Close Brothers

I have come across Close Brothers twice where they have backed the finance on insurance and on a Home Information pack. In both cases I did not realise the front company were using a finance company till after I'd arranged the product.

I think they are pretty disgraceful. For setting up a direct debit payment plan of 10 monthly payments to pay a house insurance properties they threatened charges of £12 if the application was returned ...
...felt that I'd inadvertently come close to letting a loan shark through the door.

Immediately I cancelled and told my insurance company I thought they were a bunch of cr**ks. The person on the call centre said I was not the first with that opinion.

In future, if offered monthly payment terms for a product, I will first ask whether they are using a separate finance company, and decline if they are.  ... more

I have come across Close Brothers twice where they have backed the finance on insurance and on a Home Information pack. In both cases I did not realise the front company were using a finance company till after I'd arranged the product.

I think they are pretty disgraceful. For setting up a direct debit payment plan of 10 monthly payments to pay a house insurance properties they threatened charges of £12 if the application was returned later than 14 days, £30 for a missed payment and they even said they would charge administrative charges if I called them to query anything.

Franky, for someone who avoids debt, pays of credit cards every month and was merely looking for a convenient way to spread payment of an insurance policy, I felt that I'd inadvertently come close to letting a loan shark through the door.

Immediately I cancelled and told my insurance company I thought they were a bunch of cr**ks. The person on the call centre said I was not the first with that opinion.

In future, if offered monthly payment terms for a product, I will first ask whether they are using a separate finance company, and decline if they are. 

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