Advice needed for claiming charges on an outstanding loan

[Lifechooser]

I'm posting on behalf of my sister who doesn't have the internet at home or work, so can only access it infrequently at Dad's house, but I'll be sending her a link to this thread, and hopefully she will take it over in due course.

 

She's in the final stages of divorce, and her part of the agreement was that her ex would remove her name from a debt with GE Capital. He hasn't. He probably won't, and is once again in financial trouble and talking about getting an IVA.

 

My sister has investigated the loan and it's left her a bit . It was taken out about 6 years ago for £4,000ish. Since then around £9,000 in payments have been made. To write the debt off today would cost £2,900 which she could borrow from myself and other relatives if needed.

 

Some of the charges are ludicrous. The example she gave was £50 search fee to track down her ex. She has frequently given them his work address, but they insist on charging this fee every month. I imagine the fees are much larger than the repayments.

 

AFAIK the account is 1 month in arrears, but has been for a long time, hence the charges.

 

My sister has asked for all statements, a copy of the original agreement (set up by her ex) and information about clearing the debt. She intends to get the charges back and has an appointment with the CAB on tuesday.

 

The questions she has at the moment are;

 

1) If she were to clear the debt now, would it prevent her claiming back charges? I.e. is it possible to claim charges back on a closed account?

 

2) If she didn't, and her ex took out an IVA, would that affect her credit rating as it's a joint loan?

 

3) Does anyone have any tips relating specifically to GE Capital? A friend of mine mentioned that their charges are now a lot higher than they used to be, and a good attack is to get them reduced to the level shown on the original agreement. Do any of you know some of the charges that they used which are easy to show as unjustifiably large?

 

Many thanks in advance.

 

Richard.

 

P.S. Are GE Capital the most evil mainstream lender? I know people with a number of debt issues, and GEC seem to be the one company they all complain about being unreasonable and charging through the nose.

[Lifechooser]

I think I still may have this in the wrong place, can a mod move it if is please?

 

Thanks

[zootscoot]

Hi Lifechooser,

 

In answer to question 1 there is a possibility that the claim would be jeopardised where the amount is known to be in dispute but you pay anyway

If she puts the loan account in dispute then they should not be able to report any defaults to the Credit reference agencies. If they do this can be challenged.

 

As it is a claim in joint names unfortunately the ex would need to be added to the claim.

 

I'll move your thread for you.

[zootscoot]

Moved to forum 'other institutions'

[Lifechooser]

Thanks for the advice.

 

In the end my sister has decided to pay the loan off, and not claim any charges back. This was the advice of citizens advice.

 

One thing I didn't realise, was that this loan is the last hurdle between her and her divorce, so she is more bothered about getting rid of it than getting money back.

 

Thanks for the help.