Welcome Finance - This company needs to be banned.

[tigga_1961]

it just dawned on me last night when i couldnt sleep that my oh was working part time when loan was taken out and sold ppi that she would never be able to claim on..

[andie_303]

Well well just been given lip service from a director of Cattles PLC this morning via phone - just in case you like to read this too as we all know other Cattles/Welcome employees do - you've picked the wrong lady just to fob off - enjoy your investigation by HMRC as my civic duty to tell them of your 'shortcomings' is about to bite

[tigga_1961]

Well well just been given lip service from a director of Cattles PLC this morning via phone - just in case you like to read this too as we all know other Cattles/Welcome employees do - you've picked the wrong lady just to fob off - enjoy your investigation by HMRC as my civic duty to tell them of your 'shortcomings' is about to bite

 

omg they dont give up fobbing off do they, even at the top of the tree enjoy your moment andie x

[andie_303]

omg they dont give up fobbing off do they, even at the top of the tree enjoy your moment andie x

 

He is an absolute joke - "yes miss we really want to help and will look into the matter......"

"oh no we won't changed my mind...."

 

Ha ha ha ha ha

 

Picked the wrong person to mess with - Disclosure order here I come!

 

I would send it to you personally but something tells me you might not be employed very much longer!

[mojo8]

He is an absolute joke - "yes miss we really want to help and will look into the matter......"

"oh no we won't changed my mind...."

 

Ha ha ha ha ha

 

Picked the wrong person to mess with - Disclosure order here I come!

 

I would send it to you personally but something tells me you might not be employed very much longer!

 

here here.. well said andie. Its a shame we dont have a mock up of a p45 to show on thread, just so the welcome employees who are looking in on this know what to be looking for when it comes through there letterboxes. LOL

[blondbomb09]

Hi,

 

I have just received a 50% offer on my loan. The amount they want, plus the payments I have already made, come to £600 less than what I actually borrowed

 

Do you think this is because they know my agreement is cr*p, or is it because they are obivously desperate for cash?

 

Thanks

[andie_303]

Hi,

 

I have just received a 50% offer on my loan. The amount they want, plus the payments I have already made, come to £600 less than what I actually borrowed

 

Do you think this is because they know my agreement is cr*p, or is it because they are obivously desperate for cash?

 

Thanks

 

Bit of both I would imagine - Oi Welcome where's my phone call about an offer?

 

I tell you want heres a sensible one for you - you can pay me £7,000 and I'll call it a day

[082stewie]

Hi,

 

I have just received a 50% offer on my loan. The amount they want, plus the payments I have already made, come to £600 less than what I actually borrowed

 

Do you think this is because they know my agreement is cr*p, or is it because they are obivously desperate for cash?

 

Thanks

 

How long have you been paying the loan for? So they offer you 50% discount on the loan with interest?

 

If they did that they can whistle

[scarborosmoggy]

Hi,

 

I have just received a 50% offer on my loan. The amount they want, plus the payments I have already made, come to £600 less than what I actually borrowed

 

Do you think this is because they know my agreement is cr*p, or is it because they are obivously desperate for cash?

 

Thanks

 

 

Yes it's because they know the agreement is worthless, why else would they do it.

[mojo8]

just taken this off reuters, i think it was published yesterday.

SUBPRIME MORTGAGE BONDHOLDERS SET TO LOSE 650 MILLION

Bond holders in the subprime mortgage lender Cattles

will be lucky to receive "12 pence in the pound" once the

business is restructured, according to a source close to the

company. Cattles has total debts of around 2.4 billion pounds,

with 500 million pounds due to be refinanced in July. Royal Bank

of Scotland is believed to be owed 500 million pounds by

the lender and heads a 22-bank consortium which includes

Barclays and HSBC that have lent to Cattles. The

company has also been forced to delay publishing its 2008

financial results, pending a forensic review by the company's

auditor Deloitte into its struggling Welcome Financial Services

division.

 

 

[scarborosmoggy]

As I lost my job and was trying to agree with welcome to pay them what I can afford do you think an offer of "12 pence in the pound" will be fine with them, considering this is fine with them regards the debts they owe, neither them nor me can afford to pay back the money we owe so it should be fine I guess?

 

What do you think will happen with my debt if they just restructure, would it still be owed to the same people or a more nicer bunch with more understanding and morals?

[mojo8]

just browsing the web looking for scripts and comments by welcome employees, you never know there may be info that we have overlooked. Lot of reading but quite entertaining..

 

I worked for Welcome for 8 years and was recently given the chance to seek employment elsewhere. Under the terms of this I am not allowed to make deflamatory remarks about the company - however, I am well within my rights to tell the truth, under any court of law or Whistleblowing act. Therefore everything I am about to state is true.

 

Cattles (the holding company of Welcome) share price is currently trading at 10p. At it's highest over the years it reached nearly £5 and the Chief Executive recently stated that his ambition was to achieve a £10 per share price based upon the success of the FSA granting them a banking licence. Now the good bit, in light of the global ecomonic downturn, it looks like the FSA are highly unlikely to grant the licence. What does this mean? It means in simple terms that those investors who still have held faith look like watching the share price crash (as some analysts have projected) down to 1p.

 

The largest investor in Cattles recently dumped all their stock and Peter Miller, the Finance Director himself sold over 17,000 shares! What does this tell you? The writing is on the wall for Welcome.

 

A common trend within the business (who proudly state that they are one of few companies who achieve year on year double digit growth) is to pull out all the stops to achieve the figures it has projected to the city. Now, as it has also annouced that it is reduced certain types of loans and products how on earth is it going to find the money? It has already cut the dividend on the shares, it already employs exceptionally talented and creative accountants (Caveat: the reader interprets this statement as they see fit), it already bends the rules on how it collects money owed - what next? In times past this has only ever gone one way - cost cutting.

 

So, how and where? There is already a recruitment freeze on within a business where staff retention has always been an issue as by it's own admission it does not pay the highest wages. Redundancy is the next logical step as is downsizing. There has always been some branches which perform better than others and I suggest to anyone who reads this and works in a branch that fails to hit hit "blueprint" - you could well find yourself seeking alternative employment. It wont just stop at the branch though, middle management is always seen as prime targets (many of my managers suffered this fate over the years) - yes guys, don't think that Head Office will be immune to the cuts either.

 

 

On a slightly different note, under the FSA initiative "Treating Customers Fairly", Welcome has to tow the line. It must operate within policy. If any of you have geniunely been rolled over or treated like dirt you must complain! You have legal rights and also being in debt is NOT a crime. You do not deserve to be treated with anything less than respect (providing you offer the same courtesy) and those who fail to conform to this (with the current beady eye of the FSA gazing down on Welcome) with be swiftly corrected for the behaviour.

 

To conclude, I would like to say that during my time I met and worked with some amazing people at Welcome, and did see some genuinely grateful and happy customers. But, there are two sides to every coin...

 

Everything stated here is publically available on the internet. Go to Google and type in Cattles. You might be suprised what you learn...

The jobs is good but the stress and pressure you are put under to exceed blueprint targets is too much and encourages staff to ensure customers take ppi/warranty's, emergency home care insurance etc.

 

Thankfully I no longer work in this industry

(sub prime sales/debt collecting)

 

the company is a massive sausage machine that burns you out then doesn't give a toss what you do.

 

If your an employee and are enjoying it then you need to go help an underperforming branch and understand what real commitment is.

 

For those customer who were pressurised into taking insurance they didn't want you need to complain. You may have a poor credit score but you are still entitled to be given the choice!

 

GOOD LUCK

[scarborosmoggy]

Sub-prime mortgage lender's bondholders set to lose £650m

 

Investment bank hired to help recoup money held in Cattles' mountain of bad debts

 

Bondholders in Cattles, the embattled sub-prime lender, could end up losing more than £650m that they are owed by the business.

 

The West Yorkshire-based company has struggled following allegations of financial irregularities that have resulted in the suspensions of several executives, including finance director James Corr and chief operating officer Ian Cummine.

 

Bondholders are owed £750m in total, which is due to be repaid in 2014 and 2017. A source close to a leading bondholder said they would be lucky to get "12p in the pound" once the business has been restructured. Cattles' bonds are believed to be currently worth about 6p.

 

The source added: "Of course the real result would be to get all of the money back, but everything's relative. Getting 12p in the pound back would be doing pretty well." Close Brothers, the investment bank, has been hired by the bondholders to help them get as much money as possible.

 

On 17 March, Cattles told the London Stock Exchange that it had "held an initial, informal meeting with certain of its bondholders". Close Brothers has been hired since that meeting.

 

Cattles has a total debt pile of about £2.4bn, with £500m due to be refinanced in July. Chief executive David Postings is seeking to waive loan covenants, or tests, which he believes the company might have breached.

 

Royal Bank of Scotland, which heads a 22-bank consortium that lent to Cattles, is believed to be owed up to £500m. Other banks in the consortium are thought to include Barclays and HSBC.

 

Problems in the company's Welcome Financial Services have badly hurt the lender, and Mr Postings has now taken direct control of that division. Deloitte, the company's auditor, and Freshfields, its lawyer, are conducting a "forensic review" of Welcome Financial Services, as management believes there have been accounting failures. This has led to a delay in the announcement of the company's 2008 results.

 

Cattles has already announced two profit warnings, on 20 February and 10 March, as it has started to unravel more and more bad loans that it has issued in the sub-prime market. The market had been expecting pre-tax profits to be around £170m.

 

This form of sub-prime mortgage has been widely blamed for causing the credit crunch that has now turned into a global recession.

 

Sub-prime lending involves offering mortgages to low-income earners who would struggle to raise the money anywhere else. Due to their precarious financial positions, many of these borrowers are unable to make their payments. Th repayments are often collected directly from the customer's doorstep.

 

Shares in Cattles closed at 3.75p on Friday, down from 255.5p last April.

[Karrie2129]

Hello all. I stumbled across this site yesterday and am really interested in what has been said. I took out a loan with Welcome about 2 years ago and have topped it up twice since. I have never seen a statement or any kind of settlement figure for the older loans. How can I find out if everything is above board? If I request a statement and they start phoning me about it can they charge me for this? Anything in particular I should be looking for? Had ppi on the first loan but cancelled within 30 days and not had it since.

 

Thanks Karrie x

[Karrie2129]

Also just checked my credit file and it says I am due to make 37 repayments but my agreement says 36. Is this normal?

 

Karrie

[Millymo]

Hi everyone - I have just been watching quietly for last few days but still here waiting with baited breath for these results. why are they not out yet???? it seems to be taking ages has there been any confirmation yet on when this will be?

 

Expecting mail today from direct group/ Norwich Union as promised but mail doesn't come until later on so again another waiting game.

 

Shella we got a default notice from branch on Friday saying we had missed 2 payments (we haven't we have just missed 1) but the figures didn't add up even to 2 payments. They had added £130 charges on in 3 weeks since we last had hand posted letter from them. I have logged a complaint with head office and they have the correct figure for our arrears so branch are playing silly b*****s. Just thought you should check carefully figures on that default notice:)

[biddy65]

had a letter from welcome today saying re.subject access request-account number--------,

thankyou for your letter received on 20 march making a subject access request.please find enclosed your agreement of account held by welcome financial services ltd in relation to account number --------.

firstly i only sent £1 for a c.c.a,and the account number they have got down is for the new agreement which my partner hasn't signed and they sent the photo copy for the old agreement from 2005.also include was a statement with the new agreement number on it shows acceptance fees and mif.whats mif and if it was a rewrite why have i been charged acceptance fees,what do i do next?

[mojo8]

i checked my credit file last night and even thiugh it is still down as welcome, my payments state 121 rather than 120 on my agreement and the penny has just dropped. I have a feeling that this is some kind of document/admin fee that is added on to the back end of the agreement, if that is the case, it has to be disclosd at pint of the agreement as otherwise its a hidden charge and could explain why the figures on a lot of agreements dont add up.

[SHELLA]

Millymo....cheers...just noticed this letter isn't from head office,just a local branch....lets tally up the figures.

 

You'd think with all that is happening they would be making sure that they were dotting the i's and crossing the t's...at least give an impression that they know what they're doing...but no...same old same old.

[Karrie2129]

I am confused:(

 

They just charge you what they feel like?

[Millymo]

The branches are shocking - at least our is - I have had all the usual threats regarding secuirty on the house. That was the basis of our complaint. I know they can't do anything for 1 missed payment that we have explained but that doesn't stop the threats and visits. not scared of them anymore though

[Millymo]

I am confused:(

 

They just charge you what they feel like?

 

Hi Karrie

 

Yes they seem to pluck figures from thin air

[Karrie2129]

Do I request a statement from them? Are they likely to provide it? And then are they going to harass me about why I want it?

[Karrie2129]

On the face of it my agreement looks ok and I have had no problems with them but they could be adding anything to my account and not telling me.

[blondbomb09]

How long have you been paying the loan for? So they offer you 50% discount on the loan with interest?

 

If they did that they can whistle

 

 

I only actually made 4 payments on the loan from last summer before getting into financial difficulties!!

 

I just find it odd they they are asking for a total which is less than the amount I borrowed!!