Hi ,

I am having issues with the flexible loan rates also.

Is there any procedure which you followed to get your conclusion

Santander/Cahoot are not responding to my enquires about the hikes

etc and I would like to pursue my issue in the strongest possible way

Thank you

Update !!
After over a year, following the Cahoots complaint procedure, I have finally wrangled a settlement from them, and received a cheque for almost all the interest payments that were added to my flexible loan account. This settlement was undoubtedly attributable to the intervention of my new best friend, Jessica Gorst-Williams the renowned financial journalist working for the Telegraph newspaper group, many thanks, and to the hard work of the FSO adjudicator who found that the hike in interest rates were beyond the bounds of acceptable practise.

One year in, and recently had an adjudication from the ombudsman go against me, was unable to refer this to the final authority, as the the letter informing me of the decision arrived after the deadline for apeals !. but havent given up - still in correspondance with Adjudicator.

complaint - wasnt aware of the hike in interest rates, and should have been.

Grounds - terms and conditions state - notification of change in interest rates states this must be in writing, (no mention of electronic communication here - or in the glossary/definition list).

i think its fair to say that we have all been shafted by a loan shark company

we have followed the avenue to the ombudsman

some of us are able to use different methods to decrease or clear our

in/flexible loans.

however i feel that we can only keep updating on this forum to communicate

positive or negative outcomes and hopefully help others in avoiding

distress and debt.

who knows maybe with the large amount of correspondeence going

to the ombudsman a goal may be achieved

thank you 

 

 

 

gjf72:

Neill

Cahoot provide a specific code when they issue their final resolution letter. If you complain to Cahoot, they should write to you within a few days and provide you with a letter declining your complaint and referring you either to complain to Abbey or talk to Abbey about rearranging your loan. Their initial complaint investigation is quite prompt.

Cahoot provided me with an address for Abbey in relation to 'stage 2 complaints' (escalated complaints), which was incorrect i.e. My two subsequent letters were ignored and not responded to at all.

I ended up writing to the Abbey complaints address on the Abbey website referring to my previous Cahoot complaint. It took almost 6 months from start to finish for Abbey to provide a 'Stage 2' final resolution letter.

If you need to transfer more of your flex loan across, it might be worth you obtaining a code, although given their responses so far I would imagine the rate offered would only be a small discount.

Hope that helps. I would complain irrespective of the outcome. It will cost Cahoot and Abbey more money, just as their rate increases have cost consumers more. 

 

Thanks for that. Seems like a lot of hard work, meanwhile cahoot earn 19.9% over 6 months.

The reason i mentioned the 'code' was to try and establish which is the correct 'code' to have in order to get the best deal. Also, in the event people going to Abbey, it should be born in mind that you will probably get the 19.9% 'offer'.   I would imagine it is extremely unlikely you will accept and as a negative you will have an extra credit check on your file. So why bother?

I would suggest that people should try and use balance transfers from credit cards as a priority. Don't get mad, get even and/or out! Try MBNA credit cards before abbey would be my advice. It took me one phonecall to  arrange transfer and make large savings. trying barclaycard now. MINT is also an option i think.

Good luck

 

Of the 6 TCF outcomes per the FSA site, I can see potential outcomes for which Abbey/Cahoot  do not appear to have been reasonable toward consumers in this particular case.  These statements are likely to encompass 'an overall picture' of the situation, rather than just the specifics or technical aspects of a case in my opinion.Outcome 1: Consumers can be confident that they are dealing with firms where the fair treatment of customers is central to the corporate culture;My experience shows that outcome 1 has certainly not been adhered to in my particular case. Also aspects of Outcome 5 and 6 are questionable.The loan conditions for the Cahoot Flexible Loan allow the company to change the interest rate as and when and for almost any 'business' reason.

Neill

Cahoot provide a specific code when they issue their final resolution letter. If you complain to Cahoot, they should write to you within a few days and provide you with a letter declining your complaint and referring you either to complain to Abbey or talk to Abbey about rearranging your loan. Their initial complaint investigation is quite prompt.

Cahoot provided me with an address for Abbey in relation to 'stage 2 complaints' (escalated complaints), which was incorrect i.e. My two subsequent letters were ignored and not responded to at all.

I ended up writing to the Abbey complaints address on the Abbey website referring to my previous Cahoot complaint. It took almost 6 months from start to finish for Abbey to provide a 'Stage 2' final resolution letter.

If you need to transfer more of your flex loan across, it might be worth you obtaining a code, although given their responses so far I would imagine the rate offered would only be a small discount.

Hope that helps. I would complain irrespective of the outcome. It will cost Cahoot and Abbey more money, just as their rate increases have cost consumers more. 

You're quite correct - of course TCF does not mean you cannot put rates up - Cahoot / Abbey / Santander are doing nothing illegal.

TCF does mean communications should be "clear, fair and not misleading". I would suggest that Cahoots communications are anything but.

Whether treating customers cynically, if not to say unethically, falls within the FSA's principles based TCF remains to be seen.

Cahoot give no notice of interest rate hikes or changes in facility - what's really infuriating is the fact that they never reply to correspondence.  

However much you regulate, there'll always be sharks.

Iian

 

 

Gareth

 

you need to be careful when talking about FSA princples without qualifying or even fully understanding them. TCF does not mean that you cannot put rates up. You are treating customers fairly by giving notice of the change, clearly labelling the APR, treating all customers equally, not impeding people who wish to refinance elswhere etc. The rate you charge has nothing to do with TCF and it is irresponsible of you to imply this given your 'professional' standing

 

Cerbius

Good luck with ombudsman folks

Have managed to get £3000 of my flexible balance transfered to a virgin cc. 15 months interest free. Saved myself best part of £600 over period. Hopefully virgin will increase my limit and i can do a bit more!

2 reasons for posting. Firstly, it seems that cahoot offer varying rates to people.. Mine is 19.9% and my limit is £9000.

More importantly. I went down the abbey personal loan route to try and clear the flexible loan. After sickening sales talk tring to flog me overpriced loan insurance i was offered , yep u guessed, 19.9%. Strangely they seemed quite keen to give me the loan. I declined. However whilst suffering the sales pitch(sorry, I mean loan application interview) I was asked if I had been given a 'code' by Cahoot. I was wondering if anyone had any idea as to the significance of the 'code'.?

neill

 

       

 

Thanks for your reply!

As far as I can see the Financial Ombudsman Service can deal with complaints about the banking sector and I assume this covers personal loans.

Another thing I've checked since my last post is the case fee that firms have to pay if the Ombudsman decides to investigate further. It is now £400 per case.  Therefore, if everyone who has received a final 'resolution' letter from Abbey takes their complaint to the Ombudsman it should cost Cahoot/Abbey a lot of money.

The other thing the Ombudsman service does not like is a large proportion of complaints from firms being referred to the Ombudsman service.  Historically, Abbey have had high percentages of referrals to the Ombudsman.

Therefore, the more people take their complaint further, the more beneficial it will be to consumers.

I am also going to write to the Financial Services Authority to notify them of this practice. Essentially, Abbey/Cahoot have reeled in customers and then held them to ransom.

Not everyone may be in a position to move loans elsewhere i.e. change of circumstances, number of recent loan applications affecting credit rating and also, what we are currently seeing in the banking sector...a tightening of the issue of credit agreements. The latter point is in the most part, due to the banks mishandling the amount of lending and in this particular case Abbey are effectively charging us to make up for their business mis-management.

like some other people i too have gone as far as the financial ombudsman service

and if it costs cahoot,if it makes the ombudsman aware of their practice and if it

makes individuals aware of their loan sharking then at least a positive gain is achieved

if not a financial one

thank you 

GO VERY CAREFUL!  As noted above others have had similar experiences. Basically Cahoot reel customers in with a low APR advertised. This is not an introductory rate but what appears to be ongoing.  My rate increased from 6.9% to 14.9% in one swoop!!! An effective increase of 216% on the cost of borrowing.

The terms and conditions allow them to increase the rate for almost any business reason.

I complained to Cahoot on May 2007. I escalated the complaint to Abbey. I had to write 3 letters before they acknowledged my complaint. All attempts to state how unfair this was have been ignored.

Considering the moto "treating customers fairly" as bounded around by the FSA, what I have encountered is Abbey/Cahoot reeling customers in with attractive rates before applying massive hikes on APR rates!

This is very similar to practices of 'loan sharks', by one of the largest banks!  I have over 5 years complaint handling experience within financial services including Abbey contracts and I rarely get caught out. However, this time Abbey have really hit me below the belt and a whole lot of other customers no doubt.

I am now complaining to the Ombudsman.  Failing that a letter to the FSA. At least by complaining to the Ombudsman Abbey will have to pay £300 in a fee towards the investigation if the Ombudsman service are able to look at such loans. I myself am not certain of this as have been dealing with different products.

Please be very careful! Use a reputable company like Nationwide or take a fixed rate loan.

Since the hike I was made redundant and subsequently now self employed for less than a year so any chance of me obtaining a decent rate are narrow, but if anyone has any suggestions, I'd be happy to hear from you.

 

yeh they are definite loan sharks,

as i have said before we are paying for defaulters,and bad management practise.

i am now at the ombudsman level hope other people follow suit 

Cahoot owned by Abbey National is dreadful

1) the loan you get is invariably at a higher interest rate than you thought.

2) the rate is increased at no notice. I am currently on 21% from 11% never having missed a payment.

3) reduced my facility to £5000 from £13000 with no  notice.

4) They never reply.

Cahoot - don't.