Savvy Loans

[davyatsea]

Hi there,

Just a query regarding Savvy.

 

I took out a loan with them in October 2019 for £750.

This would be repaid over 52 weeks at £28.27 per week.

 

I maintained payments on a regular basis until 20th March 2020 by which time I had paid a total of £565.40 (20 repayments of £28.27.

 

I notified Savvy by live chat that I had been furloughed on 23rd March and would struggle too make repayments.

i also emailed them on 27th March with confirmation of my furlough.

 

They asked for Income/expenditure - not unreasonable but the template they asked me to use was shocking to say the least.

I then sent them my own version drafted with help from National Debtline.

This is a self service budget that I can amend and save as necessary.

 

Long story short

 

I am now back in work and my wages are back to normal.

However, i am required to move house for personal reasons and the current landlord wanting the house back - well notified so there is no issue there.

I have also kept Savvy up to date, especially as my family have suffered mental health issues in the early part of this year.

 Again i have notified Savvy, filled in a new IE form.

 

This is the response I received.

 

Thank you for your email.

 

I have updated the income and expenditure form based on the information you have provided which shows you have a minus disposable income of £66.86, we allow £50.00 emergency cash which leaves a minus disposable income of minus £116.86.

 

Can you please confirm how you make up the deficit each month?

 

When the loan was issued in October 2019 an income and expenditure form was completed with you, can you please confirm the reason the following has increased.

 

Rent/ Mortgage has increased by £1,162.00

 

Housekeeping has increased by £580.00

 

Household Bills has increased by £507.40

 

Car/ Travel has increased by £123.80

 

Social has increased by £150.00.

 

Due to the changes to your financial circumstances we would need to see a 90 day copy of your bank statement.

 

Please find below a link to a system we use calls open banking, please click on the link and log in your online banking details this will automatically generate a 90 day bank statement.

 

LINK REMOVED.  

I have placed your account on hold until the 12^th August to allow time for the bank statement to be sent in.

 

They have now issued a default notice.

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated before I initiate a complaint against Savvy.

I have maintained reduced monthly payments in line with what I can afford.

 

Is it reasonable for Savvy to ask for access to my bank statements.

They did not ask for them when I took out their loan.

 

[fkofilee]

I will come back to this later today as there is something that Savvy seem to miss on this. 

I have plenty of experience dealing with these people as they are a terrible company. 

 

Watch this space.

[fkofilee]

**UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES USE THEIR OPENBANKING PORTAL**

** UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES DO YOU NEED TO SEND THEM A STATEMENT**

 

Can you please confirm that the calculations in their latest email are off because to me it doesnt seem right what they are saying to you.

[davyatsea]

To be fair, I had sent an old version of income/expenditure to them before, which made them think I was in deficit each month. I have now sent them my up to date figures. No doubt they will query them again and ask for open banking.

 

I did have suspicions about using the open bank thing, hence asking for advice. They didn’t need it when I took out the loan, so they certainly don’t need it now. Many thanks fkofilee for that good advice.

[fkofilee]

BTW Sit on this till the weekend. I need to check the rules on Coronavirus Payment Holidays vs Installment Loans.

I promise I will come back to you with something more concrete

 

[fkofilee]

So here we go.

 

https://www.fca.org.uk/consumers/coronavirus-information-personal-loans-credit-cards-overdrafts

 

Savvy had a responsibility to offer you a payment holiday rather than a reduction in payment terms. This would not have an impact on your credit file because the FCA set provisions for this due to COVID19. 

Furloughed due to COVID is a valid reason for a payment holiday. In this case I believe they have failed you and this is not taking into account my own experience of dealing with them. 

 

Do you have copies of the I&E thats you filled in on both occasions? If so can you post them up minus personal details. 

Note that this loan is **NOT** considered High Cost Short Term Credit because of the Loan Period of a year. (HCSTC for short) 

 

There is no requirement for Bank Statements to be sent to them and insistence on that being the case is bordering excessive. The only requirement is that you give them an honest I+E. Even then you have already done that.

My personal thought is that either you or they have butchered the I+E - I think its them because the staff trip people up on the phone constantly.

 

Unfortunately they are a company that does do Court Claims themselves. As long as you have been honest and theres no issues with the I&E - They wont succeed in court. 

So let me know how you want to draft your complaint - Paste a copy here and ill go through it with you before issuing it to them.

 

[davyatsea]

Income Expenditure Savvy 120820.xlsx

IE Form uploaded as requested. Many thanks for your help so far. I don't have the original one as I had just amended and resent to Savvy as this version. This was my email that I sent while attaching the latest IE version.

 

Hello,

 

In the rush to complete your income/expenditure form by the previous deadline, I did not update the income before sending it back to you. Therefore, please find attached the updated form completed with known figures to date. My payment offer remains the same as before.

 

Before explaining the queries as below, please review the payment offer as soon as possible as that is the amount I can afford.

 

I am disappointed to receive the default notice from you as I am trying to work with you to find a suitable payment arrangement - especially considering the recent mental health issues I have disclosed to you. I will be querying the morality of issuing such a default notice when personal issues have been raised, along with the knock on effect form COVID on my own personal and the greater UK economy.

 

Thank you,

 

This was the reply I received from them.

Dear Mr,

 

Thank you for your email.

 

I have updated the income figures onto your account and I have also updated your monthly creditor payments from £257.00 per month to £619.15 per month as per the financial statement you have sent to us.

 

This is now showing you have a disposable income of £23.40 and you wish to offer £23.85 per month.

 

We will be unable to review your offer of repayment until the changes in your circumstances have been confirmed and evidenced via the bank statement we have previously requested from yourself.

 

I’m sorry you are disappointed in receiving a default notice however, as you are unable to continue paying your contractual payments as per your signed credit agreement and are unable to address the arrears on your account now you have returned back to work, this is the reason this has been issued to you.

 

Kind regards

 

Draft letter to Savvy pasted below. I haven't finished this yet, or asked for an outcome, but that will follow. I'm night shift this week, so may work on it then...

Dear Sir/madam,

 

AC No.

 

I write with regard to the above numbered loan account that I have held with you since October last year. I took out a loan of £750 repayable at £28.27 per week over a period of 52 weeks. I maintained payments  until I was furloughed from my work as a result of COVID-19. By this time, I had already repaid a total of £565.20 (20 repayments of £28.27.

 

I notified Savvy by Live Chat that I had been furloughed and that I would struggle to make repayments. I also emailed them on 27th March to confirm my furlough as notified by my employer. They immediately asked for income/expenditure, which I did not find unreasonable at the time. However, the template they sent me was difficult to work with. I sought advice from National Debtline and compiled a comprehensive budget that I could use to send to all creditors. This would be a self service online budget that I could save and amend later depending on my up to date financial situation. A series of emails went back and forth as they chased me for elaboration of my financial situation – asking for payslips and asking if I could still make the contractual weekly payment. The reason I contacted them as that I could not. I had no clarity from my employer as to how long I would be on furlough for. In an email from my, I specifically requested email contact only as this would be easier. They had made repeated phone calls, which I could not always answer. Some of these calls were from unrecognised mobile numbers. During my email contact, I made Savvy aware that I was required to move in the summer, once the pandemic had reduced to a ‘safe’point.

 

Savvy did eventually agree to reduced payments of £17.05 per month for two months, which I was able to afford. Other creditors had offered payments holidays, which Savvy did not offer. The payment schedule was for two months after which they started collections action once again. Another two months were agreed ending July 2020, after which they once again resumed collections activity.

 

The phone calls, texts, emails have been excessive in my opinion. I have now returned to work, but have found the manner in which Savvy have treated me as a customer nothing short of bullying. They failed to take account fully, the COVID situation, continued to apply interest during my furlough period. They failed to take into account my well documented issues of family mental health, for my wife, and my children. They ignored the fact, that I am almost compelled into moving house. They have since wasted no time in issuing a default notice, which places my credit file at risk.

[davyatsea]

Hi there. What did you think of that draft as a starting point? I hadn’t had a chance to complete as I’m preparing to move house.

[fkofilee]

i will have a look when i get a while - I work FT so cant always pick up straight away

[Will Goodfellow]

On 14/08/2020 at 18:59, fkofilee said:

Savvy had a responsibility to offer you a payment holiday rather than a reduction in payment terms. This would not have an impact on your credit file because the FCA set provisions for this due to COVID19. 

Furloughed due to COVID is a valid reason for a payment holiday. In this case I believe they have failed you and this is not taking into account my own experience of dealing with them.

 

Creditors aren't obliged to offer a Covid-19 related payment holiday, the onus is on the debtor to ask or apply for one. Some creditors will suggest a payment holiday while others don't. Once the debtor has asked for a Covid related payment break, that is the point at which a creditor has an obligation to adhere to regulations.

[davyatsea]

Many thanks everyone.

 

I’m coming back to this as Savvy have now placed a default on my credit file.

I’m looking back through my email history and will be sending a complaint to them.