(un) Welcome extortion

[Whatafinemess]

Hi everybody,

 

I'm new to the site so please forgive me if i've posted this in the wrong section.

 

Just like many others, i have an issue with Welcome Finance and i was hoping some of you might have some helpful advice for me??

 

In Jan 2004 my wife an i took a £3000 secured loan out with welcome, 7 months later we asked for an extra £1000 top up so the loan was re written and they gave us a further £1000. So we've only ever had £4000 in cash from Welcome finance.

 

In Feb 2008 we found we were struggling with the repayments and contacted Welcome to discuss it, they offered to re write the loan and drop the interest which at the time was the only option available so we went for it.

 

Now in 2010 having paid 1000's of pounds back we are still left with an outstanding balance of £20,000 with more interest being added each month than our monthly repayments.

 

I contacted Welcome to inform them that regardless of me maintaining my monthly contractual payment the account balance was increasing by £15 per month and that i wasn't happy paying £200 per month until the day i die, at which point i'd owe a few thousand pounds more than i do now, All for the sake of £4000. (which i repaid a couple of times over already)

 

Welcome rejected my complaint and are trying to move ahead with legal proceedings and i'm in the process of complaining to the financial ombudsman.

 

I'd be interested to know what your thoughts are on this or whether you've been in a similar situation and what outcome i can expect. I'm at a complete loss at the moment and as you can imagine its becoming very stressful.

 

Thanks

 

Stu.

[cerberusalert]

Moved to the Welcome Finance Forum.

[beyondhope]

Jeez £20k outstanding on a £4k loan they are such sharks!

 

Do you have a copy of your agreement? Do you have copies of statements which should be issued yearly?

 

I would be inclined to send them a subject access request (template at the top of the welcome forum) and find out what they have really been doing with your account

[Whatafinemess]

I've got copies of all three agreements and they send me statements monthly which show interest being added which is more than my contractual monthly payments, when i told them of my concerns their reply was "well you should pay extra each month then".

 

The last rewrite was for 186.46 per month for 300 months, that would mean we'd have paid £55,938 but even if i did pay each month for the next 25 years i'd still owe more than i do now. i don't understand how this can be legal!!

[beyondhope]

I would still be inclined to send sar as you will be amazed at whats contained in those computer notes etc

[Whatafinemess]

I will thanks, it would certainly be interesting, what would this achieve though?

[beyondhope]

That depends entirely on what they have been doing with your account. It isnt right that the loan will never be paid but by having an sar you can see what they are doing and you will have the proof of what they are doing and then decide what to do about it

[Whatafinemess]

Subject access request it is then, thanks for that.

[beyondhope]

no probs make sure u enclose the fee, dont sign and send it recorded the address is on the same sticky thread I believe if not just post back here and ill post it

[wannabedebtfreesoon]

In the 2006 CCA amendments the "extortionate credit bargain section" in the CCA 1974 was replaced with section 140 Unfair Relationships between Creditor and Debtor.

i.e. once you have your SAR back this may all end in a claim against them

[Sand-Dancer0191]

You could also post copies of the agreements (tipex personal details out)

 

Lets see if someone can spot the errors and give more specific advice while you are waiting for the SAR

[jed52]

I'll bet they refinanced what ever was left on the other loans when you took out the new loan......which means that you will pay more for the original loan when you have paid thousands off it already. Typical Welcome behaviour.

Stop paying them and make them take you to court. Then you will pay an amount you can afford and the court will be aware of their extortionate (allegedly) activities. My guess is that your credit rating is shot to pieces already (like mine) and that is why you went to Welcome in the first place. So going to court over this will be no big deal.

And stop phoning them. What ever they agree to on the phone will be denied anywhere else. That is why you should do everything in writing.

jed

[beyondhope]

I wouldnt recommend stopping payments unless thats what you want to do especially given its a secured loan, of course this is an option but i wouldnt recommend it until all information is in front of you and you know what you intend to do with it

[postggj]

I Must Agree

 

KEEP PAYING Them Untill Its In Official Dispute

[postggj]

as stated

 

you need to send an sar

 

a welcome trick in rolling over a loan is they take the total amount payable as a guide and do not do any interest rebate etc

 

i need to see all the agreements and a statement for each agreement

[postggj]

I AM POSTING THIS FOR FUTURE REFERENCE ON PEOPLE DOING AN Subject access request ON THESE JOKERS,

IS ASKS FOR SPECIFIC DOCUMENTS AND LEAVES THEM NO ROOM TO MOVE.

 

SEND TO

 

WELCOME FINANCIAL SERVICE

COMPLIANCE

RUDDINGTON FIELD BUSINESS PARK

RUDDINGTON

NOTTINGHAM

NG11 6NZ

 

REMEMBER THE £10 POSTAL ORDER AND SEND RECORDED DELIEVERY

 

GOOD HUNTING

 

 

[your address]

 

 

 

[their address]

 

 

[DATE]

 

 

 

Data Protection Act 1998

Subject Access Request

 

 

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

 

ACCOUNT NUMBER: xxxxxxxxx (or multiple numbers if more than one account)

 

 

Please supply me with copies of all the data which you hold on me in relation to any matter and in any form and for any period of time.

Please note that I require disclosure of any personal data which you hold on me for the entire period of my dealings with you.

The Subject Access is not limited to my transaction history and it is not linited merely to 6 years of historical information.

Additionally, where there has been any event in my account history over this period which has required manual intervention by any member of your staff, or any other person, I require disclosure of any indication or notes which have either caused or resulted in that manual intervention, or other evidence of that manual intervention in relation to my financial business with you.

I require all information on details of all insurance products supplied by welcome financial services. This is to include the statement of means, statement of price, details of all insurance premium tax paid, and underwriting sheets.

If mortage indemnity insurance has been added to the agreement, i require all details on who this premium was paid to, and who underwrites this insurance.

 

If you are unable to supply this data because there has been no such manual intervention, then please be so kind as to confirm this in your response.

 

I enclose the statutory maximum fee of £10. You have 40 days in which to comply. Furthermore, if I discover that you have levied disproportionate penalties or charges which are invalid under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations against me, then I shall be reclaiming them together with any interest charges which you have levied on them.

As it is your wrongdoing and mishandling of my account which has created the necessity for this Subject Access Request, I shall also be reclaiming the enclosed £10 Data Protection Act subject access request fee.

 

If there is specific information which you require in order to satisfy yourself as to my identity, please let me know by return. However, please note that the above address is the one which you normally use to communicate my private business to me and which you have hitherto found to be acceptable.

I would be happy to collect the Data from my local branch.

 

 

Yours faithfully,

[loopylil]

Hi Postggj, I sent this letter to Welcome and they still didnt put copies of the aggreements in.

[postggj]

going to your thread loopy

[EBOY]

Definitely doesn't sound right and there is no point in asking Welcome to explain how they think up the figures on statements! It's common knowledge that if the debt is passed to the Lewis Group they can eventually up to 65%.

[Whatafinemess]

I'm waiting for the bumf to arrive from the financial ombudsman although i must say the girl on the phone was extremely unhelpful and seemed to find the whole situation slightly funny judging by the tone of her voice, however...........

 

I've just realised something that i'd like you views on.......

 

The 3rd rewrite of my loan reads as follows.....

 

Total amount of credit - £17,703.94

 

Amount of credit for cash advance - £17,703.94 (No cash recieved) ??

 

Duration of agreement - 300 months

 

Amount of monthly payment - £186.46

 

APR - 12.7%

 

Total charge for credit - £38,234.71

 

Interest charge - £38,234.71

 

I've worked out that after 25 years of paying £186.46 per month i'd have paid £55,938, but Welcome will have added a minimum of £56,210 interest to the original credit amount of £17,703.94 meaning that after 25 years and £55,938 later i'll still owe them £17,975.94 which surely itself will be subject to interest???

 

Have they dropped a boll0ck on this or am i going to spend the rest of my living days paying off what is in effect a £4000 loan?? Even if i live to the age of 80 i'll have paid £123,063.60 and will still owe just over £18,000!!!!!

 

This is sending me round the bend!!!!!!!!

 

Would any judge in their right mind order in favour of Welcome finance on this??

 

Cheers,

 

Stu.

[EBOY]

It sounds like Welcome have done a number of things mainly not giving rebates on PPI or ending loan early. The sooner the account is put in dispute the better. Others will know the proper procedure for doing this. My loan with Welcome was unsecured so I didn't really care when I started disputing mine.