swift advances charges help!!!!please

[swansea osprey]

hi i hope someone can help i had taken out this secure loan in 2000 with swift advances

I received account statement for period 23 january2010 to 21 january 2011

 

amount of credit for loan £15.000.00

amout credit for ppp: £2.268.00

broker fee: £1.200.00

opening balance as at 22 jan 2010 £25.762.35

closing balance as at 21 jan 2011 £26.623.52

 

payments due £239.99

payment recieved £240.00

fees charged

interest £325.04 ect

 

 

i phoned swift today and asked why is my balance going up he said give him a few minutes he then told me i had charges on my account of £5000.00 thats why the interest is high so i need pay an extra £90.00 month i said why didnt anyone contact me to discuss it before he then said ill send you out statement of all the charges i know i been late in my payments because i was off work sick for while but dont know where the £5000.00 came from but if they contacted me before explaining the charges i could paid extra off the balance instead of it getting so high even if i pay the extra £90.00 its going to take ages to it off with that interest could i ask them to put the charges at the end of the loan im lost in what to do about it

 

thanks for any advice

[rebel11]

Hi Swansea

 

Welcome to CAG

 

The guys will advise as soon as they are available.

[glenismorganlewis]

Hi welcome to my world. I too have a swift con job. I have been paying off a 20k loan at 305.00 per month for 10 years, I asked for a settlement figure last year it was 48k. I have paid 24k still owe 20k. I still have 10 years to go and they say that they are going to add 10 years on at the end of the term for what reason I cannot understand. I have never been in arrears. I will be a pensioner at 76 and I think they just want to snaffle my home. I wish someone would blow up Arcadia house or at least hack thier systems and wipe us all off.

[Apollo18]

Hi GML,

 

It may help if you write to Swift and request an 'Actuarial Accrual Account Summary', which appears to be the nearest thing they produce that resembles a full statement account. Perhaps then you might be able see exactly what charges and interest Swift have added, and how they claim to have worked out the balance still outstanding.

 

Apollo18

[swansea osprey]

hi thanks for your replys :-)i just recieved Accrual Account Summary the charges were very high ,when i was late paying they sent out 2 letters sometimes more @ £23.00 each 1 for me 1 for my wife and phone calls sometime a few @ £12.00 and other charges its all added up over 10 years . i phoned swift and asked if i can put charges to the end of the loan but they said some companies will do that but its not there policy they said only way to reduce the interest is to pay extra £100.00 month this will be a credit on my account and will start to reduce the interest.i have not got morgage on my home thats paid off im sorry i ever had a loan from them i never missed payments just late i even changed the payment dates with them but this did not make any difference.i said why didnt any 1 contact explaining the charges they said they won't chase me for extra payments because im paying the contacted amount if i didnt notice this at the end of the loan i could lost my house if i could'nt afford pay the outstanding amount it makes me because i would not of minded being charged for phone call or letter explaining this. if i could reclaim all there rip off charges i be well of

Edited January 29, 2011 by swansea osprey

[swansea osprey]

Hi welcome to my world. I too have a swift con job. I have been paying off a 20k loan at 305.00 per month for 10 years, I asked for a settlement figure last year it was 48k. I have paid 24k still owe 20k. I still have 10 years to go and they say that they are going to add 10 years on at the end of the term for what reason I cannot understand. I have never been in arrears. I will be a pensioner at 76 and I think they just want to snaffle my home. I wish someone would blow up Arcadia house or at least hack thier systems and wipe us all off.

im with you on that i wish someone will blow swift up they are glorified,legalised money lenders.

[sweetjane]

Hi Swansea

This sadly is an all too familiar story with Swift. You should be heartened by the facts they are being Investigated by both the FSA & OFT. Make a "formal complaint" to Swift about the level of charges outlining exactly what you have written above. Make sure you write "formal complaint" in the heading - don't phone them, do this in writing. Send the letter special delivery. Copy the complaint to both the oft (David Blocksidge) and the FSA.

 

Also your PPI was probably mis-sold so send another formal complaint to your broker if they are still in business, if not go straight to the FSCS, ring them for forms. This will take time but is worth it in the end because you are probably entitled to get compensation. Read the Other Swift threads, you'll learn a lot. Swift's year end accounts state they have put millions aside for redress to customers. Good luck, SJ

[Wildbanker]

I have also got problems with Swift and would love to hear from anyone who has been successful in making a claim against them.

 

Has anyone actually received a repayment of undisclosed commissions?

 

Has anyone actually received a refund of Swift's arrears charges or fees?

 

What is the best line of attack????

[socleirigh]

I requested a settlement figure last year and Swift provided one with charges added to it. I had never missed or been late with a payment, so I couldn't understand why there were charges to my account. There were charges for late payments, bounced DDs, letters at £23 each, and even a £23 charge for reading a letter sent by my solicitor to them lodging a complaint.

 

Last month I made a complaint through their website and received a letter saying that I was right and that the charges with interest would be reimbursed. I haven't had a statement yet to show that this has been done yet, but hopefully my account has been rectified.

[42man]

Interesting to see you have PPP on the loan ? did the broker take a needs and requirements statement from you ? did they tell you that you had to take the PPI in order to get the loan ?

 

You might find this interesting too - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?284157-Swift-Advances.-Secured-Loan-Charges-reclaim-2/page9

 

And as for undisclosed commissions as I understand it from a solicitor that Swift have had claims against them to reclaim the undisclosed commissions - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?223150-Secret-undisclosed-commissions......

[42man]

Swift are currently being investigated by the FSA at the moment too (just in case you hadn't heard)

[42man]

This is particularly important to read - http://www.bridgingandcommercial.co.uk/newsstory?id=1111&type=newsfeature&title=important_county_court_decision_could_impact_on_lenders_and_brokers

[lesterlass]

This is particularly important to read - http://www.bridgingandcommercial.co.uk/newsstory?id=1111&type=newsfeature&title=important_county_court_decision_could_impact_on_lenders_and_brokers

 

 

HI 42 man

 

Fretful posted this last year and I posted an update from the OFT website. Here is the link.

 

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/consumer_credit/unfair-relationships/yates-lorenzelli-nemo.pdf

 

LL

[42man]

Thanks for that LL...was that a High Court Case ? or just a county court decision ?

[lesterlass]

Thanks for that LL...was that a High Court Case ? or just a county court decision ?

 

Hi42 man

 

Some of the press said High Court but if you click on the OFT link it states County Court Manchester.

 

LL:whoo:

[Killerschick]

I think it was a High Court judge (HHJ Platts) sitting in a County Court which is probably where the uncertainty stems from. But I believe it's a County Court level decision in terms of how binding it is but is likely to be more persausive than a standard County Court level decision due to the seniority of the judge. It was cited extensively in Harrison & Harrison v Black Horse:-

 

http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/QB/2010/3152.html

 

at paragraphs 58 to 63, Waksman reached a different decision but distinguished the case on the facts.

[mrsfoot]

Hi Swansea Osprey

 

Now you have the information re the charges you need to write to the (preliminary letter) requesting the charges back. The OFT prepared guidelines re charges being applied to credit cards and made it clear that they expected banks and mortgage co's to follow suit by redusing chaarges to no more than £12.00. If they have charged you more than £12.00 you are lawfully entitled to have them refunded.

 

Believe me, Swift wont just roll over so brace yourself for a long journey and possibly Court.

In your info from Swift did you get a transaction history? It shos dates and times for all activit on your account (phone calls / letters / accout management). From that info you can see hat letter was written when and how long it took the employee to prform the task. Use that info in your letter. For E.G.

Date Time Employee Activiy

12th Never 9:05 john Smith Letter ref 12345

12th Never 9:07 john smith phone call to borrower..no answer

 

From this info you can see it took 2 mins to complete the letter 12345. If they have charged you £20 for this letter then it means the hourly rate would be £600. This gives you good argument as and when it comes to court as Swift do not need to earn £600 per hour from one client as their over heads do not equate to that.

 

Keep the thread updated....im happy to help!

[pam56]

Hi

 

Is that what it is called "Transaction History" All I got was a list of payments, fees & arrears. This would be interesting for me as they started litigation after I had agreed a repayment plan and quite clearly states in rules that should not enter into litigation in order to secure a repayment plan on the FSA website.

[42man]

How recently did they do this Pam ? Did you report them to the FSA and OFT ?

[pam56]

Hi 42man

 

Last night lol I asked them to send me a list of transactions and copy of any solicitor's bills as I would be contesting them too. Last night whilst reading them I noticed a letter from "Swift Legal Group" (ha ha) telling me I owed 593.00 and to "pay in full" It was only when I read the next letter telling me that they had now taken legal action I noticed it was £60.00 less than original 593.00?? Puzzled I looked at dates and it turned out 1st letter dated 11 Sept & 2nd letter 27th. They had added litigation costs on after this date. seems I had paid my normal payment + an extra £60 which I continued to do so. So in the background unbeknown to me they were preparing to take me to court for those arrears even tho' had started on a repayment plan. Hope I've got 'em by the short & curlies here!! If this is so I want all my litigation charges back....now!

 

Pam

[42man]

So did they agreed to a repayment plan that you proposed ? .....if you have and have continued to make payments and they are taking you to court then you will win as there is something called 'promissiory estoppel'

[pam56]

Hi

Sorry I didn't make myself quite clear. They are not taking me to court now. This happened around 2008 and I only got docs last week. As I said I just noticed al of the above. My beef is that they slapped on a load of litigation charges which could have been avoided (ha do Swifts ever avoid charges on accounts!) and we had already agreed a repayment plan. Also they stated that they had no contact with me about arrears lol maybe weconducted discussions via a medium!

[adaeze01]

Hi again Pam56,

That is exactly what they did to me. They told me verbally that as we had agreed a payment plan due to a change in circumstances then there would be no legal action. However, the transactions later showed HUGE legal fees levied to my account. I have sent a £10 fee to request a tapescript of all phone conversations. This particular charge has been paid back but th overall problem which has never been fully redressed is the ongoing bullying and harrassment in this time period.

[pam56]

Hi adaeze

 

I hope when you sent them the £10 for taped conversations it was for everything else otherwise it will be a dear do at £10 a time. Anyway will give them something to do instead of hassling decent people!!Even if a charge has been paid back you can ask for it back like bank charges.I'm in a slightly less tricky situation as I have paid my loan but not the charges so I am going to negotiate a fair sum based on FSA quotes before I go down the legal route. Alsoif they have harrassed you that is illegal so report them to FSA or FOS etc. The more people who report them then hopefully they will lose their licence and not be able to continue their grubby buisness.

[adaeze01]

Thanks for that pam56. I have just complained to the Ombudsman but will also speak to the OFT and FSA this week. I'll let you know! Good luck with your charges.