Coast now chasing ex Welcome Finance Debt

[hard to guess]

Hi!

After reading the forum I've decided this looks like the place to reach out for help!

I had a secured loan many years ago with WFS - no payments have been made for many years now due to past financial difficulties. The entry for WFS has also gone now from my credit file, as more than 6 years since it defaulted I guess?

Have not heard a peep from anyone until a few days ago when I received a threatening letter from "Coast" who are suggesting they will take legal action to push for repossession.

Diana Mayhew I will email over any further details, including the letter I received from Coast.

[Joanna Connolly Solicitors]

I had a secured loan many years ago with WFS - no payments have been made for many years now due to past financial difficulties. The entry for WFS has also gone now from my credit file, as more than 6 years since it defaulted I guess?

Have not heard a peep from anyone until a few days ago when I received a threatening letter from "Coast" who are suggesting they will take legal action to push for repossession.

Diana Mayhew I will email over any further details, including the letter I received from Coast.

You are not alone.

Coast have issued possession claims - I have one on my desk right now.

Coast are based in Luxembourg (different legal jurisdiction) and are not authorised by the FCA so may not lawfully issue proceedings as explained by Jo here >

On 24 April 2019 I was successful in a consumer credit claim appeal. The Claimant debt purchaser admitted they were not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority but said they could rely on the S.55 FSMA 2000 exemption because they had a valid servicing agreement in place with an affiliated 3rd party who was authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority.

It was accepted by both parties on the facts of the case that there was a valid servicing agreement in place. The issue was could the Claimant debt purchaser rely on the S.55 Exemption to issue proceedings in the county court.

The Circuit Judge held as a general principle of law that the Claimant debt purchaser was not able to rely on the FCA authorisation of an affiliated 3rd party (and the exemption under s.55 FSMA) for the purpose of bringing a claim. The agreement was unenforceable, and the order of the court below was set aside, and the Claim dismissed

Di

[hard to guess]

You are not alone.

Coast have issued possession claims - I have one on my desk right now.

Coast are based in Luxembourg (different legal jurisdiction) and are not authorised by the FCA so may not lawfully issue proceedings as explained by Jo here >




Di

This is great to read! I was suspicious when I saw Luxembourg mentioned on the footer of the letter, so glad I checked by here now.

So I would expect it is now safe to let this run its course and see what they try next? If I receive anything further from them I will send it straight over and also update here with a summary of what has been received.

Thank you!

[Joanna Connolly]

Was this what is known as a first charge loan or a second charge loan? In other words did you have a mortgage with another provider in place first and then took this loan out at a later date?

[hard to guess]

Was this what is known as a first charge loan or a second charge loan? In other words did you have a mortgage with another provider in place first and then took this loan out at a later date?

Hey, it was a second charge loan. I already had my main mortgage on the property, this was taken out as a secured loan at a later date.

[Joanna Connolly Solicitors]

So I would expect it is now safe to let this run its course and see what they try next? If I receive anything further from them I will send it straight over and also update here with a summary of what has been received.

I have received the documents which you sent

Don't take your eye off the ball at this stage.

Di

[Looboo500]

Hello! I have found your posts very interesting.

Very similar story WFS taken out very stupidly in 2005, I maintained payments for quite some years but usual story money tightened up and I paid minimal amount until they stopped hassling and all went very quiet.
the odd thing is..

It was a second charge secured against my then house which got repossessed in 2011 and nothing.was ever chased and all got quiet, there were no surplus funds to pay the WFS loan I'm afraid so they wouldnt have had anything.

I applied for PPI and it has been confirmed recently that I had it but not with welcome... but with bright finance who i believe Welcome used?? First time i have ever ever heard of bright...

Well anyway, i suppose any money awarded would go to coast??

I have had a field agent at my door who I have ignored.

I'm at a loss really, I can afford a minimal amount to pay them but really I'm dubious

They have no website?? I dont think

And I'm not keen to pay a loan that is so old and no longer secured which they dont even know about... they think it's still secured...

any thoughts would be appreciated

Thank you x

[Joanna Connolly Solicitors]

Hello! I have found your posts very interesting.

Very similar story WFS taken out very stupidly in 2005, I maintained payments for quite some years but usual story money tightened up and I paid minimal amount until they stopped hassling and all went very quiet.
the odd thing is..

It was a second charge secured against my then house which got repossessed in 2011 and nothing.was ever chased and all got quiet, there were no surplus funds to pay the WFS loan I'm afraid so they wouldnt have had anything.

I applied for PPI and it has been confirmed recently that I had it but not with welcome... but with bright finance who i believe Welcome used?? First time i have ever ever heard of bright...

Well anyway, i suppose any money awarded would go to coast??

I have had a field agent at my door who I have ignored.

I'm at a loss really, I can afford a minimal amount to pay them but really I'm dubious

They have no website?? I dont think

And I'm not keen to pay a loan that is so old and no longer secured which they dont even know about... they think it's still secured...

any thoughts would be appreciated

Thank you x

Hello

I'll respond to your post tomorrow.

Di

[Looboo500]

I appreciate that Di, thanks for replying on an evening

[Joanna Connolly Solicitors]

I appreciate that Di, thanks for replying on an evening

You're welcome

Di

[Joanna Connolly Solicitors]

WFS taken out very stupidly in 2005, I maintained payments for quite some years but usual story money tightened up and I paid minimal amount until they stopped hassling and all went very quiet.
the odd thing is..

It was a second charge secured against my then house which got repossessed in 2011 and nothing.was ever chased and all got quiet, there were no surplus funds to pay the WFS loan I'm afraid so they wouldnt have had anything.

. . . . Well anyway, i suppose any money awarded would go to coast??

I have had a field agent at my door who I have ignored.

. . . . And I'm not keen to pay a loan that is so old and no longer secured which they dont even know about... they think it's still secured...

I'm back again

I'm sorry to hear you had your home repossessed, you understandably don't want to open up that old wound.

Let me tackle the mortgage (secured loan) shortfall first before addressing the PPI issue, even though they are potentially linked.

Do/did you have a copy of the charges register from the Land Registry to confirm whether the original secured Welcome Loan was provided by Progressive Financial Services T/A Welcome Finance or was the loan provider Welcome Financial Services Ltd which were two different companies?

It matters because each one went in a different direction (liquidated/dissolved/survived etc) so that is likely to impact on what has happened to your unpaid loan balance since. How much is the outstanding balance?

What makes you say "they" (whoever they are) don't know about the loan shortfall following repossession?

Do you know if the original loan has subsequently been assigned to Coast Finance Solutions Sarl (I think that's what you are implying), or who sent the Field Agent to your current home? There appears to have been many assignments to Coast around April 2018.

Was it a joint loan or in your sole name?

Do you own your own home now (perhaps with a mortgage) or are you renting etc?

That's probably enough questions for one day, but it's important for me to get the facts straight before making any suggestions as to your next step, in case sticking your head above the parapet attracts unwanted interest!

Di

[Looboo500]

Hi Di, thanks again ?

Ok so..

My mortgage was with Northern Rock, house got repossessed and there was a shortfall of 19k so I have a payment arrangement with them.

The second charge for the loan was with welcome finance and the original loans was for 13k in 2005 and they stopped pestering me around about 2014 well after the house was repossessed.

Nothing at until recently that coast financial sarl have the loan and my home (the one that was repossesed) was at risk... well that went years ago.
they say I still owe about 16k.

They have field agents from excell that appear to work on their behalf.

The PPU claim i only did about 6 months ago and that has been confirmed i was sold it and could be thousands back but was sold through a Bright Finance... who I never have had dealings with but had some linked as it transpires to welcome finance many years ago.

As for a charge on the property, never saw one ever.

I really not trying to be unrealistic seem like paying out any more money seems pointless.

I maintain my northern payments and that's ok.

I'd like to offer a one off sum really to Coast if they would accept.

Oh also to add.. the loan doesnt show on my credit file anywhere

Thanks again

X

[Joanna Connolly Solicitors]

Okay, I'll digest that overnight (again).

Bright Finance were a broker/packager for Welcome which went out of business in April 2010.

However PPI claims may be able to be processed through the Financial Services Compensation Scheme where you'll see the 29th August 2019 deadline does not apply > https://www.fscs.org.uk/failed-firms/bright/

However, let's get to the bottom of the WF secured loan shortfall with Coast before you change anything.

Who did you approach to make your PPI reclaim?

Di

[Looboo500]

Of course, not a problem.

I am ignoring the field officer, I dont really need to speak to him in my opinion.

I dont own another house, the PPI claim was confirmed about 4 weeks ago with a claims company and they have sent it off to FCS seeing as Bright/welcome are no longer trading.

I did at one point make regular payments to welcome but when they stopped sending me statements and not answering their calls, obviously I took the low ground and waited for them to contact however.. 5 years later seems a bit wasted now.

In my head to shut them up I could probably get togther 4-5k off my dad and make them a 1 off offer seeing as they more than likely bought the loan for £20 ??

Or I'm tempted to ignore them, they just seem very dodgy, I understand why they are registered in Luxumberg but still.

I dont want to throw what good money I have to a bad decision I made many years ago.

NortherN rock have been good, they accept a low payment and although I'll likely never pay it off given the amount at least it keeps them happy.

These guys just anger me because when I took that welcome loan out.. I had about £10 in my bank, no affordability but happy to throw a large amount at me so I could do the house up that I had bought, it seemed attractive at the time.

Life is a lesson......

[Joanna Connolly Solicitors]

I did at one point make regular payments to welcome but when they stopped sending me statements and not answering their calls, obviously I took the low ground and waited for them to contact however.. 5 years later seems a bit wasted now.

. . . . NortherN rock have been good, they accept a low payment and although I'll likely never pay it off given the amount at least it keeps them happy.

Was it a Northern Rock Together mortgage (part secured and an unsecured loan running in tandem)?

It's crucial to discover the exact name of lender for the original Welcome loan. Contact Land Registry to get the historical charge details.

Did you receive a Notice of Assignment from Welcome informing you of the date of any assignment from them to Coast, and/or one from Coast about purchasing the debt, or any correspondence from Coast before the field agent called at your home?

I understand why you are feeling angry about Coast but offering them money to go away may not be the solution, at least not until you establish whether they can lawfully claim any money from you.

Di