Minicredit !

[pat1421]

Guys what is your view on minicredits fast advance fee of 19.50 pounds deducted from a loan so actually you dont receive the full loan but have to pay back the full amount thus paying this fee twice plus part of interest is accrued on this fee aswell. That must be wrong and doesnt seem to be legal.

If people can claim back PPI, unfair bank charges etc, why not claim back this from minicredit?

Could we consider any action here if this would be possible?

[EddiesMum]

Guys what is your view on minicredits fast advance fee of 19.50 pounds deducted from a loan so actually you dont receive the full loan but have to pay back the full amount thus paying this fee twice plus part of interest is accrued on this fee aswell. That must be wrong and doesnt seem to be legal.

If people can claim back PPI, unfair bank charges etc, why not claim back this from minicredit?

Could we consider any action here if this would be possible?

 

Thats brilliant Pat!! yes its technically not part of the loan! I will definitely deduct from the full and final settlement - thank you!

[renegadeimp]

Maybe ask them about hte 19.50 and ask how they justify it. Especially since it does NOT cost 19.50 to "fast advance" it.

[pat1421]

Maybe ask them about hte 19.50 and ask how they justify it. Especially since it does NOT cost 19.50 to "fast advance" it.

 

I did ask them about it in my last email to them, still waiting for response. Of course it doesnt cost that much for a fast trsnsfer. But the point is that this fee should not be a part of a loan, you should not be asked to repay this amount again on top of money you actualy received and simply no interest should be calculated on this fee. I think minicredit made a big mistake here being greedy. Well thing like this if properly addressed in a court could make the whole loan agreement you signed void. At least I believe so but need to read more through relevant legislation or a lawyer advice needed here.

But I am pretty sure you can claim this fee back. I had 15 loans with minicredit plus current unpaid one. I will ask them to refund me those fees for every loan and compensate for wrongly calculated interest on each loan. I will submit this claim to FOS for their adjutication.

I was even thinking about a large group of minicredit customers making one mutual claim for this in a court. Minicredit nasty, we should be nasty too.

[pat1421]

I got minicredits response to my last email and finally they start to act reasonably:

 

Dear Mr xxx,

 

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Thank you for the reply!

 

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The first time Microcredit Ltd was made aware of the financial difficulties was when the debt management company Harrington Brooks sent their first letter out on the 21st of January 2013.

 

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I am willing to waive the interest added after 21/01/2013, but consider the interest added up to that date still payable. I am also willing to waive the £100 debt recovery fee as it was added after 21/01/2013 and the total amount of the debit attempt fees.

 

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The balance we are able to provide you repayable under a payment plan is £536 and consists of the following:

 

1.***** Loan principal £300

 

2.***** Interest in total £156 (1% of the Principal per day up to 21/01/2013)

 

3.***** Overdue penalty £25 (was added on the 1st day overdue)

 

4.***** Overdue penalty £55 (was added on the 3rd day overdue)

 

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Please consider the above and let me know as soon as possible. If the payment arrangement is agreed, we will send the account to our debt recovery partner next week who will be able to provide you with several other payment methods.

 

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Kind regards,

 

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Kristel Martinson

 

This I can accept but will negotiate to remove second overdue penalty and a refund of fast transfer fee and go down to 460.50 pounds. That would be ok with me.

[renegadeimp]

So theyre willing to waive part of the unfair and unenforceable charges but are still trying to push their luck by saying they cant waive the rest?

[renegadeimp]

Btw, both overdue penaltys are uneforceable and you should contest BOTH of them.

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Not can't waive them just too greedy not to:!:

[pat1421]

I rather contest the original loan amount of 300 as I only received 280.50 and offer to repay this amount and ask them to recalculate interest on this.

Should I contest both penalties because they are not real default charges? Or is any other reason to contest them?

[renegadeimp]

There isnt any inclination for you to think they are default charges. They are late payment penalty fee's which are fully reclaimable and thus unenforceable unless you let them enforce them.

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

I rather contest the original loan amount of 300 as I only received 280.50 and offer to repay this amount and ask them to recalculate interest on this.

Should I contest both penalties because they are not real default charges? Or is any other reason to contest them?

The difference is the £19.50 ''arrangement fee'' or what ever they call it which is unfair imo and should not be paid.

[fletch70]

I can not remember if the 19.50 is optional. If it is then its unlikely in my opinion to be reclaimable. For my own personal info why are the late fees reclaimable, what reason would a defendant give if it went to court.

 

I also think that everyone should remember that the oft will not be a golden bullet. If they lose their licences collection will still be allowed.

[renegadeimp]

Any charges on an account must equal the cost of them being there. How exactly do you think they could appropriate LPC's? They only exist to inflate the debt and make the company a profit for nothing.

[pat1421]

I can not remember if the 19.50 is optional. If it is then its unlikely in my opinion to be reclaimable. For my own personal info why are the late fees reclaimable, what reason would a defendant give if it went to court.

 

I also think that everyone should remember that the oft will not be a golden bullet. If they lose their licences collection will still be allowed.

 

I dont remember if there was an option to tick for this fee when applying for the first loan but I do remember that for each subsequent loan they never gave you any option regarding this fee. They always issued a loan quickly deducting 19.50. And it doesnt matter if the option was there or not. The fee is simply excessive.

OFT bullet is not to have the debt written off. The bullet should stop minicredit from improper practice so other customers will be dealt properly by them when it comes to debt collection.

[fletch70]

Pat i am playing devils advocate. If the option to pay the 19.50 or not is there it is more difficult to get away with the unreasonable charge argument as they would say you had a choice.

The bullet comment wasn't aimed at you. It was a comment aimed at anyone who thinks it might be an excuse not to pay. You know my thoughts on minicredit .

Renegade i understand what the argument is about charges been reasonable just as the oft said anything under £12 would not be challenged on credit cards however without precedent which is what i was asking for reclaiming is not a done deal. This is particularly due on overdrafts and paydayloans.

[pat1421]

I am rather willing to pay first late payment fee but will contest

the second one and ssk them to wave it.

Regarding fast advance fee I will

dispute interest accrued on this fee because it shouldnt be and ask them to recalculate interest on 280.50 I actually received for the loan of 300. If they agree to that then its a done deal. At least they are acting reasonably now so little negotiation and the problem solved, no more time wasting.

[renegadeimp]

Why are you willing to pay any of them? It's just justifying them putting on enforceable charges for others.

[pat1421]

I want a reasonable balance payable over 10 months. I cant contest every charge and say I will only pay whatever it suits me in instalments. You have late payment fees added on credit cards etc so one small fee for an instalment plan seems to be reasonable. If I had money for a oneoff payment then I would negotiate a lower balance to settle instantly.

I want to contest interest accrued on the fast advance fee. For all my loans with them it would be some 70 pounds to be refunded. Technically they shouldnt add up interest on a fee deducted from a loan, am I right here? Any chance for compensation if I submit this claim to fos?

[renegadeimp]

Yes but even on ccs the lpf`s are unenforceable and reclaimable. They exist purely as a profit generating con.

[renegadeimp]

Also you CAN contest every charge. They are well known for adding on false charges purely to make a profit. If you let them do it then you cant complain about it.

[fletch70]

I have to say i do not fancy your chances on contesting interest on the fast advance charges. However if they made a claim against you defending that part may be possible.

 

 

Renegade when you come to reclaim, do you just ask or do you quote some protocol or legal point. What procedure should someone follow.

PPI. is something different so we can ignore that for now.

[renegadeimp]

What is puzzling is they offer a loan of £100. They charge a "fast transfer fee", but for some reason take it out of the loan, instead of making it a completely separate charge. To me, this looks like they are trying to hide it and the interest gained so it is harder to work out and for the debtor to try and reclaim.

[pat1421]

It is easy just to contest something but you need to back it with some relevant legal stuff. They waived all other charges because I pointed out to them pieces of legislation regarding each charge. I can manage to contest the second late payment fee of 55 and will but one late payment fee is so common and mostly applied everywhere. So here I dont want to go into a dispute with them again over the first lpf of 25 and waste time. Unless I have an exact legal point. I will be paying this loan late so I lack any reason to contest one lpf.

This way I could contest the overall interest of this payday loan as being too highly excessive, unfair, unreasonable and purely only for profit but am I going to win here?

I need to calculate money and time involved to get a reasonable balance to pay off.

[fletch70]

What is puzzling is they offer a loan of £100. They charge a "fast transfer fee", but for some reason take it out of the loan, instead of making it a completely separate charge. To me, this looks like they are trying to hide it and the interest gained so it is harder to work out and for the debtor to try and reclaim.

 

They make it perfectly clear what the fee is for and where it comes from. It is fairly common practise within the pdl company to take the fee out of the funds.

In other more regulated areas they add the fee but still charge interest on it.

 

Pat is spot on,when fighting reclaims it helps to have legal backing. Just saying to reclaim is no good.

[pat1421]

Minicredit is strange. I agreed that reasonable balance for repayment plan with them. They said they would move it to their opos for repayment plan starting from 30th April. And since then no contact from them or opos, my account blocked. Looks like they dont want any money or what. I could have paid a few instalments by now if they had acted reasonably over last few months. Should I remind them about it? Ask them to kindly take my repayments or just keep waiting for God knows what. My balance instead of getting reduced each month, is still outstanding.