ET and FHTB...the sting in the tail.

[Talk Wrench]

Forces Help To Buy. A successful scheme that's helped thousands onto the property ladder.

But, there's a sting in the tail for those on engagements that do not attract a gratuity and have exercised their option to ET.

In accordance with the rules, those who choose ET have to pay back the loan before leaving. Some choose bank loans, some choose to pay from savings to satisfy this requirement before departing the main gates.

Others however are not given any options of how to proceed and instead are being informed that deductions from pay will be made before the exit day.

I've heard anecdotally that some people are having 60% of their take home pay deducted to pay down the remaining loan amount, leaving them in dire straits with their mortgage lenders and families that are now resorting to food banks to survive.

I've been informed of at least five cases and may not have the whole story but surely this can't be happening, can it? With rising inflation, costs of living and so on, this just doesn't seem right.

 

[Cornish_Pikey]

Money needs paying back somehow. I'm sure the terms and conditions have it covered. It's a shit sandwich for those caught out though.

I guess we'll have the ambulance chaser lawyers out soon enough if not.

"Did you take out a FHTB and were not told of the rules" type of statement.

 

[Talk Wrench]

Money needs paying back somehow. I'm sure the terms and conditions have it covered. It's a shit sandwich for those caught out though.

I guess we'll have the ambulance chaser lawyers out soon enough if not.

"Did you take out a FHTB and were not told of the rules" type of statement.

The fact that the money needs to be paid back is not in doubt. The method in which it's being claimed back in some cases is questionable as it forces people into financially awkward positions.

I also know of one case however where an Army bod was medically discharged and the outstanding loan was waived. Different circumstances to normal ET and a favourable decision for once.

 

[ERT]

Can I Leave The Armed Forces After Receiving a FHTB Loan?​

This is the bit the MoD would want me to leave out … YES, yes you can leave the forces after receiving this army help to buy loan. Yes, even if you still owe money. However, there is a caveat. If you are due any resettlement grant, they have a right to take any remaining balance from it, they also have the right to take your final months’ salary.

Once you have left the forces, you are obligated to setup a monthly payment plan to settle any remaining balance owed.

You apply via JPA, I am sure it has a box to say "i have read the rules". You can pay it off when you leave.

 

[busby1971]

People don’t like reading rules, but they do like to tick boxes.

If the rules don’t allow it then it becomes a potentially illegal deduction and minimum pay legislation might come in to it as well.

Even if you’d read the rules it seems that the processes are being made up on the fly, which probably means a lack of knowledge in the processing team, never surprised when organisations put so much time and effort in to deliver something really good, only to have it ruined in practice.

 

[Dan_Brown]

So......................

Had someone leave earlier this year after only 3 or 4 years service and who had used FHTB.

Initially they were told they had to pay it back within the 4 or 5 months they had left in the service - they didn't.

They were then told deductions from their pay in their last 2 months would be fully taken to go towards the payments - they didn't.

A few days before they left, the Pay Office/JPAC got in touch and said that someone would be in touch to arrange a payment plan - this was not a debt where debt collectors, CCJ's etc action would be taken, only unless agreed payments were missed.

The individual is now making monthly payment of an amount of their choosing at a ridiculously low interest rate.

 

[Talk Wrench]

So......................

Had someone leave earlier this year after only 3 or 4 years service and who had used FHTB.

Initially they were told they had to pay it back within the 4 or 5 months they had left in the service - they didn't.

They were then told deductions from their pay in their last 2 months would be fully taken to go towards the payments - they didn't.

A few days before they left, the Pay Office/JPAC got in touch and said that someone would be in touch to arrange a payment plan - this was not a debt where debt collectors, CCJ's etc action would be taken, only unless agreed payments were missed.

The individual is now making monthly payment of an amount of their choosing at a ridiculously low interest rate.

Apparently there's more than just a few ET'ers at a secret transport base near Oxford who've had the terms "dictated' to them.
Why? Who knows.

Covering up lack of action on the part of HR? Perhaps.

A result of the individual not reacting to requests for a payment plan? Possibly.

However the letters sent to me by affected personnel appear to demands made to HR of how to proceed with FHTB loan recovery....and definitely not how you described proceedings DB.