one out every 12 months.

 

at this moment you are in breach of the court order, strange why welcome are not going for enforcement.

 

going back to the ppi

 

there are a few of us on the forum who believe these insurances are all done in house with no underwriter. we are close to the truth on that one.

 

like i said , how old is the agreement and did welcome ever send you a default notice

 

hang in there, helps at hand

[babylou]

Hi,

 

thank you very much for the reply, I had amost given up.

 

I am not sure how old the agreement is, we have moved house 2 years ago and my folder with all my important paperwork is somewhere I am just not sure where.

 

Welcome have sent me lots of letters according to them, I cant say we always recieved them, even when I asked them to send certain things to me they never arrived. Not sure if they sent a Default notice or not.

 

We were told that we could not claim on the insurance as my husbands boss was not admitting liability at that time so they could not establish who was actually to blame. By the time his boss did admit liability the amount if time you have to make a claim had lapsed - we just thought this was standard practice.

 

In regards to the court order, We have tried to make payment. I callled the court the day after the case was heard and was told our offer of payment had been accepted. I then telephoned the lawyers that welcome use and they told me to contact welcome direct. I did so and was told they would be in touch shortly regarding payment methods, a few weeks went by and I phoned again, they asked me to make a card payment but I said I wanted something more regular put in place so they said they woudl send out a DD mandate - This was a few weeks ago and we are still waiting for them!!!!!

 

I sometimes feel like I am hassling them so that I can make payment, they are certainly making it difficult for me. I am thinking about going to my local branch this friday and asking to fill in a mandate there and then. I have never been in any trouble in my life and dont like the idea that I am breaching a court order.