GE Money harrassing me over two months' arrears

Hi - I currently have a loan with GE - theire repayment is 288.22 pm... however at the start of the year, Feb/March my husband was ill and ended up in hospital (mild heart attack), therefore no money was coming from him, (self employed) and bills mounted up.. 1 was GE... 2 months lapsed and i contacted them to advise of the situation and they basically told me in no uncertain terms pay up or else...Now I thought they could have been a bit more understanding - I offered to pay a small amt off loan and continue to pay in the 3rd month with regular amt and extra to pay o/s .... they didnt want to know...
Anyway - i cleared the o/s amounts but am now back to square 1 again, where there are 2 months o/s and i have to ring them to ask (grovel & beg) can I pay small amount even the interest until I get back on track...
My question is - Can they honestly refuse some kind of payment... I thought if you offered payment, no matter how small, it should help?
Am I wrong? I am not looking for sympathy on my situation but just sound advise to deal with them?
Thanks

Re: GE Money

Most lenders are fairly flexible and I am surprised that GE is not being flexible given that you have approached them. I think that they are bound by a Code of Practice towards people in arrears. Ring the Financial Regulator to find out.

You might have a chat with your local MABS office who would be dealing with all the lenders all the time and would know their form.

Brendan

Re: GE Money

In relation to codes of conduct/practice is this any use?

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Re: GE Money

I just had a look at GE's website - they are not regulated by IFSRA, or do not appear to be.

Re: GE Money

if they are not regulated what does that mean.... they can do what they want and keep harrassing me over this?

Re: GE Money

According to this they may not be regulated by IFSRA but they are authorised to conduct business here.

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Perhaps they are regulated by French authorities? Like the way Rabo are authorised to conduct business here but are regulated by the Dutch Central Bank?

Can you clarify one thing for me - once you got into arrears and then cleared them they are insisting that you pay the balance in full and not on any repayment schedule different to the original loan agreement? Or they want you to meet the normal repayments and not just a smaller amount (even interest)? What do the terms & conditions of the loan agreement say about getting into arrears or otherwise breaching the agreement? On the face of it I don't see how this is harassment but rather them enforcing the agreed deal. On the other hand one might expect them to be a bit more flexible (possibly at an additional cost to you though) and it would be worth checking with MABs etc. as mentioned above.

Re: GE Money

Any chance it is a [broken link removed], which should, in theory, give you flexibilty with regard to payments.

You may want to talk to MABS (www.mabs.ie) and see if they will negotiate on your behalf.

Re: GE Money

GE do a lot of sub prime lending and are not known for their customer service skills with those in arrears.

MABS is a great idea , meantime Violet try to pay them something every month like if the repayment is €288 but the interest part is €50 a month then pay them the €50 only. This means the loan is not growing in size .

Re: GE Money

Back in Feb March I was 2 months in arrears - when I asked them at that time to pay something towards the loan they requested the 2 months in full within a week or they would be requesting the full amount of the loan. I borrowed the 2 months and gave it to them within the week.

Now I have 2 months arrears again, and I am being called on the phone, the letters are every second day. However they have stopped calling me at work!!!!!

Re: GE Money

Ask them if they are prepared to restructure the loan over a longer term - would mean you would pay more interest in long term but smaller amount each month.

Do you have an credit union relationship where you might be able to get a loan?

Re: GE Money

Violet Rose said:

Now I have 2 months arrears again, and I am being called on the phone, the letters are every second day. However they have stopped calling me at work!!!!!

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I sympathise with your situation but to be fair to them they are just trying to collect what is rightly theirs. If they were calling you at work then chances are you agreed to this by signing terms & conditions that allowed them to contact you there or anywhere else. If not then complain to them and/or IFSRA (if relevant!).

Re: GE Money

will give them a call now - let you know how I can get on.... God I hate this part - feel sick

Re: GE Money

Hi Violet Rose

I would contact MABS before talking to GE Money. This should not be making you feel sick.

I would also contact the Financial Regulator. GE Money is not authorised by them, but they will advise you as you are a consumer of financial services.

You are protected by the Consumer Credit Act, which stops them from ringing you at work if you have not given them specific permission to do so.

They are also subject to the Ombudsman for Financial Institutions to whom you can complain if they are treating you badly.

But your first stop must be MABS who can explain all this a lot better.

Brendan

You should definitely contact MABS!! As I understand it, you allowed 2 payments (2months) to slip by without contacting them. When they contacted you, you asked if you could pay lesser sum and request was denied. It appears that you then let a further 2 months pass without paying and without contact. Personally I would have paid them the interest, if nothing else, while I tried to negotiate terms. I know this is easier said than done when in your position at the moment. It's always a bad idea to ignore debt. Unfortunately, GE Money are in the right here, they may not be nice, but they have the upper hand at the moment. If you do nothing else today, contact MABS and at least take some of the strain off yourself and your husband. Good Luck.

Re: GE Money

Brendan said:

You are protected by the Consumer Credit Act, which stops them from ringing you at work if you have not given them specific permission to do so.

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Many credit agreements now contain terms & conditions that allow the lender to do this. Many people don't bother to read the terms & conditions of loan agreements though.

Re: GE Money harrassing me too

GE Money loans should carry a warning about customer service. I have a car loan (not the flexible one). When I saw the ad for the flexible loan I wrote to them and kindly asked could I have two months off for a very good reason, which I won't go into - hey it's not as if I asked them to write off the repayments.

They wrote back to me saying that I was too much of a risk and they would be declining my request. My repayments are less than 200 euro a month.

Then I got a phonecall a few days later asking me did I want a new loan, I explained that I was looking for a holiday/payment break on my loan and asked to speak to a manager as I felt their approach was a cold call and in breach of the code of conduct (I’m wasn’t sure about that). The “manager” told me that I should put my complaint in writing and when I told her that I would be copying the letter to the Regulator she told me that it would and I quote ”probably be easier for GE to call in the full loan to be repaid in full within x number of days then”.

GE Money next time I’ll be staying well clear and advising anyone I know that if they can’t get a loan anywhere go to an old fashioned “money lender” before they go to GE Money.

Re: GE Money harrassing me too

davidoco said:

GE Money loans should carry a warning about customer service. I have a car loan (not the flexible one). When I saw the ad for the flexible loan I wrote to them and kindly asked could I have two months off for a very good reason, which I won't go into - hey it's not as if I asked them to write off the repayments.

They wrote back to me saying that I was too much of a risk and they would be declining my request. My repayments are less than 200 euro a month.

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What do the terms & conditions of the loan agreement say about the "flexibility" of such flexible loans?

go to an old fashioned “money lender” before they go to GE Money.

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Whatever about problems that people might have with GE I very much doubt that this is good/prudent advice to be honest.

Re: GE Money harrassing me too

davidoco said:

Then I got a phonecall a few days later asking me did I want a new loan, I explained that I was looking for a holiday/payment break on my loan and asked to speak to a manager as I felt their approach was a cold call and in breach of the code of conduct (I’m wasn’t sure about that). The “manager” told me that I should put my complaint in writing and when I told her that I would be copying the letter to the Regulator she told me that it would and I quote ”probably be easier for GE to call in the full loan to be repaid in full within x number of days then”.

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The "manager" should have told you that there would be little point in you complaining to the Regulator because GE are not regulated!

In any case, that does seem a little heavy-handed but I suppose they are under no obligation to give payment breaks.

I know this sounds a bit obvious but have you checked whather you have payment protection on the loan. Even if your husband is self employed and wouldn't be covered for loss of employment i'd be very surprised if they hadn't tried to sell him one for illness cover.

Re: GE Money harrassing me too

moneyhoney said:

but I suppose they are under no obligation to give payment breaks.

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Once again it depends - on the terms & conditions of the loan agreement.