Provident - Bad move I know!

[:Boy:]

Too put a long story short, when me and the family lived in Salford we were very short of cash. Provident offered a loan to me and the wife. Extremely high interest rates, and they could collect the money weekly from the doorstep (we were happy with that - not the interest rate though!), so can't moan as money was helpful and we signed up.

 

We paid regulary every week on both loans, and considered paying completely up before we moved to the sunny South. But Provident said 'don't worry we have agents everywhere, who can collect the money'.

 

Anyway, they had no agents where we live and we started to send cheques monthly, then as you guessed it we forgot to send cheques, and as we had not heard a peek from them, it disapeared from our minds, this was about 1 1/2 years ago.

 

Then we got a letter last month from C K Edrupt & Co soliciters demanding the full amount. We contatcted them to make payments, they wanted a full income/expenditure from us before they would do anything, I also believed the amount they had was incorrect as well. Well as you guessed it they wanted us to pay more than we can afford, and now they have filed papers at the County Court, as we recieved the documents this week.

 

The amounts they are claiming are:

 

(wife)£666.00 (actual amount owed £341.00, £325 interest) plus £70.00 Court fee and £70.00 soliciters fee.

 

(me) £2019.50 (actual amount owed £899.50, £1120 interest) plus £110.00 Court fee and £80 soliciters fee.

 

I have put on the response to both Court papers that I need 28 days to respond and that I will defend the case. I will turn up at Court, not to deny that I owe the money, just to put my side across.

 

I appreciate that I will get a CCJ (hopefully a payment plan can be made) and this is what has made me angry as it has taken me years to get the defaults of my credit file (last one comes off this March) and now I will get a CCJ or will I?

 

So, anyone out there, have I got a chance of getting the money reduced/case struck out/no CCJ etc. I will be curious to see if they have a copy of the original agreements and correspondance between us as well.

 

Look forward to any comments and help.

 

Thanks again

[maddyrose1664]

I think the only way you can avoid a CCJ now is to settle out of court. Make them an offer if you can - you have nothing to lose. They may take less than the original amount they are claiming for. Might be worth going to visit Citizens advice for legal advice too.

[:Boy:]

I will give it a go, got nothing else to lose!

 

Any more advice out there?

 

Best regards

[dollies01]

Is it too late to send in a cca request?

I know that you aren't disputing that you owe them money, and thats a credit to you. However, I owed them over two grand, but they couldn't provide me with ANY details at all, my neighbour only recieved a signed agreement, no statement of account, detailing her payments etc.

We both sent Provident letters saying that they had failed the cca request and the debt was now unenforceable and have heard nothing since.

This was a good six months ago.

Im no expert, but surely if you put the debt indispute, then they can't take any further action against you until its sorted?

[:Boy:]

Well, I have taken your advice and I have sent a letter to Provident/CK Edrupt asking for a copy of the signed agreement, I have given them 14 days to answer, I believe I have to give them up to 30 days before any action can be taken. I have also put my defence forward via MCOL.

 

I have offered to pay the remaining credit that was owed. I know the interest rate was around 170% and I don't know what judges think of this (Loan sharks maybe?), but I will pay back the money that I had, not the huge interest, which was more than the loan itself.

 

I don't know what happens now, do I get a Court date?

 

ook forward to any replies.

[:Boy:]

Well then.....

 

I wrote to Provident asking for a copy of the original agreement, including a £1 cheque, and guess what. They sent a letter bac, thanking us for the £1 and this has been credited to the account, they then ask for our next payment.

 

After the 14 days are up, I will give them a further 7 days. To my knowledge, if they do not respond within 30 days, they are commiting an offence, and I could take them to County Court for what I paid, or would they drop the case?

 

Look forward to any advice.

 

Best regards

[:Boy:]

Well would you believe it. They have sent the statements and a copy of the original agreements. Fair play to them having this to hand, it did surprise me!

 

Looks like we will have to wait to the County Court date and try and come to an arangement then!

[gizmo111]

Are they claiming for the whole amount of interest and not giving any rebate for early settlement?

[:Boy:]

Nope, they are going for the whole lot, including the 170% interest on the loan, I have offered to repay what was originally taken not including the interest that is added when you take the loan out, and so far I have not heard from them.

[gizmo111]

Nope, they are going for the whole lot, including the 170% interest on the loan, I have offered to repay what was originally taken not including the interest that is added when you take the loan out, and so far I have not heard from them.

 

Ask them for a settlement figure that would apply if you were repaying early.

[:Boy:]

OK, thanks again.

[storm]

A common 'mistake' Provident make is not giving the 7 day consideration period to their clients

 

Check the date against when you signed the agreement against when you made your first payment, chances are if might be within 7 days

 

This I believe would maek the agreement unenforceable under one of the sections of the consumer credit act

 

I will check tomorrow but I'm sure it says something on there about the 7 day consideration period

[Jacqueline07]

Not normally true - as an ex-collector - we would issue a loan and then call for first payment in a week's time - there were instances where customers could and did return money/vouchers within this time scale. Although it might be different in other regions. Jackie

[Jacqueline07]

Ooh - btw - I've just read somewhere in the debt forum that a judge recently kicked out a provident case because of the exorbitant interest rate.

[storm]

Hi Jacqueline

 

Unfortunately we had to get a Provident loan last year, credit agreement and first payment were 4 days apart

 

Think is just depends on the agent and their collection schedule etc

[storm]

date of credit agreement that should read

[morrie]

I thought that under the CCA you should receive a statement of account from your creditor not more than twelve months apart. If you had been sending payments from your new address then surely they have no excuse for not sending these. Ask for proof of postage or any record of postage perhaps under a data protection act subject access request.

[:Boy:]

Thanks for the above.

 

I am not trying to get away from the debt, but it was about 6 months untill we heard from them (their soliciters).

 

We have had a response back from them, regarding our defence.

 

I will post it shortly.

[:Boy:]

This is the response from CK Edrupt:

 

We write with reference to the defence and part admission that you have filed in the above action.

 

You do not deny signing the agreement, a further copy of which we enclose and therefore admit liability for payment of this account.

 

The charge for credit when taking into account the high costs of visiting your address to issue the credit, taking payments and administration of those payments on a weekly basis is not disproportionate to the amount lent. We would also point out that you were aware of the cost of credit when you signed and that the total amount payable remained the same even though you failed to maintain payments in accordance with the contract i.e no further interest was added or penalty charges imposed for late payment.

 

In the circumstances, we do not consider that you have provided sufficent grounds for a valid defence to either the claim or the costs and fees and we enclose a consent form for you to sign and return to our offices within the next 14 days using the pre paid envolope provided.

 

If no response is recieved, this matter will be listed for hearing at which we will request an order is made to add further costs incurred by the hearing to the debt.

 

Then on the next page is:

 

By consent

 

We the undersigned, hereby consent to the withdrawal of the defence/part admission in this action and Judgement being entered against Boy in the sum of £666.00 plus the costs and fees on issue, the fee of this consent application and the costs on entry of judgement to be repaid by instalments of £68.20 per month.

 

And that is it.

 

I have wrote to them (have not sent letter yet) stating that the £68.20 offer was for a debt of £341.00 not £666.00 (as this is made up of interest of 170%), so it would of been paid of in 5 months.

 

I have checked the account, and on the day £825.00 was issued, a payment of £15.00 was made on the same day for that debt, so no 7 day cooling of period.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Best regards

[120805]

Am no expert but I have been reading up on the Office of Fair Trading website and it mentions that if you sign a credit agreement at your home then you must be given a 7 or 5 (cant quite remember if its 7 or 5 days sorry) day cooling off period after signing your agreement and before getting your credit.

 

Am reading more into this as I also have loans with Provident and Greenwoods. Greenwoods are charging me 399.9 APR which I think is daylight robbery!!

 

Am also trying to find out more about cancelation rights and how they should be labelled on your CCA. As my Greenwoods CCA simply says that I will receive a letter telling me of my cancellation rights but I thought that this was meant to be built into the agreement when you sign it. Any thoughts on this would be much appreciated.

[120805]

Heres the info on cooling off period:-

 

Cancellable agreements have a cooling-off period starting on the day the customer signs. This period is 14 days for goods bought from a mail-order catalogue. Otherwise, it is five days from the day the customer receives either a second copy of the agreement or a separate copy of a notice of cancellation rights. Cancellation places obligations on you and the customer.

In all cases, the Consumer Credit Act requires you to present specified financial and related details, and statements of the customer's protection rights. You must follow set procedures for modifying agreements

 

(this is what creditirs are supposed to do when giving out debt)

I know ive never had a cooling off period with my debts! Might phone OFT on Monday and find out more about this. Will keep use posted

 

If anyone knows anything else about this "cooling of period" then please let me know

[PaulW922]

Boy:

 

I think it very unlikely that years later you will be able to use this clause to stop any enforcement action. This is especially the case after you have admitted part of the debt. If that solicitors firm issues proceedings you can complain until you are blue in the face, but as you have admiited part fo the debt I honestly don't think you'll get very far.

 

You are right about getting a CCJ - it's bad news but Provident may not have recorded a default against your current address. It only costs £2 to check.

 

Remember that even after a CCJ is obtained you can settle it within 30 days and it is then wiped off your record. Re-financing is not always a good idea but perhaps a quick loan or secured loan for the money from another high risk lender like Welcome might help to protect your credit rating? It depends hopw much you can afford to pay and how important your credit rating is to you.

[pugsley]

I think it is extortionate and would be seen the same by a judge, if it goes to court I believe even if the judgement goes against you you still get another 30 days to settle to avoid the ccj.

 

Does anyone know if provident actually end up in court? I thought they avoided it because of their extortionate credit bargain

[pugsley]

I just saw a thread similar to this which might help

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collectors-debt-collection/98122-provident-personal-credit-sent.html