Picture Secured Loan - February 2007

[0120crazycatlady]

Hi

 

I am new to this so please bear with me. I have been trying to find out some information regarding Picture home loans (now Webb Resolutions) and the legality of the loan in the first place. I took out a loan with Picture back in February 2007 and fell into arrears within 6 months. Got back on track for a while but have been struggling for about 3 years now since my husband was made redundant. We have filled in at least 3 income and expenditure requests and have offered to make a nominal payment but they have ignored this and just want the arrears plus the normal monthly payments. I have been a bit slow on the uptake of weather the original credit agreement is legal or not as I did not want to be one of those people who takes out a loan and then tries to get out of it. We are in serious financial hardship at the moment and now have an 8 month old child. We successfully reclaimed our PPI on this loan about 3 years ago which is what we used to pay off the previous arrears. Please could someone give me some advice.

 

Many Thanks

[Lea_HTH]

What leads you to think the loan is not 'legal'?

 

How much is the loan for? How much are the arrears?

[0120crazycatlady]

Hi

 

There have been a few threads in the past that have suggested the wording on the credit agreement could be wrong which would make the loan unenforceable ( I apologise for the use of the word "legality" in my original post). The loan is roughly £12k and a few thousand in arrears. I do not want to make too much information public incase they are reading this.

 

Thank you for taking an interest.

[Lea_HTH]

There are a lot of threads suggesting 'unenforceability', which are mostly just hot air, frankly. The law of equity tends to address any imbalance in loan agreements - essentially working on the premise of 'did you have the money, have you made payments towards it = you know you owe it'. (Obviously a very simplified version of equity, but essentially the bottom line!)

 

As your loan is secured on the property, and because it is under 25k, you may be able to apply to the court for a Time Order, to change the payment date and/or amount of the loan for a period of time. You will first of all need to check whether the credit agreement states the loan is regulated under the Consumer Credit Act 1974. If it is, then you will be able to ask a judge to make adjustments to try to fit into your financial circumstances.

 

If not, then you'll need to negotiate with the lender. You should try to do this in any case as it is in your best interests to come to a reasonable arrangement - which a 'nominal sum' is not, hence their refusal.

 

Your loan is secured on your home, so after your mortgage, it is the next priority payment that should be made, alongside council tax. Everything else takes a lower priority, so you may need to adjust any other payments you are making, including reducing payments to unsecured debt (overdrafts, loans, credit cards etc), in order to meet your obligation.