Secured loan - full and final settlement

[mikeyboy44]

Hi,

 

I hope you can offer me some advice and help on how to proceed...

 

In 2006 I took out a secured loan with Welcome Finance, Some time later I fell into financial difficulties and went down the route of reduced payments for quite a long time etc.

 

Welcome contacted me via a company called Empingham resolution and negotiation, Effectively chasing the debt. I replied offering a full and final settlement (reduced) and after much going back and forth, this has now been accepted.

 

Today I received the following email from Empingham:

 

Your Empingham Ref: xXX

Creditor: Welcome Financial Services Ltd

Welcome Finance Ref: xxxxxx

Amount Outstanding: £xxxxx

 

Agreed Settlement: £xxxx

Payment Due By: 30/04/2014

 

Further to our recent discussion, please accept this email as confirmation that we will accept £xxxxx00 as Full & Final Settlement on the above account on behalf of our client.

 

Payment is due as per the terms mentioned above. Although Welcome Finance will remain the beneficiary for the funds, payment must be made directly to Empingham Ltd.

This offer will not be presented by our client again, and non payment of the figure would result in the full amount being payable.

Payment may be made using any of the following options;

 

• By Credit/Debit Card by calling 08452 606 985.

• By CHAPS transfer to Empingham Ltd’s Client Account. Sort code ------- Acct No.-------- quoting your Empingham reference number.

• By sending a cheque made payable to Empingham Ltd quoting your Empingham reference number.

• Secure online payment

ALL PAYMENTS MUST BE MADE TO THIS OFFICE TO ENSURE SWIFT REMOVAL OF YOUR DEFAULT

 

 

My main concern is that they want payment to be sent to themselves rather than directly to a Welcome Finance. Is this safe? Do they need to have had the debt assigned to themselves for this to be legit?

 

also, no mention of removing the legal land registry charge has been made, I will of course asked for confirmation that this is the case.

 

 

what should I do? Get Welcome finance to confirm that Empingham is authorised to carry out the transaction and that charge and default will be removed?

 

 

help!

[oleg]

Would this debt not have been at or near statute bar if you had not acknowledged it?

Did you CCA Welcome? You should not be agreeing any payment until this is done.

In addition, they would almost certainly need to produce the original in court to obtain enforcement.

[mikeyboy44]

Would this debt not have been at or near statute bar if you had not acknowledged it?

Did you CCA Welcome? You should not be agreeing any payment until this is done.

In addition, they would almost certainly need to produce the original in court to obtain enforcement.

 

Hi, thanks for reply.

 

it's a secured loan, so cannot be statute barred. I.e. I need them to remove the charge on my house, it doesn't just go away after six years.

 

CCA was checked and copies of all docs have been received by me, no PPI insurance etc was taken and the interest rates etc are all correct. There isn't anything I can 'get them for' in this respect.

[AndyOrch]

Thread moved to the correct forum.

 

Regards

 

Andy

[Stigman]

Not only do you need confirmation that the charge on your property will be removed, you also need full written clarification that any monies that are owed through the f&f will be written off and not be transferred to another DCA or collected on in the future.

 

You could also ask for any negative markers on your Credit File to be removed as well (but the above two remains the priority).

 

Stigman

Edited April 8, 2014 by Stigman
i'm thick lol

[mikeyboy44]

Not only do you need confirmation that the charge on your property will be removed, you also need full written clarification that any monies that are owed through the f&f will be written off and not be transferred to another DCA or collected on in the future.

 

You could also ask for any negative markers on your Credit File to be removed as well (but the above two remains the priority).

 

Stigman

 

Hi Stigman,

 

Thanks for your reply.

 

What would you suggest about the issue of Empingham wanting me to make the payment to them, rather than welcome finance directly?

 

Thanks again

[Stigman]

What would you suggest about the issue of Empingham wanting me to make the payment to them, rather than welcome finance directly?

 

If they are collecting on behalf of then they should include wording to reflect this... i.e. Our Client accepts blah blah blah

 

Stigman

[mikeyboy44]

If they are collecting on behalf of then they should include wording to reflect this... i.e. Our Client accepts blah blah blah

 

Stigman

 

Hi Stigman , thanks again for your help.

 

So, if it were you, you would be happy to carry out the transaction as long as the collection agency wording reflects that the client has accepted? My fear is that if I pay the funds to Empingham, then Welcome contact me directly denying all knowledge of the payment being made in full and final. Probably me being paranoid, but this is an awful lot of money to me and I cannot afford for it to go wrong.

 

Thanks!

[renegadeimp]

Chances are theyre is an agreement in place, but the DCA wants to take a massive cut of the money for themselves, then pass whatever is left on to welcome. Hence the reason they are saying for you to pay the DCA and not the creditor. If welcome are willing to accept a F&F, why not just tell the DCA to sod off, and send the F&F offer direct to welcome?

[Stigman]

You need the wording that if the DCA want paying it has to say "That their Client Welcome finance" is willing to accept xx.xx as a F&F.

It also needs to state that the Property charge registered with the Land Registry needs to be removed and that any remaining balance will be written off and not sold on or collected in the future.

 

You need this IN WRITING, NEVER VERBAL!

 

None of the above, no payment as your just wasting your money that will be swallowed by a DCA, nothing passed on and the property charge balance remains the same.

 

Stigman

[mikeyboy44]

You need the wording that if the DCA want paying it has to say "That their Client Welcome finance" is willing to accept xx.xx as a F&F.

It also needs to state that the Property charge registered with the Land Registry needs to be removed and that any remaining balance will be written off and not sold on or collected in the future.

 

You need this IN WRITING, NEVER VERBAL!

 

None of the above, no payment as your just wasting your money that will be swallowed by a DCA, nothing passed on and the property charge balance remains the same.

 

Stigman

 

Thanks for that! I have gone back to Empingham requesting confirmation off everything in writing and also authorisation from welcome Finance for the payment to be made via Empingham.

 

Fingers crossed!

 

Thanks again

[Stigman]

Excellent, this covers you against any attempted collection activity in the future as well as making sure that the charging order is removed.

 

Please keep everyone updated via this thread

 

Best Wishes

 

Stigman

[renegadeimp]

I would also send a seperate letter to welcome asking for confirmation as well, just incase the DCA tries to pull a fast one.

[mikeyboy44]

Hello All,

 

update for you.... Letter received from Welcome Finance, wording is:

 

 

 

 

 

On Welcome Letter head.

 

 

"Dear XX

 

 

I write in reference to your correspondence dated 07/04/14 requesting information about the above account.

 

The agreed short settlement amount is xxxx

 

On receipt of cleared funds totalling the amount stated in this letter and within the specified time, we agree to remove our charge on the secured property. Please allow ten working days for funds clearance upon which discharge papers will be sent directly to HM land registry.

 

All defaults and markers will be cleared from your credit files.

 

The debt will be deemed permanently settled and no further collection activity will take place, either by Welcome Finance, it's subsidiaries or any debt collection agency.

 

If required, our bank details are:

 

 

Xxxxx

 

 

Xxxxx

 

 

Yours faithfully,

 

 

XX

 

 

On behalf of Welcome Financial Services Ltd."

 

 

do you agree with me, that the above letter is satisfactory and that I can now safely proceed?

 

kind regards,

[renegadeimp]

Thats the exact response you want Pay them immediately, as they say they need 10 days, and you have 13 left. Plus it's easter weekend too.

 

Make sure to note the time and date you made payment so you can prove you paid upon reciept of the email.

[mikeyboy44]

Thanks!

 

Next question... And it's a biggie...

 

Welcome finance have given me their own bank details for payment, Empingham has also given their bank details for payment. My gut feeling is to pay Welcome directly, as their letter confirms the full terms and conditions we have agreed. Does that sound a good plan?

 

Also, would bank transfer be ok? Some people on another forum have recommended payment via a third party cheque and to make it clear that by banking the cheque they are once again confirming the terms of the agreement.

 

A cheque would hold up the whole process at this stage, plus won't the letter already recieved be sufficient in court if they don't stick to their side of the bargain?

[Stigman]

If the letter came from Welcome asking you to pay them, then pay Welcome Finance directly.

 

Welcome will give you options of how to pay, Transfer/Cheque Etc. (Do not forget to write or include your Welcome Finance reference number).

 

Forget the DCA, once all done you should hear no more, if you do, kindly write to them saying you have settled with Welcome Finance directly and they will not be earning any commission from you.

 

Well Done, great result, please update when the charge has been removed etc.

 

Stigman

[renegadeimp]

Fully agree with stigman. Ignore the DCA, Pay welcome direct and ensure you get receipt of payment and confirmation of clearance. Once you have sent the money, tell welcome to call off the muppet squad. If the DCA contacts you again, then simply report them to the regulators and have some fun with them.

[mikeyboy44]

Hi Stigman,

 

Thanks for your kind words.

 

Empigham say I should pay them (in their letter notifying me that welcome accepted the proposal) I then write to welcome asking for confirmation of charge removal etc, and they write back with the response I posted today, along with their bank details.

 

Ultimately, Welcome are the company I owe the money to under the loan agreement, Empingham are just an agent.

I think it's safer to pay Welcome directly in this scenario?

[mikeyboy44]

Fully agree with stigman. Ignore the DCA, Pay welcome direct and ensure you get receipt of payment and confirmation of clearance. Once you have sent the money, tell welcome to call off the muppet squad. If the DCA contacts you again, then simply report them to the regulators and have some fun with them.

 

Thanks Regegadimp,

 

What's your opinion on cheque Vs bank transfer? I don't think I am going to have the time for cheque payment given the timescales. I presume so long as I document and keep copies of the bank transfer taking place, it will all ok?

[Stigman]

Pay Welcome Directly - Forget Empigham exists (but keep all letters for your reference), you have a letter direct from Welcome.

 

Stigman

[mikeyboy44]

Pay Welcome Directly - Forget Empigham exists (but keep all letters for your reference), you have a letter direct from Welcome.

 

Stigman

 

Hi Stigman.

 

Thanks as always for your replies and help.

 

Do you foresee any problems if I pay the funds by bank transfer rather than cheque payment?

[Stigman]

Do you foresee any problems if I pay the funds by bank transfer rather than cheque payment?

 

One of the payment options on the letter said that you can pay by Transfer then no problem, as long as you remember to include your Welcome Finance Reference Number so the payment can be fully traced.

 

Make sure you keep full banking logs including screenshots if you have the facility to do so.

 

Depending on your type of Bank (that's personal) read through the check boxes so you are not committing to any further payments and that this is a one off payment transfer.

 

Take your time, do not hurry it so all details are correct.

 

Then follow up with a letter via Recorded Delivery informing Welcome Finance that payment as been made in accordance with letter dated xx xx xxxx, you now await confirmation of the removal of both Land Registry Title and Negative Credit Reference Files Data.

 

Stigman

[renegadeimp]

Also, with a bank transfer, It's pretty much immediate, or within the same day. So if they try to say it hasnt 'cleared', you can just tell welcome, thats not your fault, it's their inefficient admin.

[mikeyboy44]

One of the payment options on the letter said that you can pay by Transfer then no problem, as long as you remember to include your Welcome Finance Reference Number so the payment can be fully traced.

 

Make sure you keep full banking logs including screenshots if you have the facility to do so.

 

Depending on your type of Bank (that's personal) read through the check boxes so you are not committing to any further payments and that this is a one off payment transfer.

 

Take your time, do not hurry it so all details are correct.

 

Then follow up with a letter via Recorded Delivery informing Welcome Finance that payment as been made in accordance with letter dated xx xx xxxx, you now await confirmation of the removal of both Land Registry Title and Negative Credit Reference Files Data.

 

Stigman

 

 

Hi Stigman,

 

Brilliant, thanks! I will get this all done later today and pop to the post office tomorrow morning and send confirmation letter by special delivery so that they receive it before lunchtime on Tuesday.

 

I will let you know how I get on!