Elderbridge ex Firstplus interest rate hike

[Fred]

It seems that some complaints are being rejected over the statute barred scenario...........even in existing contracts........

[Bluefoot]

My settlement is now in the bank. Took a while as I mucked up the settlement form, but all done !!!!!

Good luck to everyone else out there. I might short some Barclays stock with the money, as its not Elderbridge who are paying up.

Hey well done!

So does this mean they have paid you and your debt is clear...or have they offered you a settlement amount to be paid?

[redstar]

Wow and fos had in recent cases said interest was agreed on contracts they cant comment et al thank you gives us all hope well done again and thank you for reply .. a troper

[EwanHusarmee]

Well done Ewan any chance you could give a brief outline on basis you won for us stll nearly 3 years on struggling with cases mine is ge sold to Elderbridge thanks and congrats x

Took out loan in 2004, with PPI lump sum, was offered a mortgage increase to pay it off 2 years later but could not afford the hit of the penalties. Complained then as the FirstPlus salesman had promised that the interest rate would stay competitive and the mortgage offer was 4% and we were paying 8%. Kept complaining, but by the time the PPI lump was taken off the loan, the crash had hit and I had defaulted on loans and credit cards. Went to a solicitor to pursue my complaint but they just went for the missold PPI which we won in 2011 ish. Still miffed at them not honouring the promise to keep the interest rate competitive (and in a financial hole), complained to the FoS in 2015.

My original complaint was more or less ignored, but they added me to the list of people complaining about the interest rates post 2008. Got a letter every six months saying nothing had changed until a few weeks ago when I got an email saying Barclay were making an offer to settle.

[redstar]

Well done Ewan any chance you could give a brief outline on basis you won for us stll nearly 3 years on struggling with cases mine is ge sold to Elderbridge thanks and congrats x

[Davet07]

Congratulations. I just wish they would negotiate with me, that’s what they wanted. I have a case management meeting set for 4 June as they are not responding.

[EwanHusarmee]

My settlement is now in the bank. Took a while as I mucked up the settlement form, but all done !!!!!

Good luck to everyone else out there. I might short some Barclays stock with the money, as its not Elderbridge who are paying up.

[Fred]

I have recently been in touch with three solicitors locally for advice on pursuing FirstPlus/Elderbridge and received the following response:

1st Solicitor £432 Inc VAT
2nd solicitor £600 Inc VAT
3rd solicitor £2400 Inc VAT

These prices given to provide a letter of advice on how to proceed at this initial stage only, additional costs for any thing thereafter.

You can see from the large difference in charges for a single advice letter how broadly open this field is to charges, so shop around if you go down this route. Legal cover on home insurance generally rules this out too, but do check.

Additionally, you would not generally get Legal Aid in matters of this nature and you would need to pay privately for any advice as one solicitor commented on so it is no wonder so few people ever challenge these issues. The loan companies are fully aware of this and relish the opportunity to take advantage of poor advice that ultimately ends in their clients owing more money, dropping further into debt, tarnishing credit history, thus blocking any further credit consequently locking them into some thing they can not buy them selves out of.

I believe the Finance and Leasing Association (FLA) along with the Finance Industry Standards Association (FISA) are aware of this financial deadlock trap and use it to all of their benefits. This would be good business concerning the FLA and FISA if they receive their funding from these financial companies?

What is the point of the Consumer Credit Act (CCA) 1974 and the Data Protection Acts (DPA) 1984 and 1998 if none of these companies operate in accordance with them?

Similarly if these financial lending companies are licensed by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) how fair is the OFT to consumers, and who funds and polices the FSA?

Then we come to the 'protectors of the people' labeled as the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). Who funds and polices this outfit?

It is my opinion that they are all tied up in a web of deceit almost like a monopoly to keep control of the financial strangle hold on the public that they currently have, which has similarities to the Mafia...bad business is good business!

From what I have been reading so far it appears to be a very similar route as the PPI scandal that gathered pace very slowly. The FSA started fining PPI companies in 2006, but there was no big improvement until 2011, then the PPI scandal exploded with Plevin.

It is highly likely my loan will be paid off by the time this is sorted, but its worth pursuing and the more of us there are complaining, the better for all of us.

Letter of Complaint and Subject Access Request Letter to be first port of call...don't be put off by seemingly impossible odds...just keep at it.

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving" Albert Einstein

The FOS has woken up to these types of complaints rather than their previous stance on "read the terms"..................

Going forwards, you need to look at what is coming out from the provider. Several complainants have now been subject to offers through FOS mediation rather than adjudication. These offers have been in the form of "good will"..........

A complaint does not need to make any accusations over interest or otherwise (unless severe). To keep things simple is the key, the loan, not what you expected it to be, not what you were told on inception, "behaved like a mortgage" yet, interest rates only ever increased in real terms. Was not sold in your best interests.....................................

[Bluefoot]

I have recently been in touch with three solicitors locally for advice on pursuing FirstPlus/Elderbridge and received the following response:

1st Solicitor £432 Inc VAT
2nd solicitor £600 Inc VAT
3rd solicitor £2400 Inc VAT

These prices given to provide a letter of advice on how to proceed at this initial stage only, additional costs for any thing thereafter.

You can see from the large difference in charges for a single advice letter how broadly open this field is to charges, so shop around if you go down this route. Legal cover on home insurance generally rules this out too, but do check.

Additionally, you would not generally get Legal Aid in matters of this nature and you would need to pay privately for any advice as one solicitor commented on so it is no wonder so few people ever challenge these issues. The loan companies are fully aware of this and relish the opportunity to take advantage of poor advice that ultimately ends in their clients owing more money, dropping further into debt, tarnishing credit history, thus blocking any further credit consequently locking them into some thing they can not buy them selves out of.

I believe the Finance and Leasing Association (FLA) along with the Finance Industry Standards Association (FISA) are aware of this financial deadlock trap and use it to all of their benefits. This would be good business concerning the FLA and FISA if they receive their funding from these financial companies?

What is the point of the Consumer Credit Act (CCA) 1974 and the Data Protection Acts (DPA) 1984 and 1998 if none of these companies operate in accordance with them?

Similarly if these financial lending companies are licensed by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) how fair is the OFT to consumers, and who funds and polices the FSA?

Then we come to the 'protectors of the people' labeled as the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). Who funds and polices this outfit?

It is my opinion that they are all tied up in a web of deceit almost like a monopoly to keep control of the financial strangle hold on the public that they currently have, which has similarities to the Mafia...bad business is good business!

From what I have been reading so far it appears to be a very similar route as the PPI scandal that gathered pace very slowly. The FSA started fining PPI companies in 2006, but there was no big improvement until 2011, then the PPI scandal exploded with Plevin.

It is highly likely my loan will be paid off by the time this is sorted, but its worth pursuing and the more of us there are complaining, the better for all of us.

Letter of Complaint and Subject Access Request Letter to be first port of call...don't be put off by seemingly impossible odds...just keep at it.

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving" Albert Einstein

[Mmum]

We are having to send a SAR as have had no correspondence from elderbridge/FP for years. Account in arrears due to loss of job/ill health. We’ve been fire fighting for years and got to the point that nearly lost our home due to arrears with primary mortgage lender. Elderbridge seemed to have disappeared at that point and we had no further communications at all. We wondered if they thought the house had been taken?
We managed to pay off primary arrears and keep the house and are now approaching a point where we can sort the rest of the financial mess out (able to regain professional reg to quadruplemearnings and health issues resolved).
Would it be best to address sar to elderbridge or first plus? Also is there any significance that we have literally never had any sort of statement of account from them since Lon inception in 2005? We’ve now been contacted by a company called excel OBO Elderbridge and they have to report back as apparently elderbridge are considering legal action. Due to other external factors our home is negative equity and primary mortgage is up to date and we will be looking to find ways to clear this in coming months (earnings will increase 4 fold)

[Fred]

Hi Fred, thanks for reply details. Please respond to my first individual post today as above

Elderbridge are the "loan managers" so, send any requests to them directly.....as in your SAR.......

Treat your complaint separately, still going to Elderbridge but, they will no doubt pass it on to Barclays Firstplus as they cannot be responsible for past behaviour or argument over interest rate hikes beyond their remit............

Keep it simple. Any offers made will be on the basis of what has been agreed internally & making legal argument just begs for delays.

[Bluefoot]

Agreed, simple letter of complaint should push then into looking at what they have done for others.

Hi Fred, thanks for reply details. Please respond to my first individual post today as above

[Bluefoot]

Firstly complain to Elderbridge, if your loan is live and with them. Once they have given their final response then complain to the FOS.

Keep it simple, lots of info on here, ie loan not what is was meant to be etc

I think the FOS opinion is that they agree it should have acted like a mortgage. No one sticking their neck out at this moment in time but that is the rumours I have heard. I am currently pre court with FP & Elderbridge but I am awaiting an offer from them as they say they want to mediate.

Thanks for those details. Please respond on your thoughts about the individual post today.

[Bluefoot]

Subject Access Request Letter

Thanks for those details on SAR, I did the long version as described on individual post today as it was similar to the nightmare letters I used to receive. Please respond on your thoughts about the individual post above.

[Bluefoot]

Hi Bluefoot I think you may have made typo .. 95k unsecured illegal even pre 2007 .. maybe they are trying to say pre secured loans and fca rulings 2009? Its a minefield they contradicite own findinds fca they should refund certain charges then the rebooted fos says no .. do they fall into cca .. 2009 ruling appeared to say yes but no .. noone is on the little persons side .. get a subject data requst .. put in recorded or signed for post plus email and phone to original lender .. and lenders loans were sold to ... you need to fight .. you need coherent and fact based time line get the data subject access requst .. sars or same thing dsars .. its free but don't exoect them to deliver .. immediately lodge complaint with all parties .. only pertaining to possible abuse of charges .. why it was handled .. possible force of reposse not your personal circumstance ... once complaints ignored or your given a final decision go to fos .. good luck n love the user name x

Hi Redstar, you are correct it is a secured (and unregulated so Elder tell me) loan.
SAR ready to be posted...see previous posted message today.
Once I get response about complaint letter as above will post...
Are you suggesting I complain about how FirstPlus handled the court case after all this time?
User name comes from two guys arguing in a gym many years ago and one called the other a 'Bluefoot'...I folded up and never forgot it x