Yet another 1st Credit query !

[AmberIsis]

Hi, I am new here - so if this query is not in the right place - please redirect me.

 

Some time ago I had a bank loan with LLoyds Bank which would, presumably, have been secured on my house. In 2004 I retired from work, and have had great difficulty in adjusting to life on a pension. I admit that I am not a good money manager and have, consequently, fallen into arrears. LLoyds sold my debt to Ist Credit about a year ago, and it was agreed that I should repay it at £150:00p per month. Although this has caused considerable hardship and landed me in trouble with other debts, I have managed to pay them without fail each month for 12 months. Now they are saying that this amount is not enough as it will take too long to recover that the debt - they are demanding that I increase my payment to £250:00p per month or they will take action.

 

Can they do this? I have tried to explain that my income will just not stretch that far - but they do not listen.

 

As the original loan was secured can they force me out of my house ?

 

I am at my wits end to know what to do about this. Please can anyone help?

[clemma]

Have you actually sent 1st crudit a CCA request to see if they are legally entitled to collect on this account??

 

Also, they have no rights to demand you pay more - in fact, it is up to YOU how much you pay per month. Offer them only what you can afford! The have no powers whatsoever, no matter what they tell you.

[mr.ton]

Oh dear, oh dear....do 1st Crud ever learn?

Their greed knows no bounds.

Right....first, do not speak to them on phone - refuse to answer security questions if they ring - everything must be in writing only.

Second - stop all payments IMMEDIATELY & demand a full refund on what youve paid already (yes you heard right...a FULL refund)

They had no legal authority to the monies off you & have simply obtained it off you through threats & deception etc..

Only the county courts have power/authority over you - 1st Crud dont.

Report them to the OFT & trading standards as well.

The most you should be paying these clowns is £1 per month once a county court has authorised it & all your outgoings have been taken into account.

Even though it was secured on your house..they cannot force you out, only a court could do that & it would be a very last resort once all other avenues have failed.

Other will be along with their own help/advice for you soon

Edited April 8, 2009 by mr.ton

[lilly white]

Well Well

 

What Can I Say.

 

Ok We Need A Plan I Fully Agreed With Mr Tom Can You Possible Belief These People

 

Do You Have Everthing In Writhing To Date

If Not We Must Start Now

 

Why Do You Think It Is A Serure Loan We Will Need To Find Out

 

What Is The State Of The Account How Much Do You Owe

 

Any Charges Ppi Or Anything You Do Not Quite Understand

 

Please Gather All Your Bits Together

 

Noa Any Default Notice Anything That You May Have

 

Any Question We Will Answer

 

Welcome Your Are Among Friends

[AmberIsis]

Have you actually sent 1st crudit a CCA request to see if they are legally entitled to collect on this account??

 

Also, they have no rights to demand you pay more - in fact, it is up to YOU how much you pay per month. Offer them only what you can afford! The have no powers whatsoever, no matter what they tell you.

 

 

Are you really sure ? It would be wonderful if that were true.

[AmberIsis]

Well Well

 

What Can I Say.

 

Ok We Need A Plan I Fully Agreed With Mr Tom Can You Possible Belief These People

 

Do You Have Everthing In Writhing To Date

If Not We Must Start Now

 

Why Do You Think It Is A Serure Loan We Will Need To Find Out

 

What Is The State Of The Account How Much Do You Owe

 

Any Charges Ppi Or Anything You Do Not Quite Understand

 

Please Gather All Your Bits Together

 

Noa Any Default Notice Anything That You May Have

 

Any Question We Will Answer

 

Welcome Your Are Among Friends

 

Thank you - here are the details:-

 

Hello again,

 

The first letter I had from 1st Credit was in June 2006. This was to notify that they had taken over my loan from Lloyds TSB, the balance of which was £10,888.24p. They said that if I wanted any proof of this it would cost me £5.00p Administration fee. (This was originally a secured loan)

 

I contacted them, by telephone, and offered them £50.00p per month which was an affordable amount. They refused point blank, saying that they could not accept anything lower than £150.00p per month because the balance was so substantial. I explained that I was retired and living on a pension - but their response was less than sympathetic. They had, apparently checked with the Land Registry, and found that I now owned my house - so their suggestion was that I should either remortgage or sell up, otherwise they would put a ‘charge’ on the property. I agreed to set up a Direct Debit for £150.00p per month, although I knew this was likely to cause me further financial problems. I was too scared to do otherwise.

 

In September 2008, they contacted me again, by letter, asking me to increase my instalments. The balance was down £8,903.24p, but, although I have never missed a payment, they said that it was not reducing quickly enough, and wanted permission to increase the Direct Debit. I refused because I honestly could not afford this.

 

In January 2009 I received another letter - thanking me for my regular payments - and asking me to telephone them to review ‘my case’. I tried emailing to the address on their letterhead- but it was returned by Mailer Daemon as invalid. The last paragraph of the letter said,

 

“If we do not receive a reply to this letter we will assume that you are unwilling to undertake the agreed review and will be forced to consider our options. This may involve legal action, and ultimately result in a charging order against your property.”

 

This really did scare me - so I telephoned them. They wanted to increase the monthly payments - but I explained that I could not commit to any increase until after I had received this years Council Tax Demand, as I knew this was to be increased. They agreed to leave things in situ until after April 1st.

 

Now I have had two voicemail messages saying that I have to call them and agree to increase my payments to £250.00p per month or they will take further action.

 

I am not denying the debt, and I am doing my level best to clear it, but I honestly cannot afford to increase my payments. Balance now stands at £8,303.24p.

 

Sorry this has been such a long post

Edited April 8, 2009 by AmberIsis

[clemma]

Are you really sure ? It would be wonderful if that were true.

 

YES!! Only a court can tell you what you HAVE to pay. DCA's are full of threats about what they MAY do or COULD do. Reduce your payments and if they don't like it, then they would have to get a CCJ against you......BUT a judge would only order you to pay what YOU can afford. The chances of them getting a CCJ whilst you are making payments is slim to none!

 

From now on, put everything in writing to them. Do not sign any letters (print only) and send them all recorded delivery. Send them a letter stating that due to the financial downturn and the current economic climate, you can now only realistically afford to pay £xxx (whatever you are comfortable with). Demand they put everything in writing to you as well!

[clemma]

Posted the same time as you, so missed your previous post. As you are living on a pension, they are asking for WAY to much a month. If I was you I would cancel the direct debit and set up a standing order instead. That way only YOU are in control of the amount coming out of your account.

[PGH7447]

Send these cretins a cca request first lets start the fight back.

 

also cancel the DD and if they provide a valid agreement set up a standing order for what you can aford not what they demand

[PGH7447]

was this loan covered by PPI?

 

are there any chargese applied that yopu can claim back?

 

When was the last time you had a statement from 1st Crud?

[lilly white]

I DONT KNOW BUT WHY WOULD TSB SELL A SERURED LOAN

 

WHERE YOU GIVEN NOTICE BY TSB IE NOTICE OF ASSIGNEMENT

 

Any absolute assignment by writing under the hand of the assignor (not purporting to be by way of charge only) of any debt or other legal thing in action, of which express notice in writing has been given to the debtor, trustee or other person from whom the assignor would have been entitled to claim such debt or thing in action, is effectual in law (subject to equities having priority over the right of the assignee) to pass and transfer from the date of such notice-

 

LILLY

[Seminole]

Was this a secured or unsecured loan? If you are not sure, one way to check would be to get a copy of the land registry record from www.landregistry.gov.uk (it costs a couple of quid) and check to see if Lloyds or anyone else has a mortgage on your property. Given that they are threatening a charging order, I suspect the the loan was unsecured.

 

How you proceed depends on whether you agree that the debt is valid and if you want to pay it. If it is valid and you want to pay it, the matter then comes down to how much you can afford and how it should be paid. You should not prioritise non-essential debts (of which a bank loan is one) over things like income tex, council tax etc and you should only pay what you can reasonably afford after paying essential debts and your normal costs of living. That is all a court would ask you to pay.

 

If you are struggling with paying £150 you should reduce it accordingly and tell the DCA why. You should also cancel the direct debit and only pay by standing order. DCAs have been known to abuse the direct debit system and standing orders are much safer.

 

If the original debt was unsecured, the only way they could get your house off you would be to 1) obtain a county court judgement whose terms you then breach. 2) obtain a charging order and 3) get a court to agree that the property should be sold. It may sound like a daunting process but it is actually designed to protect you as well.

[lilly white]

Always Welcome Back Senior People

 

As You Can See We All Need As Much Help As Poss.

[AmberIsis]

was this loan covered by PPI?

 

are there any chargese applied that yopu can claim back?

 

When was the last time you had a statement from 1st Crud?

 

 

I have never had a statement from them, so I am not even sure if they are charging me interest on this.

[AmberIsis]

Some of you have mentioned CCA's and PPI's - I have no idea what those are so, no, I have not sent any to Ist Credit.

 

I can't thank you all enough for your help and advice - they are making my life a misery with all their threats - I haven't dared to leave the house for days in case they send bailiffs to break in.

 

This is all my own fault, but i am trying to sort it out.

 

Thanks again.

[lilly white]

there you go

 

Rules on credit agreements

 

If you provide credit or hire facilities to consumers you must provide them with - and get them to sign - a written agreement setting out the terms of the agreement, their rights and duties. You must also provide the consumer with clear information on the terms of the agreement before they sign, so they know what they are signing up to and can compare with other deals.

 

Key points on credit agreements

 

You must comply with the Consumer Credit Act 1974, as amended in 2006, and all relevant regulations, including those on advertising, pre-contract information and agreements. The terms of the contract must also comply with the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999.

You must make clear the key financial information, including the amount of credit, the period of the credit, the total amount payable and the Annual Percentage Rate (APR). You must also provide information on the rate of interest, default and other charges, and examples of the amount payable if the debt is repaid early.

Consumers have a cooling-off period during which they may cancel an agreement if they have signed anywhere other than on your trade premises - including in their own home, over the telephone or online. The length of the cooling-off period depends on the type of transaction.

If the agreement is secured on land, the cooling-off right does not apply but the consumer must be provided with a copy of the agreement at least seven days before receiving the actual agreement to sign. They must then be given a further seven days to consider the agreement before signing.

You must provide the customer with a copy of the signed agreement and details of any cooling-off rights.

The customer can request a further copy at any time, together with a statement showing the current state of the account.

You must provide regular statements to customers on all credit agreements.

You must provide notices of sums in arrears, if the customer misses payments or falls behind by more than a certain amount. You must also issue a notice if you wish to impose a default sum (a sum payable by the customer if they breach the agreement, eg they miss an instalment) or to charge interest on this.

There are specific rules on the form and content of statements and notices. Download guidance on the requirements from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) website (PDF) - Opens in a new window.

You must, on request, give the customer information about the sum payable to settle an agreement early. The sum payable must be calculated in the way set down in the regulations.

There are separate rules relating to termination of a hire-purchase or conditional sale agreement.

Any enforcement, default or termination notice that you send must be in paper format, and must contain prescribed information.

If you have not complied fully with the rules, the agreement will be enforceable against the consumer only with a court order. Certain agreements entered into before 6 April 2007 may not be enforceable at all.

If the credit is to finance the purchase of goods or services, the consumer has the right of redress from you or the supplier or both in respect of misrepresentation or breach of contract. See our guide on customer protection.

You mustn't harass debtors or use 'undesirable' debt-collection methods, eg sending out documents that look like a court summons or other official documents. Download guidance for debt collectors from the OFT website (PDF) - Opens in a new window.

Consumers have the right to complain about lenders and other credit businesses to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). You can download a guide to the financial ombudsman's role from the FOS website (PDF) - Opens in a new window.

In certain cases, the consumer may be able to challenge the agreement in court, and obtain redress, on the grounds that the relationship as a whole is unfair to the borrower. Find guidance on the unfair relationship provisions on the OFT website - Opens in a new window.

Subjects covered in t

[lilly white]

please read last post

 

any questions just shout

 

ALL you need to know about the CONSUMER CREDIT AGREEMENTS there is lot more.

 

HOWEVER HAVE A GOOD READ

 

PLEASE PLEASE WALK OUT OF YOUR HOUSE HOLD YOUR HEAD UP HIGH

YOU ARE A CONSUMER WITH RIGHTS

 

NOW ENJOY THE REST OF THE EVENING

[lilly white]

PPI IS payment protection insurance (PPI)

 

 

 

How to tell if you've been mis-sold PPI

Rules of selling

In this section

How to tell if you’ve been mis-sold PPI

Quick check: were you mis-sold?

Rules of selling

PPI - rules before 2005

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REVIEWS

Credit cards

Life insurance

Personal loans

ADVICE

Cancelling your PPI policy

PPI: how to claim if you’ve been mis-sold

PPI alternatives

CAMPAIGNS

Payment protection insurance

How to tell if you’ve been mis-sold PPI

Rules of selling

 

FSA’s rules advise how firms and advisers should sell PPI

Since January 2005, the sale of payment protection insurance (PPI) policies has been regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

 

The FSA’s rules are very clear about what firms and advisers selling PPI should do at the time the insurance is sold to you.

 

Information you should have been given

If some or all of this information was not made clear to you either before or at the time you agreed to take out the insurance, then you have grounds to complain.

 

If PPI was optional on the product you bought, this must have been made clear.

The adviser should have made you aware of any significant policy exclusions and checked whether any of these exclusions applied to you.

The adviser should have made it clear how much the policy would cost and whether the PPI would be paid for by a single up front premium, or by regular premiums.

If it was a single premium policy, then the adviser should have made it clear that the cost of the insurance would be added to the loan or finance agreement, and that you would pay interest on the insurance premium.

If the insurance expired before your loan or finance agreement, the adviser should have made it clear that this was the case and (in the case of single premium policies) that you would continue to pay interest on the insurance premium after the insurance had expired.

Pressure sales

If an adviser tried to persuade you to take out PPI by saying something like ‘we strongly recommend that you consider taking out PPI’, the sale has moved from a ‘non-advised’ to an ‘advised’ sale.

 

If this happened to you and you did not receive a demands and needs statement (see below), then you have grounds for complaint.

 

There are certain additional requirements on firms and advisers that carry out ‘advised’ sales.

 

With an advised sale the adviser must assess whether you need PPI, considering your circumstances and any existing insurance you might have. The adviser must also assess whether the policy, including its costs, is right for you.

 

Meeting your needs

If the policy does not meet all your needs, perhaps because of one of the exclusions, the adviser must clearly tell you which of your needs the policy will not meet and must take this into account when considering whether to recommend the policy to you.

 

For advised sales

With advised sales, the adviser must issue a demands and needs statement to show why a particular policy has been recommended and why it is suitable for you.

 

Firms or advisers giving advised sales must keep records showing that a suitable recommendation was made, and recording any demands and needs that might not have been met.

 

Don't give in

The company may try to wriggle out of upholding your complaint by saying that all this information was provided to you in writing after the sale. If it does do this, then don't be put off – if they broke the rules, they broke the rules – which means you can complain.

 

The rules are very clear that you must be given a certain amount of information at the time you are buying the insurance so you can make an informed decision about whether the insurance is right for you or not.

 

If you weren't told about things like cost and policy exclusions until after you had bought the insurance then you couldn't take these things into account when make your decision.

 

For regular money updates, subscribe to the Which? money advice RSS feed here. If you have an older web browser you may need to copy and paste this link into your newsreader: Which? Money Advice. Find out more about RSS in the Which? guide to news feeds.

 

NOT MY DROP ZOON HOW EVER WE NEED TO KNOW IF CCA WAS COVER

 

I KNOW MORE TO READ

[F_DCAs]

Once 1st Credit slip up, and if they haven't already, they will, report them to the OFT Consumer Credit Licence Fitness section.

 

1st Credit are already skating on thin ice with the OFT as it is. Here's hoping that it breaks.

[AmberIsis]

'Thank you' scarcely seems adequate - but I really do appreciate your help and advice. I will act upon it and let you know the results. Bless you all!