First Step Finance-Fiend or Foe?

[potless39]

A friend of mine has had a lot of debt for years to Llyods Bank.He has defaulted on a two loans and a credit card in the last 18 months due to redundancy.

He was cold called by First Step Finance and now pays them £200 per month.He no longer answers his home phone as he gets so many calls from different debt collection agencies.

What has happened to the interest on the loans and credit card ?.Has this continued to accrue since they were defaulted ?

 

From what i have read about FSF they are a little suspect,should i get him to leave them ?,will he lose the money he has payed them already ?

Edited May 7, 2012 by potless39
Spelling error in title

[renegadeimp]

First thing to do is get him to send the telephone harassment letter to each of his creditors. This way he can gain complete control over his phone again. From your info, it seems like he;s letting the DCA's dictate to him what to do when in reality it should be the other way around.

[dx100uk]

FSF are a fee paying DMP

 

dump them

 

get reclaiming.

 

check ALL his debts SHOW on his cra file

 

then comeback.

 

dx

[potless39]

I have seen my friends credit report from Experian and it states:

Loan 1 default date 20/07/2010,default balance £6100.

Loan 2 default date 30/08/2010,default balance £7700.

CC default date 06/12/02011,default balance £380.

 

My worry is what has happened to the cost of these while he has been paying money to Debt management companies for the last 12 months or more.

He started with a different agency before FSF.

Apologies for the typo in the title! (Friend or Foe).

[victoria_siempre]

Before he actually dumps them make sure there is no notice period or penalty terms. Wouldn't want him with another debt

 

Hi guys

 

Dead money is what it is; and it is likely to matter not if some DMC tries to claim a debt on the basis of fees

alone. As dx says I should get out fast and take control.

 

x

 

v

[victoria_siempre]

Sorry hinckley

 

I didn't mean to imply that you were; a lot of folk get obsessed about what will happen to their money (often 'pot') if they quit, whereas the real question is what happens to it if they carry on...Hence, when one's in a hole, stop digging.

 

x

 

v

[victoria_siempre]

Hi again

 

This is just very general comment: a DRO has a limit of 15k and no 'surplus' income in excess of £200 pm. Yes, CCCS then PayPlan are better than paid for DMP, however, with both there is the danger that a creditor will not freeze interest (and unsurprisingly the more you agree to pay, the greedier they get). This is precisely why CAG advocates keeping control through DIY; although it ain't for the faint hearted.

 

x

 

 

v

 

 

PS We generally don't like IVAs

[potless39]

Why has he swapped agencies. He will have ended up paying the set up fee twice so maybe 4 months of his money have gone to management companies

 

My friend has changed agencies because FSF told him they could get him out of debt quicker and cheaper than the company he started with.

He was told that they would challenge the validity of the claims against him and also recover mis-sold PPI.

Also,if the debts have been sold on to Debt Collection Agencies will he no longer be able to speak to Lloyds if he wants to take control back himself?

[victoria_siempre]

Hi potless

 

Our advice is not to pay for advice you can get for free. Your posts on behalf of your friend are a bit scant on facts and detail and an elaboration would help. We do not condone debt avoidance but we are all here to help folk in genuine difficulties and harassed.

 

x

 

v

[potless39]

My friend is in full time employment (has been since last July),

and can afford to pay £200 per month towards his debt.

 

My worry is that in the future he will discover that he has been duped by FSF and has wasted time and money and made his situation worse.

 

For all i know FSF can do everything they have told him and get him out of debt in a reasnoble time frame

[dx100uk]

pigs will fly too!!

 

dx

[victoria_siempre]

Hi potless

 

New posters often think us mad. It is instructive to suffer harassment from, say, MBNA and Bob Diamond (aka Barclaycard paid £18 million last year) because it teaches one to resist.

 

I joined this site, also talking with NationalDebtline (who told me to pay nothing), two years’ ago when I was depressed and suicidal. I now receive ‘special offers’ of 55% off.

 

QED darling; QED.

 

And dx was my first mentor. (My father was raised in Sauchiehall Street).

 

x

 

v

[victoria_siempre]

Hi hinck

 

I kinnda of agree; cease payments for something you can do for free.

 

Then take control; then there are are lots of strategies (The Apprentice).

 

 

x

 

v

[victoria_siempre]

Sorry just to add, have his debts actually been sold or are the DCA's just acting on behalf of their client. If they have been sold he should have received letters telling him so.

 

slightly crossed post but i find the follownif helpful:

 

43 Regulation 36 of the EU Directive Regulations.

16. ASSIGNMENT OF RIGHTS

here any rights of a creditor under a consumer credit agreement (for example the right to be repaid the money) are sold or transferred to a third party, notice of that assignment must be given to the borrower as soon as reasonably possible, except in the circumstances described below. This requirement applies to all regulated consumer credit agreements other than agreements secured on land. This requirement is in new section 82A of the CCA43.

 

t is the responsibility of the assignee (the creditor acquiring the rights) to ensure that notice is given. However, he does not have to give notice himself, but can agree with the assignor (the creditor assigning the rights) that the assignor will give notice instead, depending on what is more sensible in the circumstances. It is important, however, that notice is given as soon as reasonably possible and in a way that is clearly understandable by the borrower.

 

otice does not have to be given where arrangements for servicing the credit are unchanged as far as the borrower is concerned. For example, if Creditor A sells his rights under a credit agreement to Creditor B but Creditor A still collects the borrower’s repayments in the same way and is the only point of contact for the borrower on matters regarding the agreement, notice does not have to be given.

 

here notice has not been given, and arrangements for servicing the credit do subsequently change, the borrower must be informed of the assignment on or before the date that change happens. Again, this must be readily comprehensible to the borrower.

 

The definition of “creditor” in section 189 of the CCA applies to this new requirement on assignment of rights. This means that when an assignee purchases debts (or otherwise acquires rights under a credit agreement) it also acquires certain obligations to the borrower including the duty to comply with CCA requirements (such as the rules on statements and notices and other post-contractual information). The assignee becomes the creditor under the agreement. This ensures that essential consumer protections under the CCA cannot be circumvented by assigning the debt to a third party.

 

71

x

 

v

[dx100uk]

CRA file

 

check ALL his debts show.

 

then get reclaiming.

 

dump the DMPs

 

and dont use a free one either

 

they will not like you reclaiming.

 

dx

[victoria_siempre]

DX is right about doing it yourself but you need to be aware that it is not easy and can be stressful. Again all I am saying is be aware of all your options so you can make an informed decision

 

Yes, but

 

 

It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees!

 

x

 

v

[Nick Pearson]

Hi again

 

This is just very general comment: a DRO has a limit of 15k and no 'surplus' income in excess of £200 pm. Yes, CCCS then PayPlan are better than paid for DMP, however, with both there is the danger that a creditor will not freeze interest (and unsurprisingly the more you agree to pay, the greedier they get). This is precisely why CAG advocates keeping control through DIY; although it ain't for the faint hearted.

 

x

 

 

v

 

 

PS We generally don't like IVAs

 

DRO is £50 or less pcm excess income.

[victoria_siempre]

Quite right Nick

 

I stand corrected.

 

x

 

v

[potless39]

Hi all,

Update:

Friend still paying FSF every month.£3200 so far.

Have seen that FSF have had their licence revoked,does this mean they will just walk off with his cash.

Any thoughts?

[Nick Pearson]

Potless,

 

As DRF members one would hope that 1st Step have a ring fenced client account that is audited annually to ensure that the client account money is protected

and can never be used to benefit the company.

 

In short, the fact that they have an OFT MTR does not automatically mean that you friends money will be lost.

 

According to the OFT press release FSF demonstrated a lack of integrity;

there was no mention of issues with the client account but you can draw you own conclusions about how safe you think any money in a client account given this statement

and given that it seems likely that there will be a run of customers who decide they want their money back in full.

[potless39]

Hi all,

Have just found out that First step finance (DH&A) have ceased trading.

 

My friend has £2185 in his pot.

 

What does he do now?

 

He was happy with DH&A even with the fees they had charged him.

 

They had reduced one on his debts by 58.8% saving him £3152.

 

I have made a spreadsheet for him and if you project his payments forward with a 58.5% reduction on each debt

he would end up paying £4300 less than his original debt including DH&A fees.

 

We know that there was no reason for any of the other debts to accept a full and final settlement

but it was moving in the right direction.

 

Any thoughts on the direction he takes now?

[thebaneofbanks]

The money should be in a clients account so should be safe. I understand that the administrators are Begbie Traymors so may be worth giving them a ring.

 

One bit of interesting news is that apparently Christine Whitehirst (the owner of FSF) was the person taht made the announcement to the staff about DHA (who had supposedly bought out FSF) going into administration.

 

Apparently she has also had discussions with the administrators so I guess it makes you wonder who was in control of DHA and if the Whitehurst family had sold out why do they still appear to be involved.

[dx100uk]

DUMP THEM

 

if they are getting short settlements for debts

 

that means you can too FOR FREE.

 

its a simple case of investigating reclaiming PPI

or penalty fees

 

or the fact you never owed the money in the first place!!

 

did you or your DMC ever send your creditors a CCA request...

did they ever check the debt WAS enforceable?

 

I bet not.

 

as with 90% of fee paying DMC's they are not in it for you or for free.

and most are part owned by the very DCA's the DMC's are paying oneway or another

 

dx

[potless39]

Hi all,

Just seen on administrator's website (Begbies Traynor Group) that the business has been bought by Platinum Management.

More dodgy dealings in Stockport by the looks of it.

 

Potless

[Blazing Saddles]

sadly it seems that the company has minimal balances in it's accounts and it's clients who suffer as their cash has gone

it's worth keeping an eye on what is going on Begbies Traynor can only do so much but I know if I gave someone my money and then it disappeared I'd report it to the police it's fraud isn't it