Iffy practice with NIB loan ?

Z

zag

Guest
Recently took out a personal loan with NIB.

All proceedings were very courteous and loan was approved within a few hours or the paper application.

Drew the money down during the week and came across one very questionable aspect.

I had to fill in various forms when drawing down (or at least I was told I had to) including direct debit mandate and a waiver form to the effect that I had chosen not to take their payment protection. I checked each form when signing but obviously couldn't check all the detail of all the forms. The purpose of each form was outlined and I checked (or thought I did) the detail of the form before signing it. I was satisfied that I had turned down their option of payment protection and had made a conciouse decision to turn it down.

I was told that under the Consumer Credit Act I had a 10 day cooling off period - good.

When I got home and went through the paperwork I discovered that I had signed a waiver for the 10 day cooling off period. I am certain that whatever the explanation for the form was, it wasn't put forward as signing away my right to utilise the cooling off period.

I can't even understand why the bank would have this as one of its official forms - what possible benefit can arise to the consumer ? I can't see what benefit can arise to the bank other than to *ensure* that people can't back out which is a right under the Act.

Anyone else notice this when taking out a loan ?

I feel a strong letter to head office coming on.

z

p.s. and maybe a letter to an ombudsman or regulator if I can work out which one might see getting consumers to sign away their rights in exchange for nothing in particular as a bad thing.

p.p.s I accept that I signed the form and should have read it in detail before signing - my error. I don't accept that it was presented in a similar manner as the other forms I had to sign, or that it was a necessary form at all.
 
zag,

Got these links from Marian's list of Useful Links on AAM. Might be worth your while to have a read thru the many links provided there and you might be more familiar yourself with the options provided therein .

From just having a quick look there I would write to Ombudsman for Credit Institutions and have a read of [broken link removed]

Good Luck with your complaint. I reckon I would be fuming myself if it happened to me.
 
I know that if you hadn't signed the waiver, you would have to wait 10 days before the Bank would allow you draw down the loan.
As you have signed it you can still opt out of the loan by paying the money back plus a couple of days interest in your case........so no big deal.
 
NIB

My understanding is a waiver you've signed to something you're legally entitled just wouldn't stand up in court. An analogy might be if you (inadvertently) signed a waiver in a shop to the right to get a refund on faulty goods... if the goods were actually faulty then I don't think any such waiver would stand up in court... especially if it was hidden amongst everything else and not made clear to you.

So if you did want to exercise your cooling off period, then I simply would (probably along the lines Denis suggests, except without interest), and if they throw the waiver in your face, then roar IFSRA, Consumer Association, Ombudsman, Solicitors etc etc. in their face. Poor form from NIB I have to say - I thought they had learnt their lessons.

An analogy might
 
..

The Cooling-off issue is one of the anomalies of the Consumer Credit Act that the regulators had to accept at the time of the legislation. There's an obvious contradiction between the facility of having a period of reflection following a serious financial committment and the capacity to waive that facility at the time of taking on the debt.

The purpose of the waiver is to allow for circumstances where people want to get their hands on the goodies IMMEDIATELY. For practical reasons, it doesn't suit all borrowers to wait ten days. NIB were therfore perfectly within their rights to include the waiver consent on their official documentation but they should have drawn your attention to it specifically and explained the consequences of you signing it. If they didn't do this, you should let IFSRA know. They can raise the matter with NIB on your behalf or, if you don't wish to get personally involved, at least remind them of their obligations to all borrowers in this regard.
 
Re: ..

I think the waiver is to stop people getting the money within hours, spending it and changing the minds within 10 days.

BoI have the same form, BTW.

Sluice
 
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