First step Finance - **BANNED DIRECTORS STOLE +£6M**

[diamondgirl]

They have nearly 30k and it is looking like they are about to have one for 9k+ written off due to defective agreement.

 

I do hope you get your problem with them sorted to your satisfaction, but do keep us all posted.

 

DG

[lord_tiger_putin]

They have nearly 30k and it is looking like they are about to have one for 9k+ written off due to defective agreement.

 

I do hope you get your problem with them sorted to your satisfaction, but do keep us all posted.

 

DG

9k seems a good amount, even with the significant amount FCF takes ..

 

I assume they realise the remainder of the accounts will all go into Default ...

 

I am putting the final touches on my letters, wait also for a reply about the agreement from a letter I send yeaterday

[craft-y-nan]

Thank you. I hope FSF are not able to 'eavesdrop' on our posts any longer!

Why should they not have the same right as us .... we can log a remark so why cant they see it to give their side?

[Poor-Credit Borrower]

Why should they not have the same right as us .... we can log a remark so why cant they see it to give their side?

 

I am not saying First Step Finance shouldn't have the same right as us, as long as they say who they are and not make out they are a consumer/borrower with debts, for example.

 

Actually, they are working quite well for me at the moment...

 

PCB

[lord_tiger_putin]

as long as they say who they are

 

PCB

 

Not like friend craft-y-nan above!

[Poor-Credit Borrower]

Not like friend craft-y-nan above!

 

Yes, I was wondering about that, as that post by craft-y-nan is his (or her) first and only post on CAG so far!

 

A few points. Lord_tiger_putin, you said in a post back in July that you have heard FSF have a new phone number 0161 443 0290, but although that number is eventually answered it goes to an automated recorded message without even identifying that they are FSF. The main company's phone number is still 0161 442 6344, which is on their headed letters. When I attempted to cancel in about April 2010, I got a call from their Client Support Team and, despite my being at first cynical, that team actually seems really helpful to me especially the young lady that usually answers the phone: their number is 0161 443 0287. They would happily speak to you about your problems, once you have passed "security" by providing a few of your details.

 

I don't actually know whether any of the staff have any formal legal training, or are solicitors, but as long as they have really researched the legal stuff and are dealing with debt situations every day, they should know their stuff I would have thought. I do agree that the charge of 25% for any debt written off seems rather steep, but it seems to be standard within the industry now (except for the 'free' DM companies)!

 

Regarding the contract, the fact that 8% of the client's total debt is payable to them straight away (either when sufficient contributions are made to FSF or if one tries to cancel) was written in my initial contract, although I missed that info on reading thru the first time. I can only say that they have, at least partially, worked for me so far: with 2 or 3 small debts (payday loans) written off, and they have managed to reduce the 'balance' on my Halifax Credit Card by about £400, by (presumably) writing off many of the overlimit and late payment charges - especially when they were £25, before the OFT stepped in and forced all CCs to levy a max of £12 as the charge.

 

With C®apital One, there has still been no properly signed agreement received after more than a year! Now the company are using a DCA, Allied International Credit, who appear to be no more successful in getting the "debt" from me.

 

Lord_tiger, you have now raised the matter with a solicitor, how is that going now?

 

PCB

[empress1]

I have been with FSF for 14months and just like most people when they approached me the way they sold their services tome was that best case scenrio i would be out of debt with 9mths and worse case 18mths. i have been paying £250.00 each month into theb "pot" i have not recieved regular updates and there has not been any payments made to my 4 creditors. I am now on maternity leave so my income has been reduced so ni had a review of my financial circumstances only to be told that i can now pay £425 each month. I requested for cancellation a nice lady explained all the blah blah best interest to stick with us but i explained within the 14mths i have been with FSF i could have settled with at least two creditors the larger ones as they were offering reduced discounts of 50% but i didn't have the money to pay a lump sum. i have sent my cancellation letter she advised that once the letter is recieved they will send a cost statement to me which will list how funds have been distributed(that will be intresting as they have only sent letters) this process can take 28 days depending on how quick my creditors respond so now i'm back to square one in the next two months i will be on staturory maternity pay Now my question is do i contact my creditors now or wait for the 28 days to see if FSF HAS MADE ANY PAYMENT OR CONTACT TO THEM. pLSE hELP

[lord_tiger_putin]

I have been with FSF for 14months and just like most people when they approached me the way they sold their services tome was that best case scenrio i would be out of debt with 9mths and worse case 18mths. i have been paying £250.00 each month into theb "pot" i have not recieved regular updates and there has not been any payments made to my 4 creditors. I am now on maternity leave so my income has been reduced so ni had a review of my financial circumstances only to be told that i can now pay £425 each month. I requested for cancellation a nice lady explained all the blah blah best interest to stick with us but i explained within the 14mths i have been with FSF i could have settled with at least two creditors the larger ones as they were offering reduced discounts of 50% but i didn't have the money to pay a lump sum. i have sent my cancellation letter she advised that once the letter is recieved they will send a cost statement to me which will list how funds have been distributed(that will be intresting as they have only sent letters) this process can take 28 days depending on how quick my creditors respond so now i'm back to square one in the next two months i will be on staturory maternity pay Now my question is do i contact my creditors now or wait for the 28 days to see if FSF HAS MADE ANY PAYMENT OR CONTACT TO THEM. pLSE hELP

 

It is unfortunate that you have canceled before posting here. YOU HAVE DONE THE RIGHT THING BY CANCELING!

 

Did you gave a reason in the cancellation letter why you are canceling? Hopefully you made it clear in the cancellation letter that the reason for the cancellation is their pathetic service and gross mis-selling!

 

The remaining amount in the "pot" must come back to you but they are using lies and deceit to try to convince someone that the money must go to the creditors, but that is simply untrue. They are acting as if the law do not apply to them! Unfortunately for them the law do apply to them! Although they are not allowed to do it, they probable still will because they seems to believe that you will not take them to court for it. You can get far better results for this money, the only reason they are making deals with your creditors AFTER cancelation is to line their own pockets, something that is completely unacceptable!

 

When you receive the cost statement, ensure that it is accurate! If they made pro rata payments to your creditors, the agreement states that they can take 15% of the payments, they are simply not able of doing such a simple calculation! If you have questions, post it up here and we can have a look to see if they are not trying to take more money they are allowed according to the agreement.

 

They will probable also not give any proof of any payments been made! I would advice you to write, when it is finalized, to your creditors, to ensure these payments has actually been made and that it is for the amounts they stated.

 

They DO NOT need 28 days to complete the cancellation, the only reason for stating that is so that they can make these unlawful arrangements with your creditors!

[empress1]

Thank you very much Lord Tiger Putin for your response. I advised FSF in my letter the reason why i'm cancelling is FSF have not done what they said they would and am better off dealing with my debts myself. I will definately take your advice and contact the creditors to ensure payments have actually been made and if nothing has been sent to my creditors i will be seeking legal advice and sending a very stern letter to FSF TELLING THEM OTHERS MAY GIVE UP BUT I WILL TAKE COURT ACTION IF NECESSARY NO MATTER HOW LONG IT TAKES.

[international54]

Just to keep you up to date ,( if you refer to page four you'll see my costing sheet.)

I got in touch with the Ombudsman and they have finally come to a decision unfortunately in FSF's favour.

Which was disappointing, although i lost £950 it could have been much much worse.

I feel if i took them to court it would be a different outcome but alas its all money which i can't afford.

I can't stress enough to read and read again the contract before signing and not to be taken in by the agent like i was.

For those still with FSF i would suggest they make a note of every phone call taken and made, date and time and all correspondence sent to query any costing sheets sent.

I have now been in touch with all my creditors and i am now paying an agreed amount and on one occasion i was offered a significant deduction which my husband paid off.

It has been a terrible trying time but i'm glad its all over.

And good riddance to FSF

Good Luck to all

[Poor-Credit Borrower]

Hi Empress1, and welcome to CAG.

 

Sorry I wasn't able to reply sooner. In the present circumstances you have done the right thing by cancelling your arrangement with FSF. You have paid £250 a month over 14 mths or £3500 altogether which is quite a substantial amount. They are only due to receive 8% of your total (alleged) debt and 15% of anything paid (which is nothing you say). So unless your total debt (and you don't need to say on here how much it is) is over about £43k, you are clearly due something back! You should have got monthly telephone updates: I'm not being critical at all but I was wondering why, after a few months of being with FSF and not hearing from them, you didn't ring them after about 3 or 4 months and ask them what was, in fact, going on with the creditors.

 

If an agreement is deemed "enforceable" with no defects in it, they should set up payment of £1.00 per month to each - the idea being that the creditor will get tired of receiving so little and then accept a lower payment. They (FSF) have said to me that some creditors seem to take ages and ages, in fact can be 12 months, to send a valid agreement, and I think they could be better at chasing the creditors.

 

With my own situation, I was also with FSF for 14mths and requested cancellation but then a nice lady, as you have put it, said that it would be a real shame as I'd already put so much into the "pot". So I kept on and am still with them about 4 mths further down the line. They had written off a couple of debts of mine and have paid a little to some creditors, if they hadn't then I would have done what you're doing and cancelling - and demanding some money back! Also I have a lot more creditors than you have so it would have been a lot more time-consuming to negotiate with all of them myself.

 

Also, I wonder why they've talked about increasing your payments to £425 once you're on maternity leave? I thought you should be paying less if you're getting less income, surely? There is a 'client support group; you can ring in FSF: 0161 443 2087, but it may be too late for that now.

Agree with Lord Tiger that 28 days for processing a cancellation shouldn't really be necessary.

 

Anyway, let us know how you get on.

Edited September 21, 2010 by Poor-Credit Borrower
adding another sentence

[lord_tiger_putin]

Just to keep you up to date ,( if you refer to page four you'll see my costing sheet.)

I got in touch with the Ombudsman and they have finally come to a decision unfortunately in FSF's favour.

Which was disappointing, although i lost £950 it could have been much much worse.

I feel if i took them to court it would be a different outcome but alas its all money which i can't afford.

I can't stress enough to read and read again the contract before signing and not to be taken in by the agent like i was.

For those still with FSF i would suggest they make a note of every phone call taken and made, date and time and all correspondence sent to query any costing sheets sent.

I have now been in touch with all my creditors and i am now paying an agreed amount and on one occasion i was offered a significant deduction which my husband paid off.

It has been a terrible trying time but i'm glad its all over.

And good riddance to FSF

Good Luck to all

 

It is unfortunate that the fos found in their favour but you if it will make you feel a bit better, it probable cost them dearly!! Apparently a complaint to the fos cost the company been complaint about £500 for the fos to investigate, regardless of the outcome. Therefore they would have been better off by dealing with your queries originally then to allow it to progress to a formal complaint to the fos!!

[lord_tiger_putin]

If an agreement is deemed "enforceable" with no defects in it, they should set up payment of £1.00 per month to each - the idea being that the creditor will get tired of receiving so little

 

... and will probable start legal action when the credit agreement is enforceable.

 

They had written off a couple of debts of mine

Can you be a bit more clear what it means? Did you asked them to clarify what they mean by a debt been "written off"? I am curious about it because a credit agreement been un-enforceable and a debt written off is completely separate things! Unless they get a letter from the creditor acknowledging that the agreement is un-enforceable (extremely doubtful!!) and that they have written it off (which seldom happens), then it is not written off!! An un-enforceable credit agreement doesn't mean that the debt no longer exists, it does! They will continue to try to collect on it and will eventually sell it to a DCA, if they fail then they sell it on again, and so the DCA merry-go-round and harassment continues for 6 years and even after that!

 

I would strongly encourage anyone been informed by them to get clarification how they going to prevent the continuous harassment and attempts to collect and whether it is really been written off or whether just been classified as a debt with an un-enforceable agreement, to get them to put a firm clarification in writing!

 

Remember; FCF pocket 25% on these debts, and to be harassed and chased for 6 years or longer after paying FCF 25% of the amount is something to seriously consider. You can very well end up paying the DCA's later down the line to actually getting rid of the debt!

[empress1]

Thank you Poor-Credit Borrower for the info and your reply. The reason why FSF was asking for an increase is due to my debt problem I got rid of my land line with BT, internet,sky,contract mobile telephone and i had two home learning courses that i was paying off at the time interest free so when they re- calculated the outgoings and incomings they said i am in a better position now than i was then to increase my payments to that amount. I was SO ANGRY told the represenative what a cheek FSF HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING AND YET HAVE THE audacity to increase my payments so that was another deciding factor to handle things myself.

 

My debts total £9196.00 I had called FSF several times due to them not keeping me regulary updated and as usual especially at the begining of the agreement they would say we are waiting for copies of signed agreement from your creditors and i would recieve calls from the creditors stating they have sent what FSF have asked for and they are not doing what they said and have not made any offer of payment and have not made any payments. FSF would tell me these are the kind of tacttics the creditors use to scare me into dealing with them directily and FSF have confirmed that they haven't made any payments to the creditors and will not until they know the debts are enforceable or not so the £1.00 payment is the first i've heard.

 

Now for the last 9mths each time i called the reps would say the same thing which is although we have recvd a signed agreement from Halifax our legal team is still looking over it. Welcome finance have sent a blank agreement signed by me , that one doesn;t make sense and Aqua and Vanquis credit cards have never sent anything to them so when i ask how long do you wait and how long i have to continue paying they just repeated the same blah blah about we will get the legal team to write to the creditors stating as no agreement hasn't been sent to us we see this as an unenforceable debt . My question is does it take 14months before their so called legal team sends such a letter. My debts from last year have been passed to debt collectors and each time i call and fax the letters to FSF who say we have updated our records and sent letters to the debt collectors.

 

Anyways i have recieved a letter from FSF re cancellation of my agreement stating they will contact my creditors blah blah and then they have the cheek to add "we would be happy to continue with our process of getting you debt free if you require any further information please call...email....and we will gladly reverse the process"

 

So do I CALL in 14 days FSF to find out if they have had a response and once i've spoken to FSF call my creditors to find out if thery have recieved any contact because as Lord Tiger says 28 days is not necessary to process cancellation as the creditors will be glad that they are going to get some sort of payment.

[lord_tiger_putin]

 

Anyways i have recieved a letter from FSF re cancellation of my agreement stating they will contact my creditors blah blah and then they have the cheek to add "we would be happy to continue with our process of getting you debt free if you require any further information please call...email....and we will gladly reverse the process"

 

So do I CALL in 14 days FSF to find out if they have had a response and once i've spoken to FSF call my creditors to find out if thery have recieved any contact because as Lord Tiger says 28 days is not necessary to process cancellation as the creditors will be glad that they are going to get some sort of payment.

 

Are they treating it as a complaint? Did you receive their complaint procedure? It seems that they are using it as a delaying tactic and that is probably where the 28 days came from.

 

As soon as you canceled they cannot go into any new negotiations with your creditors, but my impression is that they think if they first treat it as a complaint, then they will be making these final negotiations because they are still "representing" you!

 

Did they acknowledge that you CANCELED?

Edited September 22, 2010 by lord_tiger_putin

[empress1]

yes FSF did acknowledge i cancelled and confirm i their opening paragraph in their letter " we are now in reciept of your written cancellation request,our process of that request will now begin"

 

No complaints procedure enclosed

[Poor-Credit Borrower]

Empress1, if FSF have acknowledged your cancellation request you should receive some sort of refund, although I'm sure they'll be reluctant to actually give you back anything and say something like "it will be distributed to creditors". I think it's a good idea for SOME of what you've paid goes to creditors, so they'd be more amenable with you dealing with them directly if that is what you wish to do. As you only have 4 creditors, yes you could call your creditors within 14 days to ask if they have received anything.

 

The legal team should have sent a letter querying the agreement well before 14months, of course. One of my Halifax credit cards has an illegible agreement too. I have spoken to the legal team, yesterday, as they phoned me about one of my debts. They said to me the team contains lawyers, not solicitors, and I asked what the difference was, and they said that a solicitor needs a specific law qualification whereas a lawyer just has to have a good knowledge of the relevant law. The team is headed by a qualified solicitor, though. Altogether FSF has about 7000 clients, they say.

 

Hope this helps.

[Poor-Credit Borrower]

Can you be a bit more clear what it means? Did you asked them to clarify what they mean by a debt been "written off"? I am curious about it because a credit agreement been un-enforceable and a debt written off is completely separate things! Unless they get a letter from the creditor acknowledging that the agreement is un-enforceable (extremely doubtful!!) and that they have written it off (which seldom happens), then it is not written off!! An un-enforceable credit agreement doesn't mean that the debt no longer exists, it does! They will continue to try to collect on it and will eventually sell it to a DCA, if they fail then they sell it on again, and so the DCA merry-go-round and harassment continues for 6 years and even after that!

 

I would strongly encourage anyone been informed by them to get clarification how they going to prevent the continuous harassment and attempts to collect and whether it is really been written off or whether just been classified as a debt with an un-enforceable agreement, to get them to put a firm clarification in writing!

 

Remember; FCF pocket 25% on these debts, and to be harassed and chased for 6 years or longer after paying FCF 25% of the amount is something to seriously consider. You can very well end up paying the DCA's later down the line to actually getting rid of the debt!

 

In answer to your question, lord_tiger_putin, I have asked them to clarify about the debts being "written off" in my case. For two of them that are pay-day loans for a small amount, one of them Payday UK knew that they couldn't fins the "signed agreement", which was processed electronically, so they have actually told FSF in writing that they are not pursuing the debt. They have also written a letter to me saying they are not proposing to take any further action. A similar thing has happened with another one. However, another "payday" creditor although that debt is just over £200 are still arguing about the validity of the debt: FSF have told me it was un-enforceable, but the creditor have gone to a DCA who are still writing to me saying "all attempts to resolve this long overdue debt have failed, and a payment would be appreciated otherwise we could take legal action" (probably not the exact wording). So I would have to be careful about this one and it is not genuinely written off.

[Kitty.2010]

From reading through this thread it seems many ppl are in the same situation as me & even though it's not fair I'm glad I'm not on my own. We've been with fsf for quite a few yrs now & I still constantly receive phone calls from the companies. Fsf keep saying it's in hand but I dont see how it is. My debts are now more than they were originally due to charges & I dont know when they will start to get paid. The debts that have been written off & I have been charged for that are not actually written off, they are simply not able to chase me anymore. This is not what I was led to believe & am very angry how much money has gone to them over the yrs & nothing has been paid off my debts. Has anyone been successful cancelling with fsf & managed to sort out the mess they've made with your debt? I'm worried sick about all this, I was promised I'd be debt free by now & nothing has been paid off yet & I don't know when it will be.

[Poor-Credit Borrower]

Hello Kitty, and welcome as this appears to be your first post on CAG. So you have been with FSF quite a few years now, without much headway on your debts - how many years, 3, 4 or 5, for example? Presumably you've been paying a decent amount each month based on what you can afford.

Perhaps one could turn your question around on its head too, and ask if anyone on this forum has actually been successful in becoming debt free, over a number of years, i.e. with debts unenforceable to the extent that the creditors have agreed to take no further action on the alleged debt? I have been with them 18 months.

[cooper1963]

Hi i have been with FSF since may 09, i have been paying £225 a month to them and as yet no debts have been cleared. I took the decision today to cancel my standing order and now am wanting to know best way to go about trying to get my money back, and ask if anyone has been succesful in doing this?????

[international54]

You'll be very lucky to get anything back as I didn't although I went through the Financial Ombudsman Service and they found in their favour.(The county court in retrospect may have been a better option.) Did you read the article in the daily mirror the 6 th October 2010 about debt management companies and how unfairly treated we are. It also gave a phone number to contact them with your grievances.Just maybe you may get some recompense and let me know if you do.

 

Regards and i know how you feel and what you are going through.

[Poor-Credit Borrower]

Hi, any update on this Kitty and cooper1963? Have you cancelled and have you been successful in getting any money back?

Cheers, PCB

[sequenci]

Quick bump, I'm keen to hear about any dealings with this firm. Feel free to drop me a line!

 

Seq.

[Poor-Credit Borrower]

Hello Sequenci,

I hadn't read the said article in the Daily Mirror at the time, but I have now just read it after Googling for the article written on 06/10/2010. Yes, there are some cowboy debt management companies, and in general it is better (as you know) to go with the ones that don't charge a fee to the debtor, e.g. CCCS and Payplan.

However, First Step Finance was not mentioned by name, and as most people reading this thread should now know they do not merely manage a person's debts but they are a litigation company too and challenge their alleged debts to see if each has a valid agreement. Whilst 8% of the total declared debt, to be paid either upfront or 'owed' and paid my means of a debtor's affordable monthly payments, does seem quite high, it does go towards a 'pot' to be sent to creditors when FSF feel ready to attempt a 'full and final' settlement to them. I have had 2 debts 'written off' and FSF have managed to reduce a debt to a Halifax credit card and the creditor has actually accepted the greatly reduced debt as final settlement (although I'm awaiting a letter in writing).

One person mentioned calls to First Step being charged at £50 a time, but that is NOT true (in most cases) and they would only invoke that if an individual has been with them a very short time and they have not recouped anything like 8% of the debt. Finally, their 'client support group' seem very helpful to me.

I'm not going to go into any more detail at the moment on a public forum, but I might PM you (if you wish) when I get some more time.

Cheers, PCB.

Edited December 15, 2010 by Poor-Credit Borrower
Trivial amendment of a small word