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Morning all.
First, thanks for creating this forum, I was really surprised to find this come up straight away on a casual search and I have just lost several hours going through various cases and stories, which has prompted this post.
Like many others, I signed an 'unregulated loan agreement' against a property with Swift for £29,795 in October 2005. Now, in my case, I knew what I was doing, knew how much I would pay, made sure PPI wasn't included (had to argue to THAT one for hours, wow) and went into it with eyes open. I have made all the payments to date, and will be doing so until 2020 when I will have paid back in excess of £60,000. There is no APR quoted, but there is a line 'this is the same as a mortgage rate of 11.16%' included. So far, so good. Well, as good as it could be given I had little choice at the time, it obviously wasn't ideal.
Shortly after signing, the BoE started raising interest rates. To my surprise, Swift immediately increased the interest rate on my 'fixed' loan, citing clause J of the agreement which states "We have the power to change our rate of interest we charge under this agreement to reflect a change in the cost of our funds. We may use this power by giving you at least 14 days' notice in writing by first class post. The change will apply from the date shown in the notice, which will also tell you why the cost of our funds has changed"
First letter received 23/8/06, increased to 11.41% due to increase in BoE rate
Second letter received 23/11/06 increased to 11.66% due to increase in BoE rate
Third letter received 22/1/707 increased to 11.91% due to increase in B0E rate
Fourth letter received 21/5/07 increased to 12.26% due to 'general increase in funding costs'
There have been no further increases. But, of course, interest rates dropped from 5.75% at the time, to 0.5% now and the payment level didn't go back down with it. A couple of years ago, I rang Swift to ask why and the conversation got a bit heated because the lady I spoke to insisted it was because they were now using the LIBOR rate rather than the base rate to measure their costs, which, at the time, were spiking, albeit briefly. The rates have since come down again. It got heated because I was utterly convinced this wasn't true and it didn't stack up with the previous correspondence. In short, I felt I was being lied to. She also insisted that the rates were 'constantly monitored' and could be reviewed again later. When the inevitable interest rises come in the future, the first thing Swift will do is increase yet again, so I have to get on this now. So does, in fact, anyone who has one of these agreements. So, my questions are:
What advice would you give me, or key phrases/soundbites to use, when I call back and challenge them again over interest rates (it's been a few years, the LIBOR/base rate argument cannot be used now)?
Secondly, has anyone ever successfully got the interest rate reduced back to the original rate of the agreement using this or other arguments? If so, how?
Going to collate responses, call them and then update here after call.
Thanks all!
First, thanks for creating this forum, I was really surprised to find this come up straight away on a casual search and I have just lost several hours going through various cases and stories, which has prompted this post.
Like many others, I signed an 'unregulated loan agreement' against a property with Swift for £29,795 in October 2005. Now, in my case, I knew what I was doing, knew how much I would pay, made sure PPI wasn't included (had to argue to THAT one for hours, wow) and went into it with eyes open. I have made all the payments to date, and will be doing so until 2020 when I will have paid back in excess of £60,000. There is no APR quoted, but there is a line 'this is the same as a mortgage rate of 11.16%' included. So far, so good. Well, as good as it could be given I had little choice at the time, it obviously wasn't ideal.
Shortly after signing, the BoE started raising interest rates. To my surprise, Swift immediately increased the interest rate on my 'fixed' loan, citing clause J of the agreement which states "We have the power to change our rate of interest we charge under this agreement to reflect a change in the cost of our funds. We may use this power by giving you at least 14 days' notice in writing by first class post. The change will apply from the date shown in the notice, which will also tell you why the cost of our funds has changed"
First letter received 23/8/06, increased to 11.41% due to increase in BoE rate
Second letter received 23/11/06 increased to 11.66% due to increase in BoE rate
Third letter received 22/1/707 increased to 11.91% due to increase in B0E rate
Fourth letter received 21/5/07 increased to 12.26% due to 'general increase in funding costs'
There have been no further increases. But, of course, interest rates dropped from 5.75% at the time, to 0.5% now and the payment level didn't go back down with it. A couple of years ago, I rang Swift to ask why and the conversation got a bit heated because the lady I spoke to insisted it was because they were now using the LIBOR rate rather than the base rate to measure their costs, which, at the time, were spiking, albeit briefly. The rates have since come down again. It got heated because I was utterly convinced this wasn't true and it didn't stack up with the previous correspondence. In short, I felt I was being lied to. She also insisted that the rates were 'constantly monitored' and could be reviewed again later. When the inevitable interest rises come in the future, the first thing Swift will do is increase yet again, so I have to get on this now. So does, in fact, anyone who has one of these agreements. So, my questions are:
What advice would you give me, or key phrases/soundbites to use, when I call back and challenge them again over interest rates (it's been a few years, the LIBOR/base rate argument cannot be used now)?
Secondly, has anyone ever successfully got the interest rate reduced back to the original rate of the agreement using this or other arguments? If so, how?
Going to collate responses, call them and then update here after call.
Thanks all!
