We won! I sent in a 16 page defence and 230 pages of reference material to the Court accusing them of having unfair terms in their contract and also incorrectly using the rebate regulations. This week Greenhalghs told us that they had accepted what I originally offered them 2 years ago - which was half what they were demanding. :-)

I am still in dispute with Open and Direct and this is the latest position http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt-issues/115831-consumer-collection-ltd-default-2.html#post1411552 Would anyone like to join forces with me so that we can crack this? When we win, there will be substantial refunds for everyone that has been clobbered by Open and Direct.

I have been disputing a claim by Open and Direct and their Solicitors/Debt Collectors for over a year and Greenhalghs have been employed for the second time by Creation Finance (the new-look Open and Direct). I am claiming that the rebates on early settlemens are too low (and not in accordance with the Regulations) since their contract contains at least 2 clauses that are Unfair Terms. The first is Schedule 2 10© that states "In the event of early settlement of this agreement, the insurance will immediately and without notice terminate and no refund will be available". This is contrary to the Norwich Union Summary Key Facts and the PPP Policy Schedule Page 4 on Early Repayment, which state that there is a repayment. Norwich Union has undertaken to change the wording on its Open + Direct Coverplan policy following FSA intervention - have alook at these. http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pubs/other/undertaking_norwich.pdf PPI – Open + Direct Creditcover : FSA Money made clear – Unfair contracts These took effect on 1/1/2005 and the LoL/Open and Direct Contract still had the old wording - making them unfair. The consequence of this is that they will keep all of the PPI Premium even though they should refund it in accordance with the Rule of 78 (based on the belief that the risk is higher at the beginning of the term). I am also disputing how interest is calculated on the loan and PPI premium amounts. Schedule 1 states "...If you don not exercise your cash-Price Option, interest will accrue from the date of the agreement and will be charged on the Total Amount of Credit" (=Loan AND PPI Premium). I agree that the interest on the loan should be calculated over 4 years from the agreement date. However, interest on the PPI is only due over 3 years and not 4 since they only pay it to Norwich Union after the first year is over. The consequence of this is that the interest being charged is higher than it should be and the rebate is much less. They keep more money than they are entitled to. I have been in contact with Trading Standards, FSA and others and I do not think they have sufficient power to do anything much about them. They all seem to rely on a Judge deciding if a term is fair or not. I expect that I will need to go to court as well in the near future so am preparing my case at this time. I would welcome the opportunity of helping you if required.

Check your Bank Statements and you may find that the account number is used as the reference number in your Direct Debit/Standing Order.

Further invstigations into this are revealing quite a few issues with Open and Direct's contract and the way they are calculating rebates. I am currently dealing with my local Trading Standards office and the one in Belfast so will give you an update when I have taken the next steps.

I am having a dispute with O&D regarding their rebates. I have been thoroughly reviewing their contract and find that there are a number of Unfair Terms in it. I am dealing with the OFT now to get the Contract checked out. I believe that their rebate calculations are incorrect so am disputing that as well.

I am also having problems with Open & Direct and am in dispute with them regarding their application of the formula used in the Consumer Credit (Rebate on Early Settlement) Regulations 1983. The formula is used is described in the Repaying your loan early document here: FLA :: Consumer finance :: Consumer guidance Open & Direct use the correct formula M(M+1)/N(N+1) and the value for M (total number of installments not yet due) but are using a value of 48 for N (total number of payments). When these values are used in the formula the amount of rebate in the first month after the "interest free period" is 33(33+1)/48(48+1) = 47.7% of the total interest charge. This means they are claiming 52.3% of the total interest charge. However, the total number of payments is NOT 48 - it is 36. The formula then becomes 33(33+1)/36(36+1) = 84.2% of the total interest charge. This means they are entitled to 15.8% of the total interest charge. Their APR figure of 29.8% also confirms that the term of the loan is 3 years and not 4 years. The interest is accrued over a 4 year period, but the loan is for 3 years. I am currently persuing this with DTI's Consumer Direct and will let you know the outcome. In the meantime, you may like to do your own calculations on your contracts and any correspondenc you may have had with the company.