PPI HELP - offsetting

[ClaireCardwell]

Hi I just wondered if anyone can help please.

 

I made a claim through the FSCS for PPI with Welcome Finance.

 

A compensation figure was awarded of £4600 pounds and was offset against two outstanding liabilities which I have with them.

The claims had related to the accounts witht the balances outstanding.

 

I then made a further claim direct with Welcome for two accounts which I had prior to the two accounts mentioned above from 2002/2003

which had been paid up to date and settled in time without late payment etc.

 

I have heard from them today that a compensation figure of £3589.85 is due to me on these accounts

but that they will offset it against the two accounts above which still have balances outstanding.

My question is can they do this?

 

I did not dispute the first compensation being offset as it related to those particular accounts and that was the FSCS rules.

 

However the balances are in dispute anyway with the FOS as despite the accounts being defaulted in July 2007 when I was on maternity leave,

they have added 5 years interest and charges to the accounts increasing them by approximately £4,000!

They have not once chased me for payment or advise of any charges or asked me to make any payments.

 

I think that the sum of £3589 should come to me as these accounts were closed way before the other two accounts begun.

 

Welcome have stated I have to accept or reject their offer. Anyone any tips on what basis I could reject?

 

Thanks

[dx100uk]

your had an earlier thread where you mentioned:

 

Hi all

A little bit of history.

 

I had two accounts with WFS, a personal loan and hrie purchase car finance.

 

These two accounts have been defaulted since around 2007/2008 time.

 

I have managed to clear all my debts and have a pretty ok credit file now apart from these two entries.

 

Firstly they have not marked them as "defaulted" despite the fact they clearly are.

They show as "delinquent January 2010".

 

One shows a balance for £6095 (the loan) which they got a CCJ for September 2007 and there is a charging order against my property.

 

The other car finance shows a balance for £9670.

 

Two questions

 

1 - WFS have not contacted me about either of these accounts for about 3 years, I get an annual statement showing the balance, that's it.

No chaser letters, no anything. IS there anyway the balances become unpayable after a certain time of not being chased.

 

2 - I want my credit report updating to show they were defaulted all that time ago, as obviously come the 6 years they will be removed in any event

(apart from the CCJ which I think isnt removed until 6 years after it's settled).

 

I did ask the CRA to do this for the one which has the CCJ as it is obvious it has defaulted, but they will not amend.

 

They wrote to Welcome but got no response.

 

Lastly I suspect that these accoutns had the PPI on them which was mis-sold.

 

Should I tackle this issue to bring the balances down? I dont want to open a can of worms with these, so am a bit wary.

 

I suppose what I really want is these entries off my Credit file asap.

I dont dispute that I owe them some of the money, but they are not chasing me for it, and I am not in a position to settle these in any event.

 

Anyone any suggestions how to tackle this?

 

thank you all x

 

 

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

 

 

i would get that CCJ/CO paid off and get the CO removed IMHO.

 

dx

[dx100uk]

if these are being dealt with by FSCS at welcome

 

sadly they can offset against any outstanding balance [its in the FSCS guidelines]

 

hope this is not the case though, but i suspect it is?

 

dx

 

 

dx

[ClaireCardwell]

This claim is direct with Welcome.

I have done the claim through FSCS and that has been completed and settled on the account which is still open (from 2006)

and the compensation was deducted from the outstanding balance.

 

The two accounts that I am dealing with direct with Welcome are from 2002/2003 and not governed I dont believe by the same rules as the FSCS.

 

I have checked the T&C's and also the Consumer Credit Act 1974 which the agreement was drawn up under

and nowhere in either is there any entitlement for Welcome to offset to any outstanding liabilities.

 

I work in a solicitors office so having spoke to someone who deals with this kind of matter they advised me to ask them to produce

a copy of the statute or contractual right for them to do this. I am currently awaiting their response.............I will keep everyone posted.

 

I did also note that in Welcome's offer letter it states "any ppi compensation will be offset against the outstanding balance on your original loan".

However, the loan which they want to offset against isnt the "original" loan it was the third and final loan I had with them.

 

The first two were paid up to date and on time without default or late payment.

The only reason I was in arrears with my last loan was because I had my son and went on maternity leave and lost 50% of my earnings so couldnt afford to pay it

.

I am therefore going to try and argue that I should be reimbursed the PPI on these accounts which is around £2,000 altogether.

 

Claire x

[Jamesx81x]

Claire if you owe Welcome Money they are quiet within their rights to put it towards reducing the balance you owe.

 

Regardless of which account it was they are not going to give you the money direct when you owe them.

 

If the refund is more than you owe then of course you would recieve the difference

 

Not trying to be harsh as we would all like to receive refunds but they are within their rights to do as they have said.

[ClaireCardwell]

I know its a long shot James, but its worth a try because the account which they want to offset the monies to is in dispute with the FOS and they are investigating the balance, its quite a complicated story.

I know we all believe they have the right to do this, but where from? If they can show me something which states they do have the right then I wouldnt argue with them at all, I'd accept the decision. However having had a Solicitor at work look into it for me, there is nothing obvious which seems to give them the right. They arent a bank nor are the FSCS involved in these claims.

They obviously mis-sold the PPI at the time I took out the loans which I paid in full and which I shouldnt have done.

 

Will see what happens. It may well be they turn down my request, and keep the same stance

 

Claire

[dx100uk]

Claire if you owe Welcome Money they are quiet within their rights to put it towards reducing the balance you owe.

 

Regardless of which account it was they are not going to give you the money direct when you owe them.

 

If the refund is more than you owe then of course you would recieve the difference

 

 

Not trying to be harsh as we would all like to receive refunds but they are within their rights to do as they have said.

 

actually no

 

they can only off set against notified arrears.

 

these should be coming through on Notice of arrears statements which

they are governed to send every 6mts i think

 

glad the fscs nor not involve too claire

 

stand you ground.

 

there have been several cases of this whereby the punter won.

 

dx

[dx100uk]

don't forget to look at PENALTY charges too

 

welcome charge for everything and its ALL reclaimable!!

 

dx

[Jamesx81x]

Right i didnt know it had to be notified

 

I know they have to send you notice of arrears under the CCA to be able to enforce a debt

 

One thing though and please dont think am trying to be funny here as im not

but if you genuinely owe a company money whats wrong with them using an award to reduce your balance?

Surely its a good thing that the amount you owe is reduced?

[ClaireCardwell]

Thats actually really useful to know DX thank you, as that is the whole reason why it has been referred to the FOS.

 

when I had my son April 2007 I contacted welcome for a payment break.

They agreed to this (in writing).

 

Since April 2007>date

they have not once contacted me regarding the account, to make repayment etc.

 

When I did my FCSC claim i then suddenly received a solicitors letter and the balance had gone up by over £2,000 from the last statement I had.

This was due to interest and late charges etc.

 

Now i appreciate once I came back to work I should have re-instated the payment, but I wasnt in a financial position to do so.

 

for 5 years they havent written, sent statements, or anything.

 

No default served.

 

I have therefore requested the interest and charges be reversed and this is why it is with the FOS.

I therefore do not believe that these are "notified arrears".

 

The argument I am sure will continue for the PPI as I dont believe it should be offset and I may well end up referring that to the FOS too if they do not agree to pay me.

I do not believe any offset should be made in any event while the account is in dispute.

 

Thanks DX I'll let you know how I get on x

[dx100uk]

Right i didnt know it had to be notified

 

I know they have to send you notice of arrears under the CCA to be able to enforce a debt

 

One thing though and please dont think am trying to be funny here as im not

but if you genuinely owe a company money whats wrong with them using an award to reduce your balance?

Surely its a good thing that the amount you owe is reduced?

 

because its YOUR money they have fleeced you of.

 

YOU decide where it goes

 

it is called unfair relationship or something

 

they cannot take priority over other debts you might have.

 

never forget, it's YOUR MONEY, they have no say on it.

 

the FSCS are diff and its part of the contract sadly that you enter into, that in terms of welcome debts, they can offset the whole lot.

 

dx

[ClaireCardwell]

James I agree, I would happily reduce a balance owed to them, however I dont believe the balance is as they state. I am not trying to get out of paying them what I might owe, I just want to make sure I only pay them what they should be paid. I think though they were happy to take my money for PPI when they shouldnt have, so why shouldnt I get that money back? I have already offered them a repayment plan to clear the balance once the FOS have finished their investigation. With any luck the balance will be reduced to what I believe it should be.

[dx100uk]

Thats actually really useful to know DX thank you, as that is the whole reason why it has been referred to the FOS.

 

when I had my son April 2007 I contacted welcome for a payment break.

They agreed to this (in writing).

 

Since April 2007>date

they have not once contacted me regarding the account, to make repayment etc.

 

When I did my FCSC claim i then suddenly received a solicitors letter and the balance had gone up by over £2,000 from the last statement I had.

This was due to interest and late charges etc.

 

Now i appreciate once I came back to work I should have re-instated the payment, but I wasnt in a financial position to do so.

 

for 5 years they havent written, sent statements, or anything.

 

No default served.

 

I have therefore requested the interest and charges be reversed and this is why it is with the FOS.

I therefore do not believe that these are "notified arrears".

 

The argument I am sure will continue for the PPI as I dont believe it should be offset and I may well end up referring that to the FOS too if they do not agree to pay me.

I do not believe any offset should be made in any event while the account is in dispute.

 

Thanks DX I'll let you know how I get on x

 

offset and dispute dont mix sadly

 

i'm going to move these posts to your thread claie

 

as there's a wee bit of a hi-jack i've created here.

 

dx

[dx100uk]

posts from other welcome threads moved here

 

please use this thread now

 

dx

[ClaireCardwell]

Just wanted to give a quick update as to my ongoing battle with WFS.

 

I wrote back to them rejecting their PPI offer to offset against an ouststanding balance I have with them.

 

I pointed out to them that they have no contractual agreement under the terms of the loan to do this.

 

They came back to my quoting they use the FSA regulations when offering PPI Compensation and pointed out condition DISP APP3.9

which states they can offset IF they have the Contractual Right to do so and IF the complainant accepts the firm's offer of redress.

 

I got a Solicitor to look into this for me and condtiion DISP APP3.7.2 of the FSA regulations states

the firm should put the complainant in the position he would have been if he had not bought any payment protection".

 

I have therefore gone back to WFS on the advice of a Solicitor once again quoting this and asking for payment.

 

I had an interesting conversation with someone at WFS after I sent my letter

who acknowledged they had no right to offset unless I signed the offer form,

which I have not done and will not do.

 

The CCA 1974 does not give them the right to do this, and they have acknolwedge in their letter they DO NOT have the same rights as say a Bank.

 

They have ensured me I will have a response by Friday this week.

 

I have been advised by a Solicitor to issue a County Court claim (I have stated this in my letter)

if they do not agree to repay me on the basis of the condition above regarding putting me back in the position I would have been.

 

WFS have acknowledge they mis-sold me the PPI.

 

Am still waiting the FOS decision on whether they will agree for the charges and interest on the o/s account to be reversed.

So the story continues...............Will keep everyone posted.

 

Claire