Help with FirstPlus

[kazm]

FirstPlus have just issued us with a repossession order.

We are in a bit of a mess, sorry if this is long but it's been going on for some time

We are in arrears with a secured loan with FirstPlus.

The problems all started when we tried to re-mortgage with a new bank in Dec last year. By re-mortgaging we would have been saving ourselves nearly £200 a month as we would have paid off a personal loan. FirstPlus blocked the re-mortgage as it didn't meet their lending criteria. Not sure what they meant by that as our outgoings would have been less. Anyway relations with them just got worse from there. In February we where 2 months in arrears.We tried to negotiate a repayment plan they went through all our income/expenditure and came up with this figure of £150 on top of what we where paying to pay the arrears off in 2/3 months. I am on a DMP with PayPlan so I'm not sure how they thought I was going to pay the extra amount. To top it all off, after a 20mins phone call from work they informed me that I couldn't do a repayment plan as the loan wasn't a year old. They could have told me that at the start !!

 

A few month later we thought that by cancelling the PPI on the loan we could reduce our payments and it would be more managable, maybe even being able to make extra payments to pay off the arrears.

They would cancel the PPI but the payments would remain the same as we where in arrears. I still got the PPI.

 

I wrote a letter complaining and as far as they where concerned they have been sympathetic towards our situation and the PPI wasn't missold to me. I had no idea I could have bought it elsewhere separetly for a fraction of the cost.

 

In May they transferred the debit, around £1600 to Red Castle Recoveries. I spoke to these and I thought I had agreed to pay £25 a month to them. I sent them our income and expenditure and asked if possible could we renegotiate the loan to include the arrears and cancel the PPI. At this time FirstPlus where still lending. I never got a reply from them, in fact I haven't had any correspondence from them since. They took one payment of £25 and no others.

 

Last week we got the papers from the court for the repossession hearing (19th November). I've looked at the papers and there are a few discrepances, only minor but I don't know if they will make any difference or not.

1) They state the loan/mortgage was agreed on 28th Feb. That is the date of their paperwork, we didn't sign the agreement until 1 March and then whenever they received it via the post.

2) They don't know either mine or my husbands employment status. They have phoned me at work in the past, they have my works telephone number. My husband works nights so they obviously won't be able to phone him but they had the details on the initial application.

3) They monthly payment to them is incorrect. I'm presuming this maybe a change in the APR that they haven't passed onto us.

4) They state 3 APR's. At the start of the loan, when the arrears first started and on default. All three are the same. Since the loan started the APR's has gone down twice but also increased but I am pretty sure that it wasn't the same throughout. We've got letters stating the increase/decreases from them.

 

We have got arrears with our 1st mortage (NatWest) but I have managed to capitalise them with the help of their collections department.

 

We would like to try and come to an arrangement with FirstPlus. Ideally cancel the PPI, and reduce the monthly payments, we have looked on their website at the APR is currently 8.6% we have been quoted 9.7% on the court papers but we sure we are paying higher than this. The rebate for cancelling the PPI as decreased from May to Oct by nearlly £600 and the settlement figure as gone up nearly £2000.

We know I can ask for the arrears to be added to the term of the loan with the Cheltenham & Gloucester v Norgen court case.

At the moment we feel that no matter what we put to them they just won't co-operate.

 

Could somebody offer some advice / help. We don't want to be repossessed. All this is on arrears of approx £3600 on a £41000 loan (£51000 if you include the PPI)

 

Thanks

Kaz

[Ell-enn]

Hi there, sorry to hear you are in this situation - but I'm sure we can give you some advice on how to proceed witht this. It is important that you complete the N11M defence form that you will have received witht the court papers and I can help you with the most important part of that form which is Q.27.

 

I am at work at the moment but will be able to help you when I get home this evening if you are able to wait till then.

 

Kind Regards

 

 

Ell-enn

[kazm]

Thanks Ell-enn

I'm just about to leave for home, so I'll check in tomorrow

 

Kaz

[Ell-enn]

Hi there - I just need some info so I can draft a statement for your defence form and also you need to send a letter to Firstplus asap with your offer of payment, which I will also draft for you - this will prove to the court you have tried to come to an arrangement. I have affixed a budget sheet which you need to complete to show how much you have left over each month to pay towards your arrears (after everything else has been accounted for).

 

What was the reason for the arrears? ( the judge will want to know)

 

How much can you afford to pay each month towards the arrears in addition to your normal monthly payment?

 

Do you have any written correspondence with FP either that you have sent to them with a payment proposal or that they have sent to you refusing your offer? (we can use this to attach to your defence to show they have not tried to help)

 

Kind Regards

 

Ell-enn

Budget Sheet.xls

[kazm]

I've contacted Firstplus this morning asking if they would consider the following

1) Cancel the PPI

2) Renegoitate the loan as £41000 over 25 years @ £324.37 per month (as on their website).

3) To capitalise the arrears quoting Cheltenham & Gloucester v C Norgan case.

 

I'll sort the budget sheet out later as I can't download at work. I'm on a DMP so there isn't anything spare each month, although if they accept this offer I will have a bit left as the DMP quotes the payment of £475 which I am supposed to be paying now.

Not sure about the reason for the arrears. As I said we tried to remortgage to save us money and since then we have got into the trap of bank charge. We get charged each month, because of this we are short each month so the situation continues.

I will have to sit down with my husband to see what we can overpay but I don't think it will be too much.

I have got correspondence about the cancelling of the PPI etc how they won't reduce payments etc.

Hope this helps. I'll have more info after the weekend when I can finally sit down with my husband and have a talk. I work days and he works nights so it's difficult.

Kaz

[kazm]

Hi Ell-enn

Sorry I've not got back to you but I've been doing a bit of investigation to get out defence sorted.

We've got the court forms and I've noticed a few minor discrepancies but I don't know how significant they are.

1) They state they don't know the employment situtation of either myself or my husband.

We both signed the application form and PPI stating that we where working. Didn't think PPI was application if you didn't work. They may not have my husbands work telephone number as he works nights but they definately have mine as they have actually telephoned me at work !!.

2) It states that we entered into the agreement on 28th Feb 2008. That was the date the papers where sent to us. We signed the agreement on 1st March.

 

As I said I have been doing a bit of investigation.

I've looked at the letter we got from them in May and they requested an Inc/Exp form to be completed and sent back to them. They never included one in their letter but I've got a recording of a conversation with them (they phone me so they have got my work details) and I went through all my inc/exp with them (29mins phone call) and was told it would be save on file for future ref.

I've also got the phone call with Red Castle stating that there was a possibility to add the arrears to the term of the loan but it would be decided by FirstPlus. I was told to forward them my Inc/Exp. I did this on 12th May requesting that I would like to re-negoiate the loan without PPI and to capitalise the arreas and would they please advise if this is possible. Again no response was received.

 

Kaz

[kazm]

I've just had an e-mail reply from Eversheds who are dealing with the repossession from FirstPlus

I asked if they could renegoiate the loan and capitalise the arrears

 

One answer - No

 

They won't renegoiate the terms of the loan of re-schedule the conditions of the loan

 

They cannot offer capitalisation because of the amount of arreas. Approx £4000. Loan was for £41000 with £10000 PPI.

 

Any suggestions as what to do ? Will the courts be more lenient ?

We are offering what we can afford, didn't see any point in offering over and above what we know we can afford as we'll be back to square one in no time.

 

Kaz

[Ell-enn]

Hi there, have you returned the defence forms to court yet?

[kazm]

No not yet.

I'm going to do them online at the weekend and my husband will drop them off at the court on Monday (don't trust this post service).

 

Kaz

[Ell-enn]

Isn't the hearing next Wednesday 19th???

[kazm]

Yes, there was nothing on the form to say it needed to go back !!, supposed I should have worked it out though

 

I don't know whether I'm coming or going at the moment. I work days my husband works nights so we hardly see each other.

 

Kaz

[Ell-enn]

Hi, the forms should have been returned 14 days before the hearing in order for the court staff to process them and the judge to read them before the hearing. However, that is not to say that they won't accept them from you. However, you will need to make sure that you have three copies of everything with you on the day in case they are needed.

 

We need to get to work on them as soon as possible. How much are you offering each month towards the arrears?

 

Ell-enn

[kazm]

I've e-mailed the courts to apologise for not sending the paperwork in.

 

Sorry about not replying earlier but I can't remember my password to post anything and I haven't got access to my e-mail address for any reminders. Luckily my PC at work stored the password so I'm online whilst at work

 

The problem is we cannot really afford any extra payments.

I'm on a DMP with PayPlan, maybe if I have a word with them and see if I can reduce the payment to them as put that towards the arrears.

 

I've advertised as a home based proofreader and typist to see if I can get extra income but up to yet if not had much, in fact nothing since March. I'm also going to have a clear out at home and sell a few things to try a raise a bit of extra cash.

I've just changed my job, same company different department so when the financial situation eases I should be in for a payrise. Would it help if I could get that confirmed by my employers ?

 

Kaz

[kazm]

Hi Ell-enn.

 

This may sound like a stupid question, but do both myself and husband need to complete separate defence forms. The loan is in joint names and so is all our inc/exp

 

Kaz

[Ell-enn]

Hi there, no just complete one set of forms - add your name in pen underneath your husband's on the first page of the defence form.

 

I'll try and draft a defence for Q.27 of the form, but you really need to offer even a small amount each month towards the arrears. Take a photocopy of the financial question pages from the N11M form and "practise" on them to see what you come up with. The amount left over each month after everything else has been accounted for is the amount you offer towards the arrears in addition to your monthly payment.

 

You should contact your DMP company and ask if there is room for negotiation as you need to pay your mortgage (priority debt!!). What debts are in the DMP? if they are not priority you should only be making token payments of £1 or 5 per month. Your mortgage and secured loan are the most important payments together with utilities.

 

Ell-enn

[kazm]

Thanks for the quick reply

 

I'll get on with the forms. I've done a few photocopies so I can have a "practice run".

I've contacted Payplan who run my DMP and they said they will work with me whenever I need them.

I've just contacted FirstPlus although they now answer as UK Secured Loans. I didn't say who I was but I blagged my why into a few questions about cancelling the PPI. Was told that I would be sent a letter detailing the new payments that I would need to sign and return. I asked what if I had arrears - answer they wouldn't reduce the payments until the arrears where clear but once they where they would take into account the overpayments and the payment would be less than the stated one. We were told that they couldn't/wouldn't tell us the new payments until the arrears had been paid off. If we had known what the new payments would be and any overpayments would be taken into account we could have stopped all this. When we first asked about cancelling the PPI we were only 2 months in arrears.

 

Kaz

[Ell-enn]

OK, as soon as you know what you are able to pay towards the arrears each month, let me know and I'll finish the statement for Q.27.

 

We can also do a summarised statement for you to take court on the day in case the judge hasn't been able to go through your forms beforehand.

[kazm]

I've asked PayPlan if I can make just token payments for a while

I'll let you know what they say

[kazma]

Hi Ell-een

 

I've had to re-register hence the slightly different user name - just couldn't remember the password to log on at home.

 

Payplan have said I can make token payments of £1 (so £4 it total) for 3 months. That will help as it will free up £146 pounds each month.

 

I'm no legal expert but we have just had the papers from the solicitors that they will be using in court.

They have produced a copy of the land registry report. It states that FirstPlus put a charge on the property on 28th Feb 2007. I didn't sign the agreement until 1st March and it would take a couple of days to get back to them. Surely if I hadn't entered into a legal agreement on 28th. What would have happened if I had changed my mind ?

 

Kaz

[Ell-enn]

Hi, I don't think the date of the charge is something that affects the possession case, they are bringing this action due to you being in arrears with payments you agreed to pay.

 

Once you have completed the budget form, let me know how much you are able to offer towards the arrears each month and I will finish the defence statement.

 

Kind Regards

 

Ell-enn

[kazma]

We could probably afford £100 per month, that's with PayPlan accepting token payments.

 

Kaz

[Ell-enn]

Hi there, so I can finalise the text for Q.27 can you answer the following please.

 

What was the reason for the arrears

 

Do you have copies of the letters/emails you sent to them asking for help and also the replies? We need those to attach to the defence.

 

Ell-enn

[kazma]

Hi Ell-Enn,

I'm not too sure why the arrears built up. It was a few situations that started everything off.

Bank charges started to get out of hand and we couldn't make monthly payments to our creditors. We managed to keep up to date with our first mortgage but by January I entered into a DMP for my unsecured loans.

We changed banks last November to get a fresh start and the bank (Abbey) suggested we remortgage to take on our exisiting mortgage plus a unsecured loan we had this would have saved us around £150-£200. We put in a Deep of Postponement with FirstPlus who rejected it saying we didn't match their lending criteria. It took them more than a month to tell us this. Nothing had changed since we took out the FirstPlis loan.When we took out the FirstPlus loan we already had this unsecured loan but we didn't pay it off with the FirstPlus loan, First Plus new this as all cheques where issued to the individual creditors rather that ourselves.

We tried to cancel PPI at the end of January but we where told that the payments would not be reduced as there where arrears on the account. They wouldn't even tell us what the new figure would been once the arrears had been cleared. I have since been told that their policy is to inform of the new figure, we agree to it but it's only in force once the arrears are clear. If we knew this in January we could have sorted something out as we where only 1 month in arrears at the time.

I've got copies of letters stating increased in APR and about the cancellation of PPI. I telephoned them about the arrears but I do have the taped telephone conversation as I work in the financial sector and we tape all calls.

I have also got a recording of a conversation I had with Red Castle who they passed the debt onto. They state that the arrears could maybe added to the loan and to provide my inc/exp and they would look into it. I did this asking for them to get back to me and nobody everdid.

 

Kaz

[Ell-enn]

Hi, I've almost finished your defence, just need to know if you have any children?

 

Ell

[kazma]

Hi Ell-enn

No, no children

 

Kaz