Log Book Loans..... BEWARE!

Please be aware that this company are charging you a whopping 450% interest.

Your car is "SOLD" to them via a "bill of sale" and is not protected by UK law.

They are totally unscrupulous and will not hesitate to take and sell your car in the event that you default on payments to them. They will also quote your repayment terms in weekly amounts so beware if they tell you that your repayments for that £1500 loan is £32 because that is the "WEEKLY" amount. There is tons of stuff on the web about them and a growing army of people who have lost there vehicles to them.

Check the forums and Google them to see what is being said.

They prey on the weakest members of society who can't get credit and then pounce when the victims fail to repay their exorbitant repayment fees.

They will also have you sign your "agreement" in a so called Bona Fide business premises like a loan shop or cash converter high street shop in order to legalize the paperwork which they will then have "witnessed" by the shop owner or manager who is only too willing to agree since he is paid commission on every deal done.

I even know personally of people, (victims), that have had the paperwork signed in public car parks therefore rendering the agreements null and void and they, (Log Book Loans), have still had the victims car lifted by collection agencies.

Log Book Loans have been reported to various official bodies including consumer credit agencies who seem powerless to prevent them ripping people off.

As of May 2009 there is an enquiry going on by a well known television program which should make quite entertaining viewing when finally released.

DO NOT GO NEAR THIS COMPANY UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.

The report below was published in the Sunday Mail newspaper. The original report can be read HERE. and there is another report HERE.

There are many many complaints regarding this company too numerous to publish here but like it says above Goggle them and look for the countless innocent victims of this legal scam.

I would urge every disgruntled, ripped off victim of this bunch of bandits to blog them to death and name their company directors. The web is a wonderful place and they,(Log book Loans), depend on their online business too: they even have a blog expounding the virtues of their services but they are only one and we are many.

The great thing about the blog and especially Blogger is that it is huge, (web wise), and is picked up readily by web spiders and therefore search engines.

The ranking of Google items can't be ignored by companies wishing to capture business via the web, (essential these days), which is one of the reasons Log Book Loans have a "Pay per click" advertising campaign with Google Ad-sense.

Never mind the forums.....they are useless and your voices will go unheard.

Create a Blog and headline it "Log Book Loans" this is important as this title in the blog header will be picked up by the search engine spiders which will rank the webpage.

The more blogs: the more powerful a message will be sent to this pirate company to change it's ways.

Even if they change their company name all that has to be done is add the new name to your already existing blog and that name too will be instantly associated with Log Book Loans.

One other thing to do too is to mention any so called "Bona Fide" business premises that they piggy back from in order to validate their contracts. Those are the business premises used by Log Book Loans when you sign on the dotted line.

Cash Generator is one such business and actually advertises Log Book Loans on it's site HERE

Notice the lack of transparency regarding the 450%APR of Log Book Loans on this site.

Cash Generator is a franchise business and in my opinion would do itself a favour by getting out of bed with this particular business partner as it's reputation can only do it great harm in the long run.

It's plain to see that after having named those companies too and then emailed them to let them know what you have done in the naming and shaming of them that they will in very short course of time end their "business relationship" with this company for fear of a less than favorable online reputation. Hit them where you know it will hurt: in their bank accounts.

Lets do it and see how they like the kind of punishment they deal out to hundreds of individuals on a daily basis.

When enough victims have taken the time to do this then Log Book Loans will be brought to it's knees as far as it's online business is concerned and it will cost them a lot of money without a shred of doubt.

Every search for their name will show up with complaint after complaint after complaint.

Blog them and let them feel the power of their victims whose voices they thought they would never hear.

The Logbook Loans Scandal

Nov 11 2007 Additional Reporting By Lynn Mcpherson

Firm Charge You 343% In Interest Fail To Pay And They Will Seize Car The Judge Special

A GREEDY loans company who use hard-up customers' cars as security charge an incredible 343 per cent interest per year.

Logbook Loans target the most vulnerable by promising up to £50,000 cash in 24 hours without any personal credit checks.

But the firm charge exorbitant rates of interest and customers who default on payments have their vehicle seized.

They demand clients hand over their service logbook - without which the car cannot be sold - until the debt is paid.

One angry customer says he had three cars seized despite them not being tied to a loan - and later spotted one of his vehicles for sale on eBay.

A Scots MP last night branded the firm immoral after complaints from constituents in Dumfries and Galloway.

Russell Brown said: "This firm specifically target people with bad credit ratings so they can charge an astronomical rate of interest.

"If you default they will come and seize your car. It's immoral. They are preying on the vulnerable."

Logbook's directors include former Hamilton Accies player Iain Shearer, 58.

The firm - who have dozens of franchises up and down the country - list their typical APR as 343.4 per cent.

This means a £1500 loan paid at £53.80 a week over 58 weeks could cost £3120.40.

If someone defaults on a payment they are hit with late payment charges and added interest on the arrears can quickly spiral out of control.

The company have also been criticised for the harassment tactics of the Gemini debt collection agency they use.

Logbook, who are licensed through the Office of Fair Trading, have been probed over contracts.

Clients have also complained that cars were sold before they had a chance to pay their dues. The OFT are looking into claims against them.

In Scotland it is illegal to seize a vehicle without a court order and notifying the consumer.

But Logbook get round this by using a bill of sale or sale agreement contract, an old legal document dating back to Victorian times.

It states that the goods belong to the company until the loan is paid off in full. If it is not, they can seize the car.

Consumer law specialist Andrew Leakey is launching a group action against the firm for around a dozen clients.

Leakey said: "Logbook Loans' bill of sale means the usual protection that the Consumer Credit Act provides - that cars cannot be seized without a court order - is removed. With an ordinary HP agreement you would need a court's permission to seize a car."

Alex Robertson, of Auchtermuchty, Fife, took out a £600 Logbook loan against his Ford Capri car, worth around £1500. He paid back £1400 but still lost the car.

He said: "I was a fool and didn't read the paperwork properly. I didn't realise the APR was 335 per cent."

When Alex, 45, was two weeks late with a payment, he got a phone call to say his debt had been passed to Gemini International UK Ltd and the Capri was eventually seized.

Chris Barratt, 33, of Hull, has been fighting Logbook since he took out four separate loans totalling £4000 on four Ford Escorts in March 2006.

He claims Gemini seized three of the cars tied to Logbook Loans and another three that had nothing to do with the company. He says he later spotted one for sale on auction website eBay.

Firms can charge whatever interest rate they like but a law change in April made it easier to challenge unfair amounts.

Logbook's website shows the firm target people with poor credit ratings.

The site reads: "Having bad credit is something that can prove to be a real struggle. Logbook Loans recognises this fact and has found what it believes to be an ideal solution." Retired lawyer John Harley, who works with debt counsellors Consumer Credit Support, said: "This company value your car at less than market value and when you default, they snatch and sell it.

"They have also taken cars which are not secured for any loans."

Logbook's Shearer is former director of Excel, the giant exhibition complex in London's Docklands. He owns a Gloucestershire country estate, a holiday house in Cornwall and property all over Europe.

The other directors are businessmen Barry Pilgrim, 57, and James Dawes, 56. Pilgrim is the only one who works from the company HQ in Putney, London.

No one at Logbook Loans returned our calls or emails but Graham Poulter, boss of debt collectors Gemini, claimed they owe him thousands of pounds for unpaid work.

He said: "Criticisms against Gemini are unfounded. We work rigorously to make sure we do our job properly.

"We have had issues with Logbook Loans, who owe me an awful lot of money."

Commenting on Chris' case, Poulter said: "He took out loans against a number of vehicles then hid them so he didn't have to repay the loan or lose his cars.

"We found them in a barn and had to break the locks which made the vehicles left there insecure so we removed them. They were later handed back."

SUNDAY EMAIL

l.mcpherson@sundaymail.co.uk