First National/GE Money

[bigcolin66]

Hi,

Just need information, I took out a loan with First National in July 2001 for £50,000 to be repaid over 144 months at £457 per month, to cut a long story short I missed a couple of payments in 2004, the company then took me to court by then they had been taken over by GE money,anyway I had a CCJ against me and have now since paid my missed payments but only to learn that I have just over 11 more years to pay this off, I am stresed out that instead of the original 144 months this company has increased the term to 305 months can any one help I8-) have tried talking to the compnay but no luck

[Bizzimum]

Do you happen to have a variable rate loan with a fixed monthly payment?

I'm looking into loans like this as I have one too. I don't know how many payments I have left. I recently reckoned I would have a shortfall of about £17500 at the end of the original term:eek:.

Did you use a broker?

[Mark Wilson]

is this a secured or unsecured loan?

 

I used to work for First Nat many yrs ago so I know about how their unsecured loan was supposed to work but many middlemen sold the product with perhaps less than perfect scruples.

 

If secured tho it is a different product and the doubling in term needs looking into for sure.

[bigcolin66]

It is a secured loan and the rate was 10% above the bank base rate, I am now dealing with the CAB centre with this issue and will keep you posted

[SunshineandRain]

Hello, also seeking information about First National/GE Money.

 

We took out a loan in 2002 for about £6200 with add-ons to about another £800, dutifully paid the monthly payment of approx £122 until we encountered difficulties and had to stop payments. We did not realise what kind of loan this was. When the payments had to be stopped over £8000 had been repaid. If the loan had been paid until it ended, (120 months), we would have repaid more than £14600.00! That is a massive amount of interest!

 

In 2008 my partner began an IVA agreement and this loan was included. Unfortunately the agreement was signed by both of us. Now, although my partner is paying 25% back to GE Money, they are harassing me for nearly £6000.00 and have passed on this originally very questionable loan to a company of even more questionable debt collectors.

 

I would be very interested to know if any other Forum members have had similar experiences with First National/GE Money. I intend to report them but don't know how to go about that.

 

Regards to all on Forum

[SunshineandRain]

My debt with First National/GE Money is unsecured. The debt collectors harassing me by telephone and in writing are Link Financial. I have sent a letter of complaint to Link and received a 'complaints form' from them today. I don't know how it will affect any official complaint I make if I fill in Link's complaints form .

[atom02]

Hi All,

 

I also have an unsecured loan with FN/GE Money and have recently received a letter from Link out of the blue. Please does anyone of the practiced CAGGERS have any experience with these companies?

 

I do not know where to begin...help!!!

 

Thanks in advance,

 

atom02

[Herron1234]

Friendly Bump!

[atom02]

S&R, have you made any further progress with link on this issue? am battling the same demons...

[SunshineandRain]

Hello atom02

 

GE Money sent me their version of an 'agreement'. From this document it appears that the loan was even worse than I first thought. The interest comes to much more than I wrote in my post. Also there were omissions from the 'agreement'. We were sold this loan under pressure and I think the nature of the loan was misrepresented. I think the way the loan is constructed may be seen as unclear. A friend has a similar type of loan with another loan company but taken out at about the same time. She paid and paid regularly for years, then when she rang up to check, they explained that she still owed more than she had originally borrowed. She had not understood the undertaking at all and was probably pretty desperate when she took it out. (I know sometimes there was no heating or lighting in her home at that time).

 

I am gathering all the paperwork together. (Not an easy task), in order to write to OFT etc with a letter of complaint. At the moment I don't know how to word or send a complaint but I will ask forum members for advice when I've got it all together.

 

Do you remember what the circumstances were when you took out the loan? How much selling pressure was going on? I would not have taken the loan had I understood how much I was going to have to pay back to complete it. I think there may be a great many people who did not understand the conditions of this type of loan.

 

Much good luck with your battle

 

S&R

[atom02]

Hi S&R,

 

Similar story to mine - the loan was sold with some pressure but I always intended to aggressively pay it back in order to avoid the ridiculous interest rates (which would have more than doubled the amount of cap originally borrowed) on it. Unfortunately, things got difficult and I simply couldn't continue.

 

My situation is somewhat unique from that point on and I have started a thread atom02 -v- GE Money (don't know how to link threads). Have a read and let's see whether we can help each other by sharing. It does seem though that the agreement would be enforceable to the extent that it has all the prescribed terms. What would be the basis of your complaint to authorities?

 

Regards,

atom