Chetwood Financial - Ombudsman (Advice)

[outerspace79]

Hi - Im looking for some advice - I have recently had a complaint rejected which went to the Ombudsman. I had 2 loans with Chetwood 1 for 11.5 taken out in 2019 and 1 for 12.9k taken out 2021 (These are with same company but one is Live Lend and 1 is Betterborrow) They have come back today with on offer on the Betterborrow loan only as below:

 

• Remove the interest paid to date.
• Refund the interest at 8%.
• Stop the interest going forwards.
•  

Would it be better for me to reject this offer and ask for both loans to be assessed as one as feel if i accept and ask ombudsman to rule on just the live lend that weakens my case as they cant take the whole situation into account? I asked the Ombudsman what they would normally advise company to do if loan is upheld and they advised:

 

• To add up the total amount of money you received as a result of having been given all the loan. The repayments you made should be deducted from this amount.

a) If this results in you having paid more than you received, any over-payments should be refunded along with 8% simple interest (calculated from the date the over-payments were made until the date of settlement).
b) If any capital balance remains outstanding, then Chetwood should attempt to arrange an affordable and suitable payment plan with you.

• To remove any negative information recorded on your credit file relating to the loan.

So to me it sounds like Betterborrow have offered pretty much that but im not sure if its a tactic they are doing so i accept and then it weakens the Livelend claim thus not having it all done together, on the other hand if i reject their offer and the ombusdman rules against then i would have nothing.

Any advice is appreciated on if accepting 1 impacts the other or should i just ask Ombusdman to assess the lot and they will likely rule the betterborrow on anyway on slightly better terms - The interest on both is around 10k each so its quite a big decision.

[dx100uk]

so you made an irresponsible lending complaint to the original lender(s) about both loans??

 

we cant guess the back story...

 

dx

 

[outerspace79]

Hi

 

Yes and it was rejected

 

however my question is more to do with the offer from Chetwood v what the Ombudsman would decide/rule as to what would be best which is what i have put in the post but

 

if you would like more information to help i'm happy to supply it but in short i want to know if the offer they have made is what i should take or reject and allow Ombudsman to rule but as i see it there isnt much difference.

 

They wont offer anything on the Livelend which the Ombudsman will rule on anyway so its a case do i reject and send both?

 

Thanks

[dx100uk]

if they have or are going to offer that on both loans, then you are correct, the FOS wont get you anything better typically/

 

dx

 

[outerspace79]

Hi - They are only offering it on the betterborrow one therefore do i accept the offer on betterborrow and the ombudsman will still decide the live lend as they wont offer anything on that one?

 

I just didnt know if there was any impact by accepting 1 and allowing the other for Ombudsman to rule or if i should get Ombudsman just to do both at same time?

 

They said if they do it then they would ask for

 

b) If any capital balance remains outstanding, then Chetwood should attempt to arrange an affordable and suitable payment plan with you.

• To remove any negative information recorded on your credit file relating to the loan.

look forward to response 

[dx100uk]

if you complained about both loans in the same complaint, they are conjoined and the whole complaint needs to be resolved not half.

 

if you individually complained, then each is a differing complaint and bar being the same lender as such, might not be ruled upon the same.

 

however i doubt it.

both will result the same.

 

dx

 

[outerspace79]

Ok - They are with the same company Chetwood so i guess it makes sense to take their offer for betterborrow so thats locked in and allow the live lend to be decided by Ombudsman as i could run the risk of the Ombudsman ruling against both - I dont think that would happen as they wouldnt have offered on the one they have but was worried if i accepted the offer on Betterborrow it would impact my overall complaint but in reality they will rule on them separately regardless i take it as different transactions and circumstances for each one.

 

I guess the risk isnt worth taking for betterborrow as the offer is on table to refund the interest and ensure no more is applied so basically makes it an interest free loan i would say

[dx100uk]

i really dont understand what you are worried about hence my questions

the FOS will not over rule a favourable decision which is inline with their guidelines anyway.

 

dx

 

[outerspace79]

The concern i have is that the betterborrow is an offer and if i reject then the ombudsman may decide that it wasnt irresponsible etc which then means i get nothing back.

 

I have 2 loans with Chetwood (live lend and betterborrow) and they are only offering the wiping of interest and giving it back on 1 of them (betterborrow) however the Ombudsman has advised if they ruled in my favour they would also have to update my credit file and agree an affordable repayment plan which they havent offered in their offer.

 

So in summary the live lend will be ruled by the FOS anyway as they wont offer anything but its the case of do i just accept the betterborrow offer now and wait for the Livelend decision or reject it and allow the FOS to review both

[dx100uk]

typically updating CRA files after a successful complaint means its wiped clean.

if there is already a defaulted date registered on or/each, then even if they don't remove them, it will still be removed on the defaulted dates 6th b'day regardless to paying or not or paid off or not. and nothing they put will further harm you. if they are already defaulted.

 

i hark back to what i've said, if you complained about both loans together in the same complaint,, then the whole complaint needs resolving 1st before you need to except a partial resolution and you simply inform parties of your that.

 

 

[outerspace79]

Yeah i complained about chetwood as a companyt even those the loans are with 2 of their different companies (ie betterborrow and livelend)

 

There are no defaults so thats fine.

 

The FOS have asked if i want to accept the offer for betterborrow and i can still continue with my live lend claim and they will assess that as the loans were taken out different dates 2019 live lend and 2021 betterborrow so do i just reject it and ask them to review both at the same time with the FOS

 

Sorry if im not getting my point across well but i just want to ensure whatever i do is the right thing as at the moment i have the betterborrow on the table as an interest free loan but still obvs have to pay capital back which i understand but if i reject their offer the FOS might rule against me and then means i have nothing or is it the fact they have made that offer the FOS will rule that one in the findings anyway so might as well get them to do both at same time?

[dx100uk]

you will not get a better offer on the settled loan through the FOS as the OC has abided by their published recommendations already. 

[outerspace79]

Thanks - I will accept that and continue with the other loan as they havent offered anything with that so hopefully FOS will rule on that one too