cityredgirl v Welcome Finance

[cityredgirl]

HI im new here and very very wound up by "Welcome". I recieved a phone call yesterday from a Welcome Account manager called "Steve" He rang to inform me that due to the original company "LMB'S" going into administration Welcome Finance are now removing the No interest clause in my account and will be charging 3% Interest Per Month which is = £36.12 . My monthly payment to Welcome is £50 Per month taken by Direct Debit and this has been in place for around 2 years . I currently owe £1,200 on my account after initially borrowing £2,000 in 2006. I have already paid back well over £2,900 . Basically "Steve" was an absolute **** bag and told me that Welcome want there money and that £50 per month isn't good enough he called me "Naive and Stupid" and that i have been more than Lucky that welcome have been so helpful with allowing me to pay "Only" £50 a month. I argued that £50 monthly was the agreed sum and has been for a long while and that i was promised that if i agreed to the direct debit that NO INTEREST will be put on the account again. When i recieved a Statement PPI Was around £900(I didnt want PPI) also some other "Lifecare insurance" and Capitilization charges off at least £2,000. "Steve told me that because the agreement to scrap the interest was NOT in writing and it was Verbal they can retract it whenever they like!!! I asked for "Steve's" surname but he refused and basically Mocked me..I have never been so disgusted in my life. He told me that this won't go away and that i will continue to recieve phonecalls and that i should of recieved a letter to inform me of these charges (I have recieved no letters from Welcome!).

I rang Welcome this morning and "Jason" informed me that i originally borrowed £2,000 and that my agreement was to pay back £142.32 per month for 48 Months = £6,831.36 . Due to personal circumstances( I had a breakdown and Overdose) I missed 7 monthly payments back in 2006 but since then i have dealt with my responsabilities and payed them back every month. So now where do i go from here, It was going to take me 24 months to pay back the £1,200. How the hell would i cope with paying only £13.88 of my account a month this would take me 10 years or Something.

THE facts are THEY agreed that IF i payed £50 monthly by direct debit i would be clear in over 24 months and that no interest would be added and now they are lying through thier teeth.Over the past year i have recieved several phoncalls offering me various incentives eg, "Can you pay back £890 today and we will close the account" "can you pay £900 and we will clear the account" and each time i have told them i haven't the funds to do this! They even asked me if i could put it on a credit card ffs! Where do i go from here Please Help.. Thank you

[cityredgirl]

I forgot to Add i went on the Welcome website last night and this is what it said :

I understand that there have been some changes to Welcome Finance, how does this affect my loan?

 

Welcome Finance is no longer lending to new customers. However, if you are already a Welcome Finance customer and have a loan with us then these changes will not affect you.

 

Surely as an existing customer i am not liable for any changes regarding adding intrest back on to my account?

They are absolute Rotters.....

[jackst01]

They are scumbags, but remember you cannot pay what you cannot afford, DO NOT be bullied by these idiots! Stick to your guns. I would send them a harrassment letter out.

[cityredgirl]

Im just pondering clearly if Cattles are going down the plug hole welcome wont be far behind ..Clearly they will be better off just taking the £50 per month from me whilst they can..?

[tedmaul72]

Have you reclaimed the PPI? If not, why not?

 

I would write to them (do not phone) and state that you see no point making monthly payments if they do not freeze interest. They can take you to court, if they wish, but you have no incentive to make payments if they continue to charge interest. A court would freeze interest anyway.

 

If you didn't have a written agreement that they would freeze interest for the lifetime of the loan then he's, technically, correct. However, you can knock the ball back to them by making any future payments conditional upon them freezing interest.

[jamesf104]

I suggest you post your agreement on here so we can all have a look. Hide all personal details of course. Chances are the agreement is faulty which will give you more ammo in dealing with this army of spivs and rachkateers

[mark1arby]

HI im new here and very very wound up by "Welcome". I recieved a phone call yesterday from a Welcome Account manager called "Steve" He rang to inform me that due to the original company "LMB'S" going into administration Welcome Finance are now removing the No interest clause in my account and will be charging 3% Interest Per Month which is = £36.12 . My monthly payment to Welcome is £50 Per month taken by Direct Debit and this has been in place for around 2 years . I currently owe £1,200 on my account after initially borrowing £2,000 in 2006. I have already paid back well over £2,900 . Basically "Steve" was an absolute **** bag and told me that Welcome want there money and that £50 per month isn't good enough he called me "Naive and Stupid" and that i have been more than Lucky that welcome have been so helpful with allowing me to pay "Only" £50 a month. I argued that £50 monthly was the agreed sum and has been for a long while and that i was promised that if i agreed to the direct debit that NO INTEREST will be put on the account again. When i recieved a Statement PPI Was around £900(I didnt want PPI) also some other "Lifecare insurance" and Capitilization charges off at least £2,000. "Steve told me that because the agreement to scrap the interest was NOT in writing and it was Verbal they can retract it whenever they like!!! I asked for "Steve's" surname but he refused and basically Mocked me..I have never been so disgusted in my life. He told me that this won't go away and that i will continue to recieve phonecalls and that i should of recieved a letter to inform me of these charges (I have recieved no letters from Welcome!).

I rang Welcome this morning and "Jason" informed me that i originally borrowed £2,000 and that my agreement was to pay back £142.32 per month for 48 Months = £6,831.36 . Due to personal circumstances( I had a breakdown and Overdose) I missed 7 monthly payments back in 2006 but since then i have dealt with my responsabilities and payed them back every month. So now where do i go from here, It was going to take me 24 months to pay back the £1,200. How the hell would i cope with paying only £13.88 of my account a month this would take me 10 years or Something.

THE facts are THEY agreed that IF i payed £50 monthly by direct debit i would be clear in over 24 months and that no interest would be added and now they are lying through thier teeth.Over the past year i have recieved several phoncalls offering me various incentives eg, "Can you pay back £890 today and we will close the account" "can you pay £900 and we will clear the account" and each time i have told them i haven't the funds to do this! They even asked me if i could put it on a credit card ffs! Where do i go from here Please Help.. Thank you

 

Well, Well, WELSCUM Never Stop!!!

 

AS I See it from your post Cityredgirl, there are One of Two things happening here. Either " Steve " T:xSSER and " Jase " Another T:xSSER are Fresh Outof he Box and trying to make an erly Impression Or, because of all the redundancies being handed out by the ****, they are looking for Promotion.

 

What a Pair of **** Monkeys they are!!! I bet their Mohers are Proud of Them.

 

First thing RedGirl is to send a letter to Stop the phonecalls.

 

http://www.consumerforums.com/resources/templates-library/52-harassment/135--harassment-by-telephone-response-letter-

 

Then we will see who pops along to administer the Technical Stuff.

 

You must Write a letter of Complaint about the Behaviour of Your Account Damager ( Steve) and the other *ANKER ( Jason) you spoke to asking for their Help. Put it in the Strongest Terms you are able.

 

Ask them to explain Why they feel that stopping the Help and Understanding they have given up to Now will Enhance Yours and Their Position.

 

Because Your Branch Has Closed ( SHAME ) Send Your Letterof Complaint To

 

Welcome Financial Services

Compliance

Mere Way,

Ruddington Fields Business Park

Ruddington

Nottingham NG11 6NZ

 

Don`t even let this spoil your Sunday Lunch. You will get ALL the Help Required Now.

 

Speak Soon.

 

Cheers, MARK

[Major Player]

Spot on Mark, shameless and outrageous, however from being on here for a short space unfortunately not a surprise!

 

The interest should have been frozen when agreed, in your complaint letter make sure that you mention your past difficult times and let them know that this was agreed. They want a lump sum off you to get as much money into their business as possible, the numpties who have contacted you have a simplistic job of call customer, get money, hit target, anything outside of that is beyond their capability of understanding!

 

If you mention "Treating Customers Fairly" and point out how they have failed to do this under their obligations to the FSA and have caused and are causing you undue stress again they should listen but I think I have learned from people on here such as Mark, Post, Ozzy and Beyond that in reality communications with Welcome are done as a means to an end. In other words you have to play the game by contacting them first before you can take them down via the FOS, OFT etc.

 

One thing that always seemed to ignite a spark of urgency in resolving complaints fairly was the line:

 

"I have discussed this matter with a friend of mine who works in the national press and they seem quite interested in running my story, however at this stage I wish to give you the opportunity to resolve matters before going down this avenue".

 

Stupid as it seems, Welcome are worried about "Reputational Risk" and a bad story in the press costs more than a payout, hit em where it hurts!

[essexboy]

hi

 

if the agreement for a freeze in the interest has been in place for two years, surley this is an agreement even if it is written or unwritten or they would have taken action sooner

 

as a regular payment has been maintained over a long period i would think a court would take a dim view of welcomes actions especially as they have made plenty out of this transactio

 

this is my opinion only i sure others will put me right if i am wrong

 

essexboy

[mark1arby]

Essexboy, I agree with you Entirely. If there has been no problem with payment for 2 years, What is Their Problem???

 

And Major Player your input as always is priceless in the War against The ****!!!

 

Reputation is Still a Big Part for them!!! WE are slowly, but Definately Destroying any Rep they presume they have. With a Hell of a Lot of Help from Them.

 

Great aren`t They?

[cityredgirl]

Hi guys Thanks for your replies and advice so far. I haven't got a scanner so i have found a statement from the ****. this is what it say's

 

Date of first Movement 15-feb-05

Period of Statement 15-feb-05 to 16-nov-09

Amount of credit provided £2808.76

Annual Interest Rate 36.00%

Minimum Duration of agreement 36 Months

 

15-feb-05 INITIAL DISBURSEMENT £2000.00= BALANCE

15-FEB-05 PPP-ALL CATEGORIES- MIGRATE £733.76

15-FEB-05 HOMECARE SEC/UNSEC MIGRATED £125.00

15-FEB-05 LIFECARE 24 MIGRATED £175.00

15-FEB-05 ACCEPTANCE FEE'S PRODUCT 881 £75.00

= £3108.76

 

ALL THE FIGURES BELOW ARE CAPITALISATION:

£140.46

£90.18

£88.31

£86.21

£20.00

£20.00

£84.91

£87.71

£5.00

£90.49

£5.00

£5.00

£25.00

£93.74

£96.72

£99.83

£102.83

£104.66

 

Also on my statement there is Conversion/Default Fee and Payment Reversal Fee £20.00 each time.

 

What i don't understand is when i spoke to "Jason" yesterday he informed me that my initial agreement was £142.32 per month for48 months and that was supposed to have ended in March 2008

BUT on the statement it says 36 months.

Now i didnt want PPP OR Homecare or Lifecare so what the hell are they doing on my statement. My current balance is £1,200

 

Do i have a case ? and where do i go from here.? I do not have my original loan agreement or any other paperwork apart from this one statement:eek:.

Thank you

[ozzywizard]

At work now but I will try to get these figures checked out for you when i get home tonight.

[cityredgirl]

@OZZYWIZARD Many thanks, Speak soon x

[ozzywizard]

Okies Citigirl, first true advise I have for you is to never speak to these on the phone again, no one has the right to call you Naive and Stupid and this is a disgrace he felt he could get away with this. Stick with us and we will guide you through everything and stick to letters either wrote by us or checked by us.

The agreement you had to pay 50 a month and it be cleared in 2 years im guessing all this was verbal right ? . this proves my point on communication being in writing. .

 

Ok the first letter you need to send is this, send recorded delivery.

 

Welcome financial services

Compliance Department

Ruddington fields business park

Ruddington

Nottingham

NG11 6NZ

 

Re: Harassment by telephone

 

 

ACCOUNT NUMBER: XXXXXXX

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

I am writing in relation to the quantity and frequency of telephone calls that I have received from your company, which I deem to be personally harassing.

 

I have verbally requested that these stop, but I am still receiving calls. (Delete if necessary)

 

I now require all further correspondence from your company to be made in writing only.

 

I am of the view that your continued harassment of me by telephone puts you in breach of Section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970, and the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.

 

If you continue to harass me by telephone, you will also be in breach of the Communications Act (2003) s.127 and I will report you to OFCOM, Trading Standards and The Office of Fair Trading, meaning that you will be liable to a substantial fine.

 

Be advised that any further telephone calls from your company will be recorded. (**Even if you don‘t yet have recording equipment!!**)

 

 

Yours faithfully,

 

 

...........................

Have you sent them a cca request for a copy of your agreement, to do the checks and figures properly we really need to see this, use library or a friend to scan it for you.

 

according to what you have posted you took a loan out for 2000 in february 2005 over 36 months at an APR rate of 36% which on its own would be a payment of £86.16 a month paying back £1,101.87 in interest.

However you have insurances to the value of 1033.76 which is a monthly payment of £44.53 and a total interest off £569.53.

 

So from this if we say total interest is 1671.40 then add loan of 2000 is 3671.40 then add insurance of 1033.76 is total of 4705.16 . then we have to also add your acceptance fee of 75 pound giving a grand total repayable of 4780.16 so if we divide this by 36 we get £132.78 a month. I do not know what your orriginal monthly figure is without seeing your agreement but I bet you its not the same as mine because they have added your acceptance fee into the loan and charged you interest on it which is a big no no. . .

 

You need to send them a CCA and get your agreements, theres seriously somthing wrong here. . . .

 

Your Address

 

Date

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Re:− Account/Reference Number 4563210025897412

 

This letter is a formal request pursuant to s.77 to s.79 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.. I require you to provide me with a true copy of the credit agreement relating to the above account, together with any other documentation the Act requires you to provide.

 

I expect you to comply fully and properly with this request, within the statutory time limit. You are reminded that should you fail to comply with my request, the provisions of s.77(6) will apply.

 

Your attention is drawn to ss.5(2), 3(b),6 and 7 of the Consumer Protection From Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPUTR).

 

I enclose a postal order in the sum of £1.00, which is the statutory fee. Note that these funds are not to be used for any other purpose.

 

If you are unable to comply fully and properly with this request, you should confirm this in writing at the earliest opportunity, and certainly within the statutory time limit for compliance, and return the fee.

 

We look forward to hearing from you.

 

Yours faithfully

 

 

print your name (not sign) and enclose a one pound postal order, send it to head office (RECORDED DELIVERY) at :

 

Welcome financial services

Compliance Department

Ruddington fields business park

Ruddington

Nottingham

NG11 6NZ

.....................................

 

 

There are too many conflictions from what you are advised on the phone to the true facts, all will be revealed in 14 days . . . .

[cityredgirl]

@Ozztwizard, Many thanks i will download the template letters at work this afternoon and send them recorded deilivery first thing tomorrow. You can imagine how confusing it is when these figures keep changing and the so called "advisers" are incompetent cretins. It feels like they are making it up as they go along. Thank you for your advise its much appreciated. My direct Debit is due out on the 15th should i continue with this, obviously i dont want to get myself into further battle with these scumbags xx

[ozzywizard]

I would not cancel your direct debit just yet, your CCA request if posted on Monday will be due back by the 11th March (this is enough time for the 15th) so if not received then you can cancel the DD as the account would be in dispute. If it is received then we can check it straight away and advise further.

[cityredgirl]

I have got the CCA Request and Harassment by telephone ready to send off tommorow i also have got the PPI reclaim letter ..Oh that should be fun when it pops through their mailbox. I bet they think there is some kind of underground movement ready to bring them down!!

Will let you know.How i get on...In the meantime IF they phone tomorrow do i speak to them?? x

[ozzywizard]

No defo do not speak to them, do not confirm your password or details over the phone. tell them complaint has gone to compliance and your not willing to dsiscuss if you feel backed in a corner but best way is to not engage in conco. good luck and remember recorded delivery.

[cityredgirl]

Just a quick update CCA has Gone with £10 Postal order also i have sent my £1 postal order with the other template AND Harasment by Telephone etc all Recorded Deliver..Lets see what happens Now

[emanevs]

you really need to upload the agreement and your statements.

 

Perhaps use a digital camera, take a photo and upload?

[cityredgirl]

you really need to upload the agreement and your statements.

 

Perhaps use a digital camera, take a photo and upload?

 

Hi i haven't got anything only 1 statement I havent got the original paperwork due to leaving my ex and having all my stuff thrown in the trash. So i will have to wait on the reply to the CCA as soon as i get it i will upload on here.

[emanevs]

you are better off making a subject access request with a £10 postal order as well.

 

here is the link:

 

http://www.consumerforums.com/resources/templates-library/48-bank-templates/110--data-protection-act-1998-subject-access-request-

[cityredgirl]

you are better off making a subject access request with a £10 postal order as well.

 

here is the link:

 

http://www.consumerforums.com/resources/templates-library/48-bank-templates/110--data-protection-act-1998-subject-access-request-

 

Hi emanevs I have sent the SAR and CCA £10 and £1.00 Postal both sent by recorded delivery, And the Harrasment by telephone Letter too. Hopefully i will hear back in writing before my next DD payment of £50 on the 15th March.

[emanevs]

wen did you send it? remember you should get it back within 40 days as per the letter.

[cityredgirl]

wen did you send it? remember you should get it back within 40 days as per the letter.

I sent them yesterday 22/2/10 , Just checked on the tracking and it is stillat the sorting office at the moment so will check again on Thursday, Hopefully the Scumbags won't try and buly me again!!