81 replies to this topic

[Change]

Danesfield P2P I have not come across before, but offering no lending fees for life, if you open an account before 30 October 2011.

Since there is no access to the platform, limited or otherwise, unless you sign up - you have to take a lot on trust.

Edited by elljay, 14 June 2011 - 18:29.
too many "http"s

[Change]

For some reason the previous link did not work try here

[sl75]

 Change, on 14 June 2011 - 14:42, said:

For some reason the previous link did not work try here

Their FAQ pages appear to be a copy-paste of Zopa's pages, with minor changes.
Their Terms and Conditions page looks like a copy-paste of RateSetter's with minor changes.
Their Loan Agreement page looks like a copy-paste of Yes-Secure's with minor changes.

Given the above, I'd question how well this "family run company" has thought through its business model.

On the positive side, though, the company does exist, is the registered owner of the website, and is named as the holder of the consumer credit licence and data protection register entries shown.

[giles]

Maybe they thought that if they copied a bit from each of us, we wouldn't notice. Interesting to use YS for the legal stuff.

I do worry that we will see sites springing up just designed to part people from their money - not that I am suggesting this one is of course.

[propman]

 sl75, on 14 June 2011 - 16:22, said:

Their FAQ pages appear to be a copy-paste of Zopa's pages, with minor changes.
Their Terms and Conditions page looks like a copy-paste of RateSetter's with minor changes.
Their Loan Agreement page looks like a copy-paste of Yes-Secure's with minor changes.

Given the above, I'd question how well this "family run company" has thought through its business model.

On the positive side, though, the company does exist, is the registered owner of the website, and is named as the holder of the consumer credit licence and data protection register entries shown.

Thanks for this, lets just hope that they don't offer rates like zopa, under write bad debts like Yes-secure and are as responsive and forthcoming as ratesetter

Just tried to sign up and it wouldn't accept a password that met its criteria (retyped 4 times so not my typing!). Anyone else have a problem?

[figures18]

 giles, on 14 June 2011 - 16:43, said:

Interesting to use YS for the legal stuff.

That's one word to describe it    

[Gorgeous George]

I signed up without a problem.

This FAQ...

Quote

Q: What returns can I expect?
DFAI is a forum to introduce individuals who want to borrower money to individuals who wish to lend money, so we cannot guarantee any level of returns. Your returns depend on the rates you choose to lend to, the credit level of the borrowers you lend to, and the amount of bad debt you experience, what we can say is that return’s will be higher than most banks are currently paying on their savings accounts.

... promises to beat most bank's savings rates. I guess that means you cannot lose money regardless of the bad debt but most banks probably offer 0.01%.

First impressions count and I'm not impressed. And there's a misplaced apostrophe.

GG

Edited by Gorgeous George, 14 June 2011 - 16:53.

[sl75]

 giles, on 14 June 2011 - 16:43, said:

I do worry that we will see sites springing up just designed to part people from their money - not that I am suggesting this one is of course.

As I see it, the burden of proof for an organisation that expects me to trust it with my money is on the organisation to demonstrate that it is NOT just trying to part me from my money...

Zopa, Funding Circle and RateSetter being listed on this page helps a lot for gaining my trust in that matter... I (perhaps naively) assume that getting listed there is a matter of rather more than just paying a subscription / registration fee and having a couple of very basic checks, unlike becoming a registered company, getting a consumer credit licence, and getting on the data protection register.

Edited by elljay, 15 June 2011 - 15:41.
Edited as requested by sl75

[elljay]

 Gorgeous George, on 14 June 2011 - 16:53, said:

And there's a misplaced apostrophe.

And a "This will be recorded on your credit history and effect your ability to obtain credit in the future." and...  

...but at least there's no apostrophe in "FAQs"

</pedant>

[bollidear]

For what its worth, and I'm sure most don't value my posts, but I'm in with Danesfield after a little field research and correspondance with the owner after a check at companies house.

There are some good signs, they are using Equifax as a CRA and not CallCredit who supply erroneous, inaccurate and incomplete credit information (as Yes Secure have found out).

They use Moorcroft debt collectors who are probably the second most aggessive collections agency in the UK (after Marstons). Not always ethical - but extremely tenacious and aggressive. Bad for the borrower, good for the lender.

Bad debt provision is a flavour of the month at the moment and one that we can all appreciate.

I also like the £20 limited exposure to loans. I understand this to mean that a lender can only invest £20 pert loan (correct me if I'm wrong) but this would stop the huge killer bids wrecking listings as they can on Zopa and Funding Circle.

I signed up for the freebie offer and am just waiting for my cash to land in the account in the coming days, we'll see how it goes from there.

As for typos et al, I agree - but has anyone read a BBC webpage recently ???

Here is the text of his reply to my questions about frequent board changes and othe business interests:


"Many thanks for your e mail below, in answer to the questions asked, my wife
and I are the directors of the company, and Frances has always been a
director, as for my myself I was given some wrong advice by so called
financial experts, which I found to be ill advice that’s why you see a
change in the directorship for me.

Shade Design is another company which I am a director of and that company
plays no part in what Danesfield Finance does, nor is there any financial
tie, or commitment.

We will be using Moorcroft Debt Recovery in the event of any bad debt, to
enforce the contract and collect any monies owing, our system is as such
that any lender will only have £20 exposure to any borrower, and in the
event of this failing and subject to conditions we have set aside funds to
pay back lenders, which currently stands at £62,000 and this figure will
grow as part of the commission  levied on borrowers is put a side into this
fund.

Our Credit Reference Agency is Equifax, in partnership with them we have set
up quite stringent credit scoring procedures, and our system is rejecting a
lot more people than we are accepting, we understand that it is not our
money we are lending, so we have to make sure the right people are being
lent to.

I Hope this helps, and if I can be of any further assistance please do not
hesitate to contact me.

Kind Regards

Mike Baxter"

Edited by bollidear, 14 June 2011 - 19:03.

[MRC_London]

Hmm ... just tried to register but failed due to "We have been unable to automatically confirm your identity. Your request has been forwarded to our team to be processed manually. We will be in touch within the next few days regarding the outcome. "    Unusual in my case (same address for last 7 years) but not unheard of.


However the text in the accompanying "Help" box has me stumped:

Quote

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum

Do we have any linguistic experts ?

[figures18]

 MRC_London, on 14 June 2011 - 19:33, said:

Do we have any linguistic experts ?

You may find this helpful placeholder text

[adamstrawson]

One thing that concerns me as a potential lender is their lack of contact details. They seem to only have a contact form and supply no phone, direct email, or office address.

I know with my technical background i can find it out, but for me, contact with the company I'm handing my money over to is key.

[bollidear]

Whilst I take the point about lack of contact details, I note that Funding Circle don't publish their phone number or email address on their "contact us" tab. It's early days and everyone has to start somewhere.

Contact details are readily available though:

Mike Baxter
Suite 210
24 - 28 St Leonards Road
Windsor
Berks
SL4 3BB

Tel:    01344 411 817
Email:  info@dfai.co.uk

I was always envious of those Zoparites who benefited from the "fee free" offers from the onset, fingers crossed and Danesfield can hold it's pecker up (ceratinly above YS), then I may also benefit from the fee free lending. Only time will tell.

Edited by bollidear, 14 June 2011 - 22:01.

[Gorgeous George]

 bollidear, on 14 June 2011 - 22:00, said:

I was always envious of those Zoparites who benefited from the "fee free" offers from the onset, fingers crossed and Danesfield can hold it's pecker up (ceratinly above YS), then I may also benefit from the fee free lending. Only time will tell.

Time will tell I suppose but as far as I can see, the fees have already been taken due to the fixed interest rates for each market. It's more Ratesetter than Zopa. More bank than P2P.

GG

[Ledney]

 Gorgeous George, on 15 June 2011 - 07:40, said:

Time will tell I suppose but as far as I can see, the fees have already been taken due to the fixed interest rates for each market. It's more Ratesetter than Zopa. More bank than P2P.

GG

Are the rates fixed, or is it not operating yet? I don't get it at the minute.

[MrGrey]

MRC_London, on 14 June 2011 - 19:33, said:

Hmm ... just tried to register but failed due to "We have been unable to automatically confirm your identity. Your request has been forwarded to our team to be processed manually. We will be in touch within the next few days regarding the outcome. "    Unusual in my case (same address for last 7 years) but not unheard of.


However the text in the accompanying "Help" box has me stumped:



Do we have any linguistic experts ?

Yep, not registering me automatically either, I will be manually processed, too. Same address for 8 years etc.

[elljay]

 bollidear, on 14 June 2011 - 22:00, said:

Contact details are readily available though:

Please could you advise where those details are from - in the Ts&Cs there's a different phone number given for contact and the OFT gives a correspondence address for them in Bracknell.  

[Gorgeous George]

 Ledney, on 15 June 2011 - 08:54, said:

Are the rates fixed, or is it not operating yet? I don't get it at the minute.

There's an 'Allocate Funds' screen which gives the options of...

A* at 5.500%
B* at 6.500%
C* at 7.750%

Another oddity, on the borrowers screen there's a loan calculator. Borrowers are charged a fee of £85 and are offered loans from £500 to £15K with terms of 6, 12, 18, 24, 32, 36 and 48. That '32' seems out of place IMHO. Lenders don't seem to get a choice of terms but maybe I'd need to offer some money to get that far (FAQ: The timescales on which you lend are flexible, so your funds are not tied up for long periods of time, you are able to see the return much quicker).

I predict a sloooow start although the 0% lender's fee could become attractive in time.

GG

Edited by Gorgeous George, 15 June 2011 - 16:31.

[MRC_London]

Their logo has the tag line "a different approach". Well that is certainly true.

As GG has commented we do not appear to have the freedom to set a personal rate of return, nor is it obvious how to specify the desired loan period,   If I was to agree to these rates (unlikely given we don't have any obvious measure of the risk categories) it would be for the short duration loans only.

The FAQ  imply FP/BACS bank transfers are permitted, but the only option is setting up a direct debit which as we know can take 14+ days to set up, and I'm far from convinced I want to authorise a DD with Danesfield at present.

I read something that implied they had seeded the bad debt fund, but again it isn't obvious what the current balence is.

From a branding point of view  DFAI doesn't exactly roll off the tongue.


So initial impressions are far from favourable, I don't think I'll be adding any funds in the near future.