reply about my complaint...more help needed pls...

[magoogy]

i was told to come on here to get help.....

i managed to get my overdraft increased through online banking - they kept increasing the amount every time i went over and never charged me or warned me i was going to my limit....eventually when they realised i had a £3000 overdraft which stupidly i did use....i dont work as im a full time carer to my disabled hubby and when i realised i was allowed to get so much i used it to make life easy for my hubby .......

eventually they asked me to begin paying back but i couldnt afford to so they gave me a loan for over £4000 to pay it off at £50 a month...the interest alone is nearly £1000 too.....

i have been informed that i may have been a victim of misselling?

well now my money has been docked by £70 a week due to my daughter going to college and me losing child benefit now she is 20...i just cannot afford to pay the £50 a month - which is only taking the interest anyway and ill never be free from this debt....my daughter isnt on a course that gives a student grant so she will be getting £30 a week adult learners grant and wont be entitled to benefits so i will obviously helping her out....money is going to be so tight....

any advice would be appreciated...

i do know i was greedy and shouldntve used the money but when you scrimp and save all the time and are offered it you use it to help ease your burden and i was also going through a hard time with my late parents being very ill...this money enabled me to buy comfort....but i was stupid and hold my hands up....

[Amethyst]

Re: help me reduce my loan please?

Hi Magoogy

Please do not feel bad or guilty or beat yourself up AT ALL about using that money. They got you when you were vulnerable.

It does sound like a bit of irresponsible lending from what you have said.

Derochelles thread seems to have a similar situation. She is currently reclaiming the bank charges applied to her account, and then we can look at getting the loan interest back as a fair bit of her overdraft was made up of charges when she was told to take the loan.


So, Do you have your bank statements going back to when they extended your overdraft ? Are there much in the way of charges on the account ?

Also if you could complete an income and expenditure form too - in the library (dont have to be exact but that should give a good idea of your position) - also if anything has changed (income decreased etc) since when you took out the loan would be good too.

Then we can look at the irresponsible lending aspects as well.


Theres an income expenditure form in the library on this site.


Is your bank account still with Lloyds ??


Look forward to hearing back from you

Ame
xx

[shooter]

Re: help me reduce my loan please?

Welcome to LB Magoogy

I'm glad you look my advice

Ame and the others on here are a mind of information and advice and they have helped me greatly and I'm sure they will do everything they can to help you

Good Luck

Shooter x

[magoogy]

Re: help me reduce my loan please?

thanks shooter for guiding me here....xxx

all my banking is done online so i would have to ask the bank for statements - i havent had any in about 3 years now....one thing i didnt mention either is that they refinanced the refinance loan for me in october 06 when my mum died - i went down to try get another overdraft to pay for mums funeral as we thought we wouldnt get any help for it - so, they refinanced it and left me with about £100 to spend there and then.....

there arent any charges on the account as i never went over the agreed overdraft - i always increased the overdraft...

i will get round to doing the expenditure form asap too....post that later

thanks so much all

[Amethyst]

Re: help me reduce my loan please?

Okay see what statements you can get from online (without ordering them just visible ones) the rest you ask for with a subject access request under the datat protection act. If you look in the library there is a template letter you can use and it will cost you £10 for everything they have on you

If you dont think there are any charges on it then I would concenrate the DPA on the other bits and bobs - theres a link to a more in depth DPA letter on the template thread so use that, and should get some bits of the decision process and agreements for the loans and overdraft increases.

[Emerald]

Re: help me reduce my loan please?

Have you got the refinance agreement?
£50 a month seems like a long term for a normal bank loan.
Is your main account still with them? if it is then I suggest as a matter of priority you open one elsewhere, and transfer all your income and expenditure to there, this will then give you control over what you pay off the loan.
Have you checked here www.entitledto.co.uk to make sure you are claiming everything you are entitled to benefits wise?

[TANZARELLI]

Re: help me reduce my loan please?

Magoogy you have come to the right place here for help.

You'll never look back.

Tanz

[magoogy]

Re: help me reduce my loan please?

thanks all...ive checked the entitled to and we are getting everything we are entitled to....income support £109 week....carers of £55 a week and dla for partner at highest rate....we get our housing benefit and council tax paid already so i dont think that will change...

also - i have already put in for and been accepted for a new bank account so once that is sorted i will make sure all my benefits get paid into that but i thought they werent allowed to touch benefit money?
------------------------------- merged -------------------------------
just looked at the template library but cannot find anything i could use about misselling loans....?

no point going down the charges route because i didnt get charged any....just the interest added on to make it to a loan...

thanks all

[Amethyst]

Re: help me reduce my loan please?

Can confirm you didnt get any notification or request your overdraft was increased each time.

[Tools]

Re: help me reduce my loan please?

Can I ask if you were sold PPI on this loan and what was you/your partners employment/health status at the time of taking out the loan. Also is the loan in joint or sole names?

[Emerald]

Re: help me reduce my loan please?

but i thought they werent allowed to touch benefit money?

just looked at the template library but cannot find anything i could use about misselling loans....?

no point going down the charges route because i didnt get charged any....just the interest added on to make it to a loan...

thanks all

Here is a very recent scottish case on benefits and arrestment to pay debts, which may make things clearer for you.

I think you may be gettign a little confused with the benefits scenario. You can use your benefits for whatever you like. You have (supposedly) voluntarily entered into an agreeement to make loan repayments whilst on benefits, there is no law against them accepting your payments. What is in question and remains so is taking charges from benefits.

I think this is more a case of irresponsible lending, and for any further in depth advice we would need your agreement and your income/expenditure at the TIME the loan was taken out.

Any current offers you make to repay this loan would also be dependent on the bank producing the loan agreement and what you could reasonably afford.

[magoogy]

Re: help me reduce my loan please?

i did sign an agreement for the loan because they sent me a letter and asked me to go into the store and i signed infront of the teller or whomever....i dont have it though as i remember shredding it....but, there definitely was one...

when i took out the loan my money wasnt really much better than now...we got £18 child benefit - £55 carers or i think it was £45 then....and £160 inome support...plus the high level of mobility...

i increased the overdraft online by putting in for it in my internet banking and they said it was accepted all the time....when they asked what i did for a living i was always truthful and said home duties/dont work....

i feel so stupid at having used it - why didnt i just be more careful? also - it was me who instigated the overdraft increase all the time...

when i went in for the loan sorting out they said i couldnt have ppi on it because i didnt work....

the loan is only in my name because the bank account only in my name...they also said they couldnt take into account my hubbys earnings either for the loan so i really cannot see how i got it? i myself only got child benefit and carers allowance in my name and disability of £65 a month too (sorry forgot about that - it is now £71)....

i get dla because im deaf...my hubby is very ill with mobility problems and now has been diagnosed with an enlarged heart....my health at the time of the loan was ok but i have been on and off of antidepressants for 20 years due to a lot of bereavement/other problems in my life....i was on them at the time of taking the loan out but not sure if that helps? hubby has been ill for 18 years and not getting better...

thanksall

[Amethyst]

Re: help me reduce my loan please?

i feel so stupid at having used it - why didnt i just be more careful? also - it was me who instigated the overdraft increase all the time...

because it was there and you were struggling. We all do it so please don't feel crap about it.


Okay hunny I'm not sure on miselling - to me it is irresponsible lending but the other side of it is the loan is at a lower percentage rate for repayment than the overdraft would have been.

If you can try and get the Income Expenditure form (in library under calculators and spreadsheets) filled out and either posted up or email it to me Amethyst@legalbeagles.info that would really help, or just type out all the bits and bobs on here. If theres other stuff going on we can pick up on it, we can also have a better think about the lending and what to do, and/or look at your options for repayment etc...and try and get your payments at a rate you can cope with.

[Emerald]

Re: help me reduce my loan please?

Magoogy, don't blame yourself or feel stupid for spending the money, its something we've all done and regretted for various reasons. There is no point wasting time or worrying about the past, the future and how you deal with it now is what is important to you, your health and your family.

You may well have signed an agreeement, but it doesn't mean it was a correctly executed agreeement that is now enforceable. What the bank produce will be pivotal in your negotiations to deal with this debt, over the coming months.

I'm not suggesting that you ignore the fact that you owe the money, just that you get all the information together so you know exactly what your position is, so you can make informed choices and decisions on how you deal with it.

The more information we have, the more we can help you, to put together an action plan and take control.

Have you other debts as well?

And well done on taking the first steps to open a new bank account.

[Happyolddog]

Re: help me reduce my loan please?

Hi Magoogy,

Welcome to the forum.

Reading your story and consicering your circumstances I believe you are a victim of irresponsible lending, as the OFT explains it in a recent document. You were not assessed properly on your ability to repay the monies without falling into hardship. I would think you have a good case to put to the OFT and ask them to look into the practices of your lender.

here is a snippit of what the OFT guidlines say.....

"The Consumer Credit Act 2006 sets out a new framework and responsibilities for the OFT in administering the consumer credit licensing regime. Among a number of important changes, the Act introduces two concepts which have a particular bearing on the issue of responsibility in lending. These are the consideration of credit competence in the assessment of fitness and the explicit identification of evidence of irresponsible lending as an unfair business practice. Both elements may be taken into account by the OFT when assessing the fitness of licensees and applicants to hold a credit licence."

If you had been properly assessed there would be no chance of you obtaining the money that now blights your life, (sorry if that sounds a bit demeening, it is not meant to)

Good Luck,
Hod..Liam..

OOPs