Welcome Finance-Unfair charges on account/FOS informed.

[ElMarinero]

Hi there,

After weeks of trying to negotiate a resolution (and being unsuccessful) for a complaint I have with my car finance company (Welcome Finance), I took it to the F.O.S a couple of weeks ago.

It seems it may be a long drawn out process as the F.O.S have written to say they are dealing with a large amount of complaints at present and that it may take a while.

 

Basically I took out a car HP with Welcome on a vehicle I bought at my local garage which Welcome financed- this was 3 years ago in 2006.

The vehicle is a T reg and cost £3995.00.

The total amount payable under the agreement with Welcoe is £8133.12 (typically steep sub prime lender, I know).

The agreement was supposed to end last February (of this year), however Welcome have other ideas and claim I owe a further 2k!

This is basically made up of penalty charges and interest applied to a late payment they did not inform me about.

I had requested statements throughout the whole 3 year term on many occasions but didn't ever get them!

Had I recieved them I would have 'cottened on' to this so called 'Missed payment'.

So my arguement here is that A- the charges have been applied recklessly (over 1K's worth for telephone calls and letters, some applied several times in a day) and B- Welcome have run my account shoddily in not informing me there was an overdue amount they were whacking interest on! Had I known, I could have done something about it!

Also I believe to run an account smoothly the consumer should see their statements!

 

Welcome's arguement is that I signed a contract to pay these penalty charges (fair do's, but not in the reckless fashion they have applied them!!!) and they have also said they have 'no records of my requests for statements' (how convenient!) and that until October 2008 they are not obliged to send statements out unless requested (which I darn well did!!!!!!!!)

A member of welcome branch staff told me on the phone she could SEE my requests for the statements on the system but had no idea why they weren't actioned by head office- I told head office this in my complaint.

Head office deny there are any notes of this kind on their system- so are basically calling me a liar!

 

I have tried but to no avail to negotiate a fair settlement amount with welcome and explained that I cannot afford to pay anything over and above what is genuinelly owed- unfair charges/interest aside!

I have explained that I have lost hours of work due to the recession and that I am in financial hardship but Welcome are insisting I pay what they're asking and won't negotiate.

 

Admittedly there were times when payments were returned at the bank but welcome were always straight on the phone demanding payment by debit card when this happened.

Why did they not demand payment of this so called overdue amount then?

Why was this allowed to let lie accumilating interest??????

 

So the situation now stands that my dispute has been taken to the f.o.s and in the meantime welcome are telephoning several times a day demanding payment (and charging me for the phonecalls) they are also still adding interest whilst the account is in dispute.

Today I recieved a default notice and a letter informing me the account has been recommended for legal action and that the vehicle may be reposessed.

 

I have paid £7595.00 of the contractual £8133.12 according to their statement- so a fair amount.

This would mean the so called overdue amount is only £538.12!

A far cry from the 2k they are demanding.

They are having a laugh!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I got a letter from them the other day saying the account is seriously overdue by 2k and that if I paid £900 in the next 10 days the account would be paid in full- with the rest written off.

So the crooks can make this 'speedy' offer to me (which I can't afford as I don't have £900!) but they can't negotiate a settlement agreement with me and I have had to resort to the F.O.S??????

 

I have phoned the f.o.s (who have been useless so far!) telling them that Welcome are harrassing and threatening me and still adding charges/interest but they basically said that they are allowed to do that and said I should continue paying them until the dispute has been resolved.

But if I make the contractual payments of £225.92 per month, I will have overpaid what I believe I owe. And because they are whacking on more charges/interest the amount will never reduce.

I can't afford to throw my money away.

I thought when an account was in dispute and the f.o.s was involved, a customer cannot be harrassed or threatened like this?

Not to mention the ever growing charges and interest they are whacking on by the day- is this really allowed?

 

I'm not sure how this is going to end but I have a nasty feeling it won't be to my satisfaction!

Could anybody give me any advice?

Is there anything else I can do here apart from involving the f.o.s?

Surely this is not right.

Currently my income is LESS than my outgoings and I am in trouble with plenty of other things elsewhere.

Is there any hope for me?????

 

Thanks in advance.

[yourbank]

Have you submitted a Subject Access Request to Welcome in writing? That is the first point I would do. That means they have to supply those notes that are on your account plus transactional history.

[MARTIN3030]

They are not telling fibs when they say they are snowed under-I know of at least half a dozen hardship claims they are dealing with in enforcement that have been going on for over 6 months.

I will move your thread to the Welcome forums-the fact that you have asked the FOS to intervene,does not restrict you in any way from further trying to seek a resolution yourself by whatever means that may take.

[42man]

I would also record all your conversations with them too, as they will simply deny the telephone calls ever took place....it would be your word ('Naughty debtor' against 'highly respected' corporate) Also they are not allowed to chase a debt whilst it is in dispute, this is against the OFT's guidelines on debt collection (Please let the OFT know about this too) - Why don't you write to them and state that everytime you have to correspond with them whilst the debt is in dispute you will charge them £35 for having to write to them and post the letter, carry out research etc etc....also record all the times and dates they call you !!

[ElMarinero]

Thanks for your replies.

 

Do you think I should make any payments to them whilst the dispute is in place?

They have been phoning and writing non-stop to get me to re-instate my direct debit for the full contractual payments per month which is £225.92.

As I explained, according to their statement I only owe around £500 of the full amount of £8133.12.

The F.O.S said any amount I overpay by would be refunded to me after the dispute is resolved.

But they are seeking around 2k from me- so basically £1,500 is charges and interest and this amount is growing day by day.

It makes me ill to think I've paid double the car's worth already- it's only a T reg and is rusting away and on the brink of breakdown. It needs a lot of work- a lesson well learnt!

 

I hoped to negotiate a fair final amount and make monthly repayments until it was clear but of course they won't negotiate and are looking for the full whack.

My worry is that I will be making payments to a debt that is ever growing and I'll never be free from it.

I have a lot of comittments elsewhere and need all the money I can get right now.

 

What do you believe is a reasonable amount for me to pay per month until the dispute is resolved?

Also, given my situation of having outgoings that exceed my income, can they be expected to freeze interest and charges?

 

Many Thanks

[MARTIN3030]

Unfortunately the different advice coming over these days is enough to confuse anyone.

If you think you only owe £500 with the rest being penalties,then maybe you should think about making them an offer as to what you can reasonably afford.

 

And yes-under the Banking code they have a responsibility to treat you sympathetically given your financial circumstances-but you should be prepared to make the information available which will support this.

[ElMarinero]

Hello- just dropping by with an update to my case.

 

Since I last posted Welcome had continued to send threatening letters and call us repeatedly chasing payment- even though the account is in dispute.

I have written to them time and time again asking them to stop the harrassment or I would take legal action and since then I've heard nothing.

I've also heard nothing from the F.O.S.

 

In the meantime the vehicle on HP with welcome is close to clapping out permanently.

It has terrible rust which is taking over the car- there is a hole in the wheel arch where the rust has eaten away the metal.

Also it has electrics problems and a problem with the engine.

It's a T reg- so oldish.

I can't afford to fix these problems. I have no spare cash or savings at all.

I currently have debt problems elsewhere and am only paying £1 token payments per month. That's how bad it is!

I have been quoted £300 alone for the electrics. It needs new tyres and other work which would result in me spending just shy of 1k on repairs.

I must have a vehicle to get me to work. My work is field based and I do a lot of miles.

 

I really don't know what to do.

The car is falling apart and I am still no closer to finding a resolution to the dispute.

Taking out HP with welcome is the rock I'm now perishing on!

 

As I say, we have paid £7500.00 and only owe just under £600 on the original agreement- aside from the amount for charges and interest that Welcome have 'dreamed up' and are continuing to add to.

 

I know somebody who repairs and does cars up to sell and I was thinking of selling it to this person and using the money to get a cheap runaround.

It is worth about £700 currently.

But as the account is in dispute and welcome are continuing to apply charges and interest, the balance owed on the car is a neverending spiral of debt and I cannot sell the car without welcome's permission and if I was to do this, the money would go straight to them anyhow and not even touch the surface of what theya re saying we owe.

 

What would you do in my situation?

 

I'm at my wit's end with it all.