Dodgy loan company taking my mums money - help!

[Bloodymoney]

Had a tearful call from mum today. Shes poorly with fibro and getting confused easily at the moment.

She was looking online at car finance, something called little loan company. She has put in her details to be allowed to see loans and they are persistently sums of money from her account, which she just hasnt got. Its left her really skint.

Obviously its a dodgy company on some level, but i suspect in the t&c there will be something about admin costs etc.

Her bank are being crap - wont even stop the direct debit that mustve been set up!

Can anyone give me a plan of action i can try to get her money back, any avenues of recourse, legislation etc?

Many thanks.

sorry, your OP isn't clear - has she actually loaned money from this company? If so, when and how much?

She can cancel the direct debits - does she have online banking, you can cancel it from there. You also need to see any paperwork relating to this company and what she's signed up to so you can see the T&Cs.

she must have done more than put in details online to be allowed to see loans unless its criminal activity and a fake website. If it is then she needs to speak to the bank (or enable you to do it on her behalf and report that its criminal activity.

And the bank will always cancel a direct debit if instructed to do so, so somethings not right.

She hasnt actually had a loan.

I spoke to consumer direct just there and they explained that shes signed up to a broker who will sell on her details, and each company will charge her to see if she can have a loan from them. basically i need to close her bank account and get her another one, because the bank wont be able to stop this activity. They said she should be able to get her money back but it looks like im going to be sitting writing quite a few letters.

if that's right I'm shocked.

if it is a continual payment which is being taken from her bank, then her bank can and will stop the payment. She may well have to be quite forceful about this, but they should be able to refund her too.

I have heard of this. Because each payment is coming from a different source it's not as easy as cancelling a DD.

Get her bank account closed down, get her another opened and maybe get some sort of power of a tourney if she is easily confused to avoid her being a victim of this sort of thing again.

I couldnt believe it either atticus. The bank have basically washed their hands of it, as she put the details in.

A power of attorney does sound like a good idea. Its very easy to do now whilst she has mental capacity but very much harder once that goes. I would be getting that sorted out as a priority.

Try cancelling her bank cards as soon as possible. It could be that they are taking the money using those rather than having a direct debit, i had to do it with a payday loan company once. It may not help her get money back but it could stop them taking any more.

Hope your mum is ok and you get something sorted.

I've had experience with this within the last couple of weeks.
I called my bank and asked for a charge back. I told them that I had not signed any agreement for funds to be debited from my account or signed up with a broker. I said that I'd looked through my browser history and had not been on their website.
I had to argue with the bank and be persistent but eventually they did give me a charge back and contacted the company who swiftly refunded them.
The whole set up is a scam.
They set up a page to look like your applying for a payday loan. They then make multiple attempts to debit different amounts from your bank until they hit upon an amount they can get.
You then contact them and they say that they'll give you a refund if you follow a lengthy procedure. They charge you for every day your 'membership' is open, so by the time you've followed their procedure they only offer to give you half of your funds back.
They have absolutely no clients who genuinely use them as a broker service, they make their money solely from this type of exploitation.
The Financial Ombudsmen have only just started to regulate broker services, so they will still only have interim permission to operate.
Contact the bank for charge backs and be persistent. Contact the FO to report them and I'd even contact your MP to bring the company to their attention.

Its not really a capacity issue - its more of being crap on the internet. Shes genuinely shocked that a company would do this
Ive talked to her time and time again about you don't just click the first link etc, don't put details in etc, but shes obviously not told me about this until the money started going so i don't start asking why she needs a loan etc.

It is the absolute lowest of the low, they set out to exploit people who are financially vulnerable and desperate.

It will be a card payment not a DD. Get the card cancelled asap.

www.little-loans.com/home/index.php?

This is the outfit

so contact the bank and be forceful about a chargeback and refund?

Trying to find a contact number for them is proving impossible.

Im really shocked to see all the companies coming up on google... Topping the lot has to be Silly Little Loans. This is how people get in a right mess isnt it?

Don't allow the bank to wash their hands of it.
Make sure you are persistant. Ask how many attempts have been made by these companies to debit money from her account, including amounts etc. If there have been multiple attempts for varying amounts then tell the bank that you feel that your Mum should have been alerted to that activity and that you feel that they have failed in their duty to protect your Mums money.
Keep at them, keep asking for your query to be escalated, don't take no for an answer.

I work in local government and issue crisis grants. You would not believe the amount of people on benefit who get sucked in by these companies every week. They prey on the vulnerable and they keep trying to take the various fees until they get lucky. Every 2 weeks. Banks seem unable to help as person has willingly given their details. Usually people give up as they have to changed banks and reclaim in writing. It's absolutely shameful.

I wouldn't bother speaking to the company, they take the exact call you're going to make countless times per day.
This is how they make their money, they know the ins and outs of the legislation because they're operating on the very edge of it. Nothing that you can threaten will prompt them to refund you.
Persist with the bank.

Im really grateful for your input everyone, got a massive list of things here. Got my mum coming over so i will get started shortly on sorting this mess out.

Sorry for persistent posts, this just makes me so mad! I really hope your Mum gets something back.
When I contacted the Financial Ombudsmen they were able to give me the full name and contact details of the owner of the company - try that.

The bank should be doing more too now that it has been raised as an issue. Feel free to name and shame.

your poor Mum - I really hope you get it sorted. I would be forceful with bank and say ombudsman on the phone too. It isn't your Mum's fault is it.

It's a terrible thing these companies do, however unfortunately it's not yet regulated and your mum has (clearly accidentally) agreed to the terms and conditions so the power the bank has is very limited in terms of recourse.

Are the payments coming out as direct debits or POS? Was it her bank details or her card number that she gave? This will determine the best course of action from here.

It was both, rockchick!

Weve got her a new account opened at another bank. Her current bank refuses to stop the cards so weve no choice. No money due in or out for a few weeks but shes £200 down at this stage.