First Plus threatening repossession

[Bethy12]

:-?Hi, this is my first post also. Your post was informative, and we are having similar problems, especially when we had imposed by FP with our loan, a reclaim insurance from them which has been paid up front by us. This was conditional upon receiving FPlus loan, and stated after 5 years we had to ask to reclaim it back.

They would not accept lower payments, and did not wait to sell the loan on even though they were waiting for their own Barclays payment protection insurance to pay out 3 months payments to them, on our behalf, due to unemployment.

 

Hi,

 

This is my first post here although I have sought advice on another forum. This one looks to be a bit more specialized though so here goes.

 

We have a mortgage which is paid up to date and a secured loan which is in arrears by 8 months (£8500). The secured loan is with First Plus who I believe are in liquidation. In july 08 FP passed the account to Eversheds and sent a letter saying to contact Eversheds urgently. I called them and they said I had to wait for a letter from them. So I waited. The letter dated 15th December arrived while we were away for Xmas and stated that if I did not make contact in 15 days they would book a court date. We only got the letter when we got home on New Years Eve so I am trying to get through to them but this is proving difficult as their lines are always busy.

 

Anyway - I can afford to continue making the regular mortgage payments but nowhere near able to pay first plus around £850 per month as well. I have been sending them a token payment some months.

 

Some facts: Original mortgage balance £126,000. Owing to First Plus £60,000 total roughly. Having checked some auction websites I doubt the house would sell for more than £130,000. By the time court costs and Eversheds are paid off FP would not actually get any of their money back and the loan would simply become unsecured instead of secured.

 

Q1) Would a judge grant them possession give that they won't get any money?

Q2) Has anyone been in a similar position? If so what was the outcome?

Q3) Do you think that FP would accept a full and final offer of, say £10,000 if I could raised it? That's more than they'll get if they repossess!

 

Also they sold me PPI when I took the loan out and I have read somewhere about this being mis-sold by FP. Where do I stand on this?

 

Sorry for the long post - wanted to get all the info down.

 

Pubman1

[pubman1]

Bethy - what is your current situation with them? I am in the process of claiming back my PPI - did they add that to your loan? If they told you that you had to take their own PPI to get the loan I beleive this counts as mis-selling and you should be able to cancel the PPI and claim back what you have paid so far. I tried to claim on mine once and got absolutely nowhere - it's a waste of money.

[kazma]

Hi Pubman1

 

I replied earlier stating that we where in a similar position to you with FirstPlus. Went to court and we have to pay an extra £50 per month to pay off the arrears - approx £4000.

We went down the same route as yourself with the PPI. I've sent my first letter to them and had what I consider a standard reply from them. no we didn't missell blah blah blah.

We have cancelled the PPI policy on the loan but any refund you get by doing this will only reduce the capital and not the arrears and as the account as arrears they won't reduce the monthly payment either although I have been told on the phone that the arrears and loan are a separate thing.

I'm having a constant battle with them, but I'm sticking to my guns. I'm going to reply to their letter about misselling as I'm sick and tired of their excuses and attitude.

 

Kaz

[pubman1]

Hi,

 

Again thanks for your help so far. I have written a letter to send to Eversheds, I would be grateful for any input before it goes into the envelope!

 

Dear Sir,

Than you for your letter dated 14th January, I have now had the opportunity to speak to one of your advisors. I would respectfully ask that any legal action be put on hold while the following issues are addressed.

Firstly I am currently in the process of claiming back the Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) that was sold to me at the time the loan was taken out. This claim is based on my belief that the PPI was mis-sold. Should my claim be successful the amount of arrears and the overall balance of this account will be amended as the PPI policy will be cancelled and any payments I have made towards it will be returned to me. Whether the claim be successful or not I consider it to be prudent to wait for the outcome of this claim before any further action is taken.

Secondly I am aware that the pre-action protocol (PAP) drafted by the Civil Justice Council’s Housing and Land committee took effect from the 17th November 2008. I am concerned that First Plus passed the account to you to start repossession just three weeks after this date without first exploring any of the recommendations contained within the protocol. The PAP states:

“The court takes the view that starting a repossession claim is usually a last resort, and that such a claim should not normally be started when a settlement is still actively being explored. Discussion between the parties may include such options as :

Extending the term of the mortgage

Changing the type of a mortgage

Deferring payment of interest due under the mortgage; or

Capitalising the arrears”

Further to this The Law Society issued a Mortgage repossession practice note on the 15th January 2009. In this note they state:

3.Protocol requirements for lenders

3.4 Postponing the start of a possession claim

Lenders should not start a possession claim while the parties are still discussing ways of addressing the arrears.

In view of the above please suspend any legal action until the result of the claim for the PPI is resolved. Once this action is complete I will be able to submit an accurate income and expenditure statement to you.

If you require any further information please do not hesitate to contact me in writing.

 

Thats the end of the letter - what do you think??

[jansus]

I think it looks good.make sure you send recorded and I would add

"in view of the urgency of this case I would appreciate an acknowledgement of this letter and a reply within 7 days. Please also note I wish to keep all contact in writing and would appreciate your co-operation with this request.

[jansus]

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general/103383-agreement-enforceability.html

 

I think this may only be for loans under£25000 but a bit of information on enforcibilty really.

[pubman1]

Finally got a responee to this letter!! I had sent it to Eversheds and eventually they replied with "we have forwarded your letter to our client(F+). we suggest that if you have any further concerns you contact them directly" or words to that effect anyway. So now we wait...

[nevos]

Hi Pubman keep up the good work!

 

We are having a bit of fun with GE you can see the bones of it here

 

What I'm trying to do is stall possession proceedings and counter claiming charges under

The contractual provision that permits the Claimant to levy such charges is unenforceable by virtue of the common law. The precedent for the law relating to contractual penalties was set in the case of Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co Ltd v New Garage Motor Co Ltd (1915) AC 79. Additionally, in the case of Murray v Leisureplay (2005) EWCA Civ 963 it was held that a contractual party may only recover damages in respect of its actual loss or liquidated losses.