Amigo troubles

[MRSP]

I have acted as a guarantor to a loan taken out with Amigo.

To cut a long story short, the situation is that after making payments for approximately a year, neither myself nor the person I guaranteed the loan for can no longer afford full monthly repayments following substantial loss of income.


We have tried to come to an agreement with Amigo and have both been making regular reduced monthly payments as agreed. However, Amigo keep moving the goalposts and demand more and more money every few months. They say that the loan will not be paid off in a reasonable amount of time.
The payments combined from the both of us comprise about 25% of the original amount so the loan would be paid in around 8 years I think. Amigo are saying this is unreasonable.


They have today sent us both emails giving us ten days to offer sufficiently increased payments in order to "keep the account on hold and close the loan in a reasonable amount of time otherwise we will look at applying for legal action through the courts with a view to securing the debt on your property for long term security of the loan until it is repaid in full"


The property belongs to me and the person I acted as guarantor for the loan for lives in rented accommodation.
I have ten days to reply and also have other creditors who I am dealing with so cannot really afford to go much higher.


Please can you advise?"

[Mr $quandaŁot]

Re: Amigo troubles

As Amigo loans are unsecured loans, it would be up to the judge whether to grant a charging order.

The fact that you seem to have tried to negotiate with them should go in your favour.

Amigo Loans are sub prime lenders and best avoided. Using a guarantor is not advisable in most circumstances. A bit too late in your case but I'm saying this in case someone else is contemplating using them.

[Berniethebolt]

Re: Amigo troubles

There is a long long way to go before a charging order
1st they have to decide to take you to court
2nd They have to win
3rd You have to fail to pay or keep up with a repayment arrangement
4th They have to return to court
5th The outstanding debt has to be above the threshold for a charging order

Are they still charging interest?
If they are I would be writing to them to ask them to stop, it will do no one any favours if they are still banging on interest and charges

Have you spoken to anyone about this , in the past I have always found National debt line to be very good and if for example they are still charging interest the fact you send one of NDL's template letters can have a positive impact on their decision to stop

[MRSP]

Re: Amigo troubles

As Amigo loans are unsecured loans, it would be up to the judge whether to grant a charging order.

The fact that you seem to have tried to negotiate with them should go in your favour.

Amigo Loans are sub prime lenders and best avoided. Using a guarantor is not advisable in most circumstances. A bit too late in your case but I'm saying this in case someone else is contemplating using them.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.You are of course right that I should have given them a wide berth in the first place.I would prefer not to let it get to the courtroom stage so am trying to decide whether to try to offer more or whether doing this will just make them keep putting the pressure on for even more at a later date.I have other creditors to pay now and so dont want to offer too much in case I cant keep up the payments in future.

[Berniethebolt]

Re: Amigo troubles

It is a very log way off the courtroom stage and even then, there is a thing called a Tomlin order that prevents a CCJ.

Are you still paying interest and charges?

[MRSP]

Re: Amigo troubles

Thank you for your quick response.
I think I will follow your advice and speak to National Debt Line on how to handle them before it gets any worse.
I have read some information recently from National Debtline online and it appears that the law changed in October 2012, so that following the creditor obtaining a CCJ, they can still apply for a charging order even if you are paying that CCJ. Following this they can apply for An Order For Sale, however the sale will not be granted if the debtor is up to date with the CCJ payments.The order for sale can be granted for debts over Ł1000 (mine is Ł5000)
Still not a nice position to be in having a charge over your hard earned house.

- - - Updated - - -

Thats interesting I will have to look up the Tomlin Order as I have never heard of it.
I had asked them to freeze interest and charges and have just checked over my statements to confirm that they have indeed stopped charging them.

- - - Updated - - -

Thats interesting I will have to look up the Tomlin Order as I have never heard of it.
I had asked them to freeze interest and charges and have just checked over my statements to confirm that they have indeed stopped charging them.

- - - Updated - - -

Thats interesting I will have to look up the Tomlin Order as I have never heard of it.
I had asked them to freeze interest and charges and have just checked over my statements to confirm that they have indeed stopped charging them.

[Berniethebolt]

Re: Amigo troubles

You are right about the charging order -I stand corrected however I suspect that they are using normal debt collection bully boy techniques to try and scare you .

[MRSP]

Re: Amigo troubles

Yes you are no doubt right.I always try to stand up for myself but any mention of losing my hard earned asset gives me the collywobbles.
I wish I knew what to do...do I stand firm and say I cant afford any more (I dont think its entirely unreasonable to pay 25% of the monthly payment and take 8 years to pay it off, as they are after all going to receive all their money back).Or do I offer a bit more to keep them quiet...but for how long?
I am hoping that contacting National Debtline will shed some more light.

[Debt Camel]

Re: Amigo troubles

There is a long long way to go before a charging order sorry but it may well prove rather a short journey
1st they have to decide to take you to court This is Amigo - taking guarantors to court is a bread and butter part of their business
2nd They have to win which they will - or at least the poster hasnt suggested anything that constitutes a defence so far
3rd You have to fail to pay or keep up with a repayment arrangement this isn't correct - after 2012 a creditor can get a charging order even if the court ordered monthly repayments are being made
4th They have to return to court which they will
5th The outstanding debt has to be above the threshold for a charging order true, but that is only Ł1,000

.I have other creditors to pay now and so dont want to offer too much in case I cant keep up the payments in future.

There are few worse creditors to deal with than Amigo. I suggest that you need some good debt advice on your whole position - you can't tackle this debt in isolation. Phone National Debtline or StepChange.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Amigo troubles

Thank you for your quick response.
I think I will follow your advice and speak to National Debt Line on how to handle them before it gets any worse.
I have read some information recently from National Debtline online and it appears that the law changed in October 2012, so that following the creditor obtaining a CCJ, they can still apply for a charging order even if you are paying that CCJ.

That is correct, they can easily obtain a charging order for any debt above Ł1,000. ;(

Following this they can apply for An Order For Sale, however the sale will not be granted if the debtor is up to date with the CCJ payments.The order for sale can be granted for debts over Ł1000 (mine is Ł5000)
Still not a nice position to be in having a charge over your hard earned house.

In reality orders for sale are hardly ever granted and many things are taken into account such as whether the property is a family home, etc. and it is possible to attach conditions to the final charging order so that they cannot apply for an order for sale as long as you are making payments, as long as there's a child in the property, etc

Thats interesting I will have to look up the Tomlin Order as I have never heard of it.

A Tomlin order is a type of consent order that stays proceedings as long as you keep to the terms of the order and make the agreed repayments, and it's commonly used to avoid having a CCJ on record. The downside is that it gives them liberty to apply to lift the stay and request summary judgment should you fail to keep up the repayments.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Amigo troubles

As Amigo loans are unsecured loans, it would be up to the judge whether to grant a charging order.

They would obtain a CCJ in the first instance and record an interim charging order with the Land Registry, this doesn't involve a hearing in front of a judge. There will be a hearing to make the charging order final but in practice, it's very difficult to oppose the CO, all you can hope for is to be able to get some conditions attached to it to prevent them applying for an order for sale.

The fact that you seem to have tried to negotiate with them should go in your favour.

For judgments made on or after October 2012, as long as they are over Ł1,000 the creditor can obtain a charging order regardless.

[MRSP]

Re: Amigo troubles

That is correct, they can easily obtain a charging order for any debt above Ł1,000. ;(

In reality orders for sale are hardly ever granted and many things are taken into account such as whether the property is a family home, etc. and it is possible to attach conditions to the final charging order so that they cannot apply for an order for sale as long as you are making payments, as long as there's a child in the property, etc

A Tomlin order is a type of consent order that stays proceedings as long as you keep to the terms of the order and make the agreed repayments, and it's commonly used to avoid having a CCJ on record. The downside is that it gives them liberty to apply to lift the stay and request summary judgment should you fail to keep up the repayments.

Thanks for your reply.It all sounds very bad.
I have already contacted Stepchange but found them very little help at all regarding Amigo.They seemed to be blocking giving any advice on this .The fact that as I subsequently discovered,that they have a board member from Amigo on the panel may explain this.
I do intend to contact National Debtline though.

[Berniethebolt]

Re: Amigo troubles

There are few worse creditors to deal with than Amigo. I suggest that you need some good debt advice on your whole position - you can't tackle this debt in isolation. Phone National Debtline or StepChange.

Debtcamel

Thanks for the correction, you will see that I had already been corrected and accepted my mistake . I couldn't agree more about getting proper advice hence my advising NDL.

Like the OP I never quite trust step change but I couldn't possibly say why , I just don't feel they are as independent as they could be , hence NDL who I have always found to be excellent

[nemesis45]

Re: Amigo troubles

Thanks for your reply.It all sounds very bad.
I have already contacted Stepchange but found them very little help at all regarding Amigo.They seemed to be blocking giving any advice on this .The fact that as I subsequently discovered,that they have a board member from Amigo on the panel may explain this.
I do intend to contact National Debtline though.

I think both NDL and stepchange are sponsored by various companies including debt purchase/collection companies.

nem

[Debt Camel]

Re: Amigo troubles

I have already contacted Stepchange but found them very little help at all regarding Amigo.They seemed to be blocking giving any advice on this .The fact that as I subsequently discovered,that they have a board member from Amigo on the panel may explain this..

I am not suggesting Stepchange as a way of solving your Amigo problem but as a way of looking at your whole debt situation. Was that what you discussed with them? In practice it is likely to be undesirable to carry on paying your other creditors and to pay less to Amigo even if you would like to keep your other creditors happy.