Can she do anything in this situation?

[TINK660]

I want to give my friend the best advise I can in her situation.

In December 2005 her boyfriend's mum asked her if she would be a guarantor for goods that she wanted to buy from Currys store, telling her that it was just for her to vouch for who she said she was. My friend wasnt keen on the idea but felt pushed into it and said that so long as she didnt have to pay for anything then OK. At Currys her BF's mum ordered £1500 worth of goods and the salesman presented my friend with a form to sign and asked for her credit card details. Now wary my friend asked the salesman, "why do you want those and will I ever have to pay anything". Just for ID he said and no you will never have to pay anything. She was not given a copy of what she had signed. Now, she is getting up to 9 phone calls a day from HFC informing her that the loan was signed in her name and she has to pay as the payments are not being made.

She asked for a copy of the agreement and when it arrived it turns out that she has signed a loan agreement form but the direct debit details are for her BF's mums bank account. Also on the form it has proof of ID as "bank statement" but my friend never took a bank statement to the store. She has obviously been completely deceived by not only her BF's mum but by the salesman at Curry's too! and now it seems as though she is saddled with nearly £2500 worth of debt (including interest) and possibly a bad credit rating. Lets face it what does a 19 year old know about credit and all the jargon that goes with it!

She has also never had a statement from HFC in relation to this loan

Is there anything that she can do?

[file_wizzard]

Unfortunately if she has either signed directly for the loan, or as a grantor then her options are very limited.

 

If the goods were delivered to the other parties home address rather than taken away from the store she may be able to prove that she was not personaly in receipt of them, and this would help her case if she decide to recover any sums owed to her through formal litigation with the “B.F’s” mother.

 

In short unfortunately ignorance is no defence to the law, and if she is over 18 and has signed a credit agreement then she will be legally bound by it.

 

If she is still with her b.f and in contact with the family then I suggest she attempts to resolve the matter amicably, or alternatively look to more formal proceedings.

[Bobus-Man]

Sounds like you got shafted. As far as i'm aware there is no actual guarentor policy.

 

Whats most likely happened is your BF's mother failed the credit application and the salesman not wanting to lose his sale ran the check on your credit rating and put the loan in your name. Yet used the BF's mother's bank account details for the direct debit payments.

 

As a result any failed debit payments, due to lack of funds, changing of account or otherwise will directly affect yourself. With regards to the bank statement did he see your bank card as the reference he needs to process that is the card number.

 

In all honesty I feel your friend has been harshly and unfairly shafted by the company, yet the BF's Mum should have had a copy of the agreement and you can proably ask for a copy from HFC.

 

(Ignore if you think this isn't the case, as this is just guess as to what has happened)

[Lula]

If what happened is a Bubus Man says - surely that is fraud and if the BF's mother has the original and this proves to be the case, surely she is an accessory

[TINK660]

Thanks for all your comments, my friend was never given a copy of the credit agreement by Currys that she signed at the time, it was only after the 9 phone calls a day that she was getting that she asked for a copy and they sent her one. That when she realised that the loan was in her name. I have told her to ask them for statements so that she knows exactly what has been paid off this loan and when she gets these, I am going to go with her to the CAB so see if they can help. You are right both the BF's mother and the salesman have shafted a naieve (sorry if the spellings wrong) 19 year old.

[patdavies]

Is she 19 now, or at the time she signed?

 

If she was under 18 when she signed, they don't have a leg to stand on as she was a minor

[TINK660]

She was 19 at the time she signed.

[big blue one]

there is no gaurantor (sp?) option at currys with hfc agreements. basically this girl has gone through a full credit application, all the woman has done is sign where the direct debit instruction goes. basically, this member of staff should be chased after. the dtore will know who sold it, and so he is the one who i would chase! he knew exactly what he did.

[dx100uk]

you say these good were ordered? so they were not taken at time of the agreement? & latterly delivered?

 

there are two things here that go her way.

one a different delivery address & two a direct debit mandate, both should relate to the same person?

 

if this is the case then you need to got into the store, ask to see the manager on a personal & private matter. once these two pieces of info are confirmed by him, then things should start to get better.

 

a member of his staff has [for sales reasons?] done something very wrong.

they need to recrify this. a letter from him to hfc is the first thing he needs to do. the second is he needs to get this written off.

threaten to contact his head office if he does not play ball.

they will be very interested to hear this sad situation.

 

this is outrageous!

[TINK660]

Thank you so much for all your comments, I am definitely going to go to the store with her for moral support and try and sort this out with the manager. I am not sure whether the goods were collected or delivered - I suspect delivered as the agreement is for 3 large items (eg washing machine) and several smaller items. I will check with her about this. I really hope that we can sort this out for her as it is causing her so much grief and she hadnt even told her parents until the phone calls started. One things for sure - she will be a lot more credit savvy after this!

We all know what currys salesmen are like, but I think this one has pushed it too far this time.

[kabukiman]

Another way of seeing how this is possible, from Curry's point of view.

Girl takes out loan

Asks for the goods to be delivered to her inlaws address as this is her new address ( all statements and debt letters would have gone there ).

The payments will be paid by mother inlaw.

This is all plausible.

I'm just preping you to how curry's can argue this.