Please help with Provident Loans

[mazj28]

Please can someone help me I have 3 provident loans, in total they come to just over £5000. I have been really struggling to pay these as my hours were cut at work and also my partners. I have got copies of all three credit agreements and they seem fine, I have asked them to pay a much lower amount of £50 per month as this is all I can afford at the moment.

The agent text me yesterday asking when I would be paying, I can pay tomorrow so text back and told her, and then told her I would make a payment again on the 27th March when I get paid and that I would try and pay as much as I can but obviously my mortgage, council tax and utilites need to come first.

She then text back asking again asking how much I would be paying as they are being charged thousands in bad debt charges by the bank because of missed payments. I text back and told her most I can afford tomorrow is £100.

 

I then got a text off her manager about half an hour later, stating the payment you are making this week, how much are you paying, so again I text the manager back and said £100.

She then asked if I could pay £142.50 which would be 2 weeks payment, so I said I could at a push if I can get the extra money together. She then text back saying thank you.

 

I then get a text ten minutes later from the manager again saying sorry just spoken to my boss and he is asking for £163.75 this week to prevent a charge being levied on her of over £4000, and would I be able to pay this amount.

 

Please can someone help as I dont know what to do, I can probably pay the £163.75 but it will leave me with no money at all until I get paid in 2 weeks, and then when I do get paid I don't think they will accept lower payments then and I usually pay monthly so its like £285 per month of which at the moment I can pay £50 until my hours go back up at work, I have already wrote to head office at Provident to offer this payment and last time the agent called I paid her £50 and she said as long as we get a payment they are not bothered, but now they are saying that they are going to get charged etc if I dont pay more, is this right?

 

Please can someone advise me

 

Thanks in advance

Maz

[yourturntopay]

I am with provident and have a couple of loans with them, due to a change in our financial situation I can no longer meet these repayments. I have gone into a DMP with Payplan and I no longer deal with the field agent. If you need to reschedule your repayments then dealign woth Head Office is your best bet.

 

I would inform the agent that you can only afford the £50 and that you intend to send it head office direct with a request to reeduce your payments. I would also tell them to stop texting you it seems to me you are being harrassed into making payments you cannot afford.

 

If provident are being charged then that's their issue, not yours. It seems to me as if they are being very sneaky and putting emotional pressure on you.

 

You need to have everything agreed by their head office and in writing, otherwise the manager and field agent will play these silly games with you until they get what they want - after all your payments affect their commission earning, so the more they get from you, the more they earn.

[cerberusalert]

They are playing games with you, they'll keep demanding more and more from you. Forget about paying as much as you can at the expense of other things....just pay what you can reasonably afford.

[mazj28]

Ok I have wrote to head office but they haven't replied yet, I thought that something was up, how could the manager get charged over £4000 just because I didn't pay £20 extra!

[yourturntopay]

Ok I have wrote to head office but they haven't replied yet, I thought that something was up, how could the manager get charged over £4000 just because I didn't pay £20 extra!

 

That's because she hasn't!!! She is trying it on, because the more you pay, the more commission she and the field agent receives. Unless you make your full monthly payments, she will be constantly on your back to get the payments up. It's just an emotional blackmail game she is playing. Please don't give in to her - you need to protect yourself, her "alledged" problems are not your concern. After all she isn't concerned about leaving you without any money to live is she????

 

The only way to get her off your back is to inform her that you will deal only with head office and only in writing. Tell her that any further communication from her will result in a complaint to head office about her unreasonable harressment towards you.

 

Good luck, you are doing really well, just stick to your guns and you will be fine

[mazj28]

I will write another letter now to head office, as they haven't replied to my other one and I will post it today, I am going to complain about her actually because I am annoyed that she has text me stating she is going to get a £4000 charge levied against her if I don't pay an extra £20, why would they even do this?? I think I might go to the Citizens Advice Bureau for some advice on this as well!

[Viscount Stair]

Naughty, naughty.

 

No 30 on the black list of proscribed activities in the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 is:

 

30. Explicitly informing a consumer that if he does not buy the product or service, the trader's job or livelihood will be in jeopardy.

By analogy with that, it looks to me as if a criminal offence has been committed by more than one individual.

[yourturntopay]

Make sure you send the letter signed for post - that way you can track whetehr or not it was delivered.

 

You could include a payment with this letter to show good faith and that you are beign reasonable - however make sure it is a payment affordable to you and that you can manage.

 

If the manager calls you back i woudl tell her that you have sent the payment to head office with your reduced payment proposal and that you are awaiting their response and will not deal with her any further

[mazj28]

Ok I will do, I will send the £50 that I originally asked to pay with the letter and will send an income and expenditure form to show that this is all I can afford at the moment until my hours go up again. I will mention in the letter about the manager texting me with regards to a £4000 charge that would be levied to her if I didn't pay extra also.

[yourturntopay]

Sounds a good plan to me. Good luck and let us know how you get on.

[mazj28]

Thanks I will do!

[Ell-enn]

Hi there, don't forget to send your letter and payment (postal order - not cheque or cash) by recorded delivery. If you need help with a letter, please let me know - I'll be happy to draft one for you.

 

The agents and managers will say anything to get payment out of you - however, you need to stick to your guns and to what you can afford. It is totally unreasonble for you to pay an amount which will leave you with no money for the next two weeks.

 

Ell-enn

[mazj28]

Thanks Ell-enn, I have sent my letter now did it in my dinner hour! I have just put on basically the same as what I sent a couple of weeks ago to them, but have added somemore on with regards to the texts from the manager. I also sent the £50 by postal order as I don't have a cheque book anyway!

I will text the agent tomorrow and tell her that I have sent my payment and letter to head office, and tell her not to bother calling to mine see what she says tomorrow!!

 

Thanks again everyone!