Tweet
Hi everyone,
I would just like to do a post on this website to share my experience with Barclays Partner Finance when I tried to do a Voluntary Termination, as when I was looking through the different forums and posts on this website for advice, no one seemed to come back and post the final outcome of their dispute after they were given advice from members of this website so I am going to share mines with you.
As most people know when you request a VT the lender sends you documents to sign, which basically waives away rights you have protected under the CCA 1974 and they refuse to accept the VT unless you sign and return this document. When I began this process I used a template letter from this website posted by a member called ROB. As in may other cases the lender refused to accept this and still said that they would not accept my VT unless I returned their document signed. I then went to Citizens Advice who advised this is not the law and that unless it says this document must be signed in the terms and conditions from the original signed agreement, then they don't have a leg to stand on.
Now i'll be honest, it took 14 phone calls over a 3 week period, having the same argument with different advisors each time, to the point it was then escalated to their Stage 1 Complaints Team who again, after I used several legal quotes from several of template letters from this website, she eventually admitted (like every single other advisor I spoke with) that she could not confirm if this was in fact the law or just Barclay policy. Due this she had to escalate me to the Stage 2 complaints team.
After 2 weeks an advisor from this team got back to me. I must admit he was really helpful as up until now every advisor had basically called me a liar, refused to help me and told me if I didn't pay then they would default me which would then effect my credit score. When I spoke with the Stage 2 Escalations advisor who was put in charge of handling my complaint, he said that the document doesn't need to be signed as long as I have sent them written notice stating I wish to end the agreement. Now I had previously send a template letter I got from this website typed by ROB to end the agreement which originally they would not accept, but as I stuck to my guns and got the complaint escalated to such a high level, they agreed to accept this letter as long as I re-sent it with my signature, which I done. A few days later I then got a call from the Stage 2 Advisor stating my Voluntary Termination has now been accepted and he offered me £100 as an apology for all the inconvenience if I agreed to close my complaint that day.
So basically if you go through a similar situation, I strongly advise to read through similar posts from this website around VT's, especially the ones from a guy called ROB as he definitely knows his stuff when it comes to this, use the template letters and do not give in to the lenders as even once you have sent the letters quoting the law, they will still try and refuse and basically call you a liar. However my experience proves that in the end, this paperwork does not need to be signed and that if you do sign it then your basically agreeing to accept liability for charges that they could not hit you with without your signature. So stick to your guns no matter what they tell you and the more they keep refusing, just keep escalating the complaint higher and higher until you get someone at a level who has the authority to accept your VT without their document being signed. If a complaint is open for 8 weeks you could then go to the Financial Ombudsman, who will side with you on this as your following the correct legal process and a Stage 2 complaints advisor knows this. Also if a complaint does go to the ombudsman, then that is a mark against the company and also the lender will be fined £250 for each complaint that goes to the ombudsman so it is in the lenders best interest to accept your VT before it reaches this stage, however they will try everything they can to get you to sign that document before they finally give in.
So based on my experience all I can suggest is if you have followed the correct legal process, (which you can easily find on this website) keep at them, don't back down and they WILL accept your VT before the 8 week mark. Although I am now expecting them to come back at me with damage charges that don't even exist to try and recoup their loses but if they do, i'll go through the same process all over again.
Good luck everyone.
Don't let them win.
Regards
Derek
I would just like to do a post on this website to share my experience with Barclays Partner Finance when I tried to do a Voluntary Termination, as when I was looking through the different forums and posts on this website for advice, no one seemed to come back and post the final outcome of their dispute after they were given advice from members of this website so I am going to share mines with you.
As most people know when you request a VT the lender sends you documents to sign, which basically waives away rights you have protected under the CCA 1974 and they refuse to accept the VT unless you sign and return this document. When I began this process I used a template letter from this website posted by a member called ROB. As in may other cases the lender refused to accept this and still said that they would not accept my VT unless I returned their document signed. I then went to Citizens Advice who advised this is not the law and that unless it says this document must be signed in the terms and conditions from the original signed agreement, then they don't have a leg to stand on.
Now i'll be honest, it took 14 phone calls over a 3 week period, having the same argument with different advisors each time, to the point it was then escalated to their Stage 1 Complaints Team who again, after I used several legal quotes from several of template letters from this website, she eventually admitted (like every single other advisor I spoke with) that she could not confirm if this was in fact the law or just Barclay policy. Due this she had to escalate me to the Stage 2 complaints team.
After 2 weeks an advisor from this team got back to me. I must admit he was really helpful as up until now every advisor had basically called me a liar, refused to help me and told me if I didn't pay then they would default me which would then effect my credit score. When I spoke with the Stage 2 Escalations advisor who was put in charge of handling my complaint, he said that the document doesn't need to be signed as long as I have sent them written notice stating I wish to end the agreement. Now I had previously send a template letter I got from this website typed by ROB to end the agreement which originally they would not accept, but as I stuck to my guns and got the complaint escalated to such a high level, they agreed to accept this letter as long as I re-sent it with my signature, which I done. A few days later I then got a call from the Stage 2 Advisor stating my Voluntary Termination has now been accepted and he offered me £100 as an apology for all the inconvenience if I agreed to close my complaint that day.
So basically if you go through a similar situation, I strongly advise to read through similar posts from this website around VT's, especially the ones from a guy called ROB as he definitely knows his stuff when it comes to this, use the template letters and do not give in to the lenders as even once you have sent the letters quoting the law, they will still try and refuse and basically call you a liar. However my experience proves that in the end, this paperwork does not need to be signed and that if you do sign it then your basically agreeing to accept liability for charges that they could not hit you with without your signature. So stick to your guns no matter what they tell you and the more they keep refusing, just keep escalating the complaint higher and higher until you get someone at a level who has the authority to accept your VT without their document being signed. If a complaint is open for 8 weeks you could then go to the Financial Ombudsman, who will side with you on this as your following the correct legal process and a Stage 2 complaints advisor knows this. Also if a complaint does go to the ombudsman, then that is a mark against the company and also the lender will be fined £250 for each complaint that goes to the ombudsman so it is in the lenders best interest to accept your VT before it reaches this stage, however they will try everything they can to get you to sign that document before they finally give in.
So based on my experience all I can suggest is if you have followed the correct legal process, (which you can easily find on this website) keep at them, don't back down and they WILL accept your VT before the 8 week mark. Although I am now expecting them to come back at me with damage charges that don't even exist to try and recoup their loses but if they do, i'll go through the same process all over again.
Good luck everyone.
Don't let them win.
Regards
Derek
Comment